Hi all,

My lease on my 2014 IS350 is ending in a May 2017 and I'm strongly considering purchasing the car as it's been excellent throughout the lease, but I'm also leaning towards the XE R-Sport. I test drove it and wasn't convinced, but I haven't taken it off the list. The other contender is the Alfa Giulia, but it's taking forever to arrive here (Canada).

IS > XE

- Ride stability (feels more stable)
- Fun factor (feels more nimble)
- Interior (feels less "cheap", whereas the XE is clearly lacking)
- Reliability, though it's a lease...

XE > IS

- More power
- Maybe better fuel consumption (IS uses a dated, thirsty V6)
- More luxury feel, also sporty at the same time (IS lost its luxurious feel in the over-the-top design)
- I like the design, worried that the IS's cutting edge design might age poorly
- 20 inch propeller, black package on the R-Sport = <3

I never dealt with Jag, how flexible are the dealers on negotiation? When should I place my order to have the car by the end of May 2016?

 

I don't think you'll get much of a bargain on an ordered car, but something off the dealer lot could be marked 3-4K on a top end XE. I'd place the order fairly soon to meet that window.

Tough choice between the Guilia and XE. If both were available to me at the time; not sure what I would've done. I could've leased a Ghibli for nearly the same money as XE, but after test driving a GranTurismo S; Maserati was off the short list at the time. Perhaps I should've actually driven the Ghibli? Oh well, but so far the XE has been a nice driving car.

Is Scotti the Jaguar dealer in Montreal? I would not buy 20" wheels in your locale. Your next lease will be over before the roads & bridges are fixed ;-)

 

Thanks. We have John Scotti and another one.

Our roads will never be fixed :P but I'm considering the 20" just because the tires are non-runflat, so that might save a little bit trouble considering the softer sidewalls. Does Jaguar offer tire/wheel protection on leased cars?

 

Jaguar does not offer it, but 3rd parties do at time of sale via the dealer. I added that protection and it was 3 years, 0 deductible, and was $1400.00.

 

I would recommend doing it. Test driving on regular roads, XE will not feel like much. I feel like its engine needs to be revved high to get the joy out of it and so is the suspension.

If I was you, I would definitely do another test drive on a nice, twisty road. I doubt that IS350 will feel sportier. (I test drove numerous GS350 F-Sports and while not bad, I don't think they had nearly as good of a damping as Jaguar does)

As for Giulia, while it looks amazing and probably drives great too, It only offers I4 turbo engine unless you go for top end model. I don't think executive sports sedans and high boosted I4 engines mix well together regardless of how much power they make.

 

I really like the Guilia too, and while I understand that they are being built in a new factory I'd be concerned as a prospective owner with build quality. I bought my daughter a MiTo, and personally I think that the build quality if worse than the korean cars were 15 years ago. The paint is thin, the plastic is thin (one piece has cracked) some external trim has faded, a plastic bit has popped out of the floor - all in a 2 year old car with less than 10,000kms on it.

But it is a hell of a lot more fun to drive than my other daughter's Mazda 2, except for the tct transmission at low speed which is truly execrable.

I'd be interested to see how the Guilias are holding up after 2 years, fingers crossed they might have turned the corner, but the upsec model will be nearly $200K here and that would be a big gamble on quality.

 

I'm going to test drive again next week... maybe I'll fall in love with it :P
Although winter tires are really not fun to drive, too soft

 

The Alfa dealer closest to me just got one Guilia in. They emailed me on it and when asked what trim it was; they never replied. I have a feeling they are going to huck they cars like they were made from gold; just like the 4C. There will be no attractive finance and come off like you can't even test drive the car... Good luck to them if that's their attitude.

Sergio has high sales figure hopes and pretending Alfa's are like a Ferrari is not a wise sales move... They need volume; not pushing customers away.

 

I contacted my Alfa dealer 2 months ago and it took the salesman a few days, but he called me back with the details. He was courteous, looked like good customer service.

 

I know that Herb Chambers of Milbury has Giulia Quadrifoglio in stock. It's going for around 78K.

 

At least you found out which trim it is! Giulia in lower spec is on our list to replace our S60. The S60 lease ends next January, so this summer we'll start looking to see what is what.