Looking at my first 2014 F type purchase. Trunk has a S badge on it but not on front grille. The paddle shifters are not orange nor the start button and the steering wheel is the regular shape but it has the sport seats, what gives please? Could it still be an S or not possible?

 

Got a link or more pictures? Could be someone just de-badged it and changed the steering wheel/paddles.

 

One sure way to tell is to open the hood and look at the top of the suspension towers. If there’s an electrical harness coming out of each, then it has active suspension and is an S.

 

For 2014 I *think* in the US you could still get the V8S (convertible only) so the first question is, is the car a V8 or V6? If it's a V8 then it must be an S but I'm guessing it is a V6. Easy enough to tell from the exhaust tip layout, quad tips on the V8 and central twin tips on the V6.
There are a few things which differentiate a V6 S from a "base" V6 in 2014 and 2015:
1. The S badge front and rear although that is not at all conclusive as a fake badge can be added or a real badge can be removed. Many but not all S came with an S badge/decal/logo on the dash facia but again not conclusive as it is possible to retrofit that facia to a base.
2. The larger 380 mm front brakes were standard on the S while the base had 355 mm front brakes. Again not conclusive if the car has 380 mm front brakes as they were an option/upgrade on the base although very few did this. It is completely unheard of for an S to be optioned or modified with 355 mm front brakes so if the car has 355 mm front brakes it is certain to be a base and not an S.
3. The S came with 19" wheels as standard and the base came with 18" wheels as standard although the base could be optioned with 19" or 20" wheels and the S could be optioned with 20" wheels. An S could not be optioned with 18" wheels as they do not fit over the 380 mm front brake calipers so if the car has 18" wheels it is a base for sure.
4. The S came with adaptive suspension but the base did not and it is not clear if adaptive suspension was even an option on the base. A car with adaptive suspension will have wires running to a plug on top of each front strut tower, easy enough to check just by popping the hood and having a peek. If it has these wires then it is odds on to be an S, if it doesn't have these wires then it is for sure a base.
5. The S came with the 380 PS tune (340 PS on the base) and a mechanical LSD while the base had on open diff. Both difficult if not impossible to check without the factory level diagnostics (SDD).

 

Would the VIN tell the tale?

 

I just checked to see if mine gives that information. It does, and lots more:

https://vpic.nhtsa.dot.gov/decoder/

 

Check the VIN. For 2014 US vehicles if it is a V6 S it will have FC in the VIN. For example SAJWA6FC4E8K03916 . Non V6s (Base)VINs look like this SAJWA6E72E8K08794. No “FC”