My son graduated from college 4 yrs ago & now looking to upgrade/trade-up from his starter Audi A3. He got excited to see the 2019 F-type advertised at $59K.
Once he clicked on the convertible, it showed the fol lineup:

- 2.0 Liter I4 296 HP Turbocharged (Automatic) Rear Wheel Drive $63,850
- 3.0 Liter V6 340 HP Supercharged (Automatic) Rear Wheel Drive $73,250
- 3.0 Liter V6 380 HP Supercharged (Automatic) Rear Wheel Drive $83,850
- 3.0 Liter V6 380 HP Supercharged (Automatic) All Wheel Drive $86,850
- 5.0 Liter V8 550 HP Supercharged (Automatic) All Wheel Drive $103,850
- 5.0 Liter V8 575 HP Supercharged (Automatic) All Wheel Drive $125,850

Interesting the wide variance from 4 to 8 cylinders, 2 Liters to 5 Liters, HP almost doubles from 300 to 575, priced doubles from $63K to $126K.

Having driven his previous 5L V8 Mustangs, & my 3 previous V8 Corvettes, to my current V8 F-type R, he's used to the V8s, but over $100 is way over his price range.
The 3L V6's are still a little pricey, so he's wondering how spirited is the performance of the 4 cylinder model...?

 

I had a 4-pot as a loaner for a few days - it's quite nippy, and would probably be considered good if it had been the first off the production line, but after the V6 and V8 it's "a little lacking". Best bet is to test drive and decide for yourself. It looks as good as any of the others (exhaust pipe notwithstanding).

 

Realistically, if he's coming from an A3 most of the above options will be phenomenal. No offense at all.

That being said, as someone who also graduated from college 4 years ago as well, why would he want to buy a brand new car and take the hit on Jaguar depreciation? There are great V6 examples out there for roughly $40K with a lot of life left under warranty.

 

He went back to look at the Jaguar XE-S, 3.0 Liter V6 380HP Supercharged Gas, starts at $54K.

Maybe a good V6 4 door sedan is a good alt...

 

Probably should just buy a used V8 F-type instead... You can get into those at ~20k miles for around $65k. I think he'd be disappointed in the XE-S if he was considering an F-type. I sure am every time I get a loaner...

 

Hear. Hear. He should be saving for a house.

 

I'd recommend the 2014 v8s if he's on a budget. Not quite as fast as an R, but still extremely quick.

 

You can live in your car, but you can't drive a house...

 

 

Hahahahah! I guess that's right!

 

Living in Houston, where housing is pretty cheap, He already paid off his house.
Now looking at 1 - 2 yr old certified pre-owned...

 

Wow. Paid-off house four years out of college. Superb!

He should buy the car he wants.

(Although he should heed the warning about the depreciation hit these cars take in their first few years of life.
That hard early depreciation is why I went to a two-year-old. I'd have preferred the better value in a three-year-old, but I wanted an R with AWD. 2015 Rs are all rear-wheel. In Houston, AWD is not the concern it is for drivablility in snow. The rarest of the breed are the manual transmission cars. They're all at least three years old. And because they are still within the factory warranty, Adding an extended warranty is an option. A third party extended warranty works fine, too -- so he can look at used cars from other than Jag dealers. Just sayin.)

 

And they're all V6s.

 

Yeah, I'm a V8-kinda, old-school, old guy, myself.
("White with lots of toys and loads of noise" for me, too -- that's my car, I'm talking about, there -- a loaded, AWD convertible, for me.)

But I'm pretty sure most would argue that the best set-up for power-to-weight ratio and tossability is a rear-wheel-drive with the V-6, for weight savings and greatest potential supercar after modifying.

That, with a manual, would likely hold its value the best, I'd bet. Because it's the rarest of these cats. AND, I bet it would likely be one of the best buys right now.

Finding one of those with some remaining original warranty so you can add an extended warranty would be a smart move.

 

Looking at below info, he's thinking of going the CPO route...

Jaguar's certified pre-owned (CPO) program offers excellent warranty coverage, boasting 7 years or 100,000 miles of bumper-to-bumper coverage from the car's original sale date. Jaguar's CPO program also has full transferability and lack of a deductible.