Greetings all,

I’m one day out from possibly purchasing a manufacturer buyback ‘21 F Type R in a lovely Sunset Gold color. The car has 20k miles and appears to be in excellent shape. I plan on taking a look tomorrow, getting a PPI at the closest Jag dealer, and pulling the trigger if everything checks out. I’m here asking if:
1) anyone here knows about this car (it’s previous owner lived in Pasadena, CA) and
2) there is anything I should be concerned about.

The carfax looks remarkably unremarkable; I called the Pasadena dealership and they stated there were never any any mechanical issues with the car, it just came in for a recall, a few software updates, and a tachometer replacement for a glitchy screen, that’s it. The used car dealership (which bought the car from JLR) states that it was a buyback due to ambiguous “customer dissatisfaction”, however when JLR bought it back, no repairs were made because the car passed all of its inspections with no issue. The Pasadena JLR dealer couldn’t tell me anything in regards to that dissatisfaction, and I tried calling Jaguar customer service to no avail. I don’t see any red flags, but you guys are the experts.

 

This information isn't specific to that car. From my experience, a car can be returned under CA's lemon law if there are two "disabling events" within the period of warranty. Those can be any failure that makes it so you can't use the car. Owner dissatisfaction doesn't count. Each failure could be completely benign (needs a software reset, for instance) and completely resolved, so the failures could be non-issues after they have been resolved. That means a buyback could very well be a fine, problem-free car for it's lifetime. Buyback cars are also cheaper because their title will forever reflect that they are buyback cars (unless someone "title washes" the car to hide that fact). That means it's cheaper to buy but harder to sell and worth less when you're done with it. Also, some insurance companies are reluctant to insure a buyback car (rare, but it happens). If you plan to buy the car and drive it forever, it can save you some money on the purchase. If you don't plan to keep it for a long time, it might cause you some headaches when you go to sell it.

 

Really good info in the above post. I would definitely check with my ins. co to see what they say about insuring the car.

 

People are clearly more trusting than I am when it comes to this situation. While I love a deal, I would want to track down the owner who "returned" the car to get the story. Modest inconveniences would not seem to me to be a reason to demand a buyback. While it could well have been a case of buyer's remorse, I would want to know more before buying a car that will forever be impaired in value and that might have ongoing issues.

 

I have a 2021 F Type R and don't remember any recalls on it. I'd try and find out exactly what was needed and done. If there were any software updates they were probably performed when I took the car in for its annual free scheduled oil & filter change and inspection.

I'd be a bit apprehensive. I live in California and while I have never needed to invoke the Lemon Law protection form what I have heard a consumer has to fight pretty hard and have well documented reasons before a vehicle can be returned. Maybe the previous owner was just one of those nit-picky guys who is never satisfied with anything, maybe it was buyer's remorse. But I suspect that it will be difficult to get to the truth and even more difficult to contact the previous owner.

So the advice given by several members above is well advised. Good luck, hope it works out but make sure you go into it with both eyes open.

 

Is it possible that the dealer arranged the buyback so the owner would agree to buy something else, possibly more expensive? Buyback, I'm assuming, would be more money than trade in value. Just sayin'.

 

Anything is possible. However, would someone disllusioned enough to demand a buyback turn around and buy another more expensive car of the same make? The only way to know the answer is to talk to the original owner to get the full story.

 

The fact that JLR is not being completely transparent tells you EVERYTHING you need to know.

 

Is the dealer selling it as CPO or just "used".
Presumably if "used" it comes with remaining portion of original warranty and free service.
If CPO, it presumably has a longer warranty with no free service.
The CPO would give you more comfort in terms of any mislabeling by the dealer.

 

I was thinking more in terms of my JLR dealer group... they sell Maseratis, too. and point made... not much of the full story going on here.

 

I just noticed the 20K miles.
Can't imagine why a dealer would do a "buy back' at that mileage unless forced to do so under a lemon law court judgment.
As previous, it may not matter if the dealer will give it the CPO warranty.

 

Two (big) red flags.

1) A buyback where the dealer claims to have no knowledge. It's hard to imagine a situation where a lemon law forced a buyback and the dealer wasn't in the loop. Of course, the dealer could be misrepresenting the situation to you (and/or the dealer who bought it from them).
2) The Jaguar dealer sold the car to another dealership instead of selling it themselves. I only see them doing that to distance themselves from the car.

You could ask the Jaguar of a copy of the service history, but don't be surprised if they share limited information and they're unlikely to give you the previous owner's name.
But, you can check the car's infotainment system for "Home," "History," "Contacts." I once found a previous owner's information that way.

The car might be OK and you'd be getting a bargain purchase price, or it could be a real lemon and you'll have on-going issues. How much is that risk worth to you? Either way, as point out above, it's forever marked as a lemon, so it will hurt the price on the back end.

 

The dealer is selling the car as “used”, no CPO. There are 26 months and 40k miles remaining on the original warranty (to include complimentary service) as well though. All of the research I’ve done tells me the car has had a couple of minor issues but is a great deal. We’ll see what the PPI tells me.

 

The PPI came back clean, so I bought an extended warranty (4yr/60k miles) and pulled the trigger on the car. Pictures to follow.

 

Jaguar warrants the car for 5 years from date of in-service.
So, your car should have already had a minimum of 2-3 years still left on the manufacturer warranty.

 

I certainly wasn’t. Was someone else??

Also yes the warranty is 5 years from time of purchase so 3 effective years after the original warranty expires.

 

Congrats. If I were you, I would really press them on disclosing the full history of the car [certified letters]...if for no other reason than perhaps there are some additional measures you can take to mitigate potential future issues. In addition, you might want to consider firing off a letter to your state's Attorney General office to see if you would have any rights in this situation. cc the dealer to let them know you are quite interested in preserving the value of your vehicle. Be proactive, especially since the future of JLR seems a bit murky at the moment.

 

I purchased a buy-back car which is flagged as a Lemon in Cali. That being said it was a buy-back for the clutch since it's a manual and it was bought back and sold in Florida. Had the warranty for 5 years post clutch install with no issues and it was babied by the person that bought it (Climate controlled hangar with about a million dollars worth of cars) and then purchased by another person who I got it off of. 2017 with only 32k miles.

No issues with the car, but had to buy the car without a loan as most loan places will not give you a loan for a lemon-flagged car in Cali.

 

Glad to know someone else had some good fortune with a buyback car! Hopefully it’ll prove to be a savvy purchase.
Ironically enough, even though I had JLR PPI it, after driving off the lot the rear right taillight got “stuck” with the brake lights on - not sure how they missed that…. Will be taking to my local(ish) dealer today to get that cleared up. Hopefully it’s an easy fix. That’s what warranties are for. The 300 mile drive back from Jersey was otherwise problem free so that instilled some confidence. Anyone else had this happen?

 

Depending who you talk to many will say that Jags are inherently impaired in value anyway, so there is that ;-0