Letter arrived from Jaguar Financial Services advising me of my Options and Obligations.

Still not made my mind up.

So I'll take some Test Drives, while I have the perfect excuse...

 

I'm in north Herefordshire and just ordered my replacement. Can recommend Jaguar dealer in Wolverhampton. Started by getting a quote on the CarWow site.

 

This weekend I shall be test driving:

A Focus RS;
A Mustang V8;
An Audi S5;
A 440i
An XE S.

Decisions....

 

I would be trying a Golf R, but getting anyone to admit they have a demonstrator...

 

Focus RS - overrated, limited torque in low gears, boyracer image, econobox roots that limit performance.
Mustang V8 - great car for the money. Again - boyracer image.
Audi S5 - the new one has one garbage of an engine with horrible turbo lag. The old one well, is old.
440i - with M-sport package is great. Estoril blue and light interior. Can get unreasonably expensive though.
XE S - well, I have 35T, can't say enough good things about it. Beautifully balanced, good looking sedan with sports car dynamics.

Can't go wrong with 440i or XE - S. (get XE-S)

 

good post. Quite a spread from the Focus to a 4 series BMW!

Dave

 

A Focus RS;
A Mustang V8;
An Audi S5;
A 440i
An XE S

These are the cars your thinking about replacing your F Type with?

 

The F-type is as known quantity.

But I'm open to suggestions...

 

New Mazda MX5 ?

 

Well that depends on you and what you want. Your list seems strange to most of us I'd guess as it seems an odd list to cross shop vs. a Jaguar F type.

Here's what I looked at when I was shopping;
- BMW M4 Cabriolet
- BMW Z4
- C7 'vette
- Porsche Boxster S
- MB SLK55AMG

...for me, a 2 seat convertible was the search criteria though I made an exception for the M4. For people looking at similar sports cars to the F type, I'd imagine they might also look at the 911, Audi R8, Aston Martin Vanquish, etc. etc.

Dave

 

Nice dilemma. Interested to see your views of the XE S. We have the 25T which I really, really like and I've driven the S on the track which I thought was better still. As a driver's car I dont think you can get much better than the XE. But if you like the amount of attention that you get in a f-type - and the engine note - those will be lacking in the XE.

 

i have found the fit & finish of every XE (have driven 3 now) I've been in to be lousy.

 

I really was actually enamored with the Focus RS way before its debut however the boy racer thing and the ugly econobox(?) rear end was just too much. Watching Ken Block drive one, or even better, just the ST is very entertaining.

I WAS a boy racer 30 years ago, not now; now just an adult idiot hahaha.

 

I went from a golf R to my base model F-type, I am a bit of a car snob and felt the golf just was not premium enough for the cost of the car.


That said its very quick and easy to drive but I love the F-type which I haven't felt for a car in a very long time.


My other concern which might not be the same as others was depreciation, so I bought a 2.5year old F-type which feels like a good amount of depreciation had gone, the golf was pretty brutal due to all the decent lease deals at the start, I think all brand new cars now have this the first 2 years is harsh.

 

I don't think ANY of these can touch an F-Type...so save your time and just get a new Jag. F. If you want excitement - get an "R"!

Maybe a Corvette...but Focus????

 

I was actually pleasantly surprised NOT to see Corvette on that list.

If you want to stay rear seatless, maybe the Audi TT-RS although hard to find in the wild

https://www.audiusa.com/models/audi-tt-rs

 

Alas - while I just fitted into the previous model - this is not the case for the new one...

 

No Cayman or Boxster? or are import fees too high in your area to consider Porsche?

 

Import fees are not the problem. As of this year, anything over £40k and some fuel consumption will attract a £4K premium in the first year, with an additional £310/year for 5 years in tax.

its upping the chance that I'll keep it, but in the meantime...

 

Shopping (the-hunt) is the thrilling part of preownership.