I am contemplating the purchase of a used F-Type. Looking for a 2014-2016 model, V8 (S or R), either coupe or convertible (I have a 2005 AMG CLK55 convertible now, but the NJ climate is not the best for soft tops). it is a fair weather fun car anyway and will only see about 6-7K miles a year.

My price range is $40-50K for a lower mileage car (Under 40K), almost any color except black (Have owned 3 black cars already). I'm hoping for a nice 2 tone interior (No red), but am a bit disappointed that many of the ones I see have boring all grey (Jet) interiors.

One of my main concerns is the interior. I have sat in some in person and seen many in pictures, but it doesn't seem like the interior materials are great quality. all the low mileage ones i have seen have trim (Steering wheel controls or center bezel) that is scratched, worn out (Especially the start/stop button, which is a cheap and easy replacement), wear on leather, etc.. Is this a common issue from owners perspective.

Are they any other things to check or look for pre-purchase? Most likely will have to have the car shipped from somewhere due to the fact that there are just not that many around.

 

Have a Jaguar main dealer perform a pre-purchase inspection on whichever vehicle you choose to buy. The service history is very important and should be complete.

 

you can definitely find a V8S under 50k with super low miles, or even an R with prob 30-35k. Interior quality is fairly high on these cars but they suffer from the sticky buttons and scratched up trim. Again fairly easy to replace or repair. my 16S has had the steering wheel trim replaced, the dash trim, almost all the buttons etc, 32k miles. but I am in south florida, very hot and humid, live on the water so salt in the air, plus lots of town top driving for me. I have the sport seats with the black suede and black pleather, they have held up really well, except for the seat heater melting the seat foam and having to have the foam and covers replaced, currently at the dealer for that Rn. make sure you get the vision pack and if possible, try and find a CPO with a warranty, makes it a much more comfortable ownership experience.

a little more then you wanted to spend, but a nice color low mile R with years of warranty left - https://www.cargurus.com/Cars/invent...964_isFeatured

A non CPO one at carmax with a 2 tone interior- https://www.cargurus.com/Cars/invent...ting=276379298

Love this color, interior is boring, great wheels. https://www.cargurus.com/Cars/invent...ting=282554453

Matches ur criteria pretty well outside of price, Not black, dual tone interior, convertible AWD R- I hate the top color, but hey you may be into it - https://www.cargurus.com/Cars/invent...ting=282137984

Another CPO IRR over red, this is local to me and someone I know actually sent me photos of this car, looks amazing! great spec in my eyes - https://www.cargurus.com/Cars/invent...ting=278223824


So this car has been for sale forever, I think I've even seen it on this forum marketplace, it's an extremely high sticker, and white on white always looks great. It is pretty modified though, well at least for a jag. Some very expensive HRE wheels and an aftermarket exhaust, and its in NY, so close to you, but the price is higher then you wanted to spend- https://www.cargurus.com/Cars/invent...ting=278654197

 

It's an issue on my 2014 V8 S at least. When I bought the car, it was three years old and had 5k miles on it, and the start/stop button already looked horrible. I replaced the button with a new one a couple of years ago and haven't noticed any wear on it since then. Not sure if Jaguar fixed quality issues in newer parts or if I'm just being more gentle than the previous owner.

Also the leather on the shifter showed signs of wear and the P on the park button was barely visible. Apparently the P button delaminating is a known issue (there's a TSB for it) and as the vehicle was still under warranty, JLR agreed to replace the entire shifter when I pointed out the issue. Again, no wear on the new parts after a couple of years of use. Recently I noticed that the trim around the steering wheel and some of the center console buttons are starting to feel sticky, so I might have to look into replacing those too.

If I were in the market for a used F-Type right now, I would look for slightly newer model (2016+?) with the newer infotainment and hopefully some of the quality issues fixed.

 

I removed the sticky stuff from our START button when we bought our car. Cost? ~15 minutes and some alcohol. Oh, and more alcohol at completion (a celebratory brew).

The P button on the automatic shifter is now available separately. Cost me all of $9 USD (well, OK, more if you count the clear lacquer paint I protected it with...)

The sticky / scratchy issue was resolved on later cars (2016+). Parking in the sun with the UV beating on the coated bits makes the coating soft for a while, and it can be easily scratched. SEARCH for topics here about ways to remove the sticky coating. On our '14, the only 'bad' piece is the release button on the cubby between the seats.

Look for wear/abrasion on the outer driver's side seat bolster. Luckily, our leather is black, so I keep it looking 'purty' and supple with common shoe polish.

 

Thanks for the tip, I'll have to give it a try when the stickiness becomes too annoying for me.

Oh, nice! When I was looking for one two years ago, you had to get the entire shifter just to replace the button.

 

Seems you could buy an identical Land Rover part at that time.

 

Anyone have a link to order that "P" button? Mine is in sad shape.

 

thanks. most of those don't fit my criteria, either not a preferred color (Interior or exterior) or are above my price range.

the ones i'm looking at are highly optioned, performance pack, vision pack. since i am looking at 2014-2015 those are beyond CPO eligibility. plus i bought a CPO car already and learned first hand that all you get is an extended warranty, nothing more.

 

The Land Rover part is LR086213

 

My ‘16 S (June ‘15 build) with 38k miles has no sticky button issues or scratched up interior trim, but then again I’m careful not to drag stuff across any of it.

 

The wear on the button surfaces (especially the P and the stop/start buttons) is primarily from people hitting the buttons with the edge of their nails. If you press the buttons with the pad of your finger there is no scratching and no wear - which explains some of the comments above about buying the car with damaged buttons, replacing them, and finding no subsequent wear. It is the owner's treatment of the buttons that makes the difference but see below). Wear damage to the leather seat bolster similarly is a matter of lack of care when getting into and out of the car. It has nothing to do with the quality of the leather (which is good, and in the case of the premium Windsor leather, very good indeed); rather it is a matter of the way the car is treated (and to me, wear on any of these components suggests a similar lack of care for the mechanical aspects of the car). My own F-Type S at 52,000 kms looks brand new in every respect inside and out (and runs as new) because having restored many cars, I am aware of how damage is inflicted.
The issue of wear on the buttons is compounded by the coating becoming soft in the heat/sun.

 

Thx!

 

"Wear damage to the leather seat bolster similarly is a matter of lack of care when getting into and out of the car. It has nothing to do with the quality of the leather (which is good, and in the case of the premium Windsor leather, very good indeed); rather it is a matter of the way the car is treated "

I respectfully disagree with the point above.

I have owned many cars over the last forty years with leather upholstery, only one has had significant wear on the seat bolster and door trim, that's my F Type.

Leather is durable, especially leather usually chosen for car upholstery.
I conclude that the leather used on seat bolster and door trim is either poor quality or not genuine leather.

 

Early F-Types had water pumps prone to failure. My 2014 V8S pump went out at about 17000 miles. Check for leaks around the pump (can stick your phone down there with video recording and the car off to check for dampness).

The plastic coolant pipes can get brittle and break as well.

The AC vent in the center of the dash tends to stop raising automatically. It’s a fairly easy DIY repair if you are mechanically inclined. Remove vent assembly, disassemble pivot points, enlarge pivot points (pivot-to-pivot pin clearance is too tight) and add lube, reassemble.

 

I stand by my comments and base them on my experience in restoring the leather in more than 20 Jaguars of my own and in many belonging to others - some of these showed very marked bolster wear, some a little, and some, none at all. Seat bolster wear can be found and is found on any make of car in which the bolster is leather covered. This is not to say that it is found in every car of a specific make - because the variable is whether or not the driver slides into the seat across the bolster.
But I should have added one other point. Modern cars, especially cars like the F-Type, have much more pronounced bolsters as an aid to holding the driver securely. This makes the bolster much more likely to be brushed on entry and exit - could this possibly explain what you have found?
I do not question your statement that your F-Type is the only one in which you have found such wear. But the actual shape of the seat as well as the amount of space available for entry and exit will to some extent affect the likelihood of damage to the leather surface.
Finally, leather on which a good, non-silicone conditioner is used periodically will be far less susceptible to this sort of wear.
And while Mercedes Benz use what they call "Artico Leather" (read: vinyl), the leather now used in Jaguars is real leather, Italian leather, in fact.

 

I had a 2016 F Type R that I leased for 3 1/2 years, couldn't wait to turn it back in, Why? Was it gorgeous, absolutely. Fast, I beat motorcycles off the line. But, repair issues...OMG. Because it isn't a high production car, anytime something went wrong, it would be in the shop for a month (I am not exaggerating). The dealership felt like the were servicing me because I got a loaner, but they didn't loan me an F Type. I would say without exaggerating, it was in the shop 10% of the time. They were never sure how to fix the problem, whatever it was. If you get past that, plan on getting new tires every 3-5k.

 

I've had my F-Type for over two years and it's been in for warranty work twice - once for a new rear cargo cover (a cord broke when the cover fell off the pivots jambed against the rear hatch) and once for a fuel rail issue and a leaky diff seal. The fuel rail issue was a badly connected plug on the fuel pump, and the leaky diff was fixed, which took a week because of CV-19 and parts availability. Apart from that, very reliable, like my previous three Jags. Oh, and I can make my tyres last 10k, which seems to be low compared to some on here.

Sounds like your issue is with the dealer's technical abilities, rather than the car, which is a shame but, sadly, not unusual.

 

Too bad you don't want black. Actually, I have the metallic black. I am just about getting ready to sell my 2015 F-Type V8 S convertible. I even have some 1 season old mounted winter tires. Only 16,000 and it is immaculate - I just did a ceramic seal on the paint. The interior is the tan leather seats - the interior is perfect. The only change is I removed the cup holder molds out of the center console so it became a little storage box (holds phone, etc.).

 

2016 and later Jags have a 5 year warranty from the first retail sale date. My '16 was sold in April of 2015. My last warranty visit for an oil change they spent something like $3600 for all the sticky trim, several of the dash panels where the glue was sub-standard and starting to blister (headliner had fallen a couple of years earlier), a battery and an O-ring in the AC system. A cat and O2 sensor were replaced prior. Other than that mine has been fine. The interior condition at 20K miles if excellent.

From what I understand - the 'sticky' button thing was a problem that hit many manufacturers in the high end market. From what I understand they all use the same sub-contractor to build the stuff. I'm led to believe it's the lacquer topcoat that was deficient. I've not validated these rumors.

The other nice thing (to me, anyway) about the 2016's with the V8 is that they are AWD. Excellent performance on the race track. I've added a pulley and tune to mine and it's putting out around 625 HP vs. factory 550HP. It's a hoot.

Just the 5 year warranty would be a motivator to me to spend some extra bucks perhaps on a late build 2016 (if some are out there for sale still in warranty) or to get a 2017.

Good luck and please share with us what you finally get.