Folks.. I’ll go into an introduction at some point. Right now I just need some guidance from the experts.
I’ve owned a RX7 FD for 22 years and ended up blowing yet another motor... looking to move on this time.

Growing up, my uncle Bernerd was a manager at Bay Area Jaguar and always had an E type around the property. Always loved the car. My dad had a Porsche do it has always been one or the other.

A friend of mine bought the V8s convertible in 2014 brand new and now wants to sell. He just bought a 430 so his Jag is not exciting enough apparently. I’ve looked around and I’m having a hard time pricing the V8 since most cars are the V6. He wants $44k for it. I honestly don’t know all the options but if I remember he’s got the red brake calipers and the sport tunable exhaust. So it’s got those respective packages. It’s got 22k miles on it.

Would you good folks please help me with a general ballpark price on the car? Are the V8s desirable? Are they terrible? Should I consider this auto?

Thank you very much in advance.

 

From my reading here and elsewhere the V8S is generally a bargain, it has almost all the same goodies as the R for a lot less $ and the engine power appears to have been deliberately understated and is in reality little different to the R.
Definitely worth considering as long as the price is right.

 

Thanks. I know it sure is fun to ride in. I haven’t seen the car in a year though so I can’t remember what options and packages it has. I’m in the process of asking these questions.
Any idea what a fair market price would be?

 

Sorry, I'm the wrong person to answer that question as I'm in Oz and I don't know the US market!
Plenty of US based bright sparks here can help you out with what is a fair price.

 

I traded mine in 4 months ago. 2014 V8S owned since new, Firesand, black pack, black cyclones, carbon fiber interior and exterior trim. Was base spec apart from that so no performance seats, no cold weather pack, no vision pack etc. had 28k miles and was immaculate.

Got $35k trade in and it ended up at a dealer listed at $45k. Not sure what it actually sold for though.

Hope that helps.

 

I have a V8 S, it's the best sports car of all time and the fastest F-Type ever made. The reasons it's the best sports car, you will figure out. It's the fastest F-Type because it has the same 550HP as the R, it was just more conservatively rated as the first model. Mine dynos stock at 488 WHP, which at 12% drive train loss is 555 BHP. With Racechip and a pully (~$1000 total) it dynos 559 WHP or around 635 BHP.

The V8 S is the fastest Jag ever because wi 555 BHP at 3650 pounds, it is even lighter than today's V6 S. SVRs have the same engine with a higher flow air filters (K&Ns can be added to the V8 S) and a titanium exhaust. Basically the SVR has similar HP but more more weight. All V8 F-Types are low 3 sec/low 11 sec cars.

The big challenge with the V8 S is RWD and traction. The best thing about the V8 S is RWD and traction.

The 2015 V8 R is everybit the equal of the V8 S, it's the same car but the V8 S's more conservative horsepower rating prices it lower in the used market, plus it's obviously a year older than a 15.

Pricing a V8 S or any Jag is easy, go to Jaguar certified pre-owned used inventory website and thats the high end because every car has a 6Y or 7Y year 100K mile warranty. Subtract $3K to $5K for a non warrantied for sale by owner car that is out of warranty.

Good luck. Here's the website:
https://inventory.jaguarusa.com/used-certified/

 

OP Depending upon how good a friend this is, it makes sense to consider his car, he should be able to provide you a service history and proof of maintenance, verification of whether its been garaged, etc.. And assuming he takes care of his cars, you have confirmation that it was not abused and the benefits of it being a single owner vehicle.

Most of the V8 cars came with plenty of features, but options like black pack and vision pack as well as sport seats would be a plus in my book.

Overall, the $44K number sounds about right to me, although I haven't been researching, and just a guess since we are not knowing what options the car has

Kelly Blue Book doesn't show private party and trade in prices for these?
www.KBB.com

 

That’s a good point. I know it’s always in the garage. He took it to Tahoe last year and kicked me out of the garage (I drove my FJ) to put his damn car inside. Lol. he doesn’t so much as own a wrench so it’s always been jaguar maintained.

Which brings me to another point. How’s the maintenance in these? I’ve heard that the V8 is bullet proof but also Jag has had a worse than horrible track record for 30+ years... I know it’s a sports car but I don’t want another hand grenade like my RX7.

 

I don't put a lot of miles on mine, so maintenance for me has been annual oil changes which I do myself with a Mitivac. Super easy on F type, no need to lift or climb under the car, all done from above. I think the F types are pretty solid/reliable, but a minority have had issues, some severe. Not much different from the M3 I had....

 

Well that’s kind of scary... lol. I’ve known a bunch of BMW folks with all kinds of issues and British parts are really expensive.

 

BMW & MINI parts are much more expensive than Jag parts.

 

30 years ago you'd be right, but in recent years jaguar has definitely upped its game. I think the period of Ford ownership did wonders for general reliabilityand that has continued under Tata's ownership. And I can vouch for the 4.2 V8's bullet resistance when my x100 XKR run out of oil after a pipe burst and emptied the lot - that was after 90,000 miles. My indie replaced the pipe, refilled with oil and was impressed by how quietly the engine ran after such an experience (I didn't actully run it empty, just turned it off as soon as I realised the problem).

 

Generally fine, but you need to be religious about oil changes. We hear occasional reports from people running them low on oil (there is no idiot light), so some end up consuming oil for unknown reasons. Pre 2015 V8s also have timing chain and guides issue, probably something you will have to sort before the car hits 100K. There are also reports from XKRs (that use the same engine from 2012 on) about plastic cooling pipes becoming brittle (supercharger out service) and water pump leaking.

 

I run tests on junkyard engines, and generally all engines show crank bearing damage within 30 seconds of running with no oil pressure and generally cease/spun bearing within 2-3 minutes of no oil pressure. However, it takes couple minutes for oil to get worked out of the system of a running engine, so unless there is a large hole in the pan you have couple extra minutes of losing oil and still having oil pressure.

 

I reckon I used most of the seconds in those minutes!

 

Owning a turbocharged RX7 for 22 years I’m quite familiar with oil consumption and unfortunately leaking as well... 😒

I’m not a hive fan of plastic cooling components particularly either, but I wonder what could be changed. The Mazda has a huge aftermarket for reliability parts so much of the issues have solutions. I’m totally new to the Jag world however so I’m trying not to start again at square one with a never right headache. Coming from the RX7 which is horrendous and Toyota’s which have been basically flawless in my 30 year experience.

A friend of mine owns a BMW 1 and had to change the water pump for $500 because the damn thing is plastic. Who does that?!?

 

A BMW 1-series water pump runs $1800 at the dealer, $1200 at a BMW shop. A discounted chinese part might be $500. It's not an easy DIY as it needs a lift and tries to break your will to live. 30% leak-out the next day regardless of who does it.

 

I paid 42k for mine 5 months ago with 39k miles. Seems like the deal of the century so far. So happy.

 

I know... I helped him replace it. Lol. It was hell and speaking of hell... why! Plastic water pump guaranteed to go out at 40k mikes. Terrible idea.

 

I hope you are joking, but you are wrong about many of these statements.

"it's the best sports car of all time and the fastest F-Type ever made" - Best sports car ever is an opinion and you can believe that, but it's not the fastest F-Type ever made. 2016+ R and SVR are AWD and they hit 60 in mid 3s and quarter miles in mid 11s. The V8S will have a tough time breaking 12s on a good day with great tires.

"The V8 S is the fastest Jag ever because wi 555 BHP at 3650 pounds" - Again no, not the fastest and no it does not weight 3650 lbs (this is probably dry weight). There is a thread on the forum where members weighed their cars, and the V8S was around ~3950 lbs. The base V6 is around 3650 and V6S coming in around ~3850.

"All V8 F-Types are low 3 sec/low 11 sec cars." - No, only the AWD variants can realistically hit low 3s and 11s.

All that being said, V8S is the best value F-Type purchase. And you're right about them actually making closer to 550 hp and just being underrated from Jaguar. But, no need to claim or believe that it's faster than the other variants.