Hello everyone!

I actually joined JF several months ago, but just three days back took ownership of a 2019 F-Type R-Dynamic coupe RWD! I want to say thank you to the community for being a terrific resource, one that not only helped me educate myself on the F so that I could make a good purchase decision, but one that helped me resolve a delivery day problem that had me crashing out emotionally until cooler heads talked me down. It turned out the cooler heads were right, too, and the problem was merely a low battery condition, easily resolved by charging overnight!

So yeah, I've got a Carpathian Grey R-Dynamic coupe with Pimiento red and Ebony interior. It's very nicely optioned, lacking only the Climate Pack2 (heated and cooled seats/steering wheel/windscreen), the interior Black Pack, and Configurable Dynamics. It's a FWFC (fair weather fun car!) so I wasn't fussed about the heated seats, and I rather like the elegance of the silver trim bezels, however, I hadn't realized Config Dynamics was optional on the R-Dynamic, but I don't think that, had I known, I'd have rejected the purchase; the car is in very good condition, has fairly low miles at 42k, and I got it for-- IMO-- a very good price, just under $35k. Having tracked the market for at least 8 months and looking a few years back into pricing trends, I was pretty convinced this was a great time to buy an F, and that the 2nd gen cars, like this MY19.5, were the perfect ones for me.

To be sure, it's not an investment piece for me, I bought it drive and enjoy. I did want a later model to avoid some of the F Type issues like sticky buttons and weak coolant pipes, and wanted to have CarPlay. I run Waze as a matter of habit both for traffic and navigation, and for police threat detection. Features like switchable exhaust and LSD were non-negotiables; I also wanted the 380hp, but that was kind of negotiable as I knew I could easily ECU tune any 6cyl up to 400hp. With the really wild array of build options on these things, it was quite a complicated purchase decision making matrix!

Early on, given the apparent scarcity of Fs around here, I decided to take the risk of a sight-unseen purchase, which was very scary for me. I've never done it before, but the excellent durability record of the F gave me courage and I did employ 3rd party inspection service. I was thrilled with one called Car Advisors which did a tremendous job on a car in Charlotte, and saved me from a really bad buy. I tried to engage them on this car, which was in the Nashville area, but they didn't work there so I used Lemon Squad, a national service I'd heard about here. Their inspection was much less thorough and far less confidence inspiring. One of the biggest differences was that I was directly in contact with the Car Advisors inspector throughout the process and was able to very specific concerns. Lemon Squad wouldn't even allow me to buy their supposedly more careful Exotic (I think its called) level inspection, so I was stuck with the standard inspection. I even called them after placing the order online, and the call affirmed that the automatic inspection level selection on the website was all that was available for the F. I found it really queer I couldn't pay extra for a better inspection, and that, apparently, and Porsche was Exotic eligible whereas the F was not. In any case, LS inspected quickly and sent me additional pictures beyond what I'd seen from the dealer, and their rather cursory inspection was positive enough that I went for it.

I had the car shipped from Franklin, TN to Ann Arbor using a broker the dealer buyer put me in touch with, a guy named Evander at ATS. Very nice and competent guy who organized a "hotshot" carrier-- apparently that's the industry term for a heavy-duty pickup truck pulling a trailer-- who whipped the car up here in 1 day in an enclosed, 2-car trailer. It arrived just fine and without any drama. The driver, Oleg, was very nice, conscientious, and communicative, although he didn't speak much English. When found out the name of that company and Googled them, I got a little nervous, I'll admit: LFG Transport, which Google said was Let's F'ing Go and reflected their business model! Hey, I tried not to roll so many dice, but the esteemed Reliable Carriers, whose orange and black trucks I see on the road a lot around here, gave me quote with a 3 week pickup window! I was between Scylla and Charybdis: leaving the car sitting vulnerable on the dealer lot, or going with a carrier of unknown repute.

Having the car now, there are only a couple of minor things that need addressed. One is getting the InControl connected services online. I'm getting a message on the infotainment screen saying they're expired, and apparently I need some level of subscription depending on which services I want, e.g. navi. Jag have a confusing array of websites-- jaguar.here.com, account.here.com, jaguarshop.here.com...WTF?-- that are not uniformly in communication with each other and/or do different stuff. I haven't figured it out yet, but have at least 2 different accounts, not including the Remote App which is needed for remote starting, window opening/closing, stuff like that. Remote App requires some kind of connected services sub, too.

The other little things which kinda need fixed to achieve perfection are a displaced backup camera and a cracked valence right above the exhaust tips. I'm guessing someone ran into the bumper causing the damage and displacing the camera. It's not very noticeable damage unless you're really looking for it, and the camera still works, it just has a vignetted display because it's not flush with the bumper face, so it's peering out of the mount hole. Works, but is just one of those annoying things to not have work right.

As for mods, first up is a radar detector/laser shifter system, probably Escort, since they're what I've used for many years. However, this car has an athermic windscreen which blocks radar (and UV, the big benefit) waves, so window mount detectors don't work and I need to pay the big buck for a remote system. I drive fast enough that I could easily land a "Reckless" citation, so the $4-$6k for a Redline Ci system is probably a wise spend. So expensive, though... The only other mod, I think, will be a Velocity AP ECU tune to hit that 400hp mark and pick up some extra torque. Other than that, it's pretty much good to go, I think. I'm up to the Jag dealer in Novi next week for an inspection and fluids change, so barring any catastrophic news, it's good to go.

Geez, are intros supposed to be this long? I've probably said too much in any case, so I'll just pop in a couple of "flurry day" pics and see y'all around the forums. Thanks for having me!

 

Welcome back aboard.

 

Welcome back to the Forums.

 

Greetings Chaad and welcome back to JF.

Cheers and best wishes,

 

Welcome back to Jaguar Forums chaadster,

Good to have you with us.
Enjoy the forum.

If you haven't done so already you should add your car details to your signature to help others to help you.
If you need help with getting around and using the forum follow this link for some help Forum Help

 

Hello, Chaad,
Congratulations on your new F-type Jaguar!
I Luv the Black/RED (2 of my personal Favs) interior.

Welcome to the forums from ElinorB.
(';')

 

welcome to the forum - enjoy!!!