I know for a fact that my former car had a very hard first 1k miles as a track demo, but since it had a full warranty and I didn't plan on keeping it beyond warranty expiry, it didn't matter much to me. Having driven XFRs on the Jag Academy day, all day at the end of a hard, hot week of track work, it is clear that these cars are designed for hard driving. None of them missed a beat. I wouldn't be worried about it. The trim will fall apart before the mechanicals start to!

 

I would go for the 2012 only due to the color combo and the 2012 facelift. It may or may not be the best Eco way but preference to me it is. You will be happy with any of those I am sure.

 

They are both 2012….

 

Sorry was reading the first posted question. In your case either is great but I always lean towards the Red.

 

JWM. March 2013 on page 50:

"Jaguar has taken the opportunity to tweak the ride by softening and reprofiling the damping of the car, and reviewing the bush rates. Not dramatically, but enough to make it a bit smoother and more absorbent over road knobbles. All models get these changes, thanks to Jaguar capitalizing on the opportunity of developing the XJ AWD setup. 'If we can learn something new when developing a car' attested Barnes 'we'll always integrate it across the entire model range' ". Attributed to Simon Barnes, Senior Manager for Vehicle Engineering at the AWD launch in Quebec.

Not supposition, fact.

My seat of the pants expertise apparently trumps your scepticism.