Part 1 is here

It’s been about 2 years of ownership and I figured I’d do an update!

As a refresher I have a 2015 base F-Type coupe with the Type R body kit, lowered half and inch, and an aftermarket exhaust. (All from previous owners, I am the 4th). Currently sitting at 57k miles.

We’ll start with cost! Outside of my monthly payments I’ve spent a total of about $4200. The breakdown is as follows.

1. New tires - $1700. I bought Michelin Pilot Sports and they are a CLOUD compared to the continentals. Would recommend if you want a softer ride. Tires are staggered sizes so yeah you are going to spend money if you want new shoes.

2. 50k mile service - $1700. A crazy amount of money in my opinion for what amounts to an oil change, coolant flush, and check up. They claim to clean the fuel system as well. The main reason I did this is because I’m hoping it helps with resale value as it’s an important milestone to have the car looked at.

3. Coolant Leak - $620. This one sucked. Shortly after my 50k mile service, I started leaking coolant. Took it back to the dealer and after a $210 diagnosis, I was told that my thermostat housing had cracked. They wanted $800 to replace but I bought the part online and had a local euro specific shop replace it. Turns out that was not the issue but just a lose hose clamp on the thermostat housing. Part was still replaced and no leaks since.

This brings me to my advice to owners buying older or higher mileage F-Types.

1. These are still delicate cars (esp in V6) and dealerships have less and less incentive to care about them. Keep that in mind if you are buying an older one with higher mileage. Be vigilant and ask questions. Explore other options.

2. The coolant most of our cars use is no longer sold by JLR. It is orange and they will try to sell you or put pink coolant in your car. Dealership claims it will mix but I’d be safe and flush the orange out and switch to pink.

3. My roof is black and showing some wear/oxidation at this point. I’ll most likely have to get it repainted but I would recommend a ceramic coating to slow that process and protect everything.

4. For those with Black gloss on the interior, I’d highly recommend Polywatch to bring those back to life. It’s used for watch plexiglass but works magic on the gloss black interior trim. Note: DO NOT use for sticky buttons.

5. If you can before buying, check to see if the supercharger coolant pipe has been replaced. It is a plastic piece under the supercharger that is pretty expensive to replace and fails often. If it does fail, I would not recommend the OEM part. After market have made more reliable ones.

6. I am still looking into the Apple car play situation but know that it is much much harder to upgrade if you have a 2015. The head unit in the Harmen Karden cars is between the seats behind the panel sitting vertically, from what I’ve read it’s much easier to disconnect the screen and add a car play interface.

7. If you or the dealership are working on anything under the hood, avoid as much as possible removing the hood. It’s a paint getting it lined up with the fenders and front bumper after removed.

8. Condition the leather and it will look much better. I don’t know why but the earlier cars don’t have the best quality leather and need TLC.

9. My headliner had some sag right above the passenger seat, mainly because that’s a hot spot to grab getting in the the car. I use some basic aerosol headliner adhesive and LIGHTLY sprayed on the area. Went back to new but be gentle applying to avoid stretching.

All in all it’s been an amazing time and a blast. Feel free to message any questions you have and I’m sure other owners can share advice or corrections to my knowledge in the comments!