Lance,

I'm surprised at you. You're basing your entertaining account above on a 30-minute test drive? How was your first manual experience in the first 30 minutes? Were you just instantly "one with the machine" in such a short period of time?

All the rhythm and flow is equally there, minus left foot exercise. My own experience with dozens of manuals is that every single one of them was different, and I never felt proficient ("or one") with any of them until a few thousand miles.

 

Thanks for the pricing. I agree with you on those numbers. And, I also tend to agree re 2015 being the better R.

 

I was offered (and accepted) a 14% discount on my MY 15 F Type R.

It was, without doubt, the best deal I've ever done on a car.

As for lhoboy's heartfelt missive, WHAT THE???

Not only can you make this car sing but when it does, EVERYBODY stops to listen!

 

I'd love to get the same discount. Good for you!

 

Go to the sales manager. I just bought a XJR and haggled and got what I wanted. There are plenty of sales sites and tell them you will go else where if they can't lower it.

Check with others what the going rate is though.

 

just buy the base and save 30K

 

Maybe not yet one, but I knew I loved it right off the bat. ('84 Vette, '66 Tiger, '02 JCW)
When the F-Type first came out, I wanted to love it, but just wasn't going spend any money on something I didn't immediately love. I do understand this may be a personal psychosis, but I'm not harming anybody but myself.

 

Hey, that was written in the middle of the night. Cut me some slack!

 

This makes me feel better. I want to buy a 2015 F-Type R from a local dealer and offered them $100,000 and they told me they couldn't go lower than $107k. I told them that there was no way I was buying the car at that price. The listed MSRP is $108k, so they were willing to "discount" the car by $1000. LOL

David

 

That's interesting, and our yardsticks are very different. My mental disability is "impulse control," which has manifested itself in the purchase of far too many cars over the years (more than 50 so far.) I place essentially zero weight on a test drive, where I think it is impossible to really appreciate what a car can do. One is, by definition, unfamiliar with the "right way" to bring out a car's best, as well as unable to do so with someone else's property.

I ordered a Lotus Elise and a C6 Z06 without ever having test driven either, and I did so based exclusively upon performance specs. When I took delivery of each, I have to say I was just "whelmed," but each one ultimately ended up on my short list of favorite cars of all time. I also tracked both, and they were both extraordinary at what they were designed to excel in.

Closer to your wheel house, I was really underwhelmed by the Gen 1 Mini Cooper S on my first test drive, and I found the manual just weird. However, I bought one, and after learning it well, I ended up really enjoying that car as well.

 

It really is a personal difference in how major decisions are approached by different people. I know if i'll like it right away. I still own over half of the new cars (2 of 3) i've bought in the past 40 years, so I have a tendency to make a long term commitment to them. The F-Type is the only car on the market that I find worthy to be my retirement present to myself. Love the looks, handling, and performance, but the transmission has to be right.

The only shortcoming I found with the '02 6speed was the gearing was far too tall. I swapped it out for an, '05 close ratio with locker and am happy to this day.
Even after several long road trips in my wife's Gen 2 JCW, I still hate driving it because the gear changer feels like you're stirring paint.

To each his own.

 

Of course, but the point I was trying to make is that if I had used your approach to make my decision, I would have walked away from a couple of cars that ended up being the most fun and most capable I've ever had the pleasure to drive the way they were intended. My Lotus was perhaps the prime example. The auto F-Type is already on my top 5 list, as well.

Since you're ordering a car, which is impossible to test drive right now, you're also operating on a huge leap of faith. It wouldn't surprise me if the car you order ends up being the first manual F-Type in metro DC. I truly hope that it turns about to be as good as you're dreaming it to be the first time you take it out before signing the papers. It would be a shame to walk away at that point.

 

Agreed. I have thought of that as well. The reviewers are criticizing the ZF MT for being too much like those on the M3/4s (sticky shifters) which I happen to like and the long throw which I plan on addressing by cutting down the shifter and installing a real shift knob. The odds are in my favor and there is no way I am waiting until I get a chance to test drive one. As you suggest, I probably will have one of the first MTs in the DC area before any examples are available for test drives.

 

I broke down and bought the R that was configured as we wanted and it was even the right color - Firesand. The interior is jet w Firesand stitch.

My wife and I will pick it up tomorrow or Thursday.

I will report impressions.

It is a great car and will be very happy in my garage sitting next to my 67 GTX.

 

Congrats! Mind sharing the pricing details of your deal?

 

List was just over 109K. Price we agreed upon was just over 99K. Basically, I got a 6% discount off MSRP through the dealer plus 3K rebate from Jaguar. That works out to just over 9% off MSRP. I tried to do better, but, this was the car we wanted.

 

Sounds like you got a great deal, no regrets. Nice color combo too. Have fun breaking that puppy in!

 

OUTSTANDING, Apollo! Congratulations. I absolutely love Firesand.

 

Congrats, Apollo! I am truly envious.

 

Thanks very much. What would be even better is a 6-speed manual R!! But, the wife wanted an automatic. I'll at least have paddles I can play with!