Considering Buying a 2019 Jaguar F-Type P380 – Need Advice on Engine Noise

[Lukystyle]

Hi everyone,

I'm currently considering buying a 2019 Jaguar F-Type P380 with 56,000 km on the odometer. During my inspection, I noticed some concerns and wanted to get your insights before making a decision. Here are the details:

When the seller started the car (cold start), I noticed a tic-tic noise coming from the area near the compressor. Could this be the belt or something else?

After a few seconds, the motor seemed to settle down, but the tic-tic noise persisted. There was also quite a bit of noise coming from the front radiator area, but I assume that’s normal for this model.


The owner mentioned the car recently had an oil change, but there's no verified maintenance history. Previous maintenance was done at random garages, and there’s no proof of past oil changes.

The lack of a clear history is a bit concerning for me, especially since I'm buying this car in South Korea, where Jaguar dealers no longer operate. After-sales service is handled by Range Rover here.

The car had a battery drain issue when I arrived. They had to replace the battery to start the car.
I inspected for corrosion near the injectors, but it was hard to see clearly.
There was no white smoke from the exhaust after running the car for 5 minutes.

The car is listed at 58 million KRW, which is approximately $43,800 USD.
I've also attached a video link of the cold start so you can hear the noise and provide feedback.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on whether the noise is something I should be worried about.
Thank you so much for your help

[MajorTom]

Welcome! Sounds like normal injector tapping to me. They all do that and it quietens down when the engine warms up.

As you may have seen, the most common reason to battery drain is that the systems stay awake after someone has plugged something into the OBDII port and didn't disconnect it properly. Maybe worth checking if that's what caused it or if it's something else which could be more complicated to track down.

Since it's a facelift car - take a close look at the intensity of the headlight DRLs and factor in that the left side DRL will dim/fail sooner or later unless it already has.

Maintenance at random garages at first sounds like a warning about a sloppy or ignorant previous owner but since there are no Jag dealers maybe it's understandable. Main thing should be that all maintenance has been carried out correctly and at least annually.

[Lukystyle]

Thank you for the warm welcome and the detailed insights!

The injector tapping explanation makes sense and is reassuring. I'll definitely monitor it during a follow-up inspection. Regarding the battery drain, I'll ask the seller about any recent use of the OBDII port or whether they had any devices plugged in that could have kept the systems awake. That sounds like a plausible cause.

As for the headlights, I'll make sure to check the DRLs closely, especially the left side, as you mentioned. Thanks for pointing that out!

The car had only one previous owner, a woman in her 50s, and this information was verifiable. While the lack of maintenance records concerns me, it could be understandable given the situation here in South Korea. I’ll try to confirm whether at least the key maintenance tasks (like oil changes) were done annually and correctly.

One thing I’m still worried about is potential coolant system issues, corrosion near the injectors, or differential failure. Would it make sense to have the car inspected specifically for these issues? And is it a lot of work to check them? These are my main concerns since driving conditions here rarely allow for high-speed driving, so I’m not as worried about performance wear.

Thanks again for your help – I really appreciate the advice!

[YorkshireSam]

Welcome to the forum. As MajorTom says, that ticking seems normal.

The most common cooling problem is a split Y-pipe. But you'd know about it as it'd be dumping coolant. If the temp is good during driving, it should be ok.

Likewise you'd hear diff whine on driving/ crunching sounds when maneuvering. That said, with 56000km and little service history I'd change the diff fluid immediately.

This prevents issues and your mechanic would also be able to check the old fluid for metal filings which indicate excessive wear.

If it's priced to reflect the lack of service history and you're OK with that, personally I'd take it for a pre-sale inspection at a Land Rover dealership. It'll give peace of mind on what sounds like a rare car in SK.

[MajorTom]

Always happy to help anyone anyone to get a good experience with these marvellous cars.

The coolant system issues probably look worse and more common than they are if you look online. Many F-Types don't have such issues despite high mileage. What I think mainly affects the risk of coolant system issues is how the car has been treated and driven. Many heat cycles, temperature differences, pushing the engine before it's warmed up properly etc will arguably speed up the deterioration of the plastic coolant system parts. If the car has been treated well by the previous owner and the mileage is low the likelihood of coolant system issues shouldn't be high. Being a MY19 it should have the newer updated version of the infamous Y pipe (which you can see if you remove the engine cover) which also reduces the risk. I wouldn't worry too much but for peace of mind you could have someone pressure test the system and look around the engine bay for any coolant residue.

Injector corrosion is only an issue if an injector fails and needs to be removed. The main thing contributing to this issue is how much the car has been subjected to water and especially if it has been left parked outdoors in rain. This car has the open bonnet vents which let water straight in and increases the risk of corrosion issues. The vents can easily be upgraded to better ones later. Things seem to look quite clean in the engine bay though, and sometimes you can see bright marks on the engine cover right beneath the vents on cars that got a lot of water through the vents. Doesn't seem to be the case with this one. Try to find out if the car has been garaged because that arguably reduces the risk a fair bit. If you just pull off the engine cover you may also get a better view of if there are any traces of any corrosion. Anyhow I wouldn't worry about this either.

Diff failures are probably also quite rare especially if the car has been treated well. If you test drive it you can check for signs of diff issues. It can result in different kinds of noises from humming to whining. Mine was causing a high pitched whine around 100 km/h and was replaced under warranty due to that, although it probably wasn't really an issue and my new diff also sounds a bit like that but much less. Good point from Sam about simply getting the diff oil changed. Make sure that it's done by someone who does it correctly though because there have been cases where diffs have been messed up after a badly done oil change.

[Lunar]

Welcome!

Re. the historic battery drain, this could well be caused by not correctly closing down an OBD session - if it’s been done correctly, when you lock the car the illumination of the hazard warning button should go out after a couple of minutes.

[Lukystyle]

Thank you all again for the incredibly helpful advice and the warm welcome. The level of detail and insight you’ve shared has been invaluable, and I truly appreciate it!

Regarding the OBD, I actually forgot to bring my own scanner during the inspection. I’ll try asking the seller if I can plug mine in next time to check for any stored codes. I’m not sure I’ll interpret everything perfectly, but it’s worth trying for some peace of mind before committing to the purchase.

As for the pre-sale inspection, I just learned that dealers in Korea are obligated to perform one before selling the car. Unfortunately, I’m not sure how much I can trust their findings. If I go through with the purchase, I’ll definitely arrange for my own inspection immediately afterward to ensure there are no hidden issues.

I might have been overly nervous about the car potentially having every issue commonly found on this model, but your detailed explanations have helped me feel much more confident. I’ll focus on the key checks you’ve mentioned (coolant system, diff fluid, injector area, etc.) and take things step by step.

Once again, thank you all so, so much for taking the time to help me out. I’m blown away by the support here, and I’ll be sure to keep you updated on how everything goes!

[YorkshireSam]

I might have been overly nervous about the car potentially having every issue commonly found on this model, but your detailed explanations have helped me feel much more confident. I’ll focus on the key checks you’ve mentioned (coolant system, diff fluid, injector area, etc.) and take things step by step.

Totally understandable when you're spending lots of money.

As mentioned here, the amount of info online about these 'common faults' probably gives the impression they're more prevalent than they really are. But that's because there's a strong online community that talks about them. They're solid cars.

Having owned one for more than a year now, I'd feel much more confident buying a used F-Type than say a used Porsche or BMW M at similar money.

Good luck and let us know how you get on.

[MajorTom]

Yeah how solid these cars actually are is a bit of a well kept secret which is one factor that contributes to why they are such great value for money compared to more mainstream alternatives like the posh beetles.

Jag owners are mostly a very cool and friendly bunch. The strong online communities and how they contribute to the ownership experience is actually one of the reasons to why I stayed with the brand for quite a few years now.

Good luck and fingers crossed that this car is as nice as it seems to be.