Was holding out for an Artisan but the colour choice is a little boring tbh, plus I loath oatmeal/ivory interiors

Not new to XK ownership as had a 100 for 13yrs until 7 weeks ago

So before I pick it up have insisted that the independent carries out the following on a 56k mile car:

1) Full service inc oil and all fluids/filters
2) Transmission & Diff Service
3) New MOT with previous MOT's and advisory items
4) Provide with a full history of the car
5) Flashing car with latest software
6) Latest Nav software
7) Air con regas with print off of what's been taken out and put back in
8) Full interior valet but just a jetwash/shampoo on the exterior (I prefer to do this myself)

Anything I should be checking, looking at or asking for?

Oh, a picture of the spectrum blue with charcoal I'm getting





Oh, and it comes with 20" wheels, anyone tell me what smallest wheel that will fit is, am thinking about spare wheels/winter tyres

Any help or advice greatly appreciated

 

Might want to get a 4 wheel alignment. Good luck and happy motoring.

 

Beautiful Color, kudos!!

19s are supposedly smallest with the "R" Brake Package.

Cheers,

Dave

 

What;s an R Brake package? This is a N/A XK

I will be upgrading the exhausts to quad exits and no rear box, purely for the road presence and roar, which will mean a new diffuser, also will be having a full polybush set as never had a bush fail in 9yrs from fitting to my old X100

 

Good looking critter. Personally I wouldn't do poly. There's been a couple folks who have that have regretted the decision. The X150 suspension is leaps and bounds beyond the X100's design limitations. I also think it'll sound poorly without a back box. I ran mine without it and it sounded like a clapped out old pickup. Not a good thing. Read my build thread to see the system I ended up with. Couldn't be happier for a minimal outlay of cash. A year later the car sounds amazing.

 

Sorry about R brake confusion, I thought it was an XKR.

Cheers,

Dave

 

Have the seller check out the water pump and make sure that you have the latest iteration as earlier iterations are prone to failure after 30k miles. Also check out the age of the battery if it is 4+ years old ensure that it gives off a 12.5+ volt reading while at rest. Many Forum members here, including me, have and use a CTek battery tender which can be bought of either Amazon or Ebay for no more than $100 including a line extension. I hook mine up every evening. Weak batteries on X150s are prone to causing many electronic glitches.

Lastly - beautiful ride, welcome tothe X150 Forum and go an enjoy your new ride.

 

Ralph

I have CTEK charger, when you say 'tender' what exactly is that, perhaps American terminology I'm not used to? Typically I charge up each month/when the car has sat for more than a couple of days undriven. i also give it a deep conditioning 72hr charge just before winter sets in (albeit it's really mild here and I've only seen snow/ice 3 times in 18yrs.

I have a 3 month old type 019 battery taken off my old XK, this still has over 4yrs guarantee left and had a visual indicator on the external of the battery (first I've seen) and yes I've had a battery tested and replaced under warranty before.

Anyone know what the VIN requirements for the newer water pump is? My prospective purchase VIN ends 42188

Oh, I know it's an Ali body but did read about rust around the windscreen and of course the chassis legs, any other areas I need to look for it...am having the underneath cleaned and sealed before Nov.

Thanks for all the advice thus far....keep it coming

PS: This car has had two deposits left on it, for some reason the depositors spouses didn't like the colour....now I call that 'cat whipped' or some-such and my philosophy is 'if you're not paying for it then you've got no say" (although this may explain why I'm happily single!)

 

I sprayed my undercarriage with LPS3 and it's held up well the past year or so. Only real steel is in the subframes. The rest is aluminum, rivets and glue. Aluminum corrosion is not rust, it's a white powdery death that's caused by the lack of oxygen next to the aluminum. Paint chips need dealt with quickly, especially in a salt environment.

Trickle charger, battery tender etc. Ctek seems to be the popular choice. These X150's are intolerant of voltage problems and the battery acts like a shock absorber for the electrical system. Lots of good old Lucas's mischief made its way into this Ford design. Key fob batteries also last about two months (if you are lucky) of daily duty.

Personally I like blue but that one seems to have a lot going on with different pearl shades in the mix. Kind of like the old mystic paints just less color shift. Love to see it in the sun.

My most relevant advice is to read back over the past 40 or so pages of threads and subscribe to the interesting ones for future reading.

 

The Ctek MUS 4.3 is a fully automatic 8-step charger that delivers selectable 0.8 A or 4.3 A to 12 V batteries from 1.2–110 Ah and is suitable for maintenance charging up to 160 Ah. Reading it's function will give you more information as to how the 8 step works and it's purpose. It is advisable to start with a fully charged battery which can be achieved by charging with a battery charge (10 amps or more). If you store your car in the winter months then the Ctek is suitable to leave on for months and even years without boiling the battery.
As for your 3 year old 019 battery if it is compatible with your new car then it shouldn't be a problem.
I believe the latest water pumps were installed in the 2012 MY but someone here can confirm this.
Being that you are single then you haven't heard the saying "happy wife , happy life" PS: this year we celebrate our 50th
Good luck with your new car.

 

Preaching to the converted, this is the one I already have


I've noticed people don't post URL's on here much, is there a rule against it?

 

NO - but any to the likes of Amazon, ebay or car sales are rather pointless as this types of listing disappears within a short time whereas the posts stay here forever. A better link for something like the CTEK is the manufacturer's website. We have Worldwide membership and anyone is usually going to search for a product locally at the lowest available cost.

Graham

 

Thanks GGG

But won't my link even when dead still show 'CTEK-56-864' as a lasting legacy, that may help any prospective purchaser regardless of country in a web search?

 

Very nice color. When you get it, you'll have to post the color code from the door placard, as 'spectrum blue' doesn't ring a bell.
I'm sure my spouse would have preferred that color over any additional red cars I purchase.

 

Am sure you'll appreciate that not all colours are available in all territories, America has a higher percentage of white and silver, purely I think as it's so darned (I'm bi-lingual!) hot that those colours reflect rather than absorb

It's actually funny that you mention red as I've seen couples where one gender is jumping up and down saying ' it's just the colour I want'. The other gender is frowning as how can he...(ooops! they) then negotiate a discount if that's what the other one clearly wants?

When I bought my Audi I wanted an automatic black salon with black leather, however I was clever (?) enough to advise the salesman that I wanted an manual estate with cloth interior and they had to do a hard sell to get me to take it at a £3k discount off the ticket price...he was still rubbing his hands together at a job well done

Paint code for Spectrum Blue is JKM