I am flying from Virginia to Arizona to drive back my new to me '14 XK Coupe later this week! Looking forward to the road trip. Any advice for a new XK owner?

 

Congrats!!

BUT....you know it's coming...........



Cheers,

Dave

 

Good luck and welcome to the club. Enjoy the drive but my suggestion would be to put an egg between your right foot and the gas peddle.

 

LOL, good advice. The car is Italian Racing Red and looks like it is speeding just sitting in the parking lot. Quiet, smooth and powerful make it entirely too easy to draw the attention of the local gendarme. I hope to make it home without "financing" new road construction in the half dozen states I transit.

 

Make sure the seller has the battery on a tender a couple days before you arrive.

 

Before setting out, check the coolant level and other fluids. If the service history is available, see if the water pump has been replaced.

 

Great advice!
I am making a checklist. I need to check the spare and jack..... not sure if the wheels have a locking nut or not.

 

I am purchasing the car sight unseen. I did have the car checked out by a reliable friend, it is low mileage, and was sold last just year as a certified preowned car at the local Jag dealership. I debated shipping it, but in the end opted for the road trip. A lot of this stuff is obvious but so far I have:

Car overall condition walk around
Owner’s manual
Both Key FOBS
Bill of sale / Title/ Registration
Temporary tags
contact Insurance company
small cooler and trash bags
USB stick with music/audio books
How to Operate
Lights
AC
wiper
cruise control
trunk release
hood release
gas cap release
GPS map
Tires
Pressure
Spare tire
Jack
Lug wrench
Wheel Lock nut
Fluids
Oil
Cooling
Washer fluid
Battery condition
Any service records (wonder if local dealership would share?)

 

Take a Garmin with you. As you live in an Eastern state and the car lives in a Western state, unless the second map disc is in the car, you may run out of GPS when you cross Texas. Also, try to get both key fobs. Even if one doesn't work, take it with you.

 

How about getting BOTH key FOB's

 

 

Ok
very good to know about the e-stik.. Thank you.

Really wanting that PDF owners manual to read up now.

 

Very few people take good care of a car they are about to sell. I recommend scheduling an oil change at the local dealer the same day you pick it up. Also ask them to check for leaks, service brakes, and look for suspension issues, something that potentially could cause issues on the road. Most dealers would be happy to do this for 1h or so worth of labor charge.

 

Which one did you get? I am in the Phoenix area and keep an eye on the Jaguars for sale across the state. Not to buy another one, but just to satisfy my curiosity. Also, I have the eastern US nav disc that will work in that car if you need it. PM me and we can work something out.

 

Another thought might be to not rush into getting into highway traffic, take an easy drive out of traffic somewhere to get acquainted with it and all of the controls. I bought my second XK sight unseen and after driving away still found a couple controls I was not familiar with.

 

I've seen a few threads on getting into a newer year of our cars...... so exactly what, other than mildly improved nose updates, would I actually GET going from a 2010 to say a 2014? Gooey Sticky buttons, probably no ACC, maybe fewer miles, backup camera (which I already have anyway), less-used interior (mileage dependent?)........ but seriously, what would be the benefit of trading for newer? Maybe I'm subconsciously justifying keeping my 2010 longer...

 

Do what they say above and enjoy the long drive home in your new cat. It will be a prelude for what's to come in the way of pure driver enjoyment with a great road car.

 

what are the gooey sticky buttons and the no ACC?

 

Evidently the 2012 and newer cars have the so-called Soft Touch buttons in the interior, coated with a bit of softish rubber or something, and they tend to get gooey and sticky over time. There are several threads in the forum about methods to clean the goop off.
ACC = Adaptive Cruise Control. It was standard on the 2010 models, and very rare in other years. If one were to search, I'd say less than ten percent of non-2010s have ACC.

 

Think about putting on temporarily paint protection film on the nose and hood for that very long drive home.
Done that trip a hundred times.
Stay very far away from trucks as you know.
Also avoid the fast lane if there are concrete barriers present- thats where the sand and debris accumulates.

If you are in a pinch for paint protection film, you can get carpet protection film from hardware store, its very similar.
As long as you remove it withing a week it should be fine.
If you do a halfass job of putting it on, because you did it in the parking lot of a motel before having any coffee, and dont get the edge sealed entirely, sand will stick to where you left little pockets. Dont fret, just put a new one on the next day, or completely take it off.

You are most likely buying a car that has never been on such a trip, and its better than most new cars.
Note, even when cars are shipped via transport trucks, they are covered with paint protection film.