Hawk

My car comes out of its lease in 5 weeks 04 XR Turbo Blueprint No modifications at all Factory 18" wheels Premium sound Factory Tint XR Scuff Plates Factory Fairmont Ghia head lining and boot trim (thanks to a contact on the ford line) One owner, absolutely MINT unmarked condition inside and out. 17,500 kms If I get a decent offer I will sell it otherwise I am considering extending my lease. Let me know if you are interested Hawk

The 18s are the way to go IMO, easy to clean , look great and the Dunlop sport 9000s stick like Only downfall is the replacement cost.

I understand where you are coming from as the car will get scratched up and chipped eventually, but it wont bother me if Im the one doing the damage. I wouldnt have bothered if I found 1 or 2 problems but there were a few more I didnt inclde on the list above including paint flaking back to bare metal inside the drivers door jamb. 10 plus cosmetic faults on a new car is pretty ordinary. Hawk

Pete is spot on I should have said Fairmont Ghia carpet on the boot lid. Hawk

After waiting 8 weeks I took along a mate with an eye for detail to pick up my new T. After checking the car over for 30 minutes we found the following cosmetic problems: X1 18" wheel dinted under clear coat X1 18" wheel scatched Tail light scratched and scuffed including blemish in the chrome strip Chip and scratch in sill panel Window tint minor marks and bubble Plastic next to stereo scratched Scartch on top of driver rear view mirror Front bar out of alighnment Rubber seal under bonnet not glued properly and poorly painted with undercoat exposed. I have also noticed ripples under both front door handles, has anyone else got this problem as it is uniform on both sides? The salesman was very apoligetic and brought out the manager who put all the problems in writing and said they would be fixed asap or at 3000k service. He also documented the fact that I will get 2 new 18s. On a brighter note they failed to notice the fairmont Ghia headlining with front courtesy lights and overhead consol, fairmont ghia boot carpet, XR8 switches and locknuts my mate on the line at FOMOCO slipped in. I might sound a bit fussy but when you hand over 45K you want the thing right. Even with the probs I have listed I still love the thing, its a weapon. Hawk

Ordered mine on 15/3/04 and should pick it up next week. I was fortunate enough to get a national fleet discount and paid $44,967 drive away with: SSS Prestige paint 4 X 18" Wheels Tinted windows Premium Sound Slim line plates XR Mats Hopefully only one more week to wait as it is at FPV at the moment getting some final touches.

To answer ducatijb's question I decided on: Auto Premium Sound 18" wheels XR Mats and Tinted Windows. I was going to go for the premium brakes but after reading many posts it seems like the shudder problem has been "sort of" fixed with the changes post October 03. I was also considering the alarm, but it has been canned on here quite a bit so I gave it a miss also. The colour was also a really hard choice as every second XR I see is Blueprint in Melbourne, but I decided that must be for a reason so Blueprint got the nod with Lightning strike a close second.

After reading plenty of posts and lots of indecision regarding colours and options I finally ordered my Blueprint T on 15/3/04. My dealer Bayford told me that I would be taking delivery in 6 weeks. I just wanted to thank all who have contributed to the forums on this site as the information I read was a big help in deciding what options to go for. I've got about 3 weeks to go and the wait is killing me!