I thought it was appropriate to start a brand new blog for the arrival of the new Xantia V6, and not tag it onto the existing 130+ page behemoth of a thread...
I'm hoping this blog will be a lot shorter, happier, and more of a documentation of the fettling and upkeep of the car rather than the diagnostic nightmare thread interspersed with pleas for help that my previous blog turned out to be... 
So I hope you guys will subscribe to this blog.I won't actually have the car in my hands until Thursday, but seeing as Trainman and CitroJim will both get to see the car in the flesh before me I thought I better open this thread now so there is a proper place for the discussion to occur!
First a big thank you to Trainman for offering to collect this car from Plymouth - it really couldn't be any further away from me (near Glasgow) without being in another country, and because of the distance I was not even considering bidding on the car originally. Without his generous offer of assistance this car would not have happened.
After attempts to buy northern_mike's and superloopys Xantia V6's to replace my dying Quartz Grey V6 fell through and Trainman poked his head above the parapet by offering to collect it I made a somewhat impulsive decision to just go for it!
(I've never bought a car before without seeing it up close first, but the "one elderly owner low mileage" swayed me to take the chance)So after some anxious bidding on Ebay with someone trying to outbid me with 15 seconds left, it was mine for £530
In correspondence with the seller (selling on behalf of his elderly father) he advised me that after he collected the car from his fathers he discovered the radio didn't appear to be working as he thought it was so he knocked £50 off the price - so I actually got it for £480. 
At the moment all I have is the sellers pictures so I'll post those below:
It's a 1997 S1 Xantia V6 in Silex Grey, with an incredibly low 65k miles on the clock and one owner. As can be seen from the pictures there are some scrapes on the rear bumper and rear left door and wheel arch (maybe a slight scrape on the rear right wheel arch too) from reversing "incidents" so it will need a new rear bumper and a bit of panel work at some point. The drivers mirror glass is also shattered but I already have a new one ready to fit.
Aside from that the body and interior look very good for a 17 year old car. According to the seller his father only did 1000 miles a year for the last three years and I get the impression that the reason for selling is that his fathers age and health is such that he is having to give up driving...
As one of the major, terminal issues with my current 111k Xantia V6 is a very cranky gearbox which is running well into borrowed time the low mileage is very appealing - barring catastrophe this gearbox should be in very good condition indeed especially if driven carefully by an elderly driver all its life and with no towing - and if I can give it a couple of oil changes right away and then do one per year it should keep that gearbox in a good condition for a long time.
Tax is due by the end of the month and MOT by mid August so there will be a rush to get it taxed and MOT'ed as soon as it arrives. Hopefully it doesn't need too much for an MOT - the only thing I know for sure it needs is the wing mirror being fixed. The front tyres look nearly new to me and the rear tyres serviceable.
Some of the non MOT things this car will probably need doing:
* Starter helper relay modification
* Cabin blower fan helper relay modification
* Spheres
* A service (including gearbox oil)
* Radio repair
* Swap my almost brand new coolant expansion vessel from the old car into it.
I've noticed a couple of things from the picture - if you look very closely (at least on the original high resolution photos, not the ones above) it appears that the radio antenna is snapped off at the base, also it looks like the LHM level is low as the orange disc is between the lines but I highly doubt that bonnet up photo was taken with the suspension fully up...
One other thing my eagle eyes spotted is that the front strut spheres appear to be the long life (three dimple) types.
Whether that means they're the original 17 year old ones, or whether they were replaced at least once, I don't know yet. The long life types easily last 10 years, but I don't think they last 17.Parts that I may need to fettle this car:
* S1 Silex Grey rear bumper with no scratches
* S1 non-keypad oddments tray so I can disable the immobiliser and turn it into a more useful oddments tray!
* Radio antenna
* Radio (if I can't repair/unlock the existing one)
I guess that's all we can really know until we see the car! Anticipation is building up rapidly... I'm catching a train down to Trainmans in Penwortham on Thursday to collect it and I've decided to take Friday off work as well because the thought of going back work for one day when I want to be playing with the new toy is too much!
Also that gives me a chance to go into the DVLA to get the Tax disc renewed immediately, post the completed V5C away and then tinker... 
Be surprised if it turns up with its gearbox at the rate Jim's hoarding them!