Thanks for the encouragement. My last "passion" car was a 2002 Mini Cooper S (bought used in 2003). Through the support of a great forum, I learned to do many fixes and mods, and also that the dealer is often clueless. The XF is a whole nother world, and I'm loving it.
I'm glad to find a thriving Crossfire forum with lots of help and support, and I do plan to undertake a lot of this stuff myself.
Still, having just bought the car with some warranty, I plan to point out these issues to the dealer. I don't honestly expect them to know how to makes some of these repairs, I'm sure they would just change out the part, if its covered. I'll see how they respond...