No, I bought my XLT from someone local to me. Paid what I did part as a favor from the seller, part due to the condition of the unit. Poor old XLT had a hard life before I got a hold of it. Now it's living with a technology addict who will care for it like it deserves.
I too think the toggle switch could be a little different. My fingers are quite strong and I have to be careful not to crush the switch when using it. (test your hand strength; get a mechanical bathroom scale and hold in in your hands. Slowly squease it to the highest reading you can and hold it for a count of 5 seconds. I can hold 230 pounds on a bad day and reach 280 pounds when I'm showing off. My hands hurt for an hour or so afterwards
A warrantee is only good for stuff the company will admit is wrong. Most of the time, unless there is a strict cause in the paperwork about opening the housing, modifications such as replacing hardware won't void a warrantee. However sometimes a company just wants to be a hard-ass and they will void your warrantee for any little reason, just to avoid taking care of the unit's defects. Contact White's and ask them if they will void your warrantee if you replace the hardware. What little time I have spent on the phone with them leads me to think they are reasonable and allowing for the skill employed in the hardware "mods" you shouldn't have any problems. Putting silicone on the circuit card will void the warrantee, so don't make that mod. Should you need circuit repairs in the future, the silicone will severely impair the technician and you don't want to do that.
A last thing you can do before resorting to modifications is wrap the search coil cable tightly around the shaft, use a Velcro tie as close to the bottom as you can (with a "service loop" in the cable of about 3 inches) and another Velcro at the top of the shaft near the hand-grip. the "flopping" wire can interact with the search coil and confuse the detector's electronics.
Best of luck, and may you find something shiny today.
