parimento1
Thread starter
I know. I don't know what everyone has against sedans or hatchbacks. An SUV is just a tall hatchback and you pay through the nose for that extra height!
I see multiple Lincolns daily, but they are usually a couple decades old.I can go...months...many months...possibly a year between seeing a single Lincoln in the wild. Perhaps they're more popular elsewhere but here in MA they are very rare. Hard to belive on that scale they are a money maker.
I see multiple Lincolns daily, but they are usually a couple decades old.
Lincoln sells more vehicles in total than Toyota sells Tundras and I can easily see 5+ Tundras per day just driving around town. They must be selling them somewhere...
Ditto about the new Continental not living up to brand expectations.I've been a Lincoln owner for 12 years of my 15 of driving life, and am on my second one. I come from a family of Lincoln owners, with easily close to 50 years of continuous history in the brand between someone.
My first was an LS, a polarizing car that I absolutely loved. The engineers wanted it to be a true 5-series competitor, but marketing got in the way. Rather than chasing the crowd who would have wanted a 5-series for a practical mix of driving enjoyment and space, marketing decided to pitch it more to the "traditional" Lincoln buyer as a smaller alternative to the Town Car, and also wanted the ride softened up. That happened on all but the "sport" trim models, which did at least have the full suspension the engineers wanted. Unfortunately, too, the LS seemed to be plagued badly by "Monday Morning Syndrome" and maybe even a whole host of other days . Mine never had an issue beyond what you'd expect as normal maintenance on a 150K car that I'd put 100K on myself, but I knew others who were plagued by no end of problems. One big members of the LS Owners Club had owned 4, and bought 3 of them new. His last new one, a 2006, was so problematic that he managed a successful "Lemon Law" buy back, something that I rarely hear of anymore.
After my LS met an untimely demise as "Vehicle 2" in a 5 vehicle incident, I ended up in the MKZ I now have. It's been problem free in the 60K or so miles I've put on it, but it's just a thoroughly "bleh" car for me and really does feel like a dressed up Fusion. I don't pay much attention to it other than changing the oil when it needs it and doing other maintenance jobs as they pop up, but I've never really bonded with it in the way I have other cars.
Less than a month ago, my dad bought a "stale" but new 2019 Continental at virtually a give-away price. I do really like it, but at the end of the day it not the smooth, effortless boat of the Town Car(my mom had 3 different ones) nor is it the tight and fun LS. I actually don't like it as well as the MKS he traded for it. The Continental is the direct replacement for the MKS, but I thought the MKS with it's true full sized(Taurus-shared) platform was an overall better car than the stretched out MKZ that is used for the Continental. I also have trouble adjusting to the push-button gear shift.
I should also mention that my dad had several 98-02 Continentals. His '98 was the first he bought, and when it racked up some miles he went on a buying spree on Ebay until he found the "perfect" low mileage black '01 to replace his '98. He sold off the ones he'd bought in the interim, and also kept the '98 around for a a couple of years after buying the '01. As much as he liked those cars, I never warmed up to driving them. Those cars made me firmly of the opinion that V8s don't belong in transverse FWD applications. Aside from the maintenance pains, the turning circle was nearly as large as the Town Car's(he didn't believe me when I said that, but off the top of my head the Town Car is something like 56' and the Continental about 51'), and it never felt as nimble to me as a mid-sized car should. Torque steer was viscious on it-if you stepped on the gas, you'd better hold the wheel tight(I use to set the steering effort to "heavy" when I drove it as it seemed to lessen this a bit) and it even the relatively low powered V8(by modern standards) would chirp the tires if you were even a bit too heavy on the throttle.
Lincoln has seemed for the past few years to me to be a brand looking for a customer. I'd initially thought the new Continental was a turning point, but it still doesn't live up to what I'd expect. I'd hate to see the brand die, and I also don't know what I'll get when the time comes to replace the MKS. If I had my choice, it would be the newest, nicest Town Car I could find, but even those are approaching an age where I don't know that I'd buy one with the intent of having a "Don't think about it-just get in and drive to work or wherever else" car.
"legacy costs" - meaning unions wages and future pension obligations?I don't think Ford will ditch Lincoln....if they do it will be admitting that they can't compete. The whole idea of Ford being a truck-only company is a mistake in my opinion.
*I believe that legacy costs are making it difficult to compete with companies like Hyundai/Kia etc...
I'd surely love a 61-65 Continental in Presidential Black with those suicide doors.I see multiple Lincolns daily, but they are usually a couple decades old.
"legacy costs" - meaning unions wages and future pension obligations?
My brain is still imprinted on the days gone by when a Caddy or a Lincoln were large cars, not these sissy things they try to pawn off on folks today...
See a few of the big SUV’s around … uppity soccer moms of courseThey are simply appealing to the current market, if they want to stay relevant that is what they have to do.
"legacy costs" - meaning unions wages and future pension obligations?
See a few of the big SUV’s around … uppity soccer moms of course
Sadly I see Ford declaring bankruptcy soon. The unions are crushing Ford in the free market. I really do love their cars, even though the ones I have bought have been very unreliable. Ford cars always had great suspension tuning and reliable engines. I have owned a 1978 LTD (used), 1990 Taurus (new), 2005 Taurus (new).
I drove a Lincoln Town car when I worked in car service and those things were built like tanks. They constantly broke down, but they had like 500k miles on them...so. I drove one with 580k miles and the engine was so worn out the car would barely move. It must have made about 20hp.