High mileage LS?

[Mussin]

I am looking for a daily driver. I want a Lincoln LS, I am Mechanically inclined so I will be able to work on the car to do repairs. How do they hold up over 100,000 or even over 150,000 miles? What are thier weak points? I am looking at the 2000's to get a cheap one with high mileage. V6 or V8? how does the tranny hold up? you can find a bunch of them for $6-7000 with 110,000 miles or so. I know about the leaky VC gaskets and I know I could do that my self, what else should I look for when looking at them?


Thanks guys..


This will be mt "beater" the wife drives an 02 Mountianeer and wont give it up. My other toy is an 89 Mustang Gt Twin turbocharged:facesjump :gr_devil:


My other choice was a seville STS, but I cant find one that dosent leak oil, oh well.


Jeremy

 

[LS4me]

I have 137,9xx miles on my 2000 V6. Personally, I'd go for a 2001 or 2002. By 2002 99% of the kinks have been worked out. The 'major" transmission is the solenoid pack. It is a DIY job (I did mine) if you can handle the mess and the obtuse way of refilling the trans. Take the V8. It's much more fun and the fuel economy is within .5%.

 

[eastcoastLS]

Just look at the vehicles service history. See what service has been done, [solenoids, VC gaskets/plugs/coils, any AC issues (seems like ac acting up is very common), valve body and the overdrive bands, any front end suspension issues (such as ball joints, control arms, there seems to be a common problem with front end also)]. Those are just somethings to look for. I would not even consider buying an LS if there was no service receipts with it. You can also factor in the fact that a lot of LS's don't go 100,000 miles without some of those common issues being addressed, which in my opinion could mean that once they are fixed, those problems should be good for a few 10 thousand miles; on the other hand the car could be sh!tty and just keep having these problems after they keep getting repaired.


sorry for long post

 

[eastcoastLS]

This will be mt "beater" the wife drives an 02 Mountianeer and wont give it up.

btw, the wife may give up the mountaineer once she drives the LS

and 1 more thing i forgot, if you're looking at high mileage, get a V8.

 

[Mussin]

I would rather have the V8 anyway. I can do a carfax but most of the cars I am looking at are on car lots (no service records)... Are these car that finicky that you cant just test drive the :q:q:q:q out of it and make a decision? I have found a couple from private individuals but they are like 130,000 miles (look great though).. Im not afraid of any DIY project that may rear its ugly head. How much were the solenoids?

Jeremy

 

[eastcoastLS]

Are these car that finicky that you cant just test drive the :q:q:q:q out of it and make a decision? I have found a couple from private individuals but they are like 130,000 miles (look great though).. Im not afraid of any DIY project that may rear its ugly head.

thats what i did, "test drove the :q:q:q:q out of it," and made my decision, no noticeable problems. also my car was the only LS within 30 miles for sale, plus you are a DIY'er so you've got one up on me.

 

[Opies_LS]

I bought my V8 with 153K on it and it now has 178K. I put 25K per year on or so. (My Volvo was dying and I drive too much to buy newer cars)

Mine needed the lower ball joints, degas bottle, CAT on one side, & clock spring over that year. Airbag light was on when I bought it so I knew that going in.

My carfax reported a single owner and I called them (lot had title with name) and they graciously spent about 45 minutes with me on the phone and told me the vehicle history. They had replaced the VC gasket already.

My car runs great, tranny is strong and is a blast to drive even a year later and that high mileage. Also, not the first drop of oil on the garage floor.

Even with the service I had to do, I think I got a nice car at a nice price. I still love driving this thing.

 

[ChrisB]

I have a 2000 V8 with 192,000 miles. Runs very good. No major problems *knocks on wood*