Looking to get an LS in the near future

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captainalias

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Hey Everyone,

Just wanted to say, great forum here! Thanks for all the great info.

I'm a 23 year old, 1 year out of college, looking to buy his first car ever. I really like the look of the LS; it's beautiful on the outside and inside, and from what I've read, handles great on the road, did extremely well in all the crash tests, and is fairly reliable. Most of my friends are getting cheap foreign imports, for ~ $16K ish brand new, but I said to myself, why not get a 2003 LS for roughly the same price, but ride in style (and with 2 years left on the warranty to boot)? I've been saving up for awhile, so I'd like my first car to be a nice one.

I absolutely will not buy foreign cars, domestic only. My sis drives a used Mark VIII, and we all love it. As strong as a tank, and rides great. I've had some other relatives with Caddies, but they hate them due to all the reliability problems. Suffice it to say, our family is quite pleased with Lincoln.

So a few questions, if you don't mind.

For those with the 2003+ models, have you had any sort of problems with the transmission? It seems that this is the bane of the LS (or maybe Ford in general), if I'm not mistaken.

Do the rear passenger headrests ever obscure your rear-view vision?

How does the V6 version compare to the V8? Of course it'd be nice to have more power, but my wallet won't be too thick after this....

Which extended warranty level offers the best bang for the buck?

Thanks in advance!
 
Congrats on your degree! Welcome to the club!

All I can say is the headrests surprisingly don't get in the way too much. The side mirrors are actually big enough that you can see things in them, and the backup light puts out enough light that you won't back into most objects... if you get the backup alarm system, you'd have to be a real tard to hit something then.
 
Thanks kleetus!

How are the non-HID headlights? The lights on my sister's Mark VIII are horribly weak, almost as if there are no lights at all!

Thanks!
 
welcome to LvC. Congratualtions on your education.

I have a V6 and have 110 miles on it now. Gas mileage is really dependent on how you drive it. I am on the hwy all the time and typically traveling at 80mph +/- a few mph. The car is among the safest available with 5 star safety rating at all test points. Cockpit visibility is great and if you adjust your mirrors out right you get great coverage.

If you are going to by used I think the extended warranties from Ford are probably the safest bet. I bought my car 6 months old from CarMax and I bought their extended plan and it was most comprehensive. In fact rather than list what it covers they listed what it didn't cover. Work the sales folks on the price and i would suggest using the trade in value as a benchmark for shopping.

enjoy.
 
Thanks for the welcome everyone!

El es; what sort of gas mileage do you get with your V6? How's acceleration even with the car fully laden with luggage, etc..? And how much do you need to pay for the carmax extended warranty? thanks again for anwering my many questions!
 
captainalias said:
Thanks for the welcome everyone!

El es; what sort of gas mileage do you get with your V6? How's acceleration even with the car fully laden with luggage, etc..? And how much do you need to pay for the carmax extended warranty? thanks again for anwering my many questions!
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Now I am around 14 to 16 but it may improve since I just replaced a lot of parts. I have yet to run a full tank with the new parts installed. IIRC the extended plan was about 1600 and unfortuneately it more than paid for itself but every product goes through failures and improvesments. Still 1600 was worth it.

I think the car has great acceleration and have yet to be in pickle I couldnt get out of. Well except that speeding ticket a year ago. :)
 
eL eS said:
Now I am around 14 to 16 ...
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Oh, you mean 14 to 16 miles per gallon. I was going to say that explained a lot. :D

But seriously, 2003 was a major overhaul of the LS, fixing most of the problems experienced by owners of previous years. From what I've seen and read, most of the problems were experienced by the owners of 2000 model year cars, but that's fairly well expected from the first year of production of any car.

If you're looking at 2003s (or newer), you're looking at a slushbox on either V6 or V8. At least the V8 will get you the SST so you have some control over the tranny; if you want an honest-to-God clutch and stick, you'll need to go to the V6es in the 2000-2002 model years. (If I could've gotten a V8 with a stick, I think I'd have an almost perfect sports sedan. C'est la vie.)

On the 2003s, I think the factory warranty is the same as the 2004/2005s: 4-years/50,000 miles bumper-to-bumper, 4-years/50,000 miles emissions, and 5-years/unlimited miles corrosion/perforation.

When you're looking at a car that you're seriously consider buying, check the "in-service" date; that's when the clock started running on the factory warranty. (BTW, the factory warranty goes with the car; extended warranties may or may not, depending both on its transferrability and whether the previous owner cancelled it for a refund.)

FWIW, I have an '04 V8, and the computer tells me I'm back up to 18.1 average MPG. I was doing better than that, but starting and idling are hard on mileage, and they did quite a bit of that while they were troubleshooting my non-start situation (which turned out to be a faulty relay).

What my real mileage is, I don't know. I track it, but I haven't computed it recently. I'll probably check today when I fill up (before I need to take out a second mortgage to do so...).

I've directly compared my LS to a new ('05) Mazda6 and a '95 (or was it a '97?) BMW M3, and I'd say it wins on all counts, except for the lack of an available manual tranny. OK, the M3 did push me back in the seat better, and was a lighter car, so it might've held the road better, but it was apparently built for midgets. The Mazda6 (V6/5-speed MTX) was a close second, and the new MazdaSpeed6 due out this summer might have made the decision more difficult, but I think I'd still have gone for the LS.
 
captainalias said:
Thanks kleetus!

How are the non-HID headlights? The lights on my sister's Mark VIII are horribly weak, almost as if there are no lights at all!

Thanks!
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Not too bad... I had to adjust mine up a bit, because they shot the road directly in front of me... but the highs are pretty decent for a car this low.
 
I am near empty now and might get a shade over 18 mpg out of it now but I did have some serious WOT moments so it may be evn better.

The Ford 500 is getting a face lift and you might want to check it out in 06 or possibly buy one of the bland 05s it is not an LS' by any measure but is a well equiped car with lots of room.
 
The only porblem I have had out of my 30(V8) is the electronic brake like. The Service Park Brake warning keeps coming on...taking it to the dealer tomorrow. Question for those that own the V8, do you all put premium gas in or can you get away with med-grade?
 
DGiggs said:
The only porblem I have had out of my 30(V8) is the electronic brake like. The Service Park Brake warning keeps coming on...taking it to the dealer tomorrow. Question for those that own the V8, do you all put premium gas in or can you get away with med-grade?
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Use premium only this goes for all V6's and V8's.
 
i have a 2001 V8 sport and im getting between 18 to 24 mpg im actually really pleased ive had my car since november and put 12,000 miles on it with no worries. as for the non hd's i put in better bulbs and they are plenty brite. overall i highly recomend this car.
 
eL eS said:
Use premium only this goes for all V6's and V8's.
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Absolutely. You don't spend that kind of money on a hot rod and then cheap out on it; after all, we're generally talking about less than $4/tank difference between regular and premium. If that's a problem, sell it now, 'cause you're gonna freak out the first time you have to buy parts...

Or, as someone put it in the MotorWeek forum, "Lincoln buyers generally don't worry about the price of gas." :)
 
Only 14-16 mpg? Is that in city driving, or your average?

I like the Ford 500, don't know why everyone keeps saying it has a bland interioir- definitely a stepup over the Taurus. But the main complaint seems to be an under-powered engine; and if the 500, brand new ends up costing more than a 2 year old Lincoln, I'd rather get the Lincoln! :)
 
That underpowered engine in the 500 is the same v6 found in the LS....and if you're talking about getting a v6 LS, there you go. The LS version may have a few extra ponies over the 500 version, but I think its only 20.

I personally think very very higly of the 3.0 24valve engine, and is one of the best engines ford has ever built. (In fact I'm thinking of building a turbocharged one very seriously)
 
Putter-GLHT said:
That underpowered engine in the 500 is the same v6 found in the LS....and if you're talking about getting a v6 LS, there you go. The LS version may have a few extra ponies over the 500 version, but I think its only 20.

I personally think very very higly of the 3.0 24valve engine, and is one of the best engines ford has ever built. (In fact I'm thinking of building a turbocharged one very seriously)
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I think the LS V6 has 232 HP, and the Ford 500 has 203, so about 30 more ponies for the Lincoln. Is this the same engine that will be equipping the Zephyr? I guess Zephyr = 500? The Zephyr looks great, but IMO, the interior is too 'old fashioned' and archaic looking. I understand they're going for the whole retro look these days with the Mustang and all, but the interior is just going too far- too many right angles. :)

I don't know, a new 500 will have its own share of problems being a first year car, and a new 500 will still cost more than a 2 year old LS. We have a friend who is a used car dealer, and I went to one of these massive used car auctions, and the prices are pretty good.
 
captainalias said:
Is this the same engine that will be equipping the Zephyr? I guess Zephyr = 500?

I don't know, a new 500 will have its own share of problems being a first year car, and a new 500 will still cost more than a 2 year old LS. We have a friend who is a used car dealer, and I went to one of these massive used car auctions, and the prices are pretty good.
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The new Zephyr != Five Hundred. The Five Hundered is on the Volvo D3 plaftorm (same as the Freestyle), and the Zephyr is/will be on the Mazda6 platform. The Zephyr's closest sibling would be the Ford Fusion and its Merc counterpart.

A new Five Hundred costs about the same as a good used 2004 LS, at least around these parts. List price is from around $21K to around $31K on the Five Hundred; the same dealership (well, their Lincoln store) has three '04 LS V8s for $26K.

And I think the LS is planned to move to the D3 platform in '08, but I don't know if that's set in stone.
 
SoonerLS said:
The new Zephyr != Five Hundred. The Five Hundered is on the Volvo D3 plaftorm (same as the Freestyle), and the Zephyr is/will be on the Mazda6 platform. The Zephyr's closest sibling would be the Ford Fusion and its Merc counterpart.

A new Five Hundred costs about the same as a good used 2004 LS, at least around these parts. List price is from around $21K to around $31K on the Five Hundred; the same dealership (well, their Lincoln store) has three '04 LS V8s for $26K.

And I think the LS is planned to move to the D3 platform in '08, but I don't know if that's set in stone.
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Oops, thanks for the correction!
 
Ok, if the LS version of the 3.0 has an extra 30 hp, its going to lack a little torque that the other will have, its just a matter of tuning and rpm. The other thing is, that 500's can be equipped with a continously variable tramsission (CVT), so the LS v6 will probably still accelerate slower since its not at optimum power like a CVT can be used for.

I doubt there is much difference in performance, the 500 can be equipped with a CVT and AWD, which would be great for us Iowa folks where a RWD car is much like a paperweight in snow.

Basically, do you want a new car, or a used car? Typically you're better off buying a 1-2 year old used car, and saving that 5,000+$. If it has under 30,000 miles, there's really no maintance that can be missed besides oil changes, so when you buy it, do the first set of maintance and consider it new.
 
Putter-GLHT said:
Basically, do you want a new car, or a used car? Typically you're better off buying a 1-2 year old used car, and saving that 5,000+$. If it has under 30,000 miles, there's really no maintance that can be missed besides oil changes, so when you buy it, do the first set of maintance and consider it new.
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Yup, I'd like a used 2 year old car, with warranty still on it, that I can get for pretty cheap, which is why I'm going for a 2 year old LS.

How are the LS's headlights (non-HID)? Bright enough?
 
I have an '04 V8 with standard headlamps, and I get flashed by oncoming drivers when they are on low beam driving at night. So in thats ense, they must be pretty bright.
I am getting anywhere from 15 to 18 in the city and definitely 23-24 on highway with my V8.
I got mine about 3 months ago and love it. A few small problems but all warranty- haven't paid a dime on it except gas and insurance. No tranny problems, but there was a recall that entailed replacing the fluid, thats it...
ZB
 
Oh yeah, I also looked at and drove the five-hundred just before I got this one used. For about the same price I am glad I got the LS rather than the underpowered 500...
Also I see some of them around and they just don't have the style of the LS. They seem like they'd be better for the wife than me...
 
I just bought a 2004 V8 LS last week. I used to own a 96 Impala SS which was totalled in a hit and run so I was looking for a sporty fast American RWD vehicle. The LS looked to be the best fit.

Some 1st week impressions...

For a person 6'4" and about 260#s the LS is a little tight in right leg room. It is definitely smaller inside than the SS. Head room is excellent. The steering wheel being able to move in and out and up and down is a plus.

The car will run OK on 87 regular but hard acceleration will cause it to stumble or it feels like it cuts out. 89 works fine for every day driving and 91 looks like the best for performance. Some people have claimed mileage will be less with 87 regular.

My gas mileage is much less than I expected. The computer tells me I get maybe 14mpg around town and maybe as good as 21 with a lot of freeway at 70+, people around here drive 80. But then my old SS got maybe 13 to 14 in mixed driving in the LA area. It used to get more like 18 in Portland and as much as 23 on 60mph steady drives. So guess stop and go is really killer for mileage. Just thought the LS being smaller and about 500+ pounds lighter would do better.

The transmission will give harsh shifts every once in awhile. I have read this is something common and correctable by a new dealer flash. It really seems to slam when you are accelerating hard and let off the gas just before a shift. Most cars I have owned will sometimes shift harshly under those conditions but in the LS I thought once I had been rear ended it was so harsh.

There also seems to be some "chuggle/surge" during easy acceleration when it shifhts from 3-4 or maybe 4-5. This was a computer issue on the older SS, so maybe the same problem here. Kind of feels like it has a rapid spark plug missfire when this happens for maybe 1/2 second.

The regular non HID headlights do seem to be marginal especially in rain, but then my SS was no better. The automatic windshiled wiper takes some getting used to. WHat looks like intermittant mode isn't, that is really how sensitive to rain the wipers are before they trigger.

My car has that metal look dash trim. I think the wood grain looks much nicer.

The cooled seats are great especially for a sweat hog like me.

The sun roof is very nice and doesn't cause a lot of wind for the driver.

The AC cabin filter needing to be replaced every 15K kind of is a pain, mine keeps warning me it is almost time.

The fuel economy computer is less useful than older Fords I have owned, no instantaneous mileage, just average and "miles to empty".

I think I will want to turn off the automatic steering wheel retraction when the engine is turned off. I am thinking this is just wear and tear on a part that may be expensive to replace in the long run.

The car is definitely quicker once rolling than my SS. The SS might be faster off the line. The LS flys on the freeway. There is a huge noticable difference between 2002 and older versus the 2003 and newer in acceleration. I noticed this in several test drives. The 2002 LS was ho hum OK but not noticably better than my old SS.

The LS is a very quiet car on the road compared to most cars I have owned. If the radio etc is off and when you first start there seems to be a bit of valve train clatter and it is noticable when going up a hill at an easy speed. I am assuming this is normal since the car only has 14K on it, but I could be wrong.

The trunk is a normal slam type. I was surprised since I thought most luxury cars had a automatic trunk closer, guess too many people broke those?

The dash board has a bit of glare on it so guess I'll be buying a dash mat.

The 5,000 mile oil changes might be a hard habit for me to do since I use synthetics and normally expect a car to change at about 7,500. Oh well oil is still relatively cheap compared to an engine.

So far I like the car pretty well, not quite the personna of the old SS and definitely a terrible depreciation curve, but I plan to drive this car into the ground anyway.

From some angles it looks a little too much like a Honda, but then so do the Benzes and some of the BMWs etc.

The factory warranty being still in effect is nice. I plan to take it in to the dealer very soon to take care of the harsh shifting and also see if they wil replace the AC air filter since it is already saying it is dead.

Well hope this new website will help me as much as the NAISSO site did with my old SS.

Good Luck,

Jim Henderson
 
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