Thinking of buying 94 Mark VIII

[mharrison]

What should I be wary of. What do I need to know prior to buying this car?

It looks OK. Needs paint on rear bumper skin (paint faded). Rubber around rear window is puckered. Starts great, runs great. Rides great.

Can get it for $3200 (latest offer)

Seems to have the Door Ajar stuck switch issue. (No big deal).
Other than that all I can see is the cosmetics.

What should I check?
What are the most common problems with these cars?
How do I check the air suspension to see if it's cool?

 

[4.6powa]

most common probs.

door ajar.. fixed by spraying wd40 into latches.

air sus. the car is 12 years old. thats to be expected. not too hard to fix, if your handy. there are a few places to get the parts real cheap too.

rear shock mounts. again. not too hard.

im sure others will post.

other then a few minor problems, these are quality cars, and should give you many years if you dont mind small stuff that comes up every once and a while.

and when it does. were here to help.

welcome to lvc.

 

[my95mark8]

Search through this forum and you will find the common problems. I would say the most common is air suspension leaks.
Mine has been nickle and diming me for months.

 

[my95mark8]

Search through this forum and you will find the common problems. I would say the most common is air suspension leaks

 

[mharrison]

I've been on LVC for a while now. I have an '01 Licoln LS. I'm thinking of picking up this car to drive and letting my wife drive the LS.

She has a Camry that is a POS in my opinion and it looks like it. She won't let me spend the money to get her a new car. I'd like her to have something decent (which the LS is) but I still want to drive something decent (which the Camry isn't) !!!

I think the Mark VIII sounds like fun. I like the lines. I like the V8.

1. What is all this I'm reading about Headlight issues?

2. What should I do to check the air suspension? All I can think of is to turn it off while on a test drive and bring it back and park it and check it the next morning before they get to the dealership?

2. Does $3200 for a 94 with 113k sound like a good deal?

 

[4.6powa]

right. the headlights do kinda suck.

the air sus can be checked that way, even if its good now, it is 12 years old. unless it is new, there will be problems eventually. you can either repair, or do a coil conversion.

 

[rmac694203]

3200 sounds like too much. On kelly blue book it lists a 94 Mark with 113k in your town as $3125 in excellent condition. That is flawless. Other values are: $2750 in good condition (minor wear items, no major mechanical issues) and $2300 in fair condition (needs body/paint work, in decent running condition, etc). It sounds like the car is either in good or fair condition, so $2300-2500 sounds better to me. The problem with headlights is that the reflective material inside burns off, and the outside becomes hazy and yellow. This leads to VERY poor lighting at night. Driving with high beams all the time becomes necessary sometimes. Count on spending $500 or so for the parts to fix it, or over $1000 for the HID lights, which are very good lights. As far as the suspension, turning the air ride switch off and driving it around, then parking it can tell you if there is a leak in the bags, but may not give a definitive sign that the air ride system needs work. Also, be weary of the transmission. Often the transmission will go out. It will hunt for gears, etc. A big sign of this is also torque converter shudder (feels like you're driving over rumble strips). Just be careful because often times the tranny will need to be replaced.

 

[mespock]

$3200 is max dollar for that car. Especially if it not in it top shap body wise. I have 3 Mark VIII's 93, 94, and 95. $3000 was the most I've spent for the 95 and she is in very nice shape great paint all around (southern car) Look at it in my photo gallery.

Air Ride - It's hard to tell if the guy knows anything about the air ride. I'd suggest that if you could drive by a few days in a row with out the guy knowing you are coming. See if it's not sagging. Even if the car is not running the compressor can keep the bags pumped up.

Check the tranny... see if it seems to be shifting smooth. Look for a rumble strip kind of vibration at around 45 mph. Look for how it shift into 2nd. The 1 - 2 Accumulators are crap if they are still stock and the spring will brake, not may will. Easy fix but will cost you at a shop. You can do it yourself.

Do your usual look for oil leaks.

If you buy the Mark... you will have issues. There is now way around this. The car is old and parts will wear out. The engines on these cars are good and strong and if you take good care if them (keeping the oils changed etc) they will last. I have over 200,000 on my 93 and it's a very smooth running car.

But things will wear out and if you come to a boar like LvC most issues can be solved and the remedy will not cost you an arm and a leg if you can do the work yourself.

My tool collection has grown since I purchased my first Lincoln (93 Mark VIII) in June of 2004. But you will fall in love with your car... But there will be some lover's spats with it.. There is now way around it. Look at Mr. Wilson he's always has something to work on.. LOL.. always talking about selling it... but still he's keeping his car running and still has his Mark VIII... and Loving it!!

Since June of 2004 I've purchased 4 Mark VIII's if you could my 94 that I've purchased twice... plus one 85 Mark VII.

So, good luck on your purchase... and welcome to LvCs Mark VIII forum... I'm sure we will see a lot of you in the future...

PS.... got to the guy with $2500 cash I'll bet if he see's the cash he'll take it.