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July 17, 2008 4:22 p.m. patgizz Dork

does anyone have reliability or maintenance experience with the Lincoln LS?

i rented one back in 05 and drove it 800 miles round trip and loved it. it was a v6 and peppy for one but i like the option of a small V8.

i like how it felt, handled, looked. i've been looking into them and while not exactly grassroots priced, i found a nice local one for $5200 obo with 103k and in very nice condition(cracked windshield and one ding on the door that should come out at a paintless dent repair place). i've been wanting for a while and this seems like it will fit my need for a RWD v8 fancyish car that i can take on roadtrips and drive in the winter when i do not need my work truck, since the belair and corvette do not venture outside in those months and my truck gets 9mpg. i foresee 5-6k miles a year of use including a trip somewhere every winter, this winter we are going to the tampa area.

selling my 92 c1500 pickup has left me without a winter ride and the vette isnt the best roadtrip vehicle if you need to pack for more than a weekend and want to bring possible purchases home.

i've abandoned the search for a CVPI(P71) because they rot quick up here and all the ones i find are beat or borderline beat, and i'm giving up on the caprice/impala SS because they are still going for a premium as gm's last RWD sedans till present, and i've had quite a few of those and want something a little fancier and a little less huge.

plus i always wanted to LS1 swap an LS so if i buy one and it is still in nice shape when the mileage gets way up there and something lets go there is my platform.
July 17, 2008 5:41 p.m. cafcwest HalfDork

Sounds like you have already sold yourself on the car

Sorry I don't have any first hand experience with the cars, but I've always liked the look of the cars, but found it disappointing that they only offered the V6 with manual transmission. If you did an LSx swap, would it be manual trans?
July 17, 2008 6:01 p.m. Feedyurhed New Reader

I had a friend who had a auto V8 LS and it was a decent enough car. I don't recall it having any issues. It didn't seem to be overly sporting though. One thing that at thought rather odd was it's battery was in the trunk under the spare tire which made it difficult to get to.
July 17, 2008 6:49 p.m. mattmacklind SuperDork

I like them, too, but a friend had one and I'll say this from his experience. Maintenance is not cheap, and they seem to have problems with water getting into the headlights and a few other little but persistent quirks. Check out reviews on carsurvey.org for more of those, its a grea site for owner reviews. They look cool, there's no argument there, but you pay to play with the LS.
July 17, 2008 7:11 p.m. belteshazzar Dork

If I was gonna LS-x swap a cheap rwd luxury car it would be a Catera.

I think I heard the reason for the V8 they've got is a narrow space between strut towers. Sure it'd fit?
July 17, 2008 8:27 p.m. MCarp22 New Reader

The wife's parents have one, they're an S-Type underneath. They've got the V8 with the sport shift automatic, it's a very nice luxo-barge.

I'd swap in the supercharged 4.2 from a S-Type R and have some fun.
July 17, 2008 9:58 p.m. aussiesmg HalfDork

Aussie Commodores were made on the same platform as the Catera and they were V8s
July 17, 2008 10:03 p.m. patgizz Dork

negative on the 6 speed if the time ever came for LSx swap. my daily driver truck is a manual with a stiff pedal and i have bad enough knees without having to shift on my way home from the job, so when i hop in a play car i prefer auto. the grand prix(which is for sale) is freaking fun, but i don't want to shift all day every day. the vette is plenty of fun with an automatic and the belair has a damn nice hard shifting auto in it.

i never liked the front look of the catera.

i'm going to check my business account to make sure i can pay myself for my last 3 months expenses and i think thatll give me enough cash, i don't buy anything with credit.
July 17, 2008 10:29 p.m. Stuc Reader

When I was valeting one would come in, and I definitely remarked at how strong and solid it felt. Definitely not the ship-at-sea rolling suspension you get in the towncar and other big lincolns.

Based on what you said, it definately sounds like the car for you.
July 18, 2008 9:08 a.m. AngryCorvair HalfDork

we've had several in our fleet at work (we supply many of the brake components), and they lead a hard life here. we recently got rid of a MY2003 V8 sport package that had over 160k on it. it ran, rode, and drove just fine, which kinda surprised me. i think it sold for $3000.
July 18, 2008 11:38 a.m. integraguy New Reader

They are showing up more and more in this area (Memphis) withthe newer ones, I suspect, being off lease. If I could afford the luxury of a big car, I'd be tempted. BTW, in my area, the 6s are nearly impossible to find.
July 18, 2008 5:52 p.m. CarKid1989 New Reader

drove one for a bit. Too quite, clouldnt tell if the engine was running or not...the throttle was weird. Fun though :) wanted on for the longest time.
July 18, 2008 7:04 p.m. z31maniac HalfDork

For some reason, thoughts of tranny problems come to mind.

Thought I heard that somewhere, but I agree would make a nice appliance, always liked the look.
July 18, 2008 9:12 p.m. skruffy Dork

You could always get an e39 540i sport, the car they were gunning for with the LS. It's a few grand more for similar year/mileage, but will probably require vastly more routine maintenance.

I always liked the LS though, and I've never heard any horror stories about them. A black one, lowered, on some deep chrome would look pretty sick.
July 18, 2008 10:17 p.m. fastEddie Dork

big pic, if the link works

http://www.lincolnvscadillac.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=2160&d=1125763520

Remote turbo LS V8 - http://www.lincolnvscadillac.com/showthread.php?t=36858

S/C'd LS V8 - http://www.lincolnvscadillac.com/showthread.php?t=13357
July 18, 2008 11:54 p.m. Wowak Dork

They're exceptionally difficult to work on. Lincoln made some severe packaging compromises to build it out of the Jaguar parts bin. Mechanics hate them and will charge accordingly.

Oh and re: the 6 disk in-dash changer, its not a question of if it will fail, but when.

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