Lincoln bringing back the Continental

[natto fire]

Lincoln needs more of this

I almost forgot about the LS, which is a damn fine looking car. Ford did a good job with the Fusion as well in the styling department. A finely styled car does not a perfect car make, though.

Too bad all the douchebags gravitated to Cadillac for a half-baked truck/SUV combo, the Lincoln one seemed decent for that crowd.

 

[monkeydelmagico]

Lincoln is a dead brand walking. I suppose some marketing wonk took a look at 300c sales and thought "whoa we want a piece of that action!"

 

[pauldun170]

Lincoln needs more of this

When those came out I thought they were great. Just needed a couple of things sorted out and some further refinement. This car is pretty much siblings with the Jaguar S-Type. Same platform. Lots of shared bits and pieces.
Then Ford let it stagnate. I think were forced into a position whether to invest in a platform that was kinda of limited and inflexible or start with something new. At the time, the assumption was they were dumping all their cash into SUV's\Crossovers and other "Wife pleasers"

In some bizzaro world, their is a Bizzaro Lincoln that stuck with the Lincoln LS brand and did something special with it. The Lincoln version of the LS or perhaps the Lincoln version of the Infinti G series.

 

[slag]

The LS imho was a turd. I test drove one and it was very underwhelming. Looked nice, but wasn't responsive and overall, many had lots of electrical problems.

 

[hanoverphist]

no suicide doors? wtf

 

[Torn Mind]

"Sometimes, you gotta go back to actually move forward."

Lincoln sticking true to their guns.

 

[Subyman]

I like it. I'd like the hood to be a bit longer though. As of right now its hard to tell its a RWD car. Looks AWD or perhaps even FWD from the stance. Curious to see what they do with it though. In 5 years or so I can see myself looking for a luxury car. I've owned BMWs in the past, but I've grown tired of their design.

 

[WhoBeDaPlaya]

The LS imho was a turd. I test drove one and it was very underwhelming. Looked nice, but wasn't responsive and overall, many had lots of electrical problems.

Gen 1 or 2? If it was a Gen 2, I'd agree on throttle lag (that's why I flashed my PCM).
Other than that, the most common problems on the Gen1/2 LSes are :

1) COPs (oil gets in, shorts them out. Ford covers them up to 100k)
2) DCCV going out
3) Plastic cooling parts cracking and system unable to hold proper pressure
4) Window regulator breaking

They're also a little touchy if the battery is low on charge, but that's about it.

 

[natto fire]

Lincoln is a dead brand walking. I suppose some marketing wonk took a look at 300c sales and thought "whoa we want a piece of that action!"

Which is funny, because there are only so many morons to buy Chrysler, and their subsidiaries. They look cool, but if you want your cool looking automobile to function as a car, you've got another thing coming. They buy out reliable brands and then add their unreliable parts to them. RIP Jeep, AMC can't help you now. May your Pentastar V6 prove to be the turd that realizes Chrysler can't make a six cylinder motor to save their life. Unless they outsource it to Cummins, of course.

 

[soccerballtux]

"Sometimes, you gotta go back to actually move forward."

Lincoln sticking true to their guns.

so a billion dollar company operating on axioms justifying it with ...what's that word ...

 

[gsuburban]

Lincoln needs more of this

Agreed. My 2001 LS8 Sport has a whole 62,000 miles and I'd like a new one sometime in the future.

 

[monkeydelmagico]

Which is funny, because there are only so many morons to buy Chrysler, and their subsidiaries. They look cool, but if you want your cool looking automobile to function as a car, you've got another thing coming. They buy out reliable brands and then add their unreliable parts to them. RIP Jeep, AMC can't help you now. May your Pentastar V6 prove to be the turd that realizes Chrysler can't make a six cylinder motor to save their life. Unless they outsource it to Cummins, of course.

Uhmm Lincoln isn't exactly the paragon of reliability either but nice Fiat rant. While I generally like Ford products their efforts to tart up the line have been piss poor. By introducing complexity like air ride suspensions, advanced electronics, and upscale interiors that belong in a Hyundai, Lincoln suscessfully tarnished the brand.

If Ford wants to play in the premium space they should really spend the time and effort to do it right. I don't think this Continental show piece is "doing it right". Just more sizzle and even less steak. No amount of stud muffin Matt Mccounaghey pimping these turds is going to make an Acura/Lexus/Audi/Mercedes owner ever consider a Lincoln.

 

[WackyWRZ]

Gen 1 or 2? If it was a Gen 2, I'd agree on throttle lag (that's why I flashed my PCM).
Other than that, the most common problems on the Gen1/2 LSes are :

1) COPs (oil gets in, shorts them out. Ford covers them up to 100k)
2) DCCV going out
3) Plastic cooling parts cracking and system unable to hold proper pressure
4) Window regulator breaking

They're also a little touchy if the battery is low on charge, but that's about it.

Funny to see this thread - I just got rid of my '06 LS for these reasons. Had it for 5 years - bought with 30K miles and traded with 75K.

1) - Went through 2x sets of COPs. No oil leaking, it was due to the coils breaking down internally from heat. Lets put a cover over them, and then cover the cover with sound insulation.
2) - Yep replaced the DCCV last year
3) - Had to replace the T-stat housing last month
4) - No window problems.

Don't forget about the servo bore issue on the transmission that fails at around 75K miles. Or the drive-by-wire throttle ETC failsafe mode caused by COPs, or TPS, or failed throttle body. Or the genius hydraulic fan on the Gen1s.

The LS was easily the biggest money pit car I have ever owned! It was exciting to see a car that wasn't a blatent Taurus/Sable/Continental or Navigator/Expedition. It is a GREAT looking car, but I think they half-baked the Jag/Ford combo. After the LS, and my '12 Focus with the myriad of problems it has with the MFT and transmission. And being presented with a paper that says a grinding transmission is "normal", I have lost any/all trust in Ford.

 

[WhoBeDaPlaya]

Agreed. My 2001 LS8 Sport has a whole 62,000 miles and I'd like a new one sometime in the future.

Dayum son! That's less than my 06 at 76K

@WackyWRZ : Yikes, I've also had #1 (two separate COPs once each), #2 (early on), and #3 (last year). Fortunately, Ford's ESP took care of everything (even replaced a bunch of suspension parts in mediocre shape from years of salt exposure in the midwest). Haven't noticed any untoward transmission behavior, except for that one time during an initial PCM flash (shift points / pressure were a little off).

 

[JulesMaximus]

Meh...

 

[WhoBeDaPlaya]

Don't forget about the servo bore issue on the transmission that fails at around 75K miles. Or the drive-by-wire throttle ETC failsafe mode caused by COPs, or TPS, or failed throttle body. Or the genius hydraulic fan on the Gen1s.

I hate you
Have ~80K on the ticker now, and just developed occasional delay + hard shift into R, plus slightly hard 2-3, and 3-4 shifts.
Good thing it's still under warranty. Going to throw TSB 09-12-12 and 05-21-8 at the service writer and insist on new fluid + solenoid block + valve body.