Very Nice but Worth the Price?
Written: Dec 11 '04 (Updated Dec 12 '04)
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Pros: Good performance, Good handling, Good looking, Good room.
Cons: Too tight steering, mediocre gas mileage. Cheap interior.
The Bottom Line: Good car, may not be up to the competition. Needs refinement.
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| nine11c2's Full Review: 2004 Lincoln LS |
I don't like people who write car reviews on cars they don't own, but about 3 weeks ago, a deer ran into my wife's BMW X5 (reviewed) and I had to let her use my Nissan Pathfinder (also reviewed), so I've been driving an '04 Lincoln LS for 2 1/2 weeks.
It's a very nice car. First, the performance is very good. The car handles very well for a large four door car and has good standing performance. I've been through some bad rain storms and as far away as Boston and the car has handled it well, if not perfectly (I'm used to having the security of full time four wheel drive, but the Lincoln has proved very stable). I even had to pop the hood to figure out if the car has the six (it does). The performance of the V8 must be off the charts.
The car is very impressive to look at. The front end and the curve of the hood, which curves into the fenders and sides of the car give it a very good, modern look. With the right wheels, some of which you can buy on the car, it is very impressive, particularly in dark colors.
I think as a result of this car being good to look at and being the same car as the Jaguar S Type (you knew that, right?) that the roof line is very low, making it just a bit close to your head in the front seats. The top of the window is actually a bit low for someone 6' or more.
The interior quality could use some help. While it is certainly comfortable with leather, dual climate, lighted volume, channel, mute and full cruise on the steering wheel, the rest of the interior is cheap. The steering wheel to start is very nice looking, but the rim is far too thin. The black and silver inserts in the dash and doors are clearly plastic. With the simple replacement of those items with wood, I think this car interior goes from cheap to chic.
The seats and bottom of the doors are a nice beige leather, but the tops of the doors and the dash and wheel are a very dark brown/green. It seems like they are trying to use this dash with too many interior colors. This also puts tan leather, brown/green and black plastic and silver fake metal in the interior - too many colors, too much contrast and not the highest quality.
If this car is to be a BMW fighter, it needs to be upgraded significantly to be as nice a 10 year old 5 series. It doesn't even compare with the best of todays interiors, which I consider the BMW 7 and X5.
When driving the car, while the manners are good, the touch and feel just isn't there. Lincoln seems to have stiffened up the steering to make it sporty, but as a result made it too heavy and to twitchy. You can't turn the wheel to make slight adjustments easily, you wind up changing course.
The car has good handling feel. When you set it in a turn, you can feel the rear set in and actually come around into oversteer. This is very comforting and pleasant doing an on ramp at 20mph over the posted limit. I actually followed a kid in a hot rodded up little car onto the NJ Turnpike and he just couldn't get away from me in the Lincoln (I was likely the more experienced driver and that plus the balance in the Lincoln made up for any performance advantage he had baked into the little custom hot rod).
Given that this is a rental, I expected a bit of a stripper, but at this price range, I would at least expect things like heated seats, memory, etc.
The stereo system is very good. It has a built in CD and cassette in the dash (much prefer to CD changers where you change the disks once every six months). There is plenty of storage in the center console and the glove compartment. One neat feature, the top of the center console slides to be in the right position for both small and tall drivers. And great cup holders.
The car has an electronic parking brake. Not an electronic release - you actually apply it electronically. This makes me nervous - I always thought if the electric went out, that may be the time you may need to use the emergency brake. But if it's electronically activated?
The trunk has very good room which has allowed me and my family to take this on some day trips rather than the truck. I think the back seat however could use a few more inches of room in this size car.
Gas mileage, even on the road is just below 25 mpg. I expect a bit better from a sedan, this isn't much better than my Pathfinder (19 ish on the road). Could the V8 be worse?
The quality seems to be better than American cars of late. I would think if this holds up, that it would be a good car. I just keep thinking that in this price range, is it better than a 3 or 5 BMW, Acura, Lexus or Infinity?
Recommended:
No
Amount Paid (US$): 42
Model Year: 2004
Model and Options: Base
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Epinions.com ID:
nine11c2
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Member: Steven K
Reviews written: 27
Trusted by: 3 members
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