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The side airbags definitely make the truck a safer ride. It is often erroneously assumed that the wider, taller stance by itself provides good side protection. Not necesarily so. Besides...why do you want a luxury vehicle that doesn't offer stability control, side airbags and other things that are standard on many non-lux vehicles? BTW, that six speed provides better fuel economy than the four speed.
Of course the LT is a good truck, as it is based on the F150, a good truck. But there is also a reason it is now defunct: it did not sell. That was in part due to the cynical badge engineering job. As dumb as the Blackwood was with its non-optional covered trunk and no availability of 4WD, at least it had unique Lincoln styling. The LT may have been more viable if they had used Navigator body panels and interior.
I agree that the Dodge is a much more thorough re-do than the F150 is, but both 09s are safer, better built, quieter, and more efficient than the 08s they replaced. The Ford will have more engine choices in a year or two.
What sold me on the 08 LT was the employee pricing and $8500 dollars in Lincoln rebates. All together I saved over $16k off of MSRP I payed $30k for a $46k truck. I don't think you could come close in the 09 Platinum which replaced the LT. Bottom line is I am very happy with my purchase.
You can certainly buy vehicles with traction control that do not have stability control, but not vice versa. Traction control is part of the stability control package.
There are some awfully good deals out there. What goes with those huge discounts is huge depreciation. It doesn't matter of course, if you plan to keep the vehicle a very long time. Operating costs tend to show that what you save on buying tends to take away from trade-in value. However, paying more at the beginning for a more popular/in demand model, just to get better re-sale, may not b teh best deal either, if you are only getting back a portion of the extra you paid at the beginning anyway.
Everything is a trade-off. You got a better warranty and a vehicle whose looks you like better. The Platinum (or King Ranch if you like that grill better) has better interior materials, stability control (and of course traction control), side and canopy airbags (proven additional safety), better mpg, an even more rigid frame...and it will not be an "orphan.".
Last fall, the deals were darn good on 09s too. With gas falling so far, it may be a bit harder to get a huge discount now. And the thing of it is, you have to buy sometime, but you can almost count on--no matter what you buy--seeing the next model year offer further improvements that weren't available to you.
I checked out the Edge Evolution but they say on the site that they DO NOT work on the Mark LT?
Sorry about all your glitches. No, that is not normal. These days, you should be well able to drive a new vehicle for three or four years without anything at all going wrong. That has been my experience in several cars and trucks owned in the past decade or so.
I have a 2006 Mark LT and now stuff is starting to fail like window switches, belt tensioner and of course the part in question ALL FREAKING 4 of the dashboard directional air vent linkages. Just crumbled to the flow within a week of each other. Ford says is like $400 installed. There is minimal labor as they just pop in and out.Yes the part is cheap plastic too. I don't want to pay Fords price SO DOES ANYBODY OUT THERE KNOW WHERE I CAN GET REPLACEMENTS FOR THESE AND HOPEFULLY A MODIFIED VERSION?
Thanks
Rick
Does anyone here have any insight into this?