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Lincoln MKS

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Comments

  • nvbankernvbanker Member Posts: 7,239
    I think that is a very fair and accurate review. For what it's worth, the MKS was #2 on my list of cars for 2009, however the Eco-Boost wasn't out yet, and I didn't want the standard 6 cylinder engine, so went with the (more expensive, I know) Lexus. But the MKS did tempt me as being a lot of car for the money.
  • akirbyakirby Member Posts: 8,062
    Ok, fair enough. No point continuing to argue.
  • brucelincbrucelinc Member Posts: 815
    I probably shouldn't make comparisons to cars I haven't driven. To be fair, I have never driven an LS 460, a BMW 7 series or an Audi A8. I base my opinion of those primarily on magazine tests, the pricing and their reputations.

    Prior to buying the MKS, I seriously considered a Jaguar XJ Vanden Plas - drove both new and pre-owned. The MKS does not have the supple ride of the Jag nor does it have the handling feel. There is no substitute for RWD and good weight distribution. The MKS ecoboost is quicker in a straight line than the non-supercharged Jag, however, and has much better user interface with the NAV and Sync systems. I think the sound system of the MKS beats the Jag. The MKS is at least as quiet, too. I really didn't find the fit/finish of the Jag to be any better, either. I assume Lexus and the Germans probably are, though.

    Basically, any $75,000 car is too expensive for me. At $47,600 (after wheeling and dealing), the MKS ecoboost with Ultimate package strikes me as a good value compared to the higher end vehicles. It is built to a price point, absolutely - but so are the higher end cars. There is a point of diminishing return......
  • ranger43ranger43 Member Posts: 1
    edited March 2010
    This forum seems to focus on shortcomings, I drove the Mercedes E350, Lexus ES350, Infiniti M35x, Taurus SHO, Cadillac CTS, Buick luCerne and Toyota as well as the Lincoln MKZ all 2010. What I found more disturbing that some of these over 40K cars didn't have back up cameras or rain sensing wipers to mention a couple of the items. I ultimately bought the MKS with Eco Boost and Ultimate package. I couldn't be happier and love the car.
  • brucelincbrucelinc Member Posts: 815
    I have been taking a different route to work - so it is longer - because I enjoy my MKS so much. I haven't found any owners of ecoboost MKSs that do not like them. There is a poster on a different forum that has a transmission problem but he still seems to love the car.
  • nvbankernvbanker Member Posts: 7,239
    There is a point of diminishing return......

    You are exactly right! IMO, the MKS may be the best value for the money.
  • tlmacsontlmacson Member Posts: 11
    Can you provide a link or a reference to the other forum where the transmission problem is discussed?
  • brucelincbrucelinc Member Posts: 815
    edited April 2010
    Blue Oval News - in the LIncoln MKS forum under "Engine, Powertrain, and Transmission."

    Based on his most recent post, the problem has been fixed. It was a whining noise and the dealer was stumped for awhile. It seems that they found the cause and replaced a part that regulates the line pressure in the transmission.
  • keystone2k9keystone2k9 Member Posts: 25
    Just a random question to those who have tried ripping music to the "Jukebox" feature from a CD. (Specifically speaking about a burnt cd containing mp3 files, not a store bought from the record label)

    When you ripped the music, do the track titles and artist names appear in the Jukebox? Or does it simply say "Track 1 - Unknown Artist?" Again, specifically about burned music on a CD-R. I have a bit of a pet peeve when it comes to these type of things.

    This question attains to ripping it and storing it in the Jukebox and simply playing the cd itself in the player.

    Thank you! :)
  • brucelincbrucelinc Member Posts: 815
    edited April 2010
    I have downloaded MP3s and burned them onto a disc and then copied the disc onto my jukebox. No, the track titles and artist names do not appear. To solve that problem, I just go into the jukebox menu and type in the information and it saves it. The end result is you have the same information as a commercial CD.

    Granted, it is not perfect but you can input the data for 20 songs in about 10 minutes. Of course, another option is to simply put the MP3s on a flashdrive and not even use the jukebox for downloaded music. With the flashdrive, the titles and artist will be shown and you don't have to enter it yourself. The flashdrive uses sync while the jukebox is a function of the nav system. From the user's perspective, either way works fine with voice commands or using the touchsceen.
  • keystone2k9keystone2k9 Member Posts: 25
    Can you "rip" MP3s stored in a flashdrive into the Jukebox? (With the titles appearing?)

    Thanks Bruce :)
  • akirbyakirby Member Posts: 8,062
    No, you can't rip MP3s from a flashdrive. They have to be on a CD. The hard disk is in the Nav system, not Sync.
  • brucelincbrucelinc Member Posts: 815
    A good number of people just have a flashdrive plugged into the USB port and never use the jukebox since you can't rip the MP3s onto it.

    I had a number of commercial CDs that I loaded onto the Jukebox. I also had a number of MP3s on a flashdrive. My problem was that I would sometimes forget which song or album was in which place. Therefore, I burned music CDs with the MP3s from my flashdrive and loaded them onto the jukebox so everything is in the same place.

    If you load homemade CDs, you will need to go into the Jukebox menu and edit the title "unknown artist" to the actual artist name. It doesn't take long once you get familiar with it. Of course it would be faster to enter "Cher" than "Electric Light Orchestra" but it is quite doable.
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  • dmanninodmannino Member Posts: 2
    Within a 5 week period I have been stranded twice. Both times when I've went to start my car it pops like the sound a light bulb pops when it goes out, and all the instruments flash then everything is dead. First time they changed the battery, which they said was bad, and then this past time after road-side service boosted it off, and towed it in and then it was kept for 5 days. They could not find anything wrong with it. Was wondering if anyone else has had any similar problems?
  • hlee1947hlee1947 Member Posts: 4
    Yes after playing the radio while waxing the auto I encountered the same problem, it seems the battery was low, I recharged it and have not played the radio for an extended amount of time since. I also have a 2009 F 150 and the battery drains FAST if playing the radio,check your visual gauge in the battery if red the vehicle fails to start. Once charged to green everything works fine. Short trips also affects the battery, it seems the charging system is not strong enough for all of the power hungry accessories. Dealerships are not much assistance, if it is not shown on the computer, there is no problem so it must be your imagination. LOL
  • dmanninodmannino Member Posts: 2
    Both times the car was parked for over 10 hours. I had a phone charger plugged in both times that's it. When you travel a lot It is really a scary situation. It is a shame when you pay 43,000 for a car, and you feel more secure in a '05 Honda CRV that you paid 5000 for. This last time I shut the door and at the time did not have my key, only the fob, and was not able to get in the car. And you're correct the dealership does not give me any comfort.
  • kenb757kenb757 Member Posts: 149
    edited September 2010
    Looks like this overpriced Taurus/Volvo is really flying off the showroom floors now.
  • robw64robw64 Member Posts: 76
    While our 2007 MKX crossover was at the dealer for a warranty repair we had a 2011 MKS base sedan to drive for five days over the New Year holiday weekend. We didn't put a lot of miles on the vehicle (it had 4,200 miles on the odometer), but did spend quite a bit of time scrutinizing it because we had been considering this model as a replacement for our current ride anyway.

    The cinnamon paint color is beautiful, and even our 15-year old commented on how the color seemed to change depending on the time of day and lighting conditions. The paint surface was universally smooth and without defects (and we really looked closely).

    Inside, the fit & finish was impressive. The beige leather and light wood were very nice, and the dashboard plastics were nicely textured. The aluminum trim pieces were well-aligned and the brushed finish appeared very satiny and upscale rather than 'scratched from end-to-end' as one of our friends said interior metal sometimes looks.

    The car felt extremely solid to drive and we all noticed the cabin was very quiet......we could hardly hear the engine running at all. I am surprised Lincoln doesn't emphasize the solid, quality feel and the hushed cabin in their advertising campaigns. The technology is great, but I can't help but think Lincoln should emphasize the upscale look & feel more. It definitely 'felt like' a luxury sedan when driving it. The ride was firmer than our MKX crossover, but not uncomfortable in any way. The paddle shifters for the manual mode transmission seem to be counter-intuitive......to up shift, the driver presses the paddle toward the steering wheel column rather than just using your thumb and pressing them straight forward toward the dash. I never got used to that motion and stopped using manual mode after the second day.

    I am quite tall and the cabin was very comfortable in regard to head and leg room for me while driving, but there was not a great deal of leg room behind me for a rear seat passenger. This base model did not have the optional sunroof, which takes more than an inch off the interior headroom because the glass drops down and then into the roofline rather than up and back like the Lincoln MKX. Compared to our MKX, there seems to be less rear seat leg room when the driver seat is positioned all the way back. The dead pedal for the left foot is a little closer than I would have preferred, but I found that I could also extend my leg and rest my foot behind the brake pedal without obstructing it at all. One drawback which took a day or two to get used to is the door sill height. I tend to rest my elbows on the door sills while driving, but the MKS has very tall door panels and this was not a comfortable position at all. I found the position of the elbow rest and the split center console lid to be perfectly placed, though. If you like to drive with the window open and your arm on the window frame, this car isn't a good fit.

    Overall we were impressed with the car. Special offers from Lincoln are plentiful at the end of the year and the Edmunds TMV is significantly lower than MSRP in our area of Florida.
  • brucelincbrucelinc Member Posts: 815
    Your review after 5 days is in close agreement with my observations after owning one for 15 months.

    I find the car to be very comfortable, solid, well put together and extremely quiet but rear seat room leg room is tight for such a large car. We also have a 2008 Taurus and you could live in it's back seat.

    I have gotten used to the paddle shifters and use them a lot. At first, it seemed counter intuitive to pull back to upshift but now it is second nature for me. I guess if I had a choice, I would like the right paddle for upshifts and the left for downshifts and not have the little thumb things at all.

    I really like the Nav and SYNC systems and their user interface. Most of all, I like the ecoboost engine - which I realize your loaner did not have.
  • keithandkeithand Member Posts: 10
    Leasing 2011 MKS in white/ beige with 20" rims. Car looks great.

    My observations having not owned an American car in 12 years (owned Lexus's, Infiniti's and 1 Acura) on this car are:

    Its quiet and big.
    Trunk opening is very small for such a big trunk.
    Not enough leg room to stretch your left leg.
    Very good MPG
    If I did not know it was a Lincoln I would think it was Asian; thats good.
    High door sills.
    SYNC is fantastic and I might get another FOMOCO because of it. Did have 1 glitch and fixed itself.
    Exhaust noise not as sporty or mellow as 2008 M35, 2007 Maxima, 2004 RL or 2000 GS 400 I had in past.
    So far quality is equal but have only driven 1200 miles in 3 months.

    I would reccommend this car and mine is the base with plenty of power as I did not want AWD.
  • akirbyakirby Member Posts: 8,062
    Have you seen or tried MyLincoln Touch on the 2011 MKX? It will be available on the MKS at some point. Despite some early glitches that were recently fixed with a software update it makes sync look like a 10 year old cellphone.

    I've also heard the new MKS is stunning along with all of the new Lincoln designs. Lincoln has just started their turnaround and the best is yet to come (provided you don't want a RWD sports sedan).
  • keithandkeithand Member Posts: 10
    I have not tried it but my summer (Ford retired) neighbor got the MKX so I will see it then.

    We did have a glitch on SYNC. We recd. a call and hung after correctly. Now only next track or prev. track works and get a Speech Control not Recognized when asking to Play Artist or Song.
    Called dealer and they had no idea what happened. Uh huh; reading boards others have had same problem.
    A week later we made a call in the car, the music stopped as it should but the phone never switched to SYNC and when we hung up via the phone the music did not come back on.

    AHA, I hung up again using the steering wheel button and ALL is now working great!

    SYNC is great and I hope it stays working.

    RWD- Yes I really miss it. It was most noticeable when I got the MKS after driving the M35 for 2 years. Are other car is a 2005 Thunderbird RWD. They just drive so much better in non snowy climes.

    AWD- don't want it in FL and the car has plenty of power for what I need which says a lot since I do like HP.

    I do get a little vibration at 80+ MPH which may be from the 20" tires. Not sure.
  • nvbankernvbanker Member Posts: 7,239
    Do you have aftermarket or stock wheels? Aftermarkets are often not fully round, and vibration can't be fixed with those. OTOH, the stock, factory wheels are excellent, and if you have those, + a vibration, it's one of the tires, or a balancing issue on one of them.
  • datagendatagen Member Posts: 107
    I have had that kind of problem yet. I have discovered that I get better service from a Ford dealer than a Lincoln one. They will honor your warranty and the one I take my mks to seems to do a better job.
  • datagendatagen Member Posts: 107
    Agreed, I still have my 2009 and I have my reasons for keeping it even though it is not the perfect vehicle. Besides (looking at my watch), it is still a free country. Adding a hood light is not much of an effort or cost. Mine is red and I had it professionally tinted. It really sets the red off. I have received many comments on this move.

    I plan on getting the lincoln spoiler with the chrome accent, then that will be it for me.
  • kargkarg Member Posts: 20
    Great to see a lot of familier names from the Lincoln LS forum now commenting here. I still have my 2000 V6 w/125,000 miles and never a REAL problem of any kind to date. I have never driven the winters - so that may have helped mine stay so nice inside/out.

    I also have a 2003 Town Car Cartier L - with lots of extra room, but I got stuck this past winter - did a LOT of damage and am thinking AWD will serve me better, but don't really like SUV's. Enter the MKS...

    I've been looking at used MKZ's and Taurus/Sables, but I am really tempted to buy a used MKS.

    I found one that has 78,000 miles. It is a 2009 AWD with the 3.7L engine and has Ultimate package - so loaded up. They are asking just over $20K (which is ridiculously low...)? That IS the original set price - as it just went up for sale. Carfax looks okay. Corporate owened by the look. My problem is that the car is over 3 hours drive away and I'm not able to travel that far with recent lower back trouble.

    I'm really torn. I've been reading stories about the brakes being the most prevelant problem. Any other things I should be worried about. I really trust the Lincoln V6's - since my experience with my LS - it has been a Warrior! I still get 27 mpg highway and 22 mixed driving. I'm a little disappointed with the 23 MPG on the MKS AWD - especially when my '03 Town Car with V8 gets better mileage. I know - drive the LS in the summer and MKS in the winter. That is the plan...

    Any suggestions/feedback would be appreciated.
  • nvbankernvbanker Member Posts: 7,239
    edited July 2011
    Like the car, concerned about the price with so many miles, also< the LS V-6 was an adapted Jaguar engine, the MKS V-6 has no relationship, but it so far has a very good reputation as well. I think you can do better on the price though.
  • akirbyakirby Member Posts: 8,062
    The V8 was from Jag. The V6 was a Ford duratec.

    That AJ V8 was a sweet engine. Too bad Jag wouldn't let Ford use the 4.2L na and sc versions.
  • brucelincbrucelinc Member Posts: 815
    The 2009 MKSs had a few issues but TSBs have been issued for the gremlins and the fixes are straightforward. The 2009 would still be under warranty.

    Other than the brakes, there were reports of doors that would lock and then unintentionally unlock - fixed by a revised rod to the lock mechanism - not a big deal. The other thing that comes to mind was vibration in the rear deck shelf when playing songs with heavy bass. That is fixed with additional padding and revised fasteners for the subwoofer. These issues were addressed in the 2010s although there still been a few reports of grinding brakes. That issue took 2 or maybe 3 TSBs but the latest one solves the problem.

    The 3.7 is a fine engine. It has more power than your TC's V8 and the MKS is a heavy car - much heavier than your LS. The AWD system reduces mileage somewhat. Most owners report better cruising highway mileage than the EPA estimates.
  • nvbankernvbanker Member Posts: 7,239
    The V8 was from Jag. The V6 was a Ford duratec.

    Ah, no kidding? Didn't know that (obviously). Well, it was a good engine, and performed really well in the LS. Still no relation to the 3.7 in the MKS though, correct?
  • akirbyakirby Member Posts: 8,062
    No, the 3.7L is a new engine. The Ford version of the AJ V8 was 3.9L while Jag started with a 4.0 (longer stroke). Jag eventually went to a 4.2 plus a supercharger.

    The 3.0L V6 in the LS was the first one with variable cam timing. The new 3.5L and 3.7L engines are all new AFAIK.
  • nvbankernvbanker Member Posts: 7,239
    I had an 02 Thunderbird with that 3.9L engine, which later got a HP bump, I understand, but mine wasn't bad at all. Very smooth, good power. I thought it was the perfect engine for the bird. Had no trouble, but only drove the car to 17,000 miles and sold it last year. I miss it. Desperate times.....
  • kargkarg Member Posts: 20
    Thanks for the feedback. All good points and the brakes seems to be the biggest issue...

    I've had my share of "Lockouts" with the LS and that set-up. I learned very early in the game with it to take the keys and hit the unlock prior to leaving the car - if you were just pumping gas or whatever. Another reason I wished the 2000 had the keypad on the door, but make do. I'm sure the MKS lock/unlock issue isn't too big of a deal, either.

    Someone else mentioned that the price should be even lower and I'm surprised. They have one of the 'compare' websites that compares comparable models and this particular car is the lowest in price of all similar models for sale in the area - by several thousand, actually.

    I also would think at 78K miles - most of the warranty items would be done. Probably just drivetrain and exhaust are still covered, maybe?

    Thanks again.
  • brucelincbrucelinc Member Posts: 815
    I was suffering from brain fade when I said it was still under warranty. I was thinking age and not mileage. Bumper to bumper is 50,000 and powertrain is 70,000 if I recall correctly.

    In any case, you make a good point that any of the known issues should have been fixed by now. The brakes, door locks and rear shelf rattle were typically reported by owners within 15,000 miles or so. I don't know anything about the pricing but I certainly would not be concerned about the car as long as it has not been abused and has been maintained properly.
  • rsblaskirsblaski Member Posts: 68
    :confuse: I have a 2011 MKS fwd. Could someone let me know if the transmission is supposed to downshift when going down a steep grade while the cc is engaged?
    My previous 2009 MKS (which had standard cc) did this, but the 2011 only uses the brakes to maintain the speed the cc is set at.
    I am concerned that only using the brakes to control speed will cause overheating and possible rotor warp.
  • brucelincbrucelinc Member Posts: 815
    Below is what the owner's manual says - doesn't sound it downshifts automatically. I was not aware that CC or ACC would ever initiate a downshift unless the speed drops to where the transmission would downshift anyway. With mine, it will automatically downshift from 6th to 5th if I drop under 50MPH - about 1000 RPM. It does that whether the CC is on or not.

    Hilly condition usage
    It is recommended that the driver select a lower gear position when ACC
    is active in situations such as prolonged downhill driving on steep grades
    (i.e., driving in mountainous areas). In these situations, additional engine
    braking is needed to reduce the load on the vehicle&#146;s regular brake
    system to prevent them from overheating. For more information,
    reference Automatic transmission operation in the Driving chapter.
    Note: If ACC is applying brakes for an extended period of time, an
    audible alarm will sound, the head&#146;s up display will flash and ACC will
    shut down. This is to allow the brakes to cool down. When the brakes
    have cooled down, the ACC will again function normally.
  • rsblaskirsblaski Member Posts: 68
    Bruce,
    Thanks a lot!
    The reason I asked the question in the first place was because the 2009 MKS I traded for the 2011 DID, in fact, downshift when the (conventional) cc was engaged. I thought that this feature, which I was really impressed with, would have carried over to newer models. Perhaps it's something that may still be a part of conventional cc but not acc?
  • patfromct1954patfromct1954 Member Posts: 1
    Asking price through dealer is 26k, it has 43k miles on it. The pull for me is the AWD (I am a daily skiier, and want to get to the mountain) and really do not want another SUV! I love the bling of the Lincoln, and became a Ford lover with my '07 Edge. That said, the '07 Edge, as much as I loved it, is a gas hog. I traded it for a Camry, and the Camry has got to be the nmost uncomfortable vehicle I have EVER driven! I guess I am a luxury car girl at heart, LOL.

    Anyway, can anyone tell me what to look out for. The vehicle available to me is that gorgeous black, I don't think I have seen paint like this before (I know, where the heck have I been, right???) .....

    My last luxury wheels were Cadillac, and CTS IS a consideration. Someone point me in the right direction. I have the weekend to make this decision, the dealer has let me use the car!
  • datagendatagen Member Posts: 107
    I had a 2009 MKS (brand new) and it was a lemon. From the paint to the transmission, worst car I ever had. I would not recommend the 2009's maybe the 10's 11's, but not the 09's. I understand your AWD requirements and for that it was great. If you are still bent on it, I recommend for a few bucks more, an independent inspection of the vehicle.

    I understand your desire for luxury so I took a little bit of the middle road. I have a 2010 MKZ AWD and it has just about all the luxury as the MKS, but it is a little smaller and way more agile. I also have a 2011 Sonata and even though both vehicles have about the same features, the Z rides smoother. I will say with that turbo, the Sonata can haul with great gas mileage.
  • e_net_ridere_net_rider Member Posts: 1,380
    Purchased yesterday and happy so far.
    18,500 miles and exceptionally clean. It was probably a lease or corporate Ford vehicle sold only to qualified Ford dealers. It was likely at Ft. Lauderdale and I got it in NC.
    Not Ecoboost - I could not justify the extra money for it since AWD would very seldom benefit me and the gas mileage difference would not certainly.
    Glass top - Didn't want it and consequently had to give up maybe one option, BLISS, which is included in that package and maybe not available otherwise.
    Automatic cruise control - I would not have minded having it but hard to find on vehicles otherwise configured the way I wanted.
    Previous vehicle - 2011 Lacrosse CXS, all factory options except glass top and rear DVD screens. I had to special order to escape the glass top.
    Much of my comparison will be based on it and other vehicles over the years.

    The MKS is not a town car, but pretty nice.
    It does not ride like it, but maybe as near as you can get in a smaller vehicle. Far better than the Lacrosse in any model.
    Items I will miss are GM's blind spot alert, when it was working. The HUD with its easy to read display. And something that may only be GM called Hyperstrut. Only the top model of the Lacrosse had it and I could easily see the effect it had on steering/handling, in lesser models, on the front end. And feel certain the MKS would benefit from it. The triple door seals may have contributed to a bit less wind noise.
    And thankfully I no longer have GoodYear tires.
    The Lacrosse in Red Jewel Tint was definitely a head turner. And its many LED's for rear lighting made it distinctive at night. I suspect this white one won't catch as many eyes but then my real hope is that things actually work and don't break.
    I don't like the lumbar supports in either compared to the two bag support system. And when it comes to cooled seats, something that is noted among professional reviewers, they are not as comfortable as other seats, but the MKS is better than GM I' ve compared, including Cadillac.
    The seat memory system in the MKS is superior because it actually works.
    I also liked never having to take the key out of your pocket on the GM system, but may be able to adapt by using the door keypad and lock from inside vehicle.
    The MKS is a little lighter so it being 10 less HP is no factor unless you think being a bit shy of 300HP is a flaw. GM did increase power by 50HP this year and Ford has the ecoboost if you really need power or want it.
    Having only driven 300 miles I only have a rough approximation of gas mileage. About the first hundred were road with speed limits of 60MPH or less and several traffic lights. The guage was showing an average very close to 30 MPG decreasing to about 28.5 as speed increased. Once on the interstate I reset and cruising around 70 MPH it was showing about 25.5MPG on regular grade.
    I've obviously got a lot to learn yet.
  • e_net_ridere_net_rider Member Posts: 1,380
    Just acquired 2010 MKS and I have not been able to locate definitive information on the USB port. Maybe one of you can tell me what you've learned.
    It mentions thumb drives in owners manual, but not specifically what format it accepts music in. Or even if the thumb drive needs to be formatted a particular way.
    My experience was with 2011 Lacrosse and though it was supposed to accept several formats, WMA, MP3, M4A, and others, it was very problematic and only seemed to work with MP3 on such drives. It did not work at all on external HDD even though manual claimed it did. I now suspect owners also called it a jukebox sometimes because of the ford system.

    Has anyone had success using a portable HDD? If so, how was it formatted and what codec was used for the music? Which formats will it read the tags from? Is it capable of reading the lyrics from the tag?
    It sounds like an iPod will be not problem, except way too small for my jukebox collection(~400GB). What is the largest storage medium or device anyone has gotten to work?
  • akirbyakirby Member Posts: 8,062
    www.syncmyride.com

    Any self powered usb drive can be used as long as it's formatted FAT32. Pretty sure mp3 and mp4a both work - not sure about the rest. If you have iTunes look for a free pc app called itunes export - works like a charm and maintains your playlists.
  • e_net_ridere_net_rider Member Posts: 1,380
    Thanks. I found some of the info concerning type of files. The list is MP3, WMA, WAV, & AAC.
    It sounds like recording a disc to the HDD will be an automatic conversion to MP3 since the HDD is rated by time and number of tracks. My bet is that it will be using a poorer quality bit rate to pile such a large number on 10GB.
    I will try recording a CD to it and see if it gives an indication by how much room it used and whether it recorded in native CDA format or converted to MP3. Often very high quality MP3 are OK, 192Kb/sec. Sometimes distortion will show up even at those rates, depending upon which MP3 CODEC is used.
    Again, no indication as to what WMA is usuable. There is a lossless version but no indication if it works with the built in CODEC. And WMA is rather proprietary, thankyou MS.
    Wave, can't go wrong with quality, but it is the largest file.
    I shall have to test concerning AAC (m4a), which is supposed to be much better than MP3.
  • e_net_ridere_net_rider Member Posts: 1,380
    Update. I plugged the USB HDD that would not play at all in the Lacrosse and it happily started playing in my MKS. It took some time to complete indexing with a message that the index was full. Also it showed a message, "media not recognizable" several times then happily moved to next song.
    I will have to copy a song of each format to a media to see which it will not recognize.
  • e_net_ridere_net_rider Member Posts: 1,380
    Has this been an issue at all?
    I find there is a slight amount of slack at the steering wheel and it is a nuisance, especially on surfaces that induce wandering.
    I'm also thinking I need to have alignment checked because of how it handles on rain grooved concrete. At less than posted speed it shakes from side to side as I try to keep it straight.
  • brucelincbrucelinc Member Posts: 815
    Mine has the electric power steering that compensates for road irregularities so it is different than yours. However, what you describe could be caused by uneven tire wear. An alignment and tire inspection/rotation would be a good idea. Also, make sure the tire pressures are correct in all 4 tires. In my research and various forum participation, I have never heard anyone else mention this problem so it does not sound like a known issue.
  • e_net_ridere_net_rider Member Posts: 1,380
    Thanks for the reply. Full electric PS? Or is it some sort of boost system? Gm uses a system called Magna-Steer on some vehicles where it adds more resistance to movement of the steering the faster you go. They also have full EPS, as in the 09 Malibu which about once every thousand miles it would suddenly jerk to the right almost sending me off the road multiple times. They were undable to fix.
    As to tire pressure, I watch it like a hawk because I learned 40 years ago that as little as one PSI could effect the handling greatly on some vehicles. The electronics not showing me the pressure of each tire is a bit annoying. With low profile tires the issue is likely amplified. Mine is a 2010 with 3.7L. Having just bought it, I assumed all maintenance had been done recently, but having put about 4000 miles on it the oil percentage is down to 10%.
    The other day I also noticed that the PS fluid is significantly below the minimum line, like twice the distance between minimum and maximum. I have not spotted a leak. Also I was a bit alarmed when I checked the oil during a trip. About 400 miles after buying and in cold weather I did not check closely until I arrived at destination since it surely was not low and it was also a weekend. It appeared to be a quart over full. Now at home, it seems to be at proper level, but I surely will watch closely for usage.
    I need to call the dealer tomorrow concerning rust on the rotors. I noticed that it appeared to be more than the overnight rust and questioned the saleman about it. He assured me it was only surface rust, not the pitting I thought it was. Now, nearly 4000 miles later, I see a strong discoloring on all rotors, like blueing from overheat or possibly carbon from the pads being deposited in the pitting. The rear have nearly worn the major rust from the surface with about 1/4" still heavily rusted at the outer edge. On the front it is about 1/2" and wonder how much braking is being lost. Does anyone else show these wide rusted areas at the outer edge of the braking surface?
  • brucelincbrucelinc Member Posts: 815
    MKSs with ecoboost have electric power steering with drift-pull compensation. I doubt that it would have any effect on grooved highways but it is effective on crowned roads or when there is a strong cross wind. The car tracks straight without the driver needing to keep pressure on the steering wheel.

    Regarding rust on the rotors, the outer 1/4 inch of the rotor will likely have some rust. On mine, the area of rust is the same on the front as on the back. Mine has had the TSB performed that replaces the caliper brackets, pads and rotors. I don't recall how wide the rust strip was on the old rotors. If you have any brake noise at all, your dealer might do the TSB for you. It involves different caliper brackets that slightly reposition how the pads contact the rotors.

    I think that bluish color on the rotors is pretty normal and not a sign of overheating. Seems I read somewhere that it is due to the composition of the rotor material. Mine have a bluish tint - and have had since new.

    By the way, the oil monitor only measures mileage or time - it has nothing to do with the "life" of the oil. You can set the oil monitor through the message center to various parameters.
  • brucelincbrucelinc Member Posts: 815
    CORRECTION:
    I just examined my rotors more carefully and discovered that there is zero rust at the outside edge on the front - the pads are contacting all the way to the edge. On the inside closer to the hub, there is about 1/8 inch that the pads do not contact. On the rear, there is approximately 1/8 inch on the outside edge and 1/4 inch on the inside where there is no pad contact.

    I am pretty sure with the original rotors, the pads on the front did not make contact all the way to the outside edge and it left a rust ring out there. I think the new caliper brackets/pads changed the contact area. It would be nice if your dealer would apply that TSB to yours. It improved the pedal feel on mine and eliminated the brake noise that I was experiencing. I had about 23,000 miles on mine when I had it done.
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