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RCO program (balloon payment, fake lease) up to $7,000 rebates available. In states without sales tax, the rebates may be lower.
Cash Purchase $5,500 in rebates.
4.9%APR / 60 months and $5,500 in rebates.
0% APR / 60 months and up to $4,500 in rebates.
1.9% APR / 72 months PLUS up to $4,500 in rebates
Thanks again
Anthony
I remember those first generation Nav systems from rental cars around 5 or so years ago and I agree those first generation CD based systems were somewhat useless.
However the new gen. Nav systems like the LS has are way different. Some of the key points I've picked up (at least I think this is what they said):
Part of the price of the NAV system is due to the THX super-premium audio system, which has received great reviews.
It has virtually every street and road in the US in its map data base.
It is one of the easyest Nav systems to use. For example it has voice recognition. If you are anywhere and want to find a way home, all you say is "Home" and it will lay out a route back to your home.
You can enter a particular address, Town, street & # and it will find that address and make a route to it.
It will Zoom in and out from 1/32 mile per division to 128 miles per division with 13 steps available.
This one is a biggy. If you miss a turn on your route, it can automatically update the route to get you back on your desired route. Many NAV systems just start yelling at you "Turn Missed, Turn Missed ...." and you have to figure out how to back track or enter a new route.
There are route preference options:
Minumum Time / Distance
Use Major Roads
Use Toll Roads
Use Ferries
You can program in places to avoid. For example, you're planning trip to visit Grandma in Peoria for Thanksgiving and she tells you that the bridge in Quincy was wiped out by a flood. You put a X over Rt 24 in Quincy and it then will calculate a route bypassing Rt 24 in Quincy. I think you can put up to 6 bypass points in your route.
You can store up to 15 destination points and assign them icons. That way you can instantly recall a route.
For trip time calculations you can enter your typical speeds on Residential, Main and Freeway roads for more accurate personalized trip time calculations.
There are a bunch of points of interest stored in the map data such as hotels, gas stations, restaurants, supermarkets, parking, etc.
I'm pretty good with maps and finding my way around. So getting from my home to Chicago is childs play. Where I see the Nav system's value is what happens when I'm actually in the middle of Chicago and am trying to find my way around. In addition I see it as saving a lot of time doing route planning prior to a trip. It also would be valuable if you're on a trip and decide to change your plans.
I could go on a lot more, but I'll leave that to LS drivers who actually have the NAV system. But if you are looking at a leftover 2003 LS and want a Nav system, you better get out there soon as there aren't a lot of LS's left that have it.
Caveat: If you’re planning a trip using historic roads like Route 66 which no longer show up on newer maps, you’re better off taking advantage of Lincoln’s custom trip planner available free to current owners.
Thanks once again
Anthony
I've had LS 2 weeks now and am still loving it very much. Thus far, the only problem that I need to have the dealer look at is the headlights come on whenever the car is started(even in broad daylight) and then go off in about 10 seconds if it is bright enough. Otherwise, everything works perfectly.
The nine of you who have been here over the past three+ years will recall that I bought my '00 LS (with a manual and only audio options) in an attempt to acquire a reliable American vehicle that competes with BMW & Audi. In '00, there were no Asian vehicles with RWD & a manual in this "class."
My LS handles very well. Since I absolutely required a manual when I bought this car, I have the 3 litre six, which isn't going to knock anyone's socks off. When I bought the thing, the concept was that in a "year or two" the V8 would be available with the manual. Yeah, and we'll all flap our arms and fly to the moon (credit to C. Shultz).
Anyway, I dumped my previous American car ('94 Eagle Vision) because of reliability issues that became obvious in the fourth year. That car stranded me beside the road twice in that pivotal fourth year, once for an ignition switch and once for cam belt "slippage." I also had to spend a lot of money on the automatic transmission in the meantime, but that never put me beside the road.
Given that, this is the year that I'm paying really careful attention to my LS. I'm perfectly willing to pay for reasonable wear after the warranty runs out, but I've driven Asian vehicles that haven't required squat until well after 100K miles.
A week ago, I had a high engine temperature event. What I learned was that if I turned off the air conditioner, the temp gauge came down and the engine was no longer in danger. Given a couple of additional days, I learned that it was a marginal situation, even in Arizona (where it's beyond miserably hot) -- only in the afternoon or after multiple restarts during noontime errands did the problem occur. What I also learned was that the system that fires only certain cylinders to keep the engine cool in these kinds of events apparently only applies to the V8.
That said, I was quoted $680 yesterday afternoon to fix the hydraulic cooling fan system. Imagine my surprise.
The good news is that the dealer I took the car to for service is willing to give me one of the two (for each vehicle) after-warranty allowances, and I'm only going to be charged something on the order of $150. Excellent. The way this dealership responded to my distress is much to their credit. I expect any vehicle to run without anything beyond oil, filter and spark plug changes until way more miles than this car has.
I will continue to keep this board informed. There's no reason that my car shouldn't contintue to provide service for another 60K+ miles with only routine maintenance.
I guess we'll continue to define routine.
Here's the question: What are the rest of you with '00 - '03 vehicles going to do when your cooling fan packs up and you learn that it's a $700 event?
These days the LS has an electric cooling fan. This is why. The old-timers will remember that the the hydraulic fan was an issue not so long ago -- it no longer exists. Do the '03's have the electric fan, or doesn one need an '04 to get it?
However, depreciation has made my once $39K automobile worth only $16.5K, so trading up just isn't a viable option. So, once the warranty runs out, I'll just have to suck it up and have any necessary repairs done. $700 to fix a fan is a real bummer, but as emc said, it's only the dollar value of one car payment.
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repairs, I am seriously considering an extended warranty on my LS simply because I plan on keeping it a while. And while it seems to be a well designed and built car, I know that ANY car like this can be expensive to repair. Any opinions on whether an extended warranty is worth it or not. And how long does one have to buy the Ford ESP? I know on GM cars, you can pretty much buy their proctection plan(Major Gaurd) as long as the vehicle is still under the factory warranty.
cdnpinhead, I know they are out there, but to date I have never seen an LS(in person) with the stick. A was a bit disappointed that Lincoln never offered the V8 with the manual and even more disappointed when they dropped the manual all together. Especially considering the V6 got more powerful for 03. Come on Lincoln, Cadillac is going to be offering a 6 speed manual with the CTS's new 255 hp V6 next year as well a V8 powered high performance model that will come ONLY with a 6 speed. And I'm not mentioning all the European machinery that offers a manual with their higher performance engines.
It doesn't matter to me much who makes the hydraulic pump and motor assembly used in the early cooling systems. It seemed to me when I bought the car an incredibly complex approach to what would normally be a fairly simple system. When a conventional electric fan system does break, it's much less expensive and the alternator that drives it isn't dedicated to the cooling system.
Anyway, I get the car back later today (I hope) and shouldn't have to worry about the cooling system for awhile.
Regarding symptoms, the little high-temp light (thermometer shaped & red) comes on anytime the temp gauge is between 3/4 and the top, and the A/C shuts off automatically when it gets to the top. When I felt hot air blowing from the A/C, I saw the idiot light at about the same time and the gauge, which was near, but not quite at the top. The temp continued coming down, and I shut the A/C off so it wouldn't come back on, and all was well. As I alluded to earlier, the 8's have a system that fires only some of the cylinders, and alternates them, such that the car can be driven at much reduced power for quite a distance without overheating.
Watch your gauges, and good luck.
schneider11 "Anone having problems with an overheating Lincoln LS" Sep 12, 2003 9:41pm!make=Lincoln&model=LS&ed_makeindex=.ef17b29
A hydraulic rotary motor is simply an impeller that you force hydraulic fulid through and it turns. Sort of like a water pump in reverse. The advantages of a hydraulic fan motor are that it is relatively easy make the fan speed infinately asjustable. Therefore you can run the fan at the minumum required speed lowering noise. Most car electric fan motors have 2 or 3 fixed fan speeds. Plus as someone else stated electrical load was also an issue.
Keep in mind that when the LS was designed one of Lincoln's main objectives was to make a very refined vehicle. This is why some other key design decisions were made such as manufacturing a new V8 engine based of the Jag AJ-V8 design (more expensive) instead of just throwing in some version of Ford's 4.6L V8. The Jag engine is a smoother running engine with lower NVH (Noise, Vibration & Harshness).
This is also why they decided to use the Getrag manual trannie. They could have used a Tremec, but the Tremecs are not refined units like the Getrag is.
In hindsight, one can always second guess Ford's decisions. If Ford has just thrown in some form of the 4.6L mod motor and a Tremec T56 a lot of people could be very happy with a 320 HP hard shifting unrefined quasi American muscle car. But the refinement the LS has would not exist which could have turned off the majority of LS customers.
Could be something as simple as seals that harden or some other situation that has more to do with time than mileage, or even than use/duty cycle. Either way, I had no clue others were dealing with this at the same time I am.
In the future, I'll appreciate the quiet more
It's definitely true that my wife's minivan's fans make a hell of a racket. OTOH, the vehicle has 133K miles on it and is over nine years old, and those noisy bastards haven't missed a lick.
The Ford Premium ESP is the best one, and it's worth it. One decent repair will get your money back for you, sometimes, many times over. And, should you trade your LS in on another Ford product, Ford will rebate you the unused portion of your pro-rated warranty cost back to you in a cash refund, so your risk is minimal. It's a very good program.
Also, IMO, the Ford extended ESP warranty is far superior to anybody's aftermarket independent warranty, just because it is hassle free. You go right into the computer as an ESP covered vehicle, and what's covered is right there, so when your tranny blows, or whatever, you pay your deductible, and forgetaboutit. With the aftermarkets, you usually have to be approved for the repair, and pay the dealer, you get reimbursed later.
There are cars I don't bother to get the warranty for, because the reputation of the car, and my experience with the car is so good, I don't worry, and I've been right every time. A couple of times, I have extended the warranty and been very glad I have. A couple of times, I have extended the warranty and never used it. My 99 Navigator was one example.
But on the LS? I'd buy it, in fact, I wouldn't buy an LS without it. I love the LS, don't get me wrong, but it's not always a bullet -proof car.
My 2000 blew a hose that attached to the fan, requiring the replacement of the fan assembly. It happened under warranty. I was told that they found a few of these hoses had the fittings incorrectly attached, and the hoses would eventually fail. My 2001 has 38,XXX miles and all is well, so far.
On a side note, I was also told they had a high failure rate of the cooling hose that goes into the thermostat. Apparently, it's a short hose that has a 90º bend. The failure occurs at the elbow. The "fix" is a revised hose with a reinforced elbow. Yes, that blew on my 2000, after the warranty expired. The repair was only $100 (parts & labor), so I figured I'd let them do it.
http://media.ford.com/article_display.cfm?article_id=16010
I also hadn't realized there was an owner's club for the car. Does anyone have any experience with them?
KarenS "Lincoln LS Enthusiasts: Meet the Members" Jan 26, 2001 9:45am
Thanks
Craig
There are a few aftermarket upgrades out there, most notably an improved intake system. Try a search, such as "Lincoln LS", and you'll find a source.
You've given up a number of things by getting rid of the 300M, and you won't mind a bit.
In any case welcome aboard 300mlover. Time for a new handle before someone from the 300m forum comes over here and outs you.
Personally, I love them though. They are a good source of information and conversation.
Regular rubbing compound will leave visible scratches in your clearcoat.
There are clearcoat safe rubbing compounds. 3M makes a clearcoat scratch remover as does Meguires and other polish companies. Most auto stores carry the 3m products and they are typically used by professionals.
However, some of the swirl mark removal is done by fillers. These fillers will eventually wear away, just like a wax does, so you may have to repeat the treatment every so often.