Buying a Used Lincoln LS

nvrsbr

what should i expect from a well maintained and cared for 2001 ls 3.9 v8 with 112k mi. about how much mileage can you get out of these cars until it starts to show signs of "old age" and eventually goes to car heaven. are we looking at 200k easy or what?

need to know because im faced with the opportunity to get one thats been well cared for and reads 112k but for $1000-$1500 less than listed kbb private party value if it should make it to somewhere near 200k i like the car so much that 90k mi of driving left for me might be worth it to me. but if they usually dont see the 200k mi. marker than i probably no longer want one with 112k mi.

maurice6133

I was thinking about buying a used 2000 ls for 7,000 miles. The ls has 74,000 miles on it and is clean. I just have two problems that trouble me with buying it. The problem is when I had the car changing gears to check the transmission, I started to turn the wheel, and when I turned it all the way it was a noise. The noise wasn't cracking or grinding, but it just didn't sound right. When I returned to the chevy deale about the problem he said he had no idea. The problem i thought was the recall for the lower ball joints. The dealer called lincoln and they said the vehicle was serviced for the recall. I was wondering if you think its the power steering, the ball joint or axle? Another question is are there any problems that are consistent on this car, I should now about?

jetstang

Any engine should go at least 200K if it is properly maintained and doesn't have any incidents, overheating, lack of oil. But, the concern is if the car is a quality piece or does everything consistently break and cost you an arm and a leg in repair costs. My 01 LS V8 just turned 70K and I have replaced way too many parts for a car with this many miles on it. I just replaced the rear caliper and clockspring in the last 2 weeks and the car was finally uptight, all fixed. Now, the drivers window regulator broke yesterday???? A cheap plastic guide roller that the cable rides on sheared off the outer edge and pinched the cable, broke!!!! A metal roller would last for forever compared to the cheap plastic gear they used. Found a new complete regulator assembly on ebay with motor for $60 shipped. Must be alot of demand for this part for it to be so cheap and available. This is a $250 repair at the dealer, so if you can't do it yourself, this cars maintenance cost would be extremely high and offset any discount you got on the initial purchase. Here is my list of repairs in last 12K, 58K-70K miles: coolant control valve, COPS, Valve cover gaskets, seized rear caliper, clockspring, fogged headlights, melted 3rd brake light lens, lumbar inop, front end clunks-struts, visor broke, head liner loose, front pillar covers twisting, and now, 1st broken window regulator, more to come I am sure.... :sick:

akirby

The LS uses the same regulator parts as Mercedes. The reasons are complicated but it's not the part itself - it's the weatherseal around the windows (too sticky, puts too much strain on the regulator).

You can get just the regulator for $30 new and you reuse the motor.

leadfoot4

I haven't been here in quite a while, surprised to see some of the same "cast of characters" are still here.My wife and I still have our 2000 LS, and it's still running well, although it has only 55,000 miles on it.

I was pondering this the other day, as I've gone on a "cleaning blitz", clearing out a ton of old paperwork in my files. I've kept all of the dealer repair orders for this car, and was looking through them as I cleaned. I have to say that there were a lot more of them than I remembered. Fortunately, I still enjoy the car, and fortunately the dealer made the service experience as painless as possible, and fortunately the car hasn't left us stranded. However, it hasn't been the most trouble free car I've ever owned.

I just hope that I don't encounter anything major, as I'm now out of warranty.

jeyhoe

Welcome back, leadfoot. Still have my 2001 getrag LS and at 90K it's sill basically like new except I still need to replace the bushings on the front swaybar. If I could afford to replace it, I might think about it. But as it is, there's nothing that comes close for any reasonable cost. Hope it keeps on truckin as the only money I've spent on it for maintenance is brakes once and tires twice.

leadfoot4

Just looking at my member information...I'm not sure about the total number of posts being correct, but the date certainly isn't correct. I joined this forum about 14 months earlier than that, about the time I started researching the LS, which I bought in May of 2000.

cdnpinhead

Yeah, me too. Everyone who was posting on Edmunds on April 13 got that join date, regardless of reality.

brucelinc

It looks like all of us early birds have the same member start date, although many were earlier. Yes, I stumbled on to this site much sooner than April of 2001. I have one of the earliest LSs - 4/99 build. It used to be quite a daily routine of reading all of the new posts.

leadfoot4

Yeah, remember those giddy days??? There would be 70-80 posts a day!! It would take at LEAST one cup of tea to make it through all of them......

brucelinc

And some of the personalities! Remember our friend from Omaha? I wonder how many of those "regulars" from back then still have their LSs.

jeyhoe

Yeah, I remember as well.

Serious question: anyone hazard a guess as to why the LS generated such interest yet the mks, mkz, mkx etc have not?

brucelinc

I will throw out a few reasons:

The Lincoln brand was generally viewed in a more favorable light by the public and by the press in those days. They were outselling Cadillac. The LS got great press from both the enthusiast and consumer mags. The LS was the first credible attempt to compete with the Europeans at their own game - sport/luxury. Some Lincoln management participated in our discussions. The LS was not a badge engineered Ford. The LS was extremely competitive in it's market segment.

None of the above apply to the offerings today.

akirby

A lot of the old regulars are still on that "other" site and a lot still post here. I'm still in both places even though I traded my LS in 2 years ago on a Fusion. It's nice to be able to discuss automotive things with rational people without the trolls that seem to pop up here from time to time.

The LS was the first credible domestic sports sedan and there were big plans for the future - European sales, a 330i competitor, 2 door coupe, etc. Then the Firestone fiasco destroyed the budget, management couldn't figure out what to do with Lincoln and they just sort of drifted along on a life raft until a couple of years ago. Based on the new management and the new vehicles and concepts I think they'll get back to the former glory of the LS and far surpass it. But it won't happen overnight.

leadfoot4

I'll agree with all of that plus add that the LS was a rear driver. Although it's just my $0.02 worth, FWDs don't appeal to me. Yes, I live in the northeast, and at times, a FWDer can be beneficial in deep snow, but the other 9 months of the year, a RWD is a better balanced, better handling car. The LS was as close to 50/50 weight distribution as any V-8 front engined sedan, so its handling is superb.

And, if it came down to it, and we get a serious blizzard, the LS stays home. My wife, the primary driver, is a school teacher, and the schools would probably be closed. Therefore, that last little bit of extra snow traction a FWD might provide would become a non-issue. I have a 4x4 for the winter.

The other cars that Lincoln markets now are just FWD people movers, although I understand the MKX, or whatever they call it now, can be had as an AWDer.

jeyhoe

"The other cars that Lincoln markets now are just FWD people movers, although I understand the MKX, or whatever they call it now, can be had as an AWDer"

Actually, they all (mk s, x, z) can be had with AWD. While that's nice, and I certainly would not buy something like the X without it, it's still not RWD.

I agree with all the comments answering my question. I cant even recall how I stumbled upon this site and discussion about 7 yers ago. But a lot of the excitement here contributed to my purchasing a 2001 LS. I loved that the VP of marketing and a couple of engineers were here to answer questions. And then they hosted several LS events. It was great.

akirby - yeah, I dislike those trolls too ... :shades: I should rejoin the other site, but I'm too cheap to pay my way in anymore.

brucelinc

I share your optimism about the future. I think the MKS is a great step forward and the RWD platform is not that far away.

One other very positive thing: Ford quality has gone waaaay up in the past few years. The model launches have been nearly flawless. Let's face it - some of the early LSs had some teething problems and it turned off some owners. The fit and finish was generally good but the quality of interior materials could have been better. The TSBs for transmission shift quality didn't bother me but could have been a nuisance for some. Other things like window regulators, moisture in the headlamps, failed seat elements, etc. were detrimental to the ownership experience.

I am expecting the MKS to be vastly superior to the LS in terms of overall quality.

brucelinc

Like Leadfoot, I prefer RWD. However, FWD or even AWD is not an absolute deal breaker for me if the rest of the car suits my needs. I have never had any problem getting around Minneapolis with RWD. Like Leadfoot, though, I do park the LS and drive my 4WD Ranger when the snow is severe.

Lots of people disagree with me on this but I consider AWD on a FWD car to just be a crutch. The only reason I would consider it would be if the power is so great that the FWD would be overwhelmed by traction loss or understeer. RWD can handle a lot more power without the need for additional complexity and weight of AWD.

cdnpinhead

nearly 126K miles on the LS I took delivery of in May of '00 and was posting a few months before that.

I left an anniversary message in the general LS board most years about this time, reprising the current situation vs. the "good ol' days." Not this year -- there's just no point. It's clear that most of the people making fresh posts bought the car for a song and are looking for the easy way out when something goes wrong. The LS demographic has finally shifted the way Lincoln wanted it to, but I don't think they wanted the vehicle (sorry) to be cheap used cars.

I have a dimmer view of FoMoCo & Lincoln than almost anyone, yet I drive one, while several of the fanpeople don't.

Go figure.

leadfoot4

"I have a dimmer view of FoMoCo & lincoln than almost anyone, yet I drive one, while several of the fanpeople don't."

Not necessarily true..... I've lived in the Rochester,NY area since January of 1958. My father was transferred to this area by his employer, and the local GM plants were among the companies he sold equipment to. At the time we came here, we had a 1955 Ford Country Squire station wagon. The GM people at Rochester Products and Delco gave him some grief about owning a Ford, so shortly thereafter, we became a GM family. I continued that tradition until 2000, when my wife and I bought the LS.

However, I don't necessarily think that I'll purchase another Ford. As I mentioned, I'm a strong RWDer, and there's nothing in the Ford line that at this time. Actually, GM has nothing at this time either, as the Cadillac CTS' styling just doesn't appeal to us, no matter how good the reviews of the car are. Personally, I think the upcoming Pontiac G8 has promise, but my wife doesn't care for what's been shown so far.

Fortunately, I think the LS still has a little life left, but having been through 7 road salt filled winters is what concerns me the most. The car has low mileage and is still running well. But as we all know, corrosion will get at the dozens of electrical connections that today's cars have, and before you know it, the car is getting all sorts of weird, due to bad electronics. Then you have to decide whether to keep putting money in a car that's depreciating like a rock in the ocean, or bite the bullet and get something new.

jay218

2001 LS V-6 loaded with 79,000 miles on it for $7,750.

It's clean inside and out.

connorbmx

I have been looking at the Lincoln LS at a local auction the last few weeks. I am not a dealer, but I attend with a relative and was thinking about purchasing one or more at the auction to sell / drive myself for a while. They typically have about 6-10 per week. Most of the 00-02's have 100k miles on them and go around $3000 - $4000 and the 03-04's with lower miles go around $6k at auction. The local retail is $2k - $3k over auction prices, but I don't want to buy one and find out that they have a lot of problems. I am a Honda person and have never owned a Lincoln. Any help or suggestions would be great.

jeyhoe

get a Honda. you wont appreciate an LS

connorbmx

I already have 2 Hondas! I'm not looking at the LS to appreciate it, I'm looking to sell it.

leadfoot4

If you're looking to sell it, then why buy it??

akirby

If you're looking to sell it, then why buy it??

Profit!

connorbmx

Exactly!

jeyhoe

Why dont u try pork bellies?

connorbmx

Because the pork bellies market has become very stagnant over the past 2 years due to over production.

rubycruz

:confuse: :lemon: Hello Everyone! I just bought my 04 LS. Have had it less than a month...I love everything about as of now BUT when I shift from Reverse to Park it makes a loud kind of popping/knocking sound and shifts to park from reverse pretty harsh. Is this normal? Did I buy a lemon? If it happens to be a big problem (tranny) do I have to keep this car? I know I could ask the dealership but I wanted to see if anyone had any suggestions. Am I in for alot of work to this LS? I am beginning to think I made the wrong decision.....
HELP!