1998-2011 Lincoln Towncar

[MarkV]

Well, I am looking at perhaps buying one of these! I know in 2003 they had some minor changes and this year is the final year for them. So, what else should I know about them? Opinions of the towncar?

[60FlatTop]

I have been watching them as well. My black 1994 Roadmaster finally gave in the rust and age. These newer cars do not age as well as the 1960's and older.

I do a frequent search on Trader Online for 2006 to 2008 Lincolns plus the keyword "reduced". They are very good cars. I figure the second week in June gas will be about

$4.25 to $4.50 and I will get a great deal on either the Lincoln or a Tahoe.

Three years ago this June gas peaked at $4.10 around here and I bought my wife an Infinity QX4 for almost $4,000 under the regular price. She loves it and has put almost 7,000 miles on it; didn't pour a lot of gas in that one.

By September the price should be back to just under $3.50 and I'll be a happy camper.

Buy that Lincoln in June!

Bernie

[Guest palosfv3]

In 2004 Ford redesigned the chassis and suspension on the Town Car / Crown Vic and Grand Marquis to make it stronger so it would meet upgraded safety standards. While these cars look almost identical on the outside there are major differences in the structure of the later models.

[Guest Jim_Edwards]

Well Marty you came to the right place. We've had a 2003 Town Car since about mid 2003. the car now has 101300 miles on it. Mechanically it has been possibly the best car we've ever owned. Even still on the original rotors, but got a new set of pads at 100,000 just because, also had the tranny flushed and fluid changed at that time. Fuel consumption wise, do not expect to average any thing greater than 20-21 mpg. Open road at 70 mph it will get maybe 24, at 60 around 27-28. The car has only gone through one set of tires, but a new set is not many miles away.

Now the other side of the coin. The seats are not all that great, not bad just not great and comfy like previous Lincolns we've had. The A/C is only marginally decent in mid summer unless you keep it on max. I suspect the way the blend door opens to much for mid summer driving obviously a control issue. Personally I've never been a huge fan of automatic temp controls that have been in any car I've had since the early 1970s. If you just barely crack a window on either side of the car in the summer, it's like opening a wind tunnel and all your A/C goes bye-bye.

Like all cars of the last ten years, the overall interior quality is nothing but cheap crappy materials, even the leather on the seats is of lesser quality than in years past. The ride basically sucks thanks to rack and pinion steering.

Switches for cruise control and door locks are 100% pure crap. Have had to replace the cruise switch and door lock switches. Door lock switches did not actually fail but the rocker buttons are made of cheap styrene and they break. To my knowledge once cannot buy just the "cap" from a dealer. I buy switches for cheap on ebay and take the caps off. However I have found finding switches with unbroken rocker caps is becoming more unlikely.

We've been thinking about buying another, but the 2010's and 2011's are basically pure blah and exist only because of the funeral homes and the limo taxi business. Chances are you not going find one with an interior that isn't either black or gray, maybe white. Pathetic choices!

Candidly I've been looking for a '75 or '76 Lincoln 4 door to go with my '76 Mark IVs. Those were much better road cars, had better seats, were quieter, and properly tuned the 460 on the road will get almost as good a fuel mileage as the overall average of our 2003. City driving they horrible at around 13 mpg, but we don't do that much city driving so I don't care. I'm thinking it is a better idea to spend 15-20K on a serious going over of a '75-'76 than to spend 40K for something I would just barely tolerate.

Jim

[Rusty_OToole]

I've got a 1998 Town Car in my driveway. It has 335,000 miles on it. It was in limo service before I got it.

In spite of the age and miles the interior is still good, it runs well and has only a few problems. Upkeep has been minimal over the 3 years I have owned it.

One odd thing, and the reason I stopped driving it. The intake manifold is cracking and breaking up. Coolant runs thru the manifold and coolant leaks short out the coils. There are 8 coils and they cost $86 apiece new.

This is a known failure point and there was a recall on this. Don't know why mine was not replaced or perhaps it was.

I would buy another one except for the rising price of gas. Right now I am thinking of buying a diesel VW. The mileage is not all that bad for such a big car but at today's gas prices who needs it. Unless you are ferrying around 4 or 5 passengers at all times.

[MarkV]

Well my 1991 Buick gets around 22 on the highway and 20 city/highway. I am looking to upgrade and I have ridden in a few and they are great, I am just curious about the details, I like cars that mostly older folks have owned, as they are usually clean and well maintained. Also, it looks like they get similiar mileage and there is more space and seem to be safer....

[LI_BENTLEY]

Have a 1998 with158,000 miles, you can change intake manifold for around $200.00, tis is a few hours work. Rear air bage go at 100k another easy job, the coils go at the same time this car will cost around $1500 at 100k miles but then is good for another100k or so. I still get 18mpg around town an 25mpg on the road, not bad for the size and comfort. Another Ford falt is the stop light switch wire, too short and breaks, cannot move shift lever, Just move lever while cranking over.

[MarkV]

Interesting, are the newer ones (2003 and up) better?