vehicle satisfaction

[lookingatone]

Hello, I am new to this forum and have a question for you owners/drivers. Are you happy with the LS for reliability, comfort, driving pleasure, operating cost,etc. We are looking at buying one for my wife, liley a used one, she does not want the sport package so the V8 is pretty well out of the equation. The driving will be approximately 60-65% highway in and around Houston, so almost all below 70 mph.
Thanks for your help.

[eL eS]

The car is a pleasure to drive without a doubt. In regards to the reliability I be mnore inclinded to ask you do you want a car that has predictable problems with an occult like following. If you answered yes then you are shopping for the right car.

It wont take long for you to puruse through the foums threads on the LS before you will see that the problems are not diverse. Rather it is a short list of things that could possibly occur the difficult thing is to know the probability.

If you get the vin check out flatratetech.com post the vin in the ford forums and request an oaisis lookup. Some one should be kind enough to look up your car and will post back what the find on recall work, major warranty, pcm recalibrations and such.

If the pcm has not been recalibrated you will like discover the transmissions adaptive learning isnt that cogent of you partices and will start shifting harshly or delayed. I have no idea what they charge to recalibrate the pcm. I think they have to pay for files access to the pcm file.

Poke around and just check out what has been going on; I am sur others will post their feeling and findings but I would bet 10 dollars to a doughnut most would still keep the car or would rebuy the car knowing what they know today.

BTW....Welcome aboard,

[lookingatone]

Thanks for the response. Sounds a bit like the Impala/B Body cars.

[MarkVa1]

we bought my wife a used 2001 V8 sport a year ago or so with 19K miles on it. it's run well and has been problem free. i browse this site every few days or so to read about what problems others run into (more for my older mark VII, but for the LS too). there's a tremendous amount of useful info on this site, particularly if you read the past postings and archived info. i usually look up a topic on past postings before I ask a question - because most typical problems have been discussed multiple times in the past.

i would certainly buy another LS without a second thought.

[pro-five-oh]

Hey fellow Houston person. The LS is a great car, but it isn't a cost effective piece of transportation that a Lexus would be. They have their flaws, but the pros totally outweigh the cons. smile.gif

[lookingatone]

Thanks for the response. Since I posted we have had the chance to rent one for a few days in Los Angeles. WOW! Yes it was almost new, but what a pleasure. We noticed it is quiet at speed on the freeway running between 70 and 80, handles nice and I love the turning circle, after having front drive for so long it is really noticeable. the only complaint I had was a pop in the right forward speaker. There is still more shopping to do, but we both wanted to keep it.

[kamuela-1]

I really like my 2003 Lincoln LS, although its the V-8 with the sports package, I love the power, handling, ride and smoothness. As far as reliability, the only grip I have is a tapping sound, which occurs only when the engine is cold and by adding premium gas, it has all but disappeared

I have had a 540 and 740 BMW and would put this on par with these cars, minus the expensive dealer's maintenance costs. Without a doubt I would make this purchase again.

[luckieleo]

i bought a 2000 LS v6 used in 2003 with 28k miles, and now has 67k miles on it with several issues along the way. its a good looking classy car thats fun to drive, but has had some reliability issues. when i bought the car it was worth roughly $21,000. 2 years later, its value has gone down to $10,000 (trade-in) -- i still owe $10,000 on this car. but if i didnt, i would without a doubt, trade it in for a 2004 LS. i love the car! they look great, and are great cars, but if you buy a used one, be sure to have some cash stored away for the repairs!!! i bought the guineapig model. the first year they were ever made, they had quite a few flaws that were worked out in the later year models. so yeah, they are great cars, but get a newer one! smile.gif


Oh yeah, i forgot, before you buy, get the vin# for the car and call 800-392-3673. they can tell you if the vehicle title/warranty is still good, and what recall work has been done on it. just follow the steps on the automatic phone thing first & ask the rep to look up your vin to find out the important stuff. carfax isnt exactly accurate.

[ March 14, 2005: Message edited by: luckieleo ]