Lincoln Town Car

...up to the braking. The Lincoln is extremely good at breaking as the ABS does this big car justice, as I feel it would stop with plenty of time to avoid any nasty situations. The cornering is very poor, as it rocks from side to side in normal driving mode and sways out from the roundabout with no concern for other road users, with heavy dipping to the left of the car, when tackling roundabouts. Also dips left and right on most corners and bends. Straight ...
...The maintenance cost on the Lincoln town car is not cheep, as a basic service (20,000mile service) comprises of

Spark plugs
Plug Lead
Engine oil change
Oil filter
Air filter
Petrol filter
Plus 31 point check & computer print out of any faults on the car

Which will cost around £93.60 for parts & about 4 hours labour which is about £35.00 per hour.
Basic service will ... more

This is my first opinion, and as I am in the American motor trade but within the UK, I thought I would start with a car opinion. This particular vehicle is one of the most popular American cars here in the UK, as they are often imported in the limousine version, which I happen to know a lot about.

Drivability

Firstly, this vehicle is left hand drive, which makes driving for the first time a bit tricky, but once mastered the driving of this vehicle then becomes like driving your own car, but with many luxuries to aid the drive of this car, such as fully adjustable steering column (up, down, left to right, in and out). The driver’s seat is like sitting in your armchair at home, which is also fully adjustable. The vehicle also has power steering, but also incorporated in the power steering system is a PCM (Power train control module), in which the driver can adjust the sensitivity of the steering from very light to heavy. As this car has a column shift, it therefore makes gear selection much easier as the selector is visible on the dashboard.

Well that’s the boring bit over now, I suppose now I’ll start the car. I turn the ignition the engine cranks over and you get a roar of the mighty V8, brake pedal down and select drive, click goes the handbrake as it releases. Mirror, signal and manoeuvre we’ve off (Lol.). To start with it has a very smooth gear selection, as accelerating up through the gears, these are also very smooth, unless you are waiting for the gear change, you notice very little through this big car. The acceleration is very responsive as the slightest touch to the pedal; the car will change down a gear and accelerate quickly. Now up to the roundabout slowing down, you get a smooth change down of gears, leading up to the braking. The Lincoln is extremely good at breaking as the ABS does this big car justice, as I feel it would stop with plenty of time to avoid any nasty situations. The cornering is very poor, as it rocks from side to side in normal driving mode and sways out from the roundabout with no concern for other road users, with heavy dipping to the left of the car, when tackling roundabouts. Also dips left and right on most corners and bends. Straight line driving for a luxury car is quite poor in my opinion as the rear air suspension does not do this car justice, when only one or two people are in it, as it raises the rear of the car to trim level, which gives you a floating feeling as you are on a boat, which can give you motion sickness. One thing I would say there is good visibility throughout the vehicle, blind spots are reduced tremendously with having such large windows. The reversing of this car is extremely easy, with such good visibility.

Features

Leather Interior
Air conditioning
Climate control
Front and rear bench seats (seats up to six people)
Front and rear airbags
Heated Mirrors
Heated front and rear seats
Central locking
Electric windows
Cruise Control
Radio cassette/ CD player
Rear air suspension
Heated front and rear windscreens

Specifications

4.6 litre V8 Engine
Electronic fuel injection system
ABS Anti lock brakes
T/A Traction Assists
Cruise control system
Power steering
Air conditioning
SRS Air bags
3 Speed Automatic transmission (Gear box with over drive)

Maintenance

The maintenance cost on the Lincoln town car is not cheep, as a basic service (20,000mile service) comprises of

Spark plugs
Plug Lead
Engine oil change
Oil filter
Air filter
Petrol filter
Plus 31 point check & computer print out of any faults on the car

Which will cost around £93.60 for parts & about 4 hours labour which is about £35.00 per hour.
Basic service will cost
£233.60+VAT

Then comes the full service,at 40,000 which comprises of

Spark plugs
Plug Leads
Oil filter
Air filter
Petrol filter
A/C Filters
Brake change (front & rear) if needed
Brake fluid change
Gearbox oil change
Back axle oil change
Power steering fluid change
Engine oil change
Plus 61-point check with computer print out of any faults on the car

This will cost about £273.63 plus 8 hours labour at £35.00 per hour

This service will cost you
£553.63+VAT

Parts are available in the UK if you shop around :ie (in the yellow pages) you can get some really good deals, from the American car shops,if they are available on the shelf or you can order them over the Internet direct from the states.

LIKES

The shape and design on most features of the car are very good for example, It has a well sculptured body design, with lots of curves I really like the seating, because of its size and structure and is so comfortable on a long journey. The visibility is very good, the dashboard is very clear and understandable, also the heating system is digital and user friendly with well set out buttons and dials and can also give you inside and outside temperatures. Oil and water is easy to check as it is well laid out and marked under the bonnet, and there is an electronic switch inside the car for the boot, which is a good idea. Also another good feature is once the vehicle is in drive it automatically locks all the doors for safety. The drive is smooth and responsive.

DISLIKES

I hate the small wing mirrors, also the electric lock down for the boot as it’s very dangerous as it shuts an inch away from the body work, then pulls its self down electronically with no shut off system, and have known people to get their fingers trapped. I dislike the floating feeling whilst in the vehicle by myself, caused by the air suspension. The worst thing about the car is the way it handles on cornering I nearly forgot about the fuel consumption, so before any one asks 16-18 miles per gallon round town motorway 32 miles per gallon

OVERALL

The Lincoln is a nice stylish car to own and drive and is good value for money. They start from as little as £4,000 for a 1984 model up to £40,000 for the 2002 model. The colour range is vast. To import personally is not too expensive, but can be time consuming.

I hope you enjoyed reading Paul 

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