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i'm only 17 and on a really low budget..(summer job). i currently own a 95' lincoln continental..but the list of things not working is too long to list..including the A/C, the transmission, a door, a window etc...i need a car for senior year. my g/f's dad's brother..is selling his 88' mark VII..black on black..blue pin stripe.tinted windows..he said he's willing to sell it to me for only 1000...i haven't seen it in person yet, but apparently everything is working fine..i have a feeling its got 150k miles or so because he didn't mention the milage lol. do you think i should buy it..im sure its a bargain but i make 12 and hour and it would be most of my summer's pay lol.. im just curious to know how reliable these cars are..what kind of power they have..how long i can expect it to live...i just want someone to tell me how wonderful it is and push me into buying it lol
Posted by: 89IggyVII
well i bought a 89 MarkVII with 192,000 miles on it for $450 and the car still pulls 9.6 on the 1/8 average. and everything is orginal! but every car is different so i would check it out first ( as you should always do) but so far i have never had any problem at all with it except i wish it had less miles on it. lol. but i love Mark VII and everyone on here would agree they are very reliable cars!
Posted by: kojak
I recently stumbled into a 1990 Mark VII w/116K and can tell you they CAN be just an excellent find. Power, yes. Great handling and a fun car in general, looks cool etc. I'm very proud of mine.
THAT HAVING BEEN SAID- GET IT CHECKED OUT IF AT ALL POSSIBLE. From what I've heard, correct me if I'm wrong guys, these are not cheap cars to fix if something goes wrong. Again, this is what I've heard talk of, but I refer specifically to electric and suspension troubles. The car I bought was very well taken care of, you might not be so lucky (knock on wood). So I guess my answer is, yes, it's a great car possibly but you should at the very least have someone who knows what they're doing (not me) either check it out first or tell you more specifically what to look for. Better in your financial condition to have a car to last a while than a fine ass Mark VII sitting in front of your house.
Best of luck.
Posted by: SilverFox
IMHO...I purchased my first Mark when I was 15, I spend double what I paid for the car to get it in condition to drive to college and a few months later I had to basicaly give it up due to problems (mostly electrical) - so expensive to maintain YES, reliable car YES (but only if it is tuned up and not any problems) but IMHO RELIABLITY TO A 17 YEAR OLD is NO, mainly due to the money that the car will devour just to keep it on the road if it is broke.
Do remember that MarkVII's are a disease that is very hard to get rid of, so don't plan on any M7's being a cheap in the long run.
Posted by: Black87LSC
Plus, if you don't work on cars yourself it will cost every paycheck to fix it. I've had 2 Mark VII's, a '90 and an '87... The '90 I bought with about 150k on it, and I ended up replacing: gas tank, rear airbags, alternator, power steering pump, air compressor/dryer, and I'm sure more that I can't think of right now! The '87 is low well-taken-care-of miles, but I've had problems with the injection before on it. I am fortunate enough to have been working on cars since I was young, so I could do everything myself and save a lot of money. Parts cars help A LOT!!! Bottom Line - If you don't know how to work on cars, a Mark VII is not the car for you.
Posted by: chexjc
im kinda leaning towards not buying it...the thing is...he claims to have put a lot into it.. and i think he is a car collector. so, i'm still gunna take a look at it..just incase its really cool haha. oh yeah and i forgot to ask about gas mileage..i have a feeling it isn't too great and if it isn't im not gunna buy it lol
Posted by: Black87LSC
The gas mileage is really good on the mark... I got around 18-19 around town, and around 26 on the highway with mine. It all depends on how hard you plan on driving it If you go easy on the pedal, the mark will give you great gas mileage.
Posted by: mark7lover
hey! I'm 17 too! Well anyways I own 2 lincoln mark VII's. Some problems you will face are at 100,000 miles the airbag suspension dies (or at least that is what has happened to both of my cars). I have noticed that most lincolns in general also need a tune up every 100,000 miles. If you are concerned about gas mileage i suggest you buy a honda, but you can expect about 20mpg. Unless you decide to test the high preformence 302 it has.
Posted by: erd517
im 18 and bought a Mark VII GTC and before i bought it the guy replaced the airbags inside the springs and alt. as well as some other things so im hoping that i wont have to replace that stuff for a while my advice even though im 18 is do what you feel is right since u want something good on gas its a v8... but if its in good condition id buy it....how many hours do u work i work 7-4 and make 18 an hour thats how i bought mine work for the union
Posted by: mespock
If you can get some pics and post them we maybe we can look for possible problems.
Take pics of the whole car.. especially the engine bay and under carriage.
Mark VII are very reliable cars with a long life 200K + miles as long as they are well cared for.
All lux cars can be costly to repair. If you are comfortable turning a wrench you will save lots of money.
sites like LvC are very helpful in saving money when problems arise. I was not much of a mechanic when it came to cars. But LvC has helped me through a lot of what could have cost me over $1000 in repairs, instead I paid only a few $100.
Mark VII are very classy and you can blow away many of your friend's ricers with just a few simple mods.
If you go easy on the pedal, the mark will give you great gas mileage.
