I'm looking into buying a 1998 Lincoln Continental. Just a cheapy for a while, 167,000 miles, $2000. The seller says the rear side air suspension may need a new sensor or compressor, worst case it's compressor, he tells me he got a quote for $450 parts and labor to repair. Does this sound accurate? I know this seems to be a common problem on the older lincolns so I hope someone here knows. Also, is there anything out of the ordinary that I should look out for when inspecting it before purchase? How does the price sound, fair? I'm actually trading him my Macbook Pro for it, so he's flexing quite a bit on his asking price, which makes me wonder. Let me know what you guys think, thanks for the help, and I look forward to joining the conti community as I'm on here in the LS section all the time, and I know it's a great site. Thanks again guys!


Oh, and I hope you're more help than the Cadillac guys, I was looking at an eldorado and no one said anything with 65 views lol.

the price for the compressor is probably about right, factoring in labor and stealership markup.

however, if it needs a compressor, it needs more severe service on the rear suspension. The compressor only really wears out if its been running too long, trying to fill leaky rear air struts (or bags, depends on the vehicle). The struts can get very pricey to replace, seperate bags are less pricey.

Normal operation of the compressor is that it ONLY runs on startup (for less than a minute), and then only when the vehicle load is changed (loading up people/trunk). if it runs more than that, their are problems in the bags.

It may also need a compressor if someone changed leaking spring(s) but cheaped out and retained the old compressor/dryer. BTW my rear height sensor pass side does have a crack in it so I could see its possible. Also what is the suspension doing does it raise up or not, compressor kick in all the time etc...

With a 167k on it, make sure that trans shifts smooth, no jumps, studders, or jerks in it. If you need me to I can run down and look it over with you.