A better car?

treanor21

treanor21

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Ok, I am about to purchase my first LS, I have looked at two 2002's, a 2003, and a 2004. All are in my price range. I was wondering if the first gen is at all better than the second gen and vice versa. Thanks.
 
Get the 04 if its in range. Slightly better looks with the more aggressive headlights. less common problems, and I would imagine it would hopefully have lower mileage as well as better interior features.

Oh slightly more horses as well.
 
both the 03 and 04 have nav, the 03 has 75K and the 04 has 66K, the 04 is only $500 more
 
If you get the 03, the coils, valve cover gaskets and spark plugs are covered by an extended warranty from Ford up to 100,000 miles. This applies to only the '03 model year.
 
I hate to say it but get the newer gen... I have a '00 and while I love it... I do wish I had an '03 - '06 sometimes. Yet... You can get Angel Eyes with the '02... lol :-D
 
Oh.. I didn't know the Angel Eyes were out for the others... My bad... I retract my previous statement... get the '04
 
the 04 is only $13,495, the only thing i see that i dont like is the leather has a lot of cracks and stuff, no holes, but wear marks

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Light wurkz does them for people and I seen a couple of members have them, some even have them on 1st gens with 2nd gen front ends.

I would get that but see I am the complete opposite of some one here. I would rather have all the wood that my 2000 has rather than the brushed silver look.

I would get that either way and just condition the leather every day for about a month.
 
i agree, as much as i desire the performance of the second gen, i like the interior of my first gen so much better, and for me comfort > performance.
 
You can have your 1st Gen "wud." I'll take the real American Walnut Burl in my '06. :p

If you want comfort, take that '04; cooled (not ventilated, cooled) seats rock the world. If you want reliability, also take the '04; any car can have problems, but the problems endemic to the earlier cars are not common in the '04-'06 LSes (they're also not common to the later-build '03s, but there are no obvious "later-build '03" markers).

Also, that '04 has the THX-certified nav system, which is a pretty good factory sound system.
 
The 04 has about 30 hp more than the 02 for sure and maybe the 03. I forget if they made the change to variable valve timing in 03 or 04. I also think in 2004 they made all the V8s the sporty model. before that there were several versions of the V8LS and some were creampuffs.

The 04s have similar problems as the earlier models. Same issues with tranny and coils. Maybe not the valve cover gasket issue.

Also forget what year had the really weird hydraulically drive fans. I would avoid those since I have read they are a problem and it is just too Rube Goldberg ish. I think they are 2002 and older.

Good Luck,

Jim Henderson
 
As a general rule, you want to buy the latest year LS you can afford. It is a fact that the car improved each year when in it was in production, culminating in the best, the 2006 model. Which I have, of course! :D
 
Also forget what year had the really weird hydraulically drive fans. I would avoid those since I have read they are a problem and it is just too Rube Goldberg ish. I think they are 2002 and older.
Click to expand...

If your talking about the leaky hose that cant with hold the PSI's it came in my 2000.
 
I love my 01', I looked at a few 03-05's, still love my rear end way better, but that's just my style, buy what you like looks wise, but I'd go with the 04 if you don't have the money to shell out on repairs. I'm currently saving to buy my 06 in a couple years :D BEST YEAR EVER!
 
Jim Henderson said:
The 04 has about 30 hp more than the 02 for sure and maybe the 03. I forget if they made the change to variable valve timing in 03 or 04. I also think in 2004 they made all the V8s the sporty model. before that there were several versions of the V8LS and some were creampuffs.

The 04s have similar problems as the earlier models. Same issues with tranny and coils. Maybe not the valve cover gasket issue.

Also forget what year had the really weird hydraulically drive fans. I would avoid those since I have read they are a problem and it is just too Rube Goldberg ish. I think they are 2002 and older.
Click to expand...
The switch to "VVT" (technically Variable Cam Timing, or VCT) was in '03. Not all 2nd Gen LSes are Sports (f'rinstance, my '06 isn't), but with the SST shifter (seen in one of the pictures), chances are really high that it has the Sport suspension.

Although an '04 may have problems with its coils, the coil problems are far less prevalent than they were in the '00-early '03 cars. The redesign of the valve cover gaskets in '03 did a lot to lessen that particular problem. The higher the mileage on the car, the more likely it is that you'll see problems, but that's a common trait of all automobiles.

The hydraulic fan was in the 1st Gen LSes ('00-'02) only. 2nd Gen LSes ('03-'06) have an electric cooling fan.
 
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