proton32176
New LVC Member
I have a story many LS owners may find informative or frightening depending on their point of view.
I own a 2003 LS V6 I bought used in 2005. It was owned by a 92 year old man and had just under 7000 miles on it.
To be honest the car is a toy. I have had it eight years and it only has 30,000 miles on it. I drive it every few weeks mostly around town. The bulk of the mileage is from my wife and I taking it on trips every few years. If it weren’t for the trips it probably would have less than 20,000 miles on it.
Since it sits most of the time I have had very few problems. The only major repair was a Mass Air Flow sensor which had to be replaced a few years ago.
I have owned Lincolns all my life except in 1984 when I had a Turbo Saab. To say I love the LS would be an understatement ( as you will soon discover). Every time I take hard corners or accelerate from a red light I smile at my wife and tell her, “ Man, I love this car”.
Unfortunately, I had that love tested last week- almost to the breaking point.
Since I put less than a thousand miles a year on the car I only change the oil once a year around Thanksgiving. Last year when I took it into the Lincoln dealer they told me the rubber boots around the front Ball Joints were deteriorating. I was told they would need to be replaced soon at a cost of around $800.00.
I put it off until last week when I decided to go ahead and have it done along with my annual oil change.
A couple of hours after I dropped it off the dealer called and told me that most of the rubber in both the front and rear suspension had rotted away.
Now the price was $5500.00 to replace the defective parts.
Before I go further it should be understood my LS is in showroom condition inside and out. No scratches or wear anywhere. It looks like a brand new car.
To be honest I thought the dealer was lying so I made them put it on the rack and show me. Unfortunately, they were telling the truth. A lot of rubber in both the front and rear suspension was either cracked or totally rotten away.
Since the car is only worth $4000.00 dollars I told my wife we were going to the BMW dealership and buy a new car. I found a used 328i with less than 4000 miles on it. I drove it and my wife drove it and I “liked” the car.
But I didn’t “love“ it like the LS.
We told the BMW salesmen we would think about it.
That night I was really depressed. Not about the cost of the BMW but the idea of parting with my LS. I have owned the car 8 years and still love it as much as the day I drove if off the lot.
I am a Dentist and I have a patient who owns a shop that specializes in the repair of sports cars,( ie: Porsche, Jaguar, Mercedes, etc.).
He is a friend and I have been doing his Dental work at little to no cost for over 30 years so I decided to call in a few favors.
I gave him the itemized list from the dealer and he let his best mechanic look at the car. He told me it was worse than the dealer had described. The dealer had omitted many parts that while not failing this second would be needing replacement in the next 12 months.
The entire suspension consisted of rubber boots that had either completely rotted away ( the dealers list) or others which were cracked and would need to be replaced in the next 12 months ( the ones they omitted).
He informed me if he was going to tear the car down to this degree it would be better to replace all the rubber rather than pay the labor to tear it down again later.
The total cost to replace all the parts that had failed or were about to fail was going to be $4500. That was for parts and his mechanics salary only.
He would forgo any profit if I agreed to let his mechanic work on it when there were no “paying customers”. It would take longer but as long as I agreed he would at least be able to break even on the deal.
He took my wife and I on an extended tour of the cars suspension explaining everything that would have to be done. It amounted to replacing almost the entire front and rear suspension.
In case you didn’t know this ( and I didn’t), every joint on the LS has a rubber boot that is “built into” that particular part. You can’t just replace the particular joint or the rubber boot, you have to replace the entire part.
Also when one of the rubber boots go, the others go at the same time since they are all the same age. The result is you can go from no problems to severe problems in a very short period of time.
My friends advice was, “ Doc- your wasting money, go buy the BMW”.
I am sure many of you will think I am crazy but the idea of parting with the car really upset me. The BMW is a nice car but there is something about an LS that is more fun to drive. And I personally think the LS is a prettier car.
As I was sitting there looking at the car trying to decide my wife asked me a question.
She said, “ Is there any car we can buy you would love as much as you love this one?”.
I told her, “ I doubted it”.
She said, “Then fix the LS and enjoy it. The car still looks new and there are very few things I have seen you love as much as this car. Besides- it’s cheaper to fix it than buy the BMW”.
I decided to fix the car.
I figure as long as I can buy parts I will continue to have it repaired. And if I ever find a car I love as much as this one then I will get rid of it. But until then I am keeping my LS.
The point to this post is if you own an LS or thinking about buying one you need to check the suspension to determine if the car has the same problems mine has. While a $4500.00 dollar repair job on a $4000.00 car may sound ridiculous it was still worth it to me.
But it may not be worth it to a lot of other people, especially if the car has a lot of miles on it.
As long as I get at least another 5 years of enjoyment out of the car I figure it was a bargain. And since the BMW was $27,000 I figure I also saved over $23,000.
But many LS owners or potential buyers may not feel that way so I wanted to share this as something to look for.
I own a 2003 LS V6 I bought used in 2005. It was owned by a 92 year old man and had just under 7000 miles on it.
To be honest the car is a toy. I have had it eight years and it only has 30,000 miles on it. I drive it every few weeks mostly around town. The bulk of the mileage is from my wife and I taking it on trips every few years. If it weren’t for the trips it probably would have less than 20,000 miles on it.
Since it sits most of the time I have had very few problems. The only major repair was a Mass Air Flow sensor which had to be replaced a few years ago.
I have owned Lincolns all my life except in 1984 when I had a Turbo Saab. To say I love the LS would be an understatement ( as you will soon discover). Every time I take hard corners or accelerate from a red light I smile at my wife and tell her, “ Man, I love this car”.
Unfortunately, I had that love tested last week- almost to the breaking point.
Since I put less than a thousand miles a year on the car I only change the oil once a year around Thanksgiving. Last year when I took it into the Lincoln dealer they told me the rubber boots around the front Ball Joints were deteriorating. I was told they would need to be replaced soon at a cost of around $800.00.
I put it off until last week when I decided to go ahead and have it done along with my annual oil change.
A couple of hours after I dropped it off the dealer called and told me that most of the rubber in both the front and rear suspension had rotted away.
Now the price was $5500.00 to replace the defective parts.
Before I go further it should be understood my LS is in showroom condition inside and out. No scratches or wear anywhere. It looks like a brand new car.
To be honest I thought the dealer was lying so I made them put it on the rack and show me. Unfortunately, they were telling the truth. A lot of rubber in both the front and rear suspension was either cracked or totally rotten away.
Since the car is only worth $4000.00 dollars I told my wife we were going to the BMW dealership and buy a new car. I found a used 328i with less than 4000 miles on it. I drove it and my wife drove it and I “liked” the car.
But I didn’t “love“ it like the LS.
We told the BMW salesmen we would think about it.
That night I was really depressed. Not about the cost of the BMW but the idea of parting with my LS. I have owned the car 8 years and still love it as much as the day I drove if off the lot.
I am a Dentist and I have a patient who owns a shop that specializes in the repair of sports cars,( ie: Porsche, Jaguar, Mercedes, etc.).
He is a friend and I have been doing his Dental work at little to no cost for over 30 years so I decided to call in a few favors.
I gave him the itemized list from the dealer and he let his best mechanic look at the car. He told me it was worse than the dealer had described. The dealer had omitted many parts that while not failing this second would be needing replacement in the next 12 months.
The entire suspension consisted of rubber boots that had either completely rotted away ( the dealers list) or others which were cracked and would need to be replaced in the next 12 months ( the ones they omitted).
He informed me if he was going to tear the car down to this degree it would be better to replace all the rubber rather than pay the labor to tear it down again later.
The total cost to replace all the parts that had failed or were about to fail was going to be $4500. That was for parts and his mechanics salary only.
He would forgo any profit if I agreed to let his mechanic work on it when there were no “paying customers”. It would take longer but as long as I agreed he would at least be able to break even on the deal.
He took my wife and I on an extended tour of the cars suspension explaining everything that would have to be done. It amounted to replacing almost the entire front and rear suspension.
In case you didn’t know this ( and I didn’t), every joint on the LS has a rubber boot that is “built into” that particular part. You can’t just replace the particular joint or the rubber boot, you have to replace the entire part.
Also when one of the rubber boots go, the others go at the same time since they are all the same age. The result is you can go from no problems to severe problems in a very short period of time.
My friends advice was, “ Doc- your wasting money, go buy the BMW”.
I am sure many of you will think I am crazy but the idea of parting with the car really upset me. The BMW is a nice car but there is something about an LS that is more fun to drive. And I personally think the LS is a prettier car.
As I was sitting there looking at the car trying to decide my wife asked me a question.
She said, “ Is there any car we can buy you would love as much as you love this one?”.
I told her, “ I doubted it”.
She said, “Then fix the LS and enjoy it. The car still looks new and there are very few things I have seen you love as much as this car. Besides- it’s cheaper to fix it than buy the BMW”.
I decided to fix the car.
I figure as long as I can buy parts I will continue to have it repaired. And if I ever find a car I love as much as this one then I will get rid of it. But until then I am keeping my LS.
The point to this post is if you own an LS or thinking about buying one you need to check the suspension to determine if the car has the same problems mine has. While a $4500.00 dollar repair job on a $4000.00 car may sound ridiculous it was still worth it to me.
But it may not be worth it to a lot of other people, especially if the car has a lot of miles on it.
As long as I get at least another 5 years of enjoyment out of the car I figure it was a bargain. And since the BMW was $27,000 I figure I also saved over $23,000.
But many LS owners or potential buyers may not feel that way so I wanted to share this as something to look for.
