Pete02LSE
Active LVC Member
I apologize if this aggravates anyone or anyone thinks I'm FLM bashing but...the LS has given me a bad first impression of FLM. I've always been a GM guy (with partiality to Chevrolet...see below) but...I liked what I saw with the LS...rear drive, V8, good performance and great handling. Not to mention all of the engineering that went in to achive this. I wish I would have researched it a little more before buying.
To the bad...our 02 LSE is currently in the shop to have the valve body replaced at a total cost of around $900 (I hope this fixes it..the service tech seemed fairly confident). I have had it with this all but fragile car. I understand it wasn't designed to be beat on but...when my wife is the primary driver and stuff breaks (I know...I know...these things could have already been broken)...something is way wrong. If I drove it all the time, there's no telling what would have broken by now and my only mods are intake and exhaust.
Let's see...valve cover gaskets...coils...transmission valve body. All of which total about $1300 in right at 2 years and 25k. That's just ludicrious. At least I saved a bunch of money on the labor for the first two repairs. Where's the quality?
Let's compare...
1996 GMC Sonoma - (4.3L/auto) - Purchased new - traded at 75k - Never a thing wrong with it. Basic maintenance items only. Did OK on trade-in...enough to get a good payment on the Camaro.
1999 Grand Prix GT (3.8L/auto) - Purchased new - Traded at 75k - Never a thing wrong with it. Basic maintenance items only. Trade-in sucked but...it was a vanilla car...there were zillions sold and re-sold.
1999 Camaro SS (5.7L/M6) - Purchased new - 75k - modded with bolt-on's to push almost 400hp at the crank (yup...it's been dynoed). Never a thing wrong with it...basic maintenance items only. Even the stock clutch still works...it's weak but...will still spin second. Whenever driven (at least once a week and on the weekends) sees 5.5K power shifts.
1994 Silverado (5.7L/auto) - Purchased with 150k - 204k - At 175k, needed a fuel pump, coil and ECM. Nothing else...basic maintenance items. And this is my daily driver in Atlanta traffic. It regularly sees 5k for passing and 80 mph plus for sustained driving (for those that know...this is normal for Atlanta). At 50k and 2 years maybe $700 in repairs.
1991 S-10 (2.5L/M5) - Purchased with 103k - Sold at 175k - At 170k, needed a clutch. Nothing else...basic maintenance items. It survived many 5k runs and 80 mph. Occasionally I would shift without the clutch...sometimes a little grind...still never a hiccup. I sold this truck for $250 less than I paid for it. So, 75k/3 years and maybe $700 in repairs. Overall cost of $950.
Some may think I'm nuts for fixing the Lincoln then selling. That's because I cannot sell a car to an individual knowing there's a problem with it. So...for owning it for 2 years and 25k miles...repairs ($1300) and depreciation ($5k if I'm lucky...would be almost $8k if I traded it)...we are looking at an overall cost of $6300. Maybe I just expected more because I thought this was the end-all-be-all of quality cars. I know...maybe that was a lot to expect.
I really feel for folks that bought these new and drive them beyond warranty. Seems like these were good candidates to sell before the warranty ended...that or...if you are still under warranty, go over it with a fine tooth comb. From what I've read, the problems that I had with the LS are very common and the cost was in line.
Thanks to the technical support provided here...it equals that of LS2.com or GM-Trucks.com.
-Pete
02LSE
To the bad...our 02 LSE is currently in the shop to have the valve body replaced at a total cost of around $900 (I hope this fixes it..the service tech seemed fairly confident). I have had it with this all but fragile car. I understand it wasn't designed to be beat on but...when my wife is the primary driver and stuff breaks (I know...I know...these things could have already been broken)...something is way wrong. If I drove it all the time, there's no telling what would have broken by now and my only mods are intake and exhaust.
Let's see...valve cover gaskets...coils...transmission valve body. All of which total about $1300 in right at 2 years and 25k. That's just ludicrious. At least I saved a bunch of money on the labor for the first two repairs. Where's the quality?
Let's compare...
1996 GMC Sonoma - (4.3L/auto) - Purchased new - traded at 75k - Never a thing wrong with it. Basic maintenance items only. Did OK on trade-in...enough to get a good payment on the Camaro.
1999 Grand Prix GT (3.8L/auto) - Purchased new - Traded at 75k - Never a thing wrong with it. Basic maintenance items only. Trade-in sucked but...it was a vanilla car...there were zillions sold and re-sold.
1999 Camaro SS (5.7L/M6) - Purchased new - 75k - modded with bolt-on's to push almost 400hp at the crank (yup...it's been dynoed). Never a thing wrong with it...basic maintenance items only. Even the stock clutch still works...it's weak but...will still spin second. Whenever driven (at least once a week and on the weekends) sees 5.5K power shifts.
1994 Silverado (5.7L/auto) - Purchased with 150k - 204k - At 175k, needed a fuel pump, coil and ECM. Nothing else...basic maintenance items. And this is my daily driver in Atlanta traffic. It regularly sees 5k for passing and 80 mph plus for sustained driving (for those that know...this is normal for Atlanta). At 50k and 2 years maybe $700 in repairs.
1991 S-10 (2.5L/M5) - Purchased with 103k - Sold at 175k - At 170k, needed a clutch. Nothing else...basic maintenance items. It survived many 5k runs and 80 mph. Occasionally I would shift without the clutch...sometimes a little grind...still never a hiccup. I sold this truck for $250 less than I paid for it. So, 75k/3 years and maybe $700 in repairs. Overall cost of $950.
Some may think I'm nuts for fixing the Lincoln then selling. That's because I cannot sell a car to an individual knowing there's a problem with it. So...for owning it for 2 years and 25k miles...repairs ($1300) and depreciation ($5k if I'm lucky...would be almost $8k if I traded it)...we are looking at an overall cost of $6300. Maybe I just expected more because I thought this was the end-all-be-all of quality cars. I know...maybe that was a lot to expect.
I really feel for folks that bought these new and drive them beyond warranty. Seems like these were good candidates to sell before the warranty ended...that or...if you are still under warranty, go over it with a fine tooth comb. From what I've read, the problems that I had with the LS are very common and the cost was in line.
Thanks to the technical support provided here...it equals that of LS2.com or GM-Trucks.com.
-Pete
02LSE
