Buying a Mark 8? What to look for?

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1995towncar

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Hello Everyone!! I am a Town Car Guy, but will drive any Lincoln. I have a 95 Town Car and a 96 Town Car. But I am looking at a 1994 Lincoln Mark VIII LSC. Its Black with brown interior. Has 59,423K miles. Paint is awesome, interior shows NO wear. Was a little old mans car. Has a 10 disk Cd changer, memory seats. Traction Assist. I can buy it for 1900. I thought it was a good deal. But would be looking to resell to make money on EbAY. I am going back Monday to take a closer look, since i got it stuck in the snow trying to dig it out from our 27'' of snow. What should I look for? What are common problems? It may have a steering problem, maby a pump, or low fluid, it has sat for a few months. Whats a LSC compared to a regular Mark? Any info would be great. Think its worth it? I may drive it, or let my mother drive it for a while, but Eventually would resell. Thanks for your time!! :feedback :L
 
94 Mark

I can't help you with the mechanics but I can tell you 1900 is cheap, drive the Mark you won't want to drive the TC again, well maybe on a date. I'm in Ma. too, what town/city are you ?
 
At $1900 you got a good Deal! Especially with only 58K you have 120K to catch up to my 93 Mark VIII ! So get driving!! LOL. :Beer

Re-sell Ahhh!!! Once you drive it you're going to want to keep it!! It's not your mother's car!! Plenty of Ponies to have fun with!
 
Im In Billerica MA. The car is comming from Salem NH. (Im not going to tell you where the car is, it wont be there for me monday.) LOL

I have always been a town car guy. Bigger, roomy, thats all I have ever owned in the lincoln family. Just looking at it, and driveing it the 2 feet i did before i got it stuck, you can tell the cars last owner took care of it, and it must have been garaged. Im going to try to not drive it too much, as i just bought my 96, and i cant drive 3 cars. I dont want to get hooked, but i do want it. My dream mark would be a black 98, Loaded, I like the rear tail lights.

My buddy owned one, this is what he told me,
""I owned the final one, a '98 LSC Collector's~Edition, bought it brand new. Worst car I ever had. Constant trouble & Constant Problems! Ever hopefull, I kept it for 5 years, figuring sooner or later I'd get it all fixed! NOPE! Nobody in America would have ever purchased another Lincoln (maybe even Ford) after that mess. I did. (and) as bad as my "8" was, that is how great my T.C. is. If you buy the car to re-sell it, DO NOT DRIVE IT. Park it. Everytime one takes it out there's another problem. Some documented at NHTSA. The Air Conditioning will quit EVERY summer, yup, every summer. It's a $700.00 "fix". The brakes are defective, and EAT Rotors. New Rotorsare needed evey 4,000 miles. The driver's Seat literally rips ouuta the floor pan, shearing that floorpan with its bolts. The headlight cover leak and the condinsation blows the bulbs $300.00 each. You're good for 2 a year. The starters go every 3rd year and the radio is worthless on AM band. The neon in the taillamps breaks down and driver's side mirror had the automatic dimming and the substance that makes it work leaks out of the mirror, cause the layers of mirror seperates. The gook leaks down the drivers door and takes months to wear off. There no washing or buffing it off. The new correct replacement mirro is $700.00. The heated seats, however are great in it. They get so warm & toasty that they then burn out the wiring and no longer work at all. They have no timer, so only use them for 8 minutes. At the 10 minute level....toast is ready!!!""
 
No affense, but you're buddy mistook his Hyundai Elantra for a Lincoln Mark VIII Collector's Edition.
 
these cars are no way near that bad. yes they have there quirks and yes some of them are really gonna piss you off but if maintained floor pans dont fall out mirrors dont all explode headlights dont burn our mor than once. neon will only break once if you know how to fix the and make sure they dont happen again rotors dont go bad that fast either dont buy sh!t rotors and thay will last a while clean your wheels so the brake dust dont turn to acid. its like anything else if you treat it right itll be good if you abuse it it wont.
Eric
 
I think it may have a steering problem? Is this a common problem? It may be no fluid, dead pump, or something, but theres no power steering. Are the power steering pumps hard to change? How bout the steering boxes? Thanks

PS, im thinking about keeping it!!
And whats the LSC compared to the Regular Mark??
 
The first thing I would look at is the suspension and make sure there are no leaks in it. Because my Mark VIII was working fine and a day or two after I bought it the air ride modual went on the fritz and now my air ride system is f'd up
 
Good to know!

Is there any differences between a 94 and a 95? Because the owners manuels say 95, but the people insist its a 94.

Also whats the LSC? Luxury Sport Coupe?
 
1995towncar said:
Good to know!

Is there any differences between a 94 and a 95? Because the owners manuels say 95, but the people insist its a 94.

Also whats the LSC? Luxury Sport Coupe?
Click to expand...

If it's an LSC it's at least a 95, there were no LSC's made in 1994. Do you have the double DIN radio? If so, it's a 95. 93 and 94's had the 1/2 DIN radio. If it is a 95 LSC with that few miles for that price then snap it up as quickly as possible, these people do not sound very bright. See the radio in my pic? If it looks like that it is a 95, not a 94. This is a shot of my 96 which looks the same as the 95. And that hideous steering wheel cover is no longer there :wrench

95_3.JPG
 
First off at that price you can not beat it. I bought mine for $2300 and have only put in maybe $1000, but most was upgrades.

As for the LSC designation, until LATE LATE 1995 there was no real LSC's. Some supposedly were either badged, or designated LSC's, but they were not true LSC's. If it was a true LSC, it would have perforated seats, HID headlights (the lenses are clear on LSC models for one), somewhat true dual exhaust (non LSC's have a single pipe from the third cat to the back of the car where it then splits into 2 tail pipes), it will have 3.27 gear ratio (can check what ratio you have on the sticker on the drivers door), and lastly it will have 290HP vice 280 (but that is a bit more difficult to see). No one really knows why they designated LSC's before the 'true' LSC's came out in late 95, but they did.....the bad thing is they were not 'true' LSC's without the above mentioned differences.

Also, there are MANY ppl here that can help you fix your car either literally, or figuratively. They can either help you try to diagnose it over the net, or can come to help you. So the problems your buddy had will not happen to you. :Beer
 
1995towncar said:
Good to know!

Is there any differences between a 94 and a 95? Because the owners manuels say 95, but the people insist its a 94.

Also whats the LSC? Luxury Sport Coupe?
Click to expand...

The easiest way to determine the year of your car is with the VIN number. Here is the breakdown on the year designation using the 10th digit on your VIN:

P =1993
R= 1994
S=1995
T= 1996 ( one Diamond Anniversary edition has been recorded with an L )
V=1997
W =1998

Here is the rest of the info on the VIN number:

The first 3 digits are the world manufacturer code. All Lincolns that are sold as complete vehicles start with "1LN."

The fourth VIN digit is the vehicle restraint system. The shop manual says cars with active safety belts, air bags in both positions are "L." Most VIN numbers submitted to the club so far have L in this position. My 1998 has VIN has F in this position. No definition for this letter is given.

Digit 5 to 7 indicate the vehicle line series and body type. M91 is the Mark VIII, while M92 is the Mark VIII LSC. All 1995 LSC's and early 1996 LSC's are designated M91. The only way to tell if you have an LSC is to see if it has the Euro-perforated seats, true dual exhausts, chrome directional wheels and says LSC on back. The 1996 LSC's also have HID headlamps standard, as may have a few 1995's.

Digit 8 is the engine code. It is V for the 4.6 liter EFI 4 valve per cylinder eight cylinder engine that is found only in the Mark VIII.

Digit 9 is the check digit code, whatever that is. This is some sort of verification code for Ford. There is probably some formula to generate this digit from the rest of the numbers.

Digit 10 is the model year code.

P =1993
R= 1994
S=1995
T= 1996 ( one Diamond Anniversary edition has been recorded with an L )
V=1997
W =1998

Digit 11 is the assembly plant. It is always Y for the Mark VIII's, which were all made in the Wixom, Michigan assembly plant.
The last 6 digits are the production sequence number. The first Lincoln/Mercury of the year gets the number 600001. The first Ford of the year gets the number 100001. The VIN number does not give your the date of manufacture or what accessories the vehicle has.
The date of manufacture, color, trim, brake type, transmission type, radio and spring type can be gleaned from the Vehicle Certificate on the left hand front door jamb. If you want to find out the accessories originally on your vehicle, you need to find the build (ROT) sheet. I found mine behind the driver's seat underneath the carpet, when I replaced my carpet. The location of these sheets is variable, and sometimes they are missing. Then again sometimes there are ROT sheets from multiple vehicles in one car. It would be an interesting project, if we could collect from website visitors the information on the ROT sheets. Then we will be able to figure out what the letters on the sheets mean.

Hope that helps! :Beer
 
Well I am going to buy the car. I checked it out more closely. Its a 1994 LSC (emblem on trunk) The only 2 problems I can find with it is the pressurized power steering line, the one in front needs to be replaced, and the High beam indicatior doesnt light up, wherever it is. Has Chrome wheels, Black with the brown int. Everything seems to be fine. It was a elderly person who owned it last. Stops on a dime. I noticed the air suspension pump is alittle loud compared to my town car. Its got the smaller radio, so it is a 94, and an LSC. I will get some pictures when i get it to my house tommorow.
 
driller said:
:bash: ATTENTION!

There were no LSC models in 1994 Mark VIIIs.
Click to expand...
i was thinking the same thing so either its a 95 lsc or its a 94 with lsc badges but from ford there was no such thingas a 94 lsc.
 
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