So, I have been checking out these forums for quite awhile and figured I'd register since I may (hopefully) be a proud new owner of a 2002 Lincoln LS. I test drove the car at the dealer yesterday and I have to say I was blown away by the look and feel of the car. Thing is, I have heard a lot of horror stories all over the net about these Gen 1 LS's and I guess I wanted to get some feedback from the community here to help me with my decision.
First off, the car. It's a black 2002 V8 LS with 58000 miles on it, the interior is immaculate, it looks like it just rolled out of the plant, and it drives pretty well, was a little bit of vibration in the steering wheel I noticed when driving, could have been attributed to the tires not being rotated, or to the crap roads I was driving on. Other than that it seemed okay, did not notice and slippage in the transmission, although truth be told I wasn't paying attention that much because I was gawking at the car itself. One thing for concern though was I did pull over just to check out the car away from the eyes of the dealership, and noticed a burning rubber like smell, and popped the hood and there was a small bit of smoke coming from near the brake fluid (I think) container area when the car was revved. Location was upper right side of the engine bay if that helps. I told the dealer about it and he said that it would be looked at and definitely fixed if there was anything wrong before I bought it. Also, it has a 60 day limited warranty and I would be buying an extended warranty that covers the engine.
I guess what I want to know is, does anything that I have mentioned just pop out as a big problem I will be walking into, and also are these cars as big of a headache as everyone says. Like I said, I am entranced by the damn car, but I don't want to blow all the money I saved if it's just going to be literally one repair after another. Insight please? Horror Stories of your own, or good stories? Oh yeah they want 8900 for the car if that's any help, had 2 owners, and regular service and a clean carfax.