Road Tests: Long-Term Test

Let's face it, even though it seems otherwise, not EVERYONE is driving SUVs these days. And what better a pick for a new Edmunds.com long-term car than the latest BMW fighter, Lincoln's LS. With a base price around that of a 3 Series and sized like a 5 Series, the LS certainly offers an interesting alternative to each of these beauties from Bavaria. A sleek Euro-look skin further conjures up images of cruising prowess and silky moves through the sweepers.

There's certainly been a lot of hype generated by this vehicle's introduction. Lincoln could very well have built a car that can finally go head to head with the best Europe has to offer. That's a pretty high expectation to live up to, and certainly a worthy one. But even if the Lincoln were to fall a tad short of the German cars, it would still be a vast improvement over previous American performance sedan offerings.

We needed to find out if all the hype surrounding the introduction of the LS would pan out over the long haul. Could this car compete with the Europeans and not solely on price? Could the first Lincoln sedan to evoke images other than your grandfather in Depends undergarments woo enough German loyalists to justify its existence? What of the craftsmanship? Well, we needed to find out, so we decided to put the car through 24 months of paces.

The LS can be equipped with either a V6 or V8. The V6 can be had with a manual transmission. Yeah, that's right, a Lincoln with a stick! Nonetheless, Lincoln projects that the bulk of their sales will be of the eight-cylinder variety, and we wanted the one that most consumers will be buying. As such, we went with the V8, but added some goodies to go along with the bigger powerplant. Most interesting to our staff of car freaks is the sport package, which touts European-tuned suspension, 17-inch wheels and tires, and the Sportshift transmission. Our car is an attractive Silver Frost Metallic with Deep Charcoal leather. We ordered it to our specifications, and were eager when it was time to go pick it up from Peyton Cramer Lincoln-Mercury in Torrance, Calif.

Initial impressions were favorable, as we savored the attractive skin. We especially liked the BMW-esque headlamps as well as the sleek profile. The larger wheels and tires are a definite must, as they fill out the wells quite nicely. Inside, although pleasing to the eye, materials were found to be a definite step below the Europeans in terms of tactile quality. Couldn't Lincoln have invested a tad more money in real wood instead of that tacky plastic? We don't think owners would object to the additional cost.

Our most significant gadget is the RESCU system, which requires the consumer to arrange cell service and then phone Ford to get the emergency features set up. RESCU doesn't work right out of the box. We also ordered the glove box-mounted CD changer, which is a definite plus, as the driver doesn't have to stop the car and get out to change discs. The optional Alpine audiophile system we added sure sounds crisp.

Before even driving away from the dealer's lot, we were annoyed that a plastic seat-track cover piece was broken in back of the driver's seat. A mechanic came and fixed it. After we drove for a mile or so, a "Check Advance Trac" warning light came on. This was not inspiring. A broken stability control system after a one-mile drive? Later, we also found that the track piece had come off again. We would make a service appointment as soon as possible to have these issues addressed, but it's certainly disconcerting to have this "breakthrough" Lincoln begin falling apart on the day of delivery. Did we get a bad apple, or are all the cars in need of a quality-control revamp? Only time will tell, and we've got the next 23 months ahead of us to find out!

Total Odometer Reading: 648
Best Fuel Economy: 14.7 mpg
Worst Fuel Economy: 12.1 mpg
Running Average Over Life of Vehicle: 13.7 mpg
Body Damage Repair: $0
Maintenance Costs: $0
Problems: Advance Trac is malfunctioning, seat-track cover behind driver's seat is broken.