Road Tests: Long-Term Test

Two editors racked up miles in our suave LS this month. Brent Romans, our senior features editor, claims to have found a method to the Lincoln's shift-quality madness, adapting his driving to our dumbfounded five-speed automatic. Using the automanual mode for more demanding situations and normal overdrive for leisurely cruising, Romans found the transmission acceptable. "Of course," he wrote in the logbook, "there's the logic that an automatic transmission shouldn't make things this difficult in the first place."

Editor-in-Chief Christian Wardlaw continued to lament the shift quality of our Lincoln. "During normal driving and part-throttle acceleration, it operates relatively unobtrusively," he noted. "But start hammering it, and it gets confused easily." He also complained about the lag time between selecting a gear and actual gear engagement. Occasionally, he found that during acceleration the transmission would lurch out of a lower gear, pause for a moment letting the engine freewheel, and then shudder into the next gear. "Nothing about this gearbox inspires confidence in its expected longevity."

One reader sent us e-mail to inform us about a service campaign designed to solve the transmission's woes. So the next day, Wardlaw took the car to Magic Lincoln Mercury in Santa Clarita, Calif., to have the Lincoln's oil changed and test to see if the service writer would volunteer the transmission fix. He arrived promptly for his 9:30 appointment on a sunny Saturday, and was greeted quickly. "So, how do you like the car?" the service writer asked.

"It's wonderful, except for the transmission. It shifts poorly, and seems never to shift when I want or expect it to."

"Really? Huh." And that was the end of that. Admittedly, Wardlaw hadn't done the research on the service bulletin before taking the Lincoln in for service, so he didn't press the issue. But rest assured that it won't be long before we investigate our reader's assertion more in-depth.

Overall, the service provided by Magic Lincoln Mercury, an AutoNation USA dealership, was fair. It took one hour to have an oil change and tire rotation done. When our vehicle identification number (VIN) was plugged into the service writer's computer, he discovered that we had been awarded a free scheduled service by Ford Motor Company as compensation for losing three weeks with the car when the Advance Trac system went ka-blooey last December. Normally, this service from Magic would have run $42.92.

When the car was done and the paperwork signed, the cashier called for our silver LS to be brought up front to the waiting area. Wardlaw sat in the springtime sunshine waiting for the car. He waited and waited. Finally, after about ten minutes, he went to inquire about the LS. Once he asked, the car was promptly delivered to him.

But as he pulled off the dealership lot, he noticed that the oil life monitor had not been reset. So he returned to the service entrance, and asked to have it reprogrammed. The service writer took the car in back, and Wardlaw waited. He waited and waited. Finally, after about ten minutes, he strolled into the service garage, and found the service writer and a technician reading the owner's manual to see how to reprogram the oil life monitor. Ah, yes. So this is why people buy Lexus ES 300's.

After a few minutes, and a half-hour past the time the cashier first called for the car, the LS was reprogrammed and ready for the road, with a fresh oil smudge on the driver's door and the owner's manual tossed onto the right floorboard.

During the few days Wardlaw drove the LS, he filled the logbook with accolades about everything from the optional RESCU system to the perfectly located inflatable lumbar support in the driver's seat. "Settings for the seat memory system are ridiculously easy to operate, and the trip computer lets you simply and straightforwardly set many of the car's features, like the automatic door locks and whether the horn chirps when you lock the car with the remote. The LS is very simplistic in terms of operation, unlike our long-term Cadillac Seville."

Wardlaw enjoyed his time with the LS, despite his utter disgust with the transmission. "As an American citizen who always votes for the underdog, the LS makes me feel proud and unapologetic when I drive it." There are glitches here, such as the employment of a fussy six-disc magazine-style changer that eats up valuable storage space rather than a single-feed in-dash changer, and the location of the windshield washer, which is easy to activate when using the turn signals. But overall, the Lincoln is a competent and credible competitor to cars that cost thousands more.

Total Odometer Reading: 5,025
Best Fuel Economy: 18.7 mpg
Worst Fuel Economy: 14.9 mpg
Running Average Over Life of Vehicle: 16.1 mpg
Body Damage Repair: $0
Maintenance Costs: $42.92 (oil change and tire rotation)
Problems: None