Road Tests: Long-Term Test

Editor-in-Chief Karl Brauer was the last to drive the Lincoln before it spent an eight-month jaunt back east. He was also the first to drive it when it returned to sunny Southern California. Actually, Consumer Advice Editor Phil Reed spent a few days in the Lincoln during a family trip up the California coast, but otherwise it was Mr. Brauer who said "Bon Voyage" last January and "Welkommen" in late August. And yes, Karl often mixes languages in an attempt to appear cultured and well educated. Don't worry, we're not fooled.

Like so many drivers before him, Mr. Brauer was quick to note the Lincoln's lack of interior storage space. "Storage space continues to be the number-one bugaboo of the Lincoln LS' interior design. In one rather comical moment, I was trying to find a place to put my wallet which, admittedly, is loaded with all sorts of crap, making it about as thick as a club sandwich. I opened the center console to find it full of cell phone. I looked in the driver's door pocket and saw it stuffed with logbook. Then I opened the glove box and realized it was crammed with owner's manual and CD changer. However, the CD cartridge itself was still at the dealership being repaired, leaving a perfectly sized slot to place my wallet." Karl didn't know what he'd have done if the CD cartridge had been installed but, as other drivers have also mentioned, this problem was somewhat rectified in 2001 LS models.

Being a family sort of guy, Mr. Brauer and his wife utilized the Lincoln for domestic duties such as house-shopping and grocery-buying. Under these circumstances, the Lincoln's seat memory proved invaluable. After the memory positions were programmed (easily accomplished by simply holding one of the two memory buttons and the "SET" button down), the Lincoln could readily switch between his wife's 5-foot-4-inch settings to his own 6-foot-even adjustments. More than once during his four weeks in the LS, Karl found himself uttering the words, "The next car I buy will have this feature."

As helpful as the seat memory was, the lack of child seat tether anchors was truly annoying. Now, before you all start writing e-mail blasting Mr. Brauer for not being able to locate the anchor points behind the rear seat, realize that he knows all about them. Furthermore, he used them for his three-year-old son's car seat. But his 11-month-old daughter has to ride in a reverse-facing baby seat, and for that you need an anchor point in either the rear-passenger foot well area or under the rear seat bottom cushion. Our 2000 LS has neither. Lincoln dealers can undoubtedly install this type of anchor point for customers who want it, but if you happen to discover this problem on a late Sunday afternoon, that solution isn't really an option. If you're considering an LS purchase and you've got newborn kiddies, you might want to check with the dealer on what options you have for securing a reverse-facing seat.

One aspect of the LS that's never come up in previous updates is the location of the battery; it's in the trunk. While most drivers may never know, or care, about the Lincoln's battery location, it caused some momentary confusion for our Mr. Brauer. "The battery-in-trunk location threw me for a loop when trying to charge up a remote-controlled-car battery. I opened the hood to hook up the charger and couldn't find the battery anywhere. It was hard to imagine the Lincoln starting and running without a battery, so I checked the owner's manual and discovered that Lincoln put the battery in the trunk, underneath the trunk floor panel. This isn't a bad idea from a weight distribution perspective, but I didn't expect to see this performance-oriented battery placement in a Lincoln. Lincoln may have placed the battery there for packaging reasons, or for something totally unrelated to performance, but it does have the effect of improving the car's overall balance. Something to remember if the car ever needs to give, or get, a jump."

The Lincoln is fast approaching the end of its tenure at Edmunds.com, and many on staff will miss this American take on a German luxury sedan. As Mr. Brauer proclaimed, "The LS is an undeniably comfortable, secure and attractive car. It's proof that very few cars are truly bad in today's world. The LS drives confidently, is quick and has plenty of luxury features. No one could rightly complain about the car, and it takes a direct comparison to something like a BMW or Acura to uncover the vehicle's minor deficiencies like ultimate steering feel or ultimate refinement. The leap between German, Japanese and American versions of luxury is closing rapidly. In fact, with the LS, it's little more than a hop."

Current Odometer: 34,819
Best Fuel Economy: 21.2 mpg
Worst Fuel Economy: 13.1 mpg
Average Fuel Economy (over the life of the vehicle): 17.2 mpg
Body Damage: None
Maintenance Costs: None
Problems: None