Faults:

- Front brake pads replaced.

- ABS control unit replaced.

- Preventative transmission flushes needed.

- CD player will not accept CDs anymore.

- THX stereo system is shockingly muddy-sounding.

- Little leg room for people in back seats.

General Comments:

This a great luxury car - comfort and styling combined with stellar handling and power. It shifts beautifully for an automatic, corners effortlessly at high speeds, and even has decent fuel consumption for a V8, coming in at around 26 miles per gallon on the highway.

Looks-wise it's an absolute head-turner, and most people are shocked when I tell them that it's a Lincoln. It's also a real bargain considering that this car was meant to compete with the 3 and 5 series BMW's, the Audi A6 and C-Class Mercedes. For comparable kilometers and level of maintenance on those aforementioned models, I would have had to pay double or triple the money than I did on the LS. Instead, I got a vehicle that easily holds its own against them in terms of features and overall performance, and I saved a lot of money in the process.

There are downsides to this car, however. The maintenance is not cheap - especially if you insist on having it dealer-maintained. The engines are complicated with an over-reliance on electronic and computerized components. Even simple things like brakes and fluid changes run higher than the average car. From what I have gathered from talking to other LS owners, these cars do have a propensity to have the ignition coils burn out. Also, without regular transmission flushes, the tranny can become clogged and will ultimately fail. As with most high-performance engines, you have to be on top of maintenance or you will end up with huge problems.

Another downside to this car has been the treatment that I have received from the local dealership - who is obviously not equipped with the training or ability to locate parts needed to solve any issues with the LS. Twice they "forgot" to back-order the ABS control unit, and after waiting five weeks to finally get back to me (after countless non-returned e-mail and phone messages) they told me to locate the part myself and gave me the wrong part number. After finding the right number, I located it on my first hit in a Google search from an authorized Ford parts dealer in Florida. I can't help but wonder why I had the resources to do this and they didn't. They also let my brand-new battery run dead while the car was in their care, and had the nerve to send me a bill of $300 after promising to replace it.

When I told them that I wanted to speak to the manager, she refused to come out of her office. When I called Lincoln of Canada to complain, they told me that "there is nothing we can do to help" but added "we hope that you will continue to have your vehicle maintained by Ford." I ended up going to another dealership that was rather inconvenient to get to, but it was worth it to avoid having to deal with the previous idiots again.

The moral of this story is that if you are considering buying an LS, you are going to be seriously pleased with how great the performance is in this car. That said, make sure that you have a chat with whomever you expect to fix the vehicle to make sure that they know what they are doing. It's an amazing car, but it can become problematic when issues start to mount. And since Ford won't back you up on anything deceitful or negligent that the dealership may do to your vehicle, you're basically left at the mercy of your mechanic of choice.

Faults:

Transmission replaced at 75,000 miles, under warranty.

Transmission had shifting issue going into 4th gear; need to replace the computer to resolve the problem at 290,000 miles. Need to do this repair to get the car smogged and passed.

Wear and tear: replaced brakes twice, radiator leaked, one air conditioning hose replaced, wind shield replaced 3 times, passenger window internal mechanisms fixed, door lock replaced, 3 coils replaced.

Motor has not been touched, original heads, original gaskets and valve covers.

General Comments:

Overall I am keeping this car; rear wheel drive, great turning radius, great power for a V6.

Fell in love with the car when it first came out, and will rebuild the engine when this engine dies.