Alright, so I may be getting ready to purchase a cash type car since my brother may buy my truck from me as he really likes it, and I want something for between 3-5k this time, no payments. The two vehicles that come to mind right off hand for what I want, are the Jeep Cherokee, and the Lincoln Mark VIII/LSC. The Mark VIII has alot of modern conveniences of some luxury cars costing alot more, like Xenon Lights (something I really want), CD Changer, premium JBL sound system, lots of power from that great 4.6L engine, and its RWD!!! *YAY*.

I dont really want one before 97, those were kinda ugly and non descript, but the 97 and 98 is a very modern and fresh looking design.

Heres some shots of one I found on ebay...

http://dolphinautomotive.com/images/1997lincoln_lsc_silver_07Apr/mvc-015s.jpg

http://dolphinautomotive.com/images/1997lincoln_lsc_silver_07Apr/mvc-012s.jpg

http://dolphinautomotive.com/images/1997lincoln_lsc_silver_07Apr/mvc-007s.jpg

Not real jazzed about the fact that its basically a gussied up Thunderbird, but whatever...

I always loved the look and ride of my 89 Mark VII. That car had a lotta power, and turbo too.

Those are really nice-looking cars! Love the interior how the trim wraps around the dash onto the doors, etc. One thing, they are so low, just like my car and you really have to watch speed bumps, etc.

I thought that after "Connie" you'd never have another Linc.

Those are really nice-looking cars! Love the interior how the trim wraps around the dash onto the doors, etc. One thing, they are so low, just like my car and you really have to watch speed bumps, etc.

Yea I know and they have those crappy Air-ride systems too that fail ALOT on Lincolns. Sometimes I think Lincoln did that JUST to differentiate the car from whatever it was based on. That would have caused me to shy away before, but theres passive retro kits available for all of these now so its no big deal.

DS156... The 89's were real nice, especially the LSC Package with the 5.0 V8 from the stang. The 92-96 model was not my cup of tea though.

The Mark VIII is a no-good rotten POS :rant2: that needs to be junked every time they're out on the street :rant2: because they're eye-sores and automobile ring social parasites :rant2: that are ready to blow holes in the engine bay :rant2: because of detonation and vibrations for being ugly and shitty cars...:D

Kidding. Take it easy folks.

Seriously, I would go with the Mark VIII as they're better in the performance ring and they're much better on gas than the Jeep. Styling between the two shouldn't even be an issue. You're also right about the year vs. styling as the last models ('97-'98?) were more fluid in design and all around better cars from what I understand.

BTW, don't go for that tan color: go for something either black or some variation of silver if that color was an option.

The Mark VIII is a no-good rotten POS :rant2: that needs to be junked every time they're out on the street :rant2: because they're eye-sores and automobile ring social parasites :rant2: that are ready to blow holes in the engine bay :rant2: because of detonation and vibrations for being ugly and shitty cars...:D

Kidding. Take it easy folks.

Seriously, I would go with the Mark VIII as they're better in the performance ring and they're much better on gas than the Jeep. Styling between the two shouldn't even be an issue. You're also right about the year vs. styling as the last models ('97-'98?) were more fluid in design and all around better cars from what I understand.

BTW, don't go for that tan color: go for something either black or some variation of silver if that color was an option.

Hehe... funny.

Yea im warming up to it. It always bothers me that I think of cash cars at various points in my life and then when Im ready or close to ready to buy one I cant recall for the life of me the ones I thought of. But I think for 3-5k one of these is about as nice as it gets.

If I dont do one of these then ill probably search out a nice condition mid-90's BMW of some sort. A 1995 750iL would fill the ticket nicely, though it would eat me out of house and home on repairs (a non issue though if I wasnt making payments on it). The 94' 750 was the first car ever in the U.S. to have xenon lights by my research, and the Mark VIII was the first AMERICAN car to have them.

This one is actually Silver I believe, though Id really prefer a white diamond LSC since it has the matching grille too! Black is a possibility but at this price most black ones would probably have rough paint.

EDIT: Oh yea! Almost forgot the venerable STS Northstar. Doesnt quite have everything I want but a 95 or 96 STS would be good too, but only in White Diamond, they look old in any other color.

go for something either black or some variation of silver

There is a contrast of color!

Black............ :vomit:

Black would make it look too much like an Accord Coupe."

Silver........... :2thumbs: nice color, hides dust, etc.

tan or beige..... :banana: :woohoo: nicer color for any luxury car. :sneaky:

DS156... The 89's were real nice, especially the LSC Package with the 5.0 V8 from the stang. The 92-96 model was not my cup of tea though.
That's what I had, the LSC with the 5.0. The engine was unstoppable, too bad the car istelf had more problems than I could handle. I had two suspension failures.

Here is a friend of mine and the '96 he really wanted to buy..

I liked them back in the day, but anymore they really look dated. One thing... Somewhere between 95 and 96 Ford attempted a disastrous experiment with Xenon lights, and SOME of the Mid 95's are still out there working today, however replacement parts are PROHIBITIVELY expensive, which is why youll see "one eyed" Marks or some with one xenon light, and one halogen replacement.

Basically, Ford used the only inception ever of an AC POWERED Xenon lighting system and it was so disastrously prudent to fail and provided so little usable light, they had to retrofit most of the cars that hadnt gotten out yet with Halogen lights by the end of that production run. However, while Ford stayed its course, Xenon lights would not reappear until the 1997 redesign. After the Mark was killed in 98', no Lincoln had them again until the 2003 update of the Lincoln LS.

The MKVIII's are sharp cars for sure. And fast too! My son has a '95 in the white you mentioned. Very sharp car. I've always been up in the air about which version I liked better though. The older version like my son's and the one pictured above have virtually the same interior as the later version so it's really only the exterior that's different. As far as that goes, I think the earlier version is way better looking but the later version had much better lighting. I've just never been able to warm up to the front end on the later version. That big goofy-looking grille just kills it for me.

I never liked the VIII's. Never. My favorite Mark has got to be the VI and the VII in very close proximity. I tried to buy an 83 Mark VI with like 75,000 mi. on it and it was really nice inside, it was black with red pinstripe with red velour seats and a digital dash with the CB. Daaaaaamn that car was nice. If that used car dealer still has it I'd make him an offer. He wanted some rediculous ammount for it some two years ago when I offered my Mark VII as a potential trade. I think he wanted like $6,500 for it. It was mint, but not worth no $6,500. And when I say mint, I mean mint..................I think I'll pay him a visit today....LOL!

I knew Katshot was gonna like that Ford!:D

I have to say though, despit the fact that I think the Mark is the better car, my Continental definitely had the better interior. It had things like an optitron gauge cluster like in the Lexuses, door mounted seat controls and in later models, steering wheel controls for the radio.

I actually didnt even know til recently that the Mark was even based on the Thunderbird, I guess if I had looked at the similarity between the 80's ones it would have made sense, but I think Ford did a great job differentiating them after 92'

I like the Mark VIIIs. I'd have bought one, but I like the look and interior of the ETC more. They're RWD and have the 4.6 that can be modified easily compared to northstars so they have their plus sided. But I opted for the ETC because I'm not going to be doing any serious mods.

For $3K you can't get a clean example... for $5K possibly at a auction. Two weeks ago at Manheim a extremely clean '97 with 48K brought $6300 (I bought a '98 Concours from the same dealer that day). The 4.6 tends to need costly repairs around 75K, so make sure you save room for those problems, especially if it is an auction car and you can't test the transmission. They are nice cars though, very elegant looking and a good bang for the buck.

A 750iL will run over your budget unless it is a E32.

$5K will easily get you a Northstar powered STS, Concours, or Eldorado... and they are just as nice as the Mark VIII but do lack certain features that you desire.

Goodluck! :thumbsup:

The Mark VIII is a great car for the money. Like you said you have a lot of modern day luxury car features for like next to no money. I got my 1995 Mark VIII with 93k miles on it for $4500 out the door. Interior and exterior in perfect condition. Bu watch out for the airbag suspensions. It's a cool feature to have but having to replace it when they go bad can get quite expensive. On mine I just replaced the air bag suspension and put in coil overs with a 2" drop. I don't know really too much about the 2nd gen Mark VIII's since I own a 1st gen. But I know that 2nd gen;s used OBDii while 1st gen's used OBDi so the 2nd gen's are slower then the first gen's even with a LSC equipped 2nd gen. But as for the Xenon's on the 1st gen's I will be upgrading my halogen's to the HID's for sure. The biggest pain in the a$$ about the non Xenon headlights is the housing's suck. The reflective material in them goes bad after awhile because it's not made to withstand all the hot temp's in such a small housing. Right now the my headlights are the equivalent of taping a flashlight to the hood of your car and driving around. IT SUCKS!!! BUt good luck with whatever car you choose. If you get the mark VIII then come and visit us over at MarkVIII.org or lincolnvscadillac.com

Love the Mark8, though too plasticy inside....still wuite a bargain!
Heard xenon headlights breakdown alot and expensive to fix, just some stuff I read....

Leloz makes a good point, you can pick up a nice eldo for the same money....although I would prefer a RWD myself.

Caddy over a Lincoln!

Yea I think the Xenon failures were primarily on the 96 models, as far as the 4.6 is concerned, I think they are good engines. I know we bought Continental with 86k on it and aside from a Tuneup at about 110k, it hasnt needed anything and is now at about 135k when I traded it in. Im relatively confident in that engine. The transmission is a different story, I know the Connie was FWD so the Mark is a whole different animal for sure.

The MKVIII's are sharp cars for sure. And fast too! My son has a '95 in the white you mentioned. Very sharp car. I've always been up in the air about which version I liked better though. The older version like my son's and the one pictured above have virtually the same interior as the later version so it's really only the exterior that's different. As far as that goes, I think the earlier version is way better looking but the later version had much better lighting. I've just never been able to warm up to the front end on the later version. That big goofy-looking grille just kills it for me.
Im with you , the facelifted cars looked like they had a pineapple shoved up there arse ....

The first ones best exemplified the look of that car , all the lines were taught and crisp , the facelifted cars looked like Anna Nicole after the first 3 months of bingeing on macdonalds ...the lines were sorta there but she was blaoted and something wasnt quite right with her face ...

The interior was one fo the best ford ever did in the 90s

Gussied up T bird ? Pretty good roots to come from if you ask me , beatter than Fox Body ...MN12 cars were outstanding cars , only downfall is they were too heavy and expensive to build ....ford canned/cut back the idea ..MN12 had big potential , the plans alone in early 88 were for it to be used in the manner as what we know as "DEW98" today ...We had a 93 T bird ...to this day we comapre each and every car we own and drive to it ....mom has even coampred my cadillac to our old bird ...thats how good that car was as far as ride , handleing all that good stuff....

We would probably still have th ecar if it wasnt fo rthe odd electrical failures and the inherit 3.8 cylander head issues ...

Friend of mine owns one, loves it. Considered getting one myself. I say, go for it!!!

does the front end of this mark 8 remind you of a hitler mustache? ...or is it just me

does the front end of this mark 8 remind you of a hitler mustache? ...or is it just me

I'll agree to that. Still, I like the gen. Mark VIIIs a lot! Sidenote, I was at the junkyard a few weekends ago snooping around for anything good, when I found a light blue LSC with an I-6 turbo diesel! Does anyone know what I'm talking about? Someone had already taken the turbo, but it was definately an I-6.

Brian

A diesel in a MKVIII?! I know they did some diesels in the MKVII's but never heard of any MKVIII's with them. There's a guy I know in Philly that bought a MKVII with a diesel last year.

Sorry for not verifying Kat, it was a Mark VII. But I didn't even know they put them in those!

Brian

Sorry for not verifying Kat, it was a Mark VII. But I didn't even know they put them in those!

Brian

That's what I thought. Here's a link to my freind's site. Specifically a page concerning the MKVII diesel. http://www.lscclub.org/cars/oldschool8/

oh man i really want one of those ...thats friggin awesome

my appologies to MR 90 brogham ....i really thought you were on crack dude ...

Isn't this the Lincoln that adjusts its height at speed? It hunkers down on the highway. They did a TV ad and showed the car doing a "LIMBO" thing. At the beginning at rest it was to high to get under the limbo bar then at high speed it cleared the bar. Anybody remember that Commercial?

Yes. Both the MKVII's and the MKVIII's did that.

Yes. Both the MKVII's and the MKVIII's did that.

I'm suprised that didn't catch on. I would think that would increase the aero and improve gas mileage.

It was a pretty expensive system, and had some serious service issues. Lincoln continues to use the system on thier Navigator, and uses the rear part of the system on the Town Car but I "think" that's all.

It was a pretty expensive system, and had some serious service issues. Lincoln continues to use the system on thier Navigator, and uses the rear part of the system on the Town Car but I "think" that's all.

I think the Navigator is to tall to Limbo don't you think:rolleyes:

It was a pretty expensive system, and had some serious service issues. Lincoln continues to use the system on thier Navigator, and uses the rear part of the system on the Town Car but I "think" that's all.

I for one can not stand these complicated and finicky air ride systems. I tell you, if I get one of these, Id probably replace the whole thing with a passive suspension kit and be done with it, sell the old air ride components.

If memory serves me correctly, the first generation LS 400 had that as well. Don't know about the second.

Brian

The Lincoln system "may" be semi-problematic but it's far less problematic and expensive to fix than the GM active suspension systems. Basically, the Ford system is just an airbag suspension system with 3 leveling valves.

If memory serves me correctly, the first generation LS 400 had that as well. Don't know about the second.

Brian

Yes they still have Active load leveling Suspensions. The Ricer crowd actually figured out a way to make an electronic controller that taps into the Electrical harness that controls them, in order to adjust the shocks however you desire on all four sides.

The Lincoln system "may" be semi-problematic but it's far less problematic and expensive to fix than the GM active suspension systems. Basically, the Ford system is just an airbag suspension system with 3 leveling valves.

The problem that always occurs is those bags tend to go brittle or bust over time, and then you have to replace the entire assembly. This is what occured with our 96 Continental, we were lucky it was covered under warranty, but had it not been, it would have been close to a 2000.00 repair for all four sides, the dryer and the pump. Its nice dont get me wrong, Id just rather not deal with it, especially in cold weather areas.

I can't imagine why you'd need to replace the entire system all at once. :hmm:
Bottom line, the Ford systems DO have aftermarket support. I know this because I just did a complete retrofit on my son's Lincoln MKVIII. I think the whole thing cost like $500 or so and took us maybe an hour and a half.

The Mark VIIIs were great cars in my opinion. Have a 93 with 130k runs great...it gets up and moves and still gets over 30mpg on the highway.

I owned a 1997 Mark VIII LSC and I loved it. My wife hated it because I loved it so much. That car was way ahead of its time with all of its features. The LSC was very powerful with 290HP and was not too bad on gas with around 17MPG. My biggest complaint was that the cars depreciation was horrible. I paid over $12000 for it and 2 years later I sold it for $4000.

The only reason I eventually sold the car was because my son was born and it was a pain in the ass getting him in and out of the car seat.

http://jesda.spilky.com/lincolnsuspension.mov

I owned a 1997 Mark VIII LSC and I loved it. My wife hated it because I loved it so much. That car was way ahead of its time with all of its features. The LSC was very powerful with 290HP and was not too bad on gas with around 17MPG. My biggest complaint was that the cars depreciation was horrible. I paid over $12000 for it and 2 years later I sold it for $4000.

The only reason I eventually sold the car was because my son was born and it was a pain in the ass getting him in and out of the car seat.

That is the exact color, wheels and trim level I plan to get when I get mine. That one would have been perfect and the price was right as well.

http://jesda.spilky.com/lincolnsuspension.mov


OK, thats an AWESOME ad.

That'll seal the deal!

Thanks for putting that up btw.

Or perhaps my 4k would be better spent on a Classic...

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=6329&item=4542864882&rd=1

Do you have any other older car ads? I wanna see one for my car!

Most of the ads I have are for Infiniti:
http://www.q45.org/media.html

Or perhaps my 4k would be better spent on a Classic...

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=6329&item=4542864882&rd=1

Holy smokes thats a beautiful car! The interior looks really "like new".

Man I wish I had money to throw around or I'd hit that buy it now button.......what thoughts are you planting in my mind!?

Holy smokes thats a beautiful car! The interior looks really "like new".

Man I wish I had money to throw around or I'd hit that buy it now button.......what thoughts are you planting in my mind!?

I know man. My brother found that and is thinking of buying it for himself. Did you see the carpet, shifter, wood and seats!!?

Yup, much better than my deville. Its really very nice.

Speaking of the Mark VIII, there is one for sale at the local salvage yard for $1800.00 and she's a '95! 171K on the clock with a complete set of chrome rims and everything...

The one glaring issue with the car you ask?

Someone had junked her because the leather seats had been slashed up with a razor and the exterior had been keyed all to Hell. I am guessing someone's ex-girlfriend or somehting had a fit and tore the car up...:helpless:

If I had the dough, I wouldn't mind picking this one up...

Speaking of the Mark VIII, there is one for sale at the local salvage yard for $1800.00 and she's a '95! 171K on the clock with a complete set of chrome rims and everything...

The one glaring issue with the car you ask?

Someone had junked her because the leather seats had been slashed up with a razor and the exterior had been keyed all to Hell. I am guessing someone's ex-girlfriend or somehting had a fit and tore the car up...:helpless:

If I had the dough, I wouldn't mind picking this one up...

Not even a link to look!!? :hmm:

Not even a link to look!!? :hmm:

Well, since you're in the central Ohio area, try checking out Cantly's junk yard...It may be there for a while. But I didn't tell you this because I have no idea where that may be :D

the turbo inline 6 was a BMW motor that lincoln used in the '83 and '84 Mark VII's of course it was installed for added fuel economy. you dont see many of those any more

the turbo inline 6 was a BMW motor that lincoln used in the '83 and '84 Mark VII's of course it was installed for added fuel economy. you dont see many of those any moreAnd if you do see one I would pick it up and use it as a show piece cause that is a pretty rare car