As of this writing (10-06-2014) I have had my 2000 Lincoln Town Car Cartier nearly a year. It was purchased on Columbus Day 2013, which was October 14. As today is the one-year anniversary of my joining the Lincoln Club, it seems a good time to catch everyone up on what it’s been up to. Well, it has been a pleasure! It is the nicest riding car I’ve ever owned, the mileage has been better than I initially estimated, it has ferried me and my folks to several great restaurants, and as for maintenance–can you say painless?
Over the past year, I’ve put approximately 3,000 miles on it. Despite all the many naysayers regarding Lincoln’s air suspension, my car’s system has operated flawlessly, and in great comfort. The only thing that I had an issue with is the cruise control. The very first time I used it, it operated fine, but the second time (weeks later; my car usually doesn’t go far from home base) it did not work at all–the light on the instrument panel didn’t even light up. I of course will get it fixed, but since it usually stays in town, I’m not in a rush.
Nearly a year; how time passes by! I still remember calling my mother and telling her about the car. She was less than enthusiastic about my potential purchase. “You want to buy a fourteen-year-old car? And you have a one-car garage…” She was just looking out for me, and after seeing the car and riding in it, she did agree it was very nice. If I’m at my folks’ and we decide to do dinner, I always volunteer the TC if I have it that day. Dad rides shotgun, and Mom enjoys stretching out in the commodious back seat. “Let’s take the limo!”
Yes, I still love the car. It has been great, and I am also happy about rescuing it. There are still many 1998-2002 Town Cars around here, but most of them are on their fourth, sixth or eighth owner, and their condition is generally tired. If I hadn’t bought this one, some cheapskate to whom “maintenance” might as well be a foreign language probably would have gotten it, and it would have been downhill from there.
This car also represents a lot of firsts for me. First American car, first V8, first air suspension, first full-size car, first Lincoln, first car with chrome wheels, and first car WITHOUT a sunroof! Sometimes, after I’ve washed it, I like to just sit down and look at it.
When the 1998 Town Car appeared, I was not a really big fan, for I loved the 1995-97 Town Cars. This looked like a cut-rate, bigger Jaguar to me when I first saw a preview picture in Motor Trend. But with the disappearance of the Fleetwood after 1996, the Town Car was the last big luxury car standing. I later warmed to them more and more, and now appreciate the styling much more. And the interiors are still quite luxurious, especially in top-trim Cartier form.
And room! You can really stretch out in this car and relax. I have been known to on occasion drive the TC one-handed, with my right arm draped over the bench seat, as if sitting on the couch at home and watching Murphy Brown. So comfy! And I still miss that show!
The neatest thing of all, however, was hearing from the daughter of the original owners, who traded the car in to McLaughlin Cadillac-Volvo-Subaru for a new Forester.
On my original post on this car, she left this comment:
This actual vehicle was my parents’ car from 2000 to 2013 when they traded it in for a new Subaru Forester. The dealer gave my parents a printed copy of this posting about their car. They were so happy that it was sold to someone who would appreciate it. My Father took excellent care of the vehicle over the years. They took many trips in it from Illinois to a small coal mining town in Pennsylvania where my Father was born for annual family reunions. They loved to travel in that car, it was so luxurious! The Subaru was purchased for practical considerations. They no longer make the annual trek back east – my Father is turning 85 years old on July 1, 2014!! He still misses his Lincoln! It was a vehicle that he always wanted to be able to afford to purchase. Not bad for a boy born in the depression year of 1929!
Thanks for posting this article about their beloved vehicle! I will be showing them the full color pictures of their former car on this website!
PS It is true that the back seat was rarely used. All of their children were grown up when they purchased the car. I believe that there might be a small mark on the back seat from a grandchild’s car seat (right side?). I do remember my father complaining (or perhaps just commenting!) about it.
Now that was very nice to read, and only increased my resolve for keeping this car forever and giving it the good life. And as the title of this post proves, the Cartier has been very good to me! The battery was replaced this spring, but I really couldn’t complain as the original was old–from 2007. And just a couple weeks ago, it had its first oil change and inspection at Strieter Lincoln in Davenport, IA. It does need the transmission service (a flush, new oil and filter) and coolant flush as well, and it will all be done, but as much as I baby this car, it is not crucial at this date. Panthers are great cars. I’m keeping mine!
Related:
2000 Lincoln Town Car Cartier – Of McCarthy, My Grandparents, And Other Things
I’m with you- love looking at my car after a thorough wash and wax. Great update on a fine car. Enjoy the ride!
I hope this doesn’t come across as too dickish…
Bragging about taking care of a car but only doing one oil change in a year rubs me the wrong way. Most service manuals recommend twice a year regardless of mileage for good reasons.
I would do that tranny maintenance sooner then later.
That said these cars can handle that kind of abuse as well, or better, then anything else.
Looks pretty comfy!
Ehh. On my low mileage cars (Approx 2k miles a year on one, 500 miles a year on the other) I’ve always done 1 per year with Mobil 1, and never had an issue. Doing an oil change every 1500 miles seems excessive. If you live in area that’s especially dusty or humid, maybe. If he was that worried, he could send some of that 1 year old oil in for an analysis to see if there’s excess debris or water, but I highly doubt it’s worth even that effort.
Oil changes are always a touchy subject. IMHO, if a low mileage car is constantly being used on super-short trips, without the engine getting a proper warm-up, then the 6 months recommendation might make sense. But if a car is only being used as a second car, with more sitting between drives that are long enough to get the engine/oil good and warm, I just can’t see the point. The oil isn’t going to deteriorate from the sitting periods over 6 months.
FWIW, I’ve changed the oil in ’66 F100 once per year (if I remember 🙂 ), and it’s still running fine after all these decades.
Once a year was the maintenance schedule for my F-100, too. Same for my tractors. Points and tuneup when it started running rough.
Actually, that reminds me the F-250 Powerstroke is due for its annual change (I think I put about 6,000 on it this year).
Touchy, that is the right word. It seems everyone has an opinion but hardly anyone has the facts. I like to go to this site for information on motor oil:
http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/motor-oil-101/
“Oil change every …… km / miles or once a year, what comes first”.
That’s all I read and hear when it comes to modern era cars, like this Lincoln. Regardless the brand of the car or engine type (gasoline or diesel).
I change the oil (Havoline Premium 20W-50) in my ’69 Plymouth once a year and I drive circa 2,000 miles a year. But I never take it out for just a short spin around the block, I drive at least 25 miles or so per trip.
Oil will absorb moisture from the air but synthetics are less likely to do so and the Motorcraft oil is a synthetic blend. The key is to make sure that it regularly gets out for a good 15-20 minutes of driving at speed after the engine has come up to normal operating temp. Plus this is a modular and they scoff at abuse and ask for more. So once a year is more than suffecient. A number of my vehicles that don’t get daily use are lucky if they get an annual oil change and that has been the case for a decade or more for some of them and the oil comes out clean as a whistle and there is no sign of moisture in the system.
Oil and water don’t normally have an affinity for each other, correct? Perhaps you mean the additives absorb moisture?
EDIT – an engine that sits a lot *will* have condensation accumulation in the crankcase. Running the engine long enough to get thoroughly warmed up evaps this off. Condensation (being made of water) sinks to the bottom (your oil pan), where it starts oxidizing things.
My elderly aunt used to get her oil changed every three or four years in her last car – it took her that long to get the mileage up. I tried to tell her that wasn’t good for it, but she lived through the Depression and would not spend money.
Actually condensation will hang inside the valve covers, not sink to the bottom. On the old cars with steel valve covers you’ll see it as rust on the inside of the valve cover.
My father is still in the “once every 3,000 miles” camp despite our oldest vehicle being my ’02 Mazda. It’s like: No, Father, it’s not your ’76 Cordoba anymore! Or your wife’s Matador! You can go farther than 3,000 miles without the engine siezing up!
Here it’s once a year unless you car sees lots of service in heavy conditions (read: lots of stop-start city driving) when they reckon twice a year. We’re out of town, so do mostly 100km/h cruising – good for the engine.
A fantastic looking Town Car, Tom. Your pride in ownership radiates from it.
Classy 😉
A side note on the air suspension. A buddy of mine had a Town Car from the previous generation. The air suspension wasn’t working in the rear, as it had bottomed out. He was fearful of the cost of fixing it, so he asked me to take a look. I knew there was an air compressor in the back, but wasn’t sure where. So, I did the next best thing and looked for the fuse. It was under the hood in the engine compartment fuse panel and it was BLOWN. Since my friend has bachelor’s and master’s degrees in electrical engineering, I thoroughly enjoyed holding the fuse in my hand and showing him the bad fuse. Replaced it and the air suspension immediately rose to attention and has been operable ever since.
A nice car for sure and am glad you got it from someone who took care of it.
I heard the same horror stories on my Continental. The bags leak, compressor wears out trying to fill, $$$$$$.
My rear suspension started leaking (would sag after being parked for a day or two, but air up to level once started). It did this for probably 3 years with no apparent slowing down, or wear, on compressor, and it still worked just fine when I got rid of it. IMHO they’re pretty hardy systems, even when neglected like mine (It was my college car…).
In a pinch you can drop a Viagra tablet in the system for a temporary rise 🙂
I always wondered if Fix-A-Flat would work…..
Great to read of your enjoyment from living in Lincolnland. I have extensive experience in the Ford and Mercury flavors of this platform, but the full-out Townie has eluded me.
It looks like you found a really nice one. If it takes as good of care of you as you do of it, you will enjoy this car for years to come.
Same here. One of these days I’ll get me a Townie…
“Sometimes, after I’ve washed it, I like to just sit down and look at it.”
Spoken like a true car guy that loves his vehicle! I do the same and ponder all the thought that went into designing every curve and angle. Cars are works of art created by artists because of this!
+1
Tom’s car looks even better in the flesh – it’s a beautiful color! We compared Fords at the recent car show in Geneseo, IL (his looked way better than my ’99 F-250).
Ditto on it looking better in the flesh. Had I not known otherwise, I never would have guessed it was pushing 100,000 on the odometer. The previous owner babied that car just as much as Tom is currently.
Passionate and enjoyable article 🙂 On the other hand I’m dealing with your opinion about “the disappearance”. Something has been artificially taken away as the industry dropped out these automotive archetypes but ain’t ensured equal replacements. Yesterday you could have/afford all the available comfort and space for six passengers. Today you can have “smart solutions” which means cars for 5 passengers (by factory specs) but in many cases fairly for only 4 people. Comfort in many cases became only a notion.
A true Lincoln done right unlike yesterday’s painful to talk about Varsailles. A few cheap interior bits aside these cars in all rights should be considered a collector item in the none to distant future and yours is an utter beauty. My buddy just traded his 2009 silver blue TC in on a Hyundai Sonata for practical reasons, (mainly mileage and Winter traction) and still talks about that car today. I rode in that car many times and was always impressed with the performance, ride, handling and mileage for such a large spacious sedan. And boy did that beauty soak up the miles on the interstate.
I last year bought a real nice 1996 Caprice with but 83K miles on there clock in rust free one owner cared for miles and love it equally as well. When the times comes to put her down or trade her off the TC is on the short list of replacements with a G-body bucket seat V8 Cutlass or Grand Prix filling in for classic car show status.
I like hearing stories of people discovering a car and enjoying their ownership. This should be an easy ownership for you. I would change the oil more often. With my special interest cars that I put few miles on I change the oil and filter every 6 months. I have also found Ford’s are not very forgiving of those who do not changing the brake fluid every other year. I replace my car’s coolant on that same schedule.
I’ve own dozens of Fords and except for 2 that I replaced brake lines on I’ve never changed brake fluid.
This configuration looks interesting as well more because it might be a rare converted RHD Town Car…
Looks like it was converted, probably a limo, judging from all the extra buttons on the top of the dash.
Pleased to hear but not surprised that your Panther has needed little mechanical attention. I’m going on eight years with my relatively-ancient ’92 P74 and sometimes I have to pinch myself over how little it has needed in that time, with it coming on 170,000 miles.
I put around 1300 miles a year on my 2004 truck purchased new. A mix of around town and road trips. One oil change a year seems to be enough. The oil still looks like new, not even dark when due for a change. It is parked under a carport most of the time. I just did it’s first coolant flush and brake flush, although ten years is too long, every 5 is probably better. I will do flushes again in 5 years. The coolant did look as new, I had the dealer power flush the brakes so I don’t know how the brake fluid looked. Still the original battery from Jan. 2004. Just cleaned up the cables and replaced air filter and ac microfilter for the first time. Do carry jumper cables just in case, but battery still tested good. Probably should replace anyway soon. That Lincoln is a great pampered example, good to know it will be driven low miles and taken care of, nice ride. I don’t think time will really matter with the automatic transmission on my truck, just mileage. It’s not used to tow. The tires are not showing any cracks the humidity is normally not that dry and the sun stays off the tires since it’s mostly parked under cover. I will need tires before the tread is worn out, I know nowadays 6 or 7 years is as long as your supposed to run them.
Yeah, I was probably wrong on all that I said about servicing one’s car. I will just ask you to come over and “look” at my car’s fluids next time to determine if it needs changing. Did not mean to start a pissing contest.
Never said you were wrong. Only stating how I service my own vehicle.
“but since it usually stays in town, I’m not in a rush.”
So in other words your Lincoln ain’t nothing but a “town” car???????? ba-boom tis!!! remember folks there is tea and coffee in the lobby.
Seriously Towncars are excellent cars to cruise with and after a hard day of work it is nice to stretch out and relax while driving instead of having to commute home in some miserable penalty box.
When I got my Buick Lesabre, my commutes felt much shorter and more relaxing. I briefly looked into a TC as a daily driver but I could not find one with cloth seats(did they make TC’s with cloth for the 98-11 generation?) I hate leather seats.
Precisely the reason that I love my Oldsmobile. I love driving it home at the end of a nine hour day!
Of course I’m not surprised at your experince and happiness with your TC being a confirmed Panther fanatic. So much so that there are now 4 Panthers in my driveway, representing the aero age very well except for no TC.
92 CV which has been in retirement for the last year and really should find a new owner or give some parts so another can live. It is at 196K and the reality is I can’t remember exactly when the last time I gave it an oil change. Unfortunately the clear coat is gone above the painted on pinstripe, the front end needs some attention as it is starting to wander a bit and it needs a new set of shoes. The air suspension is still going strong, never been touched and can sit for months at a time and not drop.
01 GM Limited which is my current driver just turning 119K today.
03 Maruader which also can sit throughout the winter w/o the air suspension dropping a bit. It just finally got its original battery replaced this spring.
The newest addition to the fleet is an 03 P71 which I brought home a week ago and is my daughter’s car. Picked it up the Mt Prospect police auction….. OK King Co Wa auction. My daughter wanted a Panther for her car because she prefered driving the GM over my Wife’s Fusion. I did steal it for $500 and it only has 63,000 miles on it. The reason I got it so cheap was due to a couple of factors. 1. It was the first of the 20+ P71s that were going on the block that day. 2. who ever peeled the 2′ high SHERIFF off the sides did not do a good job and left a lot of adhesive which sitting in the gravel lot waiting for the next auction gathered a ton of dust making it look much uglier than many of them. 3. Because it sat in the lot for some time the fleet admin decided to steal the complete wiper assembly from it.
I picked up all the parts to fix that for $33 with tax at a self serve wrecking yard and then $11 for a pair of new blades. I also picked up the linkages for the rear interior door handles and to put the door locks back in the door panel instead of the door jamb which they through in for free.
It does need tires, the belt appears original and it wasn’t warming up quickly so when I picked up the belt I got a new T-stat and it will get some new coolant as well. I picked up some very slightly used snow tires and will be picking up some 16″ Mustang aluminum wheels for it tonight or tomorrow and I’ll have the HS auto shop put them on which they will do for free. The adhesive residue came of very easily with the right cleaner.
All told with tax, license, and the various parts I’ll have about $1100 into it and maybe 5-6 man hrs of work tops, including pulling the parts at the wrecking yard but not the time spent getting there and back.
I go back and forth on these Panther-platform cars. A part of me says buy one, especially since nice/lowish mileage examples are “thick on the ground” here in Florida, but what usually stops me are the horror stories about “bad” intake manifolds.
When I lived in Memphis a guy brought his TC to the tire store where I was getting new tires for my Civic. He had discovered water was getting into the TC’s coolant. The tire store owner said that it would cost about $1200-$1500 to fix.
My current mechanic also tells me to stay away from V8 powered Ford products. (I told him I was looking at a 97 Mountaineer.)
I want a comfortable long distance cruiser, as I am in the same situation as your TC’s previous owner.
Stay away from V8 Fords? That’s an odd piece of advice if I’ve ever heard one. The 2V 4.6 is one of the more bulletproof motors Ford has ever made, and the 4V 4.6 isn’t far behind despite the exotic all-aluminum construction. The 5.0 was also damn solid, if prone to the odd oil leak or head gasket replacement.
+1
The 1996-2001 Panthers had the all-plastic intake manifold. The part is about $250-ish last I looked, available from the Rock of Autos or the Bay of “e”. While non-trivial to replace, from the videos online and similar things I’ve attempted, it looks like a weekend project. Most of the Panthers from that era have had this done already, you’ll see the front of the intake (coolant crossover) is made from metal. My 2000 Grand Marquis had it done right before I bought it, and I was surprised it made it to 132K before leaking.
Next Panther platform car I’m looking for will be 2001 or newer, I’m curious about the PI (Performance I-somethinged) heads. Another twenty horsepower is about 10%, and I’m almost always happy with a little more power.
Marauder. You won’t worry about PI heads anymore.
Your tire store guy is either a rip off artist, doesn’t have a clue, or both. A 97 Mountaineer has the ultimate of the garden variety small block Ford. It is one of the most bullet proof of the old school V8s.
The intake manifold issue is way over blown. The coolant crossover on some of them do crack, and that results in an external coolant leak. It does not affect all of them. My 01 GM with 119K listed above still has its original intake. It does not cost anywhere near $1200-$1500 to fix it is much cheaper than doing a timing belt on many modern cars. As mentioned the aftermarket intake is not that expensive and it is a 2hr job, 3 tops. $600 is top dollar for that job, anything more is pure highway robbery.
It does not worry me in the least and I wouldn’t hesitate to drive it across country since they like all current gas powered Fords has fail safe cooling. If the cylinder head temp sensor shows that the engine is getting too hot it goes into air cooled mode. It starts alternating running on half of the cylinders, prevents that AC compressor from running, and changes the speed limiter strategy. If that does not succeed in keeping the temp below that particular calibration’s set point it will lower the speed limiter again. Get it hot enough and it will eventually reduce the speed to the point where only an idiot would not pull safely off the road and then after a minute or so of that the engine will shut down until it has cooled sufficiently.
So step up to a TC.
I am surprised at how many of you don’t do proper maintenance!
As somebody who loves cars and all other machines I can’t justify deferring it. From my perspective the twenty minutes and thirty bucks it takes to change oil is well the time spent!
That said I live in the Yukon where we have extreme seasonal changes. Also I put about 15000 miles on each of my three regular drivers a year.
As a maintenance tech at our local brewery I see the damage moisture does all the time. Maybe this makes me paranoid!
There is also the fact that I love the greasy under body of my cars as much as I do the shiny sheet metal!
I figured my first comment would ruffle a few feathers!
I always follow severe service recommendations for all vehicles.
Does anybody else do this?
Am I just a weirdo?
A sort of similar story to mine. Two years ago this month, on October 12, after much research and shopping I purchased a 2002 Ford Thunderbird, which is a kind of second cousin to your car. I’ve never been afraid of age, I’ve been around cars long enough to know that (with some exceptions) condition is much more important that age or even mileage. I have a phrase that I use when selling vehicles that I term “Intelligent operation.” That means, among other things, that every cold start requires a light touch for at least five minutes, minimization of short trips and NEVER starting a cold car, moving it 25 feet and shutting it down for the day. Unless it can be avoided, no full throttle acceleration and no maximum effort stops. And pay attention to the small problems while they’re at the “is this happening or just my imagination?” stage. I’ve logged hundreds of thousands of miles and I’ve never been stranded nor have I ever purchased a car because I had to due to the fear of imminent or suspected near-imminent mechanical failure. For that matter I have never traded a car in, I’ve always been able to sell them myself for a price higher than the “real” trade-in value offered.
Best of luck with your new ride. I’m enjoying mine.
Few years ago I had seen (on TV) Jeremy Clarkson & Co. in Top Gear that they had tested a strange 6 wheel Ford Thunderbird…which reminds me to this neat yellow’s update… I really don’t understand what was the purpose of the six-wheel version???
It was built for the Thunderbirds movie. In the original 1960s marionette series, a 6-wheeled Rolls-Royce was used, I understand RR declined to be involved in the live action 2004 movie so Ford stepped in. Details here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FAB_1
Does the oil life percentage readout (mounted in the overhead console on my ’05 TC) give an accurate indication of when to change the oil?
No. Decide on a mileage, usually 5,000 with non towing vehicles using synthetic motor oil, instead of depending on the read out.
It is purely based on mileage, it is not an oil life estimator like on some brands. When it is reset you can actually set it to less than 100% if you choose to. I usually set my cars that have it to 70% giving me a nice cushion should I not have the time to do it right away. On your particular car 100% is 5000 miles. Definitely no need to switch to full synthetic just stick with the Motorcraft synthetic blend, but the 5-30 and the Motorcraft oil filter and you’ll be good for half a million miles.
Having had a 200,000 mile engine torn down and wear measured I will disagree with you on the no need for synthetic oil. The lack of wear sold me. Also having attended workshops where oil filters were dissected and compared I am not a fan of Motorcraft oil filters at all.
Now having said that, if long term trouble free ownership is not an objective I would say buying a cheap car and driving it into the ground will beat the dollar cost of my ownership hands down. I just have never been able to think that way. I over do everything when it comes to maintenance on my cars have never had an engine failure and most of my cars have had a second buyer waiting checkbook in hand when I am ready to sell. I also find it relieves the stress of the inconvenienced brought on by unexpected breakdowns. I will close by saying this is only my opinion based on my experience of what works for me.
The Motorcraft oil is a synthetic blend not straight dino oil. Run on Motorcraft oil these engines will show no internal wear at 200K and will be clean as a whistle inside.
I’m guessing the workshop where you saw dissected oil filters was put on by a competing filter mfg. I’ve personally dissected many brands of oil filters and the Motorcraft is far and away the absolute best value out there. There is only one filter that does a better job and that is the Purolator Pure One which costs 2x the price for a very slight benefit. The Baldwin is a match but they are not commonly available and again they are 2x the price. Everything else on the market is a step below. Go look at bobistheoilguy.com and you’ll see in depth analysis on virtually every filter on the market.
This. I swear by Motorcraft filters and oil ( and I don’t say that just because I work at a Lincoln dealer 😉 ), hell, I with I could get Motorcraft Filters for my Harley!
The motor oil workshop I attended was sponsored by an international club and definitely not sponsored by an oil company. If that had been the case I would not have given them one second of my time.
As for the oil filters we did more than dissect the filters, we also measured filtering capabilities and flow rates. For now we will have to agree to disagree on the filter issue. My last information found Purolator above average and the Motorcraft much below average. As I look at your reply I realize we may be looking at the oil filter issue from two different perspective as you mentioned value. My consideration was only that from a performance perspective.
Although we may have different opinions based on different findings it is completely obvious our cars receive better care than the majority of cars on the road today. I believe few people have the interest to devote this kind of attention to this topic.
That is interesting because at least the last time I checked the Motorcraft and Pure One came out the same factory and shared many internals. Out of curiosity which filter(s) came out on top in the tests you were witness to?
Yes I do consider value, like everything in life there is the law of diminishing returns and there are always some sorts of trade offs when solving and engineering problem while other things can go hand in hand. For example flow and capacity can go hand in hand, all other things equal more area of the media will increase both flow rates and capacity. On the other hand you can increase flow by reducing first pass efficiency and vice versa.
I have/had a number of vehicles that have traveled 100K or more with their only oil changes done by me using only Motorcraft oil and filters and when they reach time for a change the oil comes out clearer than many new oils. While that is not conclusive it does not point to worse than average filtration.
Some of that of course is on the particular engine but even with my old International engines with carburettors which tend to have more carbon contamination than a modern EFI, it still holds true. They typically do not get Motorcraft oil since the commonly available weights are not suitable for their engines.
Personally I’ve never seen anything that showed the Motorcraft to be below average, and my personal experience has shown them to work well in my vehicles.
Eric,
Many oil filters come out of the same factory, but that does not mean they are made to the same standards or are the same. An example: Say if Fram makes Mobil One filters that does not mean they are the same. Mobil would have a patent on their filter and Fram would be simply manufacturing that filter for them. There are more motor oil filter brands than there are motor oil filter manufacturers.
The top oil filter I remember is Mobil One. I have not used anything since.
You mention oil coming out clear; some would ask is oil coming out clear doing it’s job?? So many factors to consider I would not let the “look” of my oil be the deciding factor. This is why I went a step farther by having the engine dismantled and inspected.
You may enjoy sending off your oil for an analysis. I have done that from time to time over the years just for fun. Those tests results are getting more detailed the past twenty years.
Frankly, I think almost any motor oil is going to do the job if changed regularly. I do think some are going to do a better job than others,,,perhaps that would only be realized by those who push their cars beyond normal operation and conditions.
Just wondering, is Motorcraft a farmed out product or does Ford have it’s own refinery? I have lost touch.
I am aware that many companies manufacture filters to different specifications however you’ll note I said that the Motorcraft filter, at least the last time I checked, uses many of the same components as the Pure One for the same application. One problem when comparing filters is that for many of the brands who’s primary or secondary business is not filters is that they do change mfgs from time to time or use different mfgs for different applications.
Another thing that is often overlooked is the bypass system. Some filters place it at the mounting plate while others place it at the end of the can. Depending on the oreintation of how the filter is mounted in use locating it at the back of the can could cause any sediment that was previously filtered to be put back into circulation. Depending on the weight of the oil used, the ambient temps, the flow rate of the filter and oil pump it is possible for the bypass system to operate on a cold start. With many cars using 5-xx oils nowadays it certainly isn’t as big of an issue as back when heavier oils were the norm.
I’m betting that Ford has the Motorcraft oil manufactured to their specifications as I’m sure most other mfg branded oils and filters are.
I agree that for most people most of the common oils on the market will do an acceptable job when they are changed in reasonable intervals. Of course there are a number of fly by night companies out there that put out junk. This is a good site showing some of the oils that have had issues with not meeting current standards one way or another. The vast majority are not what you will find on the shelf of your average autoparts stores. More likely to be found in a convience or discount/liquidator store or maybe a mom and pop auto parts store. http://www.pqiamerica.com/ They also test name brand oils to see how well they live up to standards.
Hey, glad it’s all going according to plan! I can only imagine how satisfying it is. And don’t tell me it’s just because you evaluated your needs, tastes and resources, undertook extensive research, chose carefully and are a really sensible guy – if my wife hears any of those fictions my fleet are toast. And probably me too.
Tom, I forgot, how much was this bad boy?
If you don’t mind me asking……
I ask because I might be doing some longer distance daily commuting and I have been eyeballing these “gotham” Town Cars every once in a while.
This is what he posted on the introduction to his new Towncar post last year
“They were asking $6300, and I got it for $6K. I was actually thinking of some of your prior posts: Get a nice, one owner well-maintained luxury car, and you’ll be ahead in price and driving enjoyment. It had about 93K on it; I’ve probably put 500 miles on it the last three weeks.
It is my “toy” and will not be driven in the rain or snow; I kept the Volvo for that!”
Glad to hear the Lincoln is treating you well Tom. Finding a car like this, one that’s in your possession purely for enjoyment, not because you need it to get from point A to B, is a wonderful thing. It’s a dream of mine be able to do the same some day. I’m already looking at cars.
P.S. Your mom’s initial reaction is exactly how mine would react if I purchased a classic 🙂
Tom, my compliments on a beautiful Lincoln. It makes me a little homesick for my ’96 Mark VIII, which your car very much reminds me in its essential Lincoln-ness if not in actual shape. The Mark was a one-owner car, white opalescent over light graphite interior with chrome wheels. It was in gorgeous condition and I, like you, could just sit and look at it glistening in the sun after a good wash. An accident took that car away from me but I’d love another and seeing yours brings back all the memories of mine.
Also glad to hear it’s been relatively trouble-free for you. As a former and current Panther owner as well (had an ’03 Marauder from 2006 to 2011, and a ’97 Crown Vic from 2012-present) they’re good solid cars that will give you many happy miles when taken care of. As you’ve probably found out, the 2v 4.6, while no speed demon, is a great cruising engine and will last pretty much forever. Don’t delay on that transmission service though or you may start seeing the common torque converter lock-up shudder/chatter. Kind of disconcerting and highly annoying…the ‘Vic started doing that over the summer, but a fluid & filter change (drain/fill, NOT flush) cleared it right up.
Again–beautiful car. Glad to hear you’ve realized she’s a keeper!
Yup drain and fill and on this era you can do a full drain thanks to the torque converter drain plug on the 02 and older.
Tom, I gotta hand it to you. Youre one helluva story teller, man! I followed the link back to when you first wrote this car as well as reading right here. As many on here know, Im a pretty opinionated dude and love for pillowy brougham 4 doors is just baffling as hell to me. I still don’t really ‘get it’, being a fan of muscle cars, jeeps, 4x4s and a few oddball rides with a cool factor. But no one can deny your passion for these things or the connection to some influential people in your life. Ultimately, that’s a huge part of being a ‘car guy’ just as much as the tin itself. Keep on cruising!
Sometimes ya just gotta be comfortable…
Thanks MP74! We have very different tastes but I will never make any comments regarding your Jeep love. My Uncle Don had a ’76 CJ5 in black with red “wagon wheels” and I loved that car too! He’s since gone on to his reward, but I’ll always love the original Jeep CJs, even though I’ll probably never own one.
you really cannot beat Panthers at this moment in time. parts are plentiful and cheap, they are time tested reliable, they ride well and drive great for normal use (there are faster and better cornering cars, but unless track competition is one of your uses you will be just fine ) and they get over 20 mpg in a freeway heavy commute. they have large comfortable interiors and big trunks and are quiet. you can mix and match updates from the many, many years of production. they are easy to work on due to the package design. they will go 300k with just some rebuilding of wear items. and you can find nice ones all day for well under $5000.
This is a very nice car indeed. I am kind of jealous.
Just so you know I picked up a 96 town car a few weeks ago for $4000. As I said in a previous article I have a mint showroom quality 97 that is so perfect I’m sometimes afraid to drive it. I bought the 96 to play around and restore it. It only has 59,000 miles on it. The Air suspension light is on so I took her to the local Ford dealer and went under the car with the mechanic to see that the airbags under the suspension are torn. I ordered two new airbags for $79 each on eBay as well as a new compressor for $100. I also ordered a new swaybar and several other suspension parts to get the ride back to near-perfect. The technician at the Ford dealer is as enthusiastic about town cars as I am. There are tons of parts on eBay at an affordable price. I’m restoring this entire car to pretty much showroom quality. So far I’ve spent about $800 in parts. The engine itself is pristine and there’s no pinging at all. I would highly recommend anybody looking for a preowned second car to check out a 1995 through 1997 Lincoln town car. Any town car with less than 100,000 miles will still have a good 3 to 5 years left of life if you maintain it possibly more. Next time you’re out and about tell me how many 10 or 15-year-old Cadillacs you see. there will be very few if any but the Lincoln town car is a long lasting car. rarely will any type of repair leave you stranded. The 4.6 is legendary and the technician last week told me it’s a very hard engine to kill or destroy unless you get into a bad accident or neglect the car.
It’s great that the dealership that services your car is willing to install parts obtained by you. Many will not because of profit on parts markup or fear of liability/warranty issues. Sounds like you have some cool guys working on your car. 4k is a great price for a 59k daily driver.
Yes and If I buy ford or motorcraft parts they will warranty the parts. The techs are happy to work on the old Lincolns and all agree that the 4.6 is hard to kill. If you maintain it you can easily get 30 years out of the car.
Great update Tom! It still looks great 🙂 I love the concept of ‘rescuing’ a car – I recently rescued a 25-year-old classic car which is to become my forever car too. I’ll reveal it here on CC when my mechanic finishes with it (the lesson I learned was when buying a ‘forever’ classic car, expect important parts like suspension to be almost impossible to source…). I look forward to annual TC updates from you!
An oil change, a battery, and broken cruise control in 3000 miles? Sounds like a Ford to me! But lez not forget, It’s A Cartier! +10,000!!!!!!!!!
I got rides in so many cars since my childhood till nowadays. Small ones, big ones, medium ones, european, japanese, korean, american made ones. From the aspect of travelling comfort the worst ever rides I had in Mercedeses which might be a kind of european counterpart to the Lincoln / Cadillac. The E and C sreieses of the early ’00’s had became huge disappointments to me. Spartan seats, noise inside the passenger compartment, firm suspension and the lack of the legroom in the rear seat area. Those very few biz trips made on the rear seats with the colleagues from the former company made it clear to me that these MB’s neither gives the essential comfort for 5 passengers. After few hundred miles I got always huge pain in my pelvis despite the fact that I’m an active sportman as I had to took place in the middle of the rear seat with the driveshaft (cardan) between my legs. My kness were also pressed by the backrest of the frontseats when sitting either on the left or the right side of the rearseat. Later I’d decided to avoid biz trips in E and C serieses to the favor of a Lumina and/or a Montana…
Lovely TC- I was surprised to learn its age, the styling has aged a lot better than many of its contemporaries!
Loved the note from the previous owner’s daughter. Also really like the rear 3/4 view of your car from the up high angle. Glad it’s working out for you Tom I had a feeling it would, these TCs are nice cars.
Had the same thing happen with my parents, they were negative on the purchase of a 26 year old full-size car but they grew to love taking trips in it.
An interesting sibling of the Town Car was a FAW Hongqi Qijian CA 7460 L3…
Interesting feature is the factory made China-spec amber red taillight…seems to be differently angled than the original U.S. version as well as the front end appearance is totally different. The shell and the V8 engine stood the same.
Wow, I have never seen such a thing, you learn something new everyday!
Was this an official Ford copy or was this some clever Chinese “reverse engineering”?
We need to do a post on these, but here’s the story for now: http://www.carnewschina.com/2012/01/05/hongqi-of-china-the-lincoln-years/
Both generation Town Cars were used, and assembled from kits from the US. Check out the one that has the traditional Hong Qui front end grafted on:
they forgot to remove the Lincoln emblem from the taillights on the earlier version, which is pretty common. they did the same in the ’80s for the instrument panel too
Whats funny is that I always thought the original Hong-Qi front end resembled a 1956-57 Mark II, so now its come full circle.
licensed copy from Ford.
in very few export specific Town Car, the turn signal was changed to amber too.
but in Chinese copy they added an extra side turning light though
I think the far-eastern folks were/are also addicted to the GAZ M-21 VOLGA as they had kept and added the front end styling to the Town Car Limo… Anyway the original Soviet Volga M-21 has/had only a 4 cylinder carburated engine.
Sadly, on my way to a dinner engagement last evening in St. Charles MO, I found myself two cars behind an otherwise decent looking Lincoln Town Car that was obviously “butt draggin'” tired. I mean, I was surprised that I wasn’t watching sparks flying from beneath the rear bumper, that’s how low it was. I wish I could have overtaken the driver and communicated to him that a solution was likely not as expensive as he may have thought.
Looking good, Mr. Klockau. Glad to see at least one old Lincoln getting taken care of.
Thanks Orrin. A little late, but I very much enjoyed the writeup on your Electra 225! Beautiful car.
Gorgeous LTC. I recently bought a 96 LTC Cartier. Absolutely love it.
A ’96 Cartier?? Lucky man!
Tom,
Sorry to be so late, work intruded…great article, glad you are enjoying the TC. You know it’s eligable for judging at LCOC meets, so we expect to see it next year! I agree about the functionality of this car, I bought a 14 month old ’07 and now have 120k+ miles on it, Mobil 1 every 5k miles, changed all fluids (brake, trans, power steering) every 50k, coolant as directed, the car feels brand new. By the way, I just got a set of Firestone Precision Touring tires, great price and value. Look at the surveys and reviews on Tire Rack, it’s quiet, handles well and looks to wear OK. Enjoy, it’ll run forever!
Thanks Glenn!
Beautiful TC!! I had a 1998 signature that I bought in 2003. I traded it in on a 2006 Toyota with manual transmission ( I needed something entirely different after the TC) when the gas prices started to freak me out and I was informed that the air suspension bags were cracked and mildewed. That Toyota was just plain ugly in every aspect. Even the stick shift became no fun at all real quick.
Every time during those years that I’d see a TC of that year drive by I would get all maudlin and wisful knowing how cool those TC’s really are.
Fast forward to trading that Toyota and having a couple of other vehicles 21 months ago after extensive research and a cosmic car coincidence too, I found and bought my 1998 Lincoln TC Cartier. I am the 2nd owner and it had a lot of front end/suspension/fuel pump/ new tires/ done by the mechanic where I bought it. It had 120,400 miles on it. Now it’s 126,000.
I flushed the transmission fluid, coolant and oil change right away. Other than that I recently had the alternator replaced. Everything works in it except the automatic lights have stopped working. I too like to walk around it just to look at it. Almost as much fun as driving it. I have a 2014 Traverse that I’m leasing and it’s nice and I drive a lot for my work to different locations. Many times returning home after midnight so I need something new and reliable and totally covered even if the heater dial fell off.
But- The TC gets much better gas mileage than the 6 cyl Traverse.
I’m not tring to restore the Lincoln. Just preserve and maintain it and enjoy it. It gets better looking every month. I continue to enjoy it more every month.