Lincoln LS or Chrysler 300M
 

OK I am car shopping for a new car and need some advice. I like the looks of either car but the front of the lincoln really looks bada$$. I also like rear wheel drive for it's obvious reasons but also like front wheel drive for Minnesota winters. The chrysler also has more HP(V6's), but I would go with the 5speed V6 in the lincoln. I drove a V6 auto and thought it could use a little more pep. Also any problems any of you guys have heard about either mechanically. I checked out yahoo auto BB and some of these guys have had their LS's in the shop for 40 days in the first yr. Thanks for any help

If I had a choice, Lincoln LS.

I don't like Chrysler products. They have the worst quality rep of just about every major manufacturer in the world. Maybe the 300M is different, but I doubt it.

Lincoln has consistantly had one of the highest customer satisfaction levels in the world, they aren't in business to make "junky" cars.

With decent all season tires or snow tires and traction control RWD will get you through the worst MN winter, what do you think us MN's drove before FWD?

Lincoln all the way. Chryslers are junk like Unit said. The only car worse than a chrysler is a GM product. Buy Ford, Jap, or German.

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1993 GT/AOD
'93 Mustang GT

[This message has been edited by Mach 1 (edited 02-12-2001).]

Lincoln ls all the way. I love the look of them, and if it is RWD that is a big plus.

Chrysler sucks with the exception of the old muscle cars. Go Hemi!!!!!!

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Blown 347 W/Canfield heads, solid roller cam, track times this spring mid 10's or bust

93lx 5.0 daily driver

All 4 of my vehicles are RWD and my 89 F-150 is 4wheel drive, which I am replacing with a car. I am sick of 10/15 gas mileage in winter/summer with it. My mustangs sit in the winter and my wife drives a 95 dodge full size conversion van. We have owned it since new, have 85,000 miles and have only done a brake job and replace tires. Prior to the Van we had a new ranger 4X4, I wish I could say I had no problems with that. Every winter it needed a new auto locking hub and something cracked for the clutch so all the fluid leaked out and I had to drive with no clutch to the dealer. We traded it off right before the warranty ended. I am going to drive them this week and believe me I am a ford guy all the way, just want to make the right decision.

Go with the Lincoln LS with a 5-speed. The Germans are probably going to axe the 300M anyway, because it competes directly with Mercedes.

Plus I would bet any amount of money that the Lincoln is going to have a better build quality and even if for some reason it didn't, Ford would take care of a new Lincoln owner to keep you coming back.

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1991 GT, AOD, Moroso Cold Air, 3.73s, March pulleys, 3-chamber(the left one fell off-NO time+No Money=College), FMS c-springs, and KYBs

Well from what I have seen, I would not touch a dodge with a 10 foot pole. They seem to be very lousy on maintenance. My mom had her 88 caddilac at a tranny place to have it rebuilt and there was like a brand new or few year old dodge sebring or something like that and it was in need of some expensive computer crap. Would not touch one. A friend of the family had a dodge stratus I think it was and the control panel for the climate control went bad or something and ended up costing like 250 bucks just for the panel.
On side note I SERIOUSLY doubt that Mercedes has anything to fear of the 300M interefering with their sales. They are in a completely different class.


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Rob meister
89 Mercedes 190E 2.6
87 Lincoln Continental 5.0
Ex 86 Mercury Cougar
with anemic 3.8

Check out the latest CAR and Driver mag. They had one long term to drive. It's funny, I've been looking at the same cars myself. I like the Lincoln, but theres not much storage room inside the car. But if you dont care about stuff like that, its a cool car. I work at DC so I get a discount on the 300M, so I might buy it for that reason.

Im from sweden...but try the new Volvo S60 or V70 (estate). From (in sweden) 140hp to 250hp 5cyl and turbo on the 200 and 250hp. With GPS if you want. I working with carrental in sweden and the Volvo is still Best. Not in the world but in the class you looking for... http://www.mustangworks.com/interact...oard/smile.gif

just my.....and the Volvo is a Ford owned...

I would definately stay away from any Chrysler product. I had a 95 Neon for a while, it wasn't too bad but lots of little problems.

Have you looked at the Buick Regal GS(240hp)? That's what I traded in my Stang for. It has been great so far, and it has a long proven track record for reliability.

Just my $.02.

Take care, and good luck on your purchase.
Dave

PS. It is quite a bit quicker than my 95 GT Vert Auto was...

I bought my 'stang in May from a Lincoln-Mercury dealer. After cruising around that first night, the AOD began slipping big time. The car had a limited used-car warranty and I was able to limp it into the dealer the next day. They seemed apologetic and gave me an LS to drive while the AOD got a free rebuild. Great car!

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Greg
91 LX Convertible

Get the Lincoln

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67 Fastback - Arctic White Pearl paint
351W ,Trick Flow Aluminum Heads, Edelbrock TorkerII, Carter 750 CFM, Comp. Cam 477/510 219/233@.050, Performance Automatic C-4 Trans, 3.55 gears, Front Disc Brakes, 1-1/8" Fr. 3/4" rear sway bars.

My 351W Fastback

If you are fine w/ buying used, get a '98 Lincoln Mark VIII LSC. Great looks, RWD, 290HP 32V 4.6L w/ lots of potential, every option imaginable, HID headlights, $40G's+ new. Since lots of old people own them finding one under 20K miles isn't hard and you can get it for under $23K. W/ a few mods, you would have one hell of a sleeper and be rolling in ultimate luxary.

Also, check out the Acura 3.2CL Type S. I know its foreign, but for the same price as the Lincoln, I thinks its a much nicer car. It pulls high 14's w/ a 5 spd auto, 260HP V6 Vtec, Navigation system, and all the other stuff for $32K. Also, its resale w/ be high then the Lincoln. Just some food for thought.

LincoConti87-I was referring to the Mercedes c-240 4-door sedan which when eqipped with a 6 cylinder has a msrp of $30,500. The Chrysler 300M also has a msrp of about $30,500 so they are very similar.

It wouldn't be that surprising if 300M sales were down significantly that the Germans would get rid of it and push the Mercedes as a viable alternative instead of an expensive redesign of the 300M.

I agree Mercedes makes a higher quality vehicle, but these two models are very close to each other in price and vehicle type(4-door, both 6 cylinders, similar size, both have a fairly high level of options for the price range).

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1991 GT, AOD, Moroso Cold Air, 3.73s, March pulleys, 3-chamber(the left one fell off-NO time+No Money=College), FMS c-springs, and KYBs