It appears I will soon be without any Lincolns.

sleeper

sleeper

Former LOD President
It looks like I will soon not own any Lincoln vehicles, for the first time in 13 years. :(

I got in an accident in my Navigator last week, and the insurance company totaled it. They are paying me quite well on it. It was just paid off the week before, and they're giving me $9700! Minus my deductible.

I will need a tow vehicle, but Navigators are quite expensive at the moment. Not worth it, to me at least. I think I'm going to try to keep it under $3k, and pick up an F150 optioned properly to tow what I need to tow.

For my other vehicle, I want something nicer, a little newer, in better shape, with a stick shift. I haven't had a stick in quite a while. Since buying a Mark VIII and converting it to a manual is cost and time prohibitive at the moment, I will likely be buying a BMW. They are the only vehicle that I can find that is consistently available with manual transmissions on the used market. Throw in RWD and fun to drive as criteria, and they are the clear winner, even though I will end up with a car much slower than a Mark VIII.

As 3 cars is too much (storage, maintenance, and insurance - not that you can actually have too many cars), my '93 Mark will be up for sale shortly. I might actually have already found a buyer, even.

This will leave me lincoln-less for the first time since I was 18 (except for a brief period between Mark VIII's due to another total-loss accident :eek:).

As I was cleaning my stuff out of my Navigator and getting my Mark VIII cleaned up today (and putting a fresh coat of flat black on it) I found myself kind of sad that I will be getting away from the Lincolns. My Navigator has been a great truck for the last 5 years - and I have no doubt I could get another 5 out of it if it wasn't bent. This particular Mark VIII has been quite a bit of trouble (did a motor and a trans last summer) but it's my 4th and I will still miss them. However, it's time for something new.

Next time I come to Carlisle, I'll just have to get a lincoln sticker and put it on the hood of whatever I'm driving, so I can register and park with the club :). If Joe can do it with his caddy, there's no reason I can't do it too!
 
That sucks.

How bad of shape is the Navigator?

Have you thought about stripping the Navigator and selling what you could get out of it?
 
Those orange gauges are going to drive you crazy at night... :p

You better find a nice 98, and have a stick put in it... :D
that's clearly your only option... :D
 
Dave! I miss you! Are you ok? That sucks to hear, but you better be with us next year at Carlisle, and I better see you at some midwest meets this year.

Think you'd paint the BMW flat black?
 
They want $3100 to keep the Navigator, and I already have too many projects. If the passenger door opened, I'd probably keep it and use it to tow. It's just a little too bent, though. It was hit in the rear passenger door (I was on the highway, got from the middle lane into the left lane, a girl in a saturn swerved from the left lane behind me to pass me on the right at 90+, lost control, and nailed me). The B pillar is shot, both doors on the passenger side, the C pillar, the quarter panel, the entire rocker panel, quite a bit of floorboard, and the passenger seat were damaged. The frame is slightly bent. Just too much wrong with it.

Sharon, I don't think i'm going to have another flat black car for a while :). Everyone was okay after the accident. I'm doing well, just too busy these days. I'd love to get out to a midwest meet, and I hope to do Carlisle again soon, I always have a lot of fun there.

I did think of putting a stick in a '98 Mark, Joe. That would definitely meet my criteria. Well, except for the "no projects" part. :) I just have too much stuff in my garage right now and not enough time to work on it / play with it all. I did look in the classifieds here for a car with a T56 conversion for sale, but I didn't find one! The price of a conversion would probably put a nice one a little out of my reach right now anyway.
 
There will most likely be some decent Navigators out there for sale soon with the rising fuel prices. They only gave me 10,100 for my 03 with 70K because noone will be buying gas hogs anymore. I know a lot of people who have traded in thier big SUV's and got smaller cars because of fuel. It may be easier than you think sir...
 
Well the good thing is that no one got injured.It could have always been worse.Good luck finding your next ride of fun.
 
Well, the deed is done!

I looked at 3 trucks (called on about 8). Looked at an expedition, but it was a total POS, so I passed. Looked at a 2000 F150 Lariat, but it had a SES light and an ABS light on, plus it's fair share of rust, so I passed. Third one was another 2000 F150, 4x4, 5.4L, XLT. Has it's share of rust, and a bit of a dent on the passenger side (guys kid hit a pole or rock or something turning into a driveway). Drove straight on the test drive but it will need some front end work after having it on the highway for a little while on the way home. Probably a wheel bearing or two, maybe some brake work, no biggie but still no fun. 171,000 miles, so just getting broken in. 4R70W, which kind of sucks - i was looking for a 4R100 but there aren't too many of them in beater F150's. A little bit of fixin' up and it should serve me for another 100k. I hope. :)

Only looked at one car. 1998 BMW 528i, sport package, 5 speed manual. Silver with black interior. Moonroof. Nice 18" rims with summer tires, plus a set of 16" rims with winter tires. 145k on it. Beautiful car, maintained very well. Stack of reciepts with it. Purrs like a kitten. Mine for $6500. These cars regularly go 300k miles, I've had people I know, who know BMW's, tell me they wouldn't hesitate to buy one with 200k on it (in the right condition). 31 mpg highway, 20+ around town. Only 200 hp / 200 ft lbs (est., with a Dinan chip - like 192 hp stock), but it still feels fast. Definitely a nicer car than my current Mark VIII. Probably nicer than my '97 was too, but close. Built like a brick ****house. It feels wierd owning a foreign car. But there are a lot of cool things about it.

Navi got towed away this morning. I'll miss it, it was a great truck. Mark VIII will be for sale shortly, if the guy who said he wants it doesn't come through. I'll miss that one too, even though it gave me a lot of trouble it's still fun and I do still love the Mark VIII's.
 
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Max would side with you on the BMW's and I would recommend PM'n him about the models, years because he's done extensive research on them and knows all the recalls/issues.
 
Sorry to hear you'll be all out of Lincolns soon, Dave ... sure hope you stay active in the club :D
 
I'll still be around here and there. The last year or two I haven't been really active, just been really busy with so many other things going on. I still love you guys, so I don't plan on going anywhere! Maybe I'll even make it to Carlisle next year!
 
Sweet score on the 528i! They are hard to get with the manual, I hope it has a newish clutch. If driven conservatively they last right around 200k miles... so I hope its not an OEM clutch. That was the reason why I sold my 325i, it needed a new clutch at 200k miles and it was an OEM... and I wasn't about to spend 1k on a car that was purchased for 2.

The engines are very very stout. The only real "issue" is the water pump/radiator (expansion tank), they tend to fail in about 70-90k mile intervals.

Don't think you'll quite see 31mpg, that same engine got me around low/mid 20s average and high 20s on the freeway on a much lighter car. But anything outside of cali tends to get better MPG so everything is possible.
 
Sheesh, girl drivers...I'm sure glad you're alright! If you are in the market down the road for a better all-weather car, I hear those Mazdaspeed6s are quite awesome. If you can find one. ;)
 
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