Welcome back! This week, we’re trying to find actual decent used cars for once. But “decent” doesn’t need to mean boring, or slow, or uncomfortable. For those of you who need eight cylinders to really feel like a car is worth it, today is your day.
I wouldn’t call either of yesterday’s choices boring, slow, or uncomfortable, but I knew going in that they were mismatched, and the votes reflected that. The Mazda took home an easy win. You know how they say in real estate, the three most important things are “Location, location, location”? Well, when it comes to cheap cars, it’s “Condition, condition, condition.” The stick-on plastic crap and purple window tint on the Camry turned a lot of you off.
In that Camry’s defense, I will say that I’ve had a lot of cheap cars over the years, and I’ve peeled my share of shitty plastic doodads off of cars, and some of those cars ended up being really decent after I cleaned them up and gave them back their dignity. But given the choice, I’d rather not have to. Make mine the Mazda as well.
“I don’t know what the world may need,” quoth the poet David Lowery, “but a V8 engine’s a good start for me.” Whether you give credit to Cadillac, or Ford, or Oldsmobile for starting the whole thing, there is no doubt that V8s have achieved near-mythical status among gearheads as the engine configuration to have. Sure, you’ve got your VW Bugs and your Honda Civics, but they don’t make that sound. That low, menacing pulse, the sound you first heard when the muffler on your uncle’s Ambassador rusted out, the same sound that black Camaro in your neighborhood made. It’s the sound we all aspired to make, pushing our Hot Wheels along the floor and making “brrm-brrm” noises.
V8s have been on the way out for years, in passenger cars at least, but for a while there about twenty years ago, they had a little bit of a renaissance. Cars so equipped are now getting cheap, and I’ve found a couple of them just a little ways north of me, in Philadelphia. Let’s check them out.
2001 Lincoln LS V8 – $3,800
Engine/drivetrain: 3.9-liter dual overhead cam V8, five-speed automatic, RWD
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Odometer reading: 114,000 miles
Operational status: Runs and drives well
Ford went on a shopping spree around the turn of the century, buying up luxury car nameplates left and right, and lumping them together under the Premier Auto Group banner. One of these marques was Jaguar, which had bounced around from owner to owner several times by then, and wasn’t done yet – Ford sold off Jaguar and Land Rover as a package deal in 2008. But before it did, Jaguar shared its S-Type platform with a couple of Fords, including the retro Thunderbird, and this car: the Lincoln LS.
The LS was available in V6 and V8 flavors. The V6 was available with a manual gearbox, but if you wanted the V8, you had to settle for an automatic. It’s a Jaguar engine, with four cams and 32 valves sending 252 horsepower to the rear wheels, nothing to sneeze at back in 2001. This car doesn’t have a shining reputation for reliability, though it got better as time went on. This one has had a lot of recent work done, and the seller is currently driving it daily until it sells. That speaks highly of its current condition; any future issues are your own problem.
The Jaguar influence is strong inside too; this car is a whole lot more driver-focused than your grandpa’s Town Car was. It’s got all the luxury toys you’d expect, and it sounds like it all works. The seller says the stereo has been “upgraded,” which hopefully doesn’t just mean a trunk full of subwoofers. Unless, of course, you’re into that, in which case that’s fine – just don’t drive up and down my street.
It’s clean and shiny outside, though a little stark with all the plain white paint. The wheels are not supposed to be black, but I can’t tell if those are the factory wheels painted, or aftermarket wheels. Either way, I’m not a fan. But if you are, more power to you.
2007 Dodge Magnum R/T – $4,000
Engine/drivetrain: 5.7-liter overhead valve V8, five-speed automatic, RWD
Location: Swarthmore, PA
Odometer reading: 215,000 miles
Operational status: Runs and drives well
Here is another American car with some European luxury car DNA. Chrysler’s LX platform was developed during the ill-fated “merger of equals” that was DaimlerChrysler. The LX combined Mercedes chassis architecture with Chrysler’s then-new Hemi V8 to create something special, and in doing so, made us forget the bad old K-car days.
The Dodge Magnum wrapped that refined chassis and brawny drivetrain in a muscular station wagon body, just this side of caricature. This car looks like a cartoon of a classic American station wagon. You could get the Magnum with two V6s if for some reason you preferred them, but I’m not sure why you would; the Hemi is a hell of an engine. This car has 215,000 miles on it, but the engine was replaced at 154,000, possibly due to the camshaft/lifter failures that plagued some early Hemis. It runs and drives well, but the seller says it needs some “work” before going through inspection. Ominous, and worth asking questions about.
Most enthusiasts are pretty happy with the stuff in front of the firewall in these cars; what’s behind it, not so much. Lots of owners complained about the quality of the plastics in the interior, but I’ve never thought it was all that bad. Maybe I’m just desensitized to cheap plastic after years of owning American cars. At any rate, it’s holding up well, though it could use a cleaning.
It looks pretty good on the outside too, though I think the rear bumper was replaced at some point. It’s a slightly different color than the rest of the car. Also, since this is a Pennsylvania car with over 200,000 miles, it’s worth a look underneath to make sure it’s not rusty.
Okay, so neither of these is going to be as long-term reliable as some other vehicles. But those other vehicles don’t have V8s, and they probably aren’t rear-wheel-drive. And it’s not like these are going to fall apart on the way home; they should both still have some life in them. So go on, live a little. Make some V8 noises, do a burnout or two. Which way are you going to go?
(Image credits: sellers)
LS all day. Replace all of the cooling equipment with Jag metal components and keep up on the coils and you will have a fun RWD cruiser that could eat up the miles all day!
Those 5R55 transmissions are also quite of a hit or miss. I’d do at least a couple drain and fills within the next 2,000 miles to make sure it doesn’t meet the same low mileage demise of many Rangers and Explorers with even less power than this one.
It hurts…but Wagon Is Always The Answer™ I love the LS besides the requisite oil leaks from British engineering, but the Magnum had the worst name, but the best idea…pavement peeling ESTATE ACTION…
Hard choice today, but given I felt they were roughly equal I went wagon>sedan.
If a worse version of a Jaguar beats the ultimate, cheap, hooning wagon? I’ll be very upset with all of you.
The Magnum is more practical, has a newish engine and a Hemi.. So I went with the the Lincoln, but you can take the “Salt Life” sticker off the car, but not wash that reputation off the model.
What’s wrong with me? Yesterday had more appealing choices than today?!? I guess this is what happens when you don’t die.
Magnum because if I have to keep one of these running it’s less of a pain.
Magnum for me. They both are probably recipes for draining your wallet, but I have always liked the Magnum and find the Lincoln a bit boring.
Buy the LS and LS swap it.
Jag if you do, Chrysler if you don’t. He’ll of a choice.
The Magnum always had some fun menace to the way it carries itself. And I’ll take a Hemi and M-B transmission over the British bits.
true, that 722.6 transmission is stronger than the Ford 5R55S that can trace its roots to the Explorer and Ranger from back then
One thing I know about that Lincoln is it has a lot of Jag in it. Which means the parts are Jaguar-expensive. And it doesn’t help that Ford gave Lincoln a weaksauce version of the Jag V8 that only puts out 12hp more than the Nissan 3.5L V6 of the same era.
The Dodge is newer, will have cheaper parts, has more power, has a rock-solid Mercedes 5 speed auto and is more practical. So in spite of the higher mileage, the Dodge gets my vote.
TBF it’s a low displacement V8 that debuted a couple years before the VQ35. The later was also an outlier among mainstream V6 engines but Jag would revise the output only a couple years later and add VVT to bump the HP to 280 or so. Not bad in my book.
The overall styling of the Lincoln isn’t striking me, and I’d imagine the Magnum has some parts compatibility with the Charger, so it gets my vote. That dash really does look rental-spec Neon, though.
you’re not far off. Early LX dashes are almost as hard as a Neon dash but wrapped in the cheapest vinyl table skirt available at Party City so Chrysler could market it as a soft feel dash..
I liked the LS, even with the quirky little V8 it was a decent looking car that did not age all that well over time. running daily with those miles, it is still some what of a deal.
I am sure the Hemi even if replaced 50K miles ago is likely having MDS troubles. It is not as bad as AFM/DFmin GM’s but usually replaced means an LKQ motor with 90K on the clock that might have had the correct oil changed in it regularly or not.
Back in early 2000, my dad was in the market for a new car to replace his leased Volvo 850. It came down to the Lincoln LS and a Chrysler 300M. He eventually ordered a black on tan 300M because he didn’t want RWD in snowy Pittsburgh.
Now, I have always wondered what life would’ve been like if he gotten the Lincoln instead of the Chrysler as right around 55000 miles, the 300 literally fell apart on us. So I’m going to go LS just to see what life would’ve been like.
I’m curious what led him to a Lincoln LS or Chrysler 300M over another Volvo.
He wasn’t a fan of the new styling that came out at that time as well the price had jumped up quite a bit if I remember what he said correctly. My dad was also a fan of Chrysler at that time (already had 3 Jeeps and we had a 99 Durango at this time too), so he tried out the 300 and really liked how it drove.
He had also talked about buying out the Volvo and keeping it at one point until my mom had ripped the front quarter panel and bumper off it backing out of the garage one day.
Reasonable enough. IMO, the Volvo P2 platform (what I’m assuming was new at the time) aged better in hindsight but that’s no good if the price doesn’t work in the present.
I guess it was kind of a blessing to a degree. We knew a few people that had that generation, including my aunt, and they all had transmission issues. I remember my aunt’s went out at around 20,000 miles and my uncle was HEATED about it. He was ready to dump it and get my aunt another Honda, but she loved that thing so much. She kept it like 8 more years after that.
Our Chrysler never left us stranded like that but stuff randomly failed (door latches, window trim, sunroof motors, etc.).
Magnum for me, always. I loved them new and still think they could sell today (in minuscule numbers because wagon, with a new interior). Of course this one is quite tired and priced ambitiously at $4k.
Everything I know of LSs is that they aged horribly, parts were expensive, and they were not all that great overall.
the bonus of course would be to get the Magnum and swap in a 6.1 SRT motor without the MDS. but in the end would any of us actually spend the money to that on either of these cars.
Then swap over a Chrysler 300 front end and pretend it’s Europe!
Reluctantly picking the Dodge here because even though it’s entire electrical system is about 100K overdue to go full Lucas on us, it’s easier to fix things and parts are cheaper. I’ve had a 2006 Charger and the electrical gremlins (like every Chrysler I have ever had) were ever-present, including the “lightning bolt of doom”.
Plus the Magnum is different and somewhat practical. That’s important, right?
I was recently chasing the issue of “no high beams” on my 2001 Ram 1500. Or more really, when you’d pull for high beams the fuse for the parking lights blew. But the parking lights were still on. Hmm. Cue my surprise that when I pulled the multifunction switch aka blinker stalk off the column, Lucas was branded on the front of it alongside the “old” Chrysler star. I thought that was just on old British cars, not American Doge-piles.
Surprisingly, the switch was fine after 23 years and 240k miles and the problem ended up being some random short in the harness between the firewall connector and the fusebox that I didn’t feel like dissecting, so just isolated/bypassed it. Also unusually for a CJDR vehicle, the electrical gremlin wasn’t “bad grounds” as it tends to be about 90% of the time. Texas truck, so Chrysler’s shitty “cram 12 ground wires into one eyelet and stick it on a painted part of bodywork, 1/2 thread of screw will carry 30 amps indefinitely no problem” strategy caught a break without salt/rust to deal with for the past couple decades.
I’m not buying any used car from Pennsylvania with a “Salt Life” decal!
>Lincoln LS
>Opens hood
>Not an LS
>Cat-stare.png
Voted for the Lincoln, always thought those were neat.
The LS is not a bad car in general, but there are enough beige flags on this one (painting the wheels black? more bad window tint?) to give pause.
The Magnum, otoh, is a quick headlight polish and an afternoon with a razor blade away from being a super clean ride. The inspection issues are, I assume, PA-specific, and will be a problem for Future Me. We’ll take the Doge, and try to look beyond the recycled-milk-jug interior.
Lincoln, though I’m concerned why the passenger side doors are a different color than the rest of the body (most noticeable on the right rear 3/4 view looking forward). Looks like they didn’t match the pearl body on the rest of the car correctly. Needs a thorough inspection before purchase.
I’m a fan of the Lincoln’s styling, they’re fairly comfortable, and once the engine and transmission are sorted they’re not bad long-term. I prefer the facelifted models, but it is what it is. White is meh, but at least it’s mostly pearlescent.
I can hear the dodge’s interior plastics squeaking and rattling from halfway across the country. Wagons are superior, but not when they’re already rusting away to nothingness. That engine is 215k miles tired, and while replacing it with something newer and more potent could be fun, it looks to need more TLC or could be beyond saving, especially coming from the rust belt.
I noticed the doors being a slightly different color than the fenders and immediately thought “Uh-oh” until I saw the driver’s front fender of the Magnum doesn’t match either. I suppose such is the life of older cars…
I voted for the Lincoln. I always thought the LS was a nice looking car. I don’t like it in white, though. Also, while I usually like black wheels, I don’t think they work on this car. Still, this car looks to be in great condition. It was clearly treated well over the years. Given that, I can overlook the suboptimal color palette of this vehicle.
I can see the appeal of the Magnum, but “Needs some work for inspection” makes me nervous. Plus, the dashboard is hideous. I don’t know who designed the interior of this car, but I hope they are no longer gainfully employed.
I remember when the LS (and it’s Cadillac competitor, the CTS) came up and being mildly excited that the domestics were finally going to try and compete against the Germans and the Japanese in the near-luxury market. Boy did Lincoln give up on that quick.
Give me the Magnum.
I voted Lincoln. Looks like maybe it has some window tint I’d have to peel off, but solid otherwise.
I don’t hate the Magnum, but a Mopar product of that age, era, and mileage intimidates me a little.
I’ll go Hot Rod Lincoln today. Seems maintained well and really clean both inside and esp. that engine.
I never loved the Magnum design when new. Reminded me of a car that would look cool on Halloween but not any other day of the year. While the engine was cool, the rest of the car was the cheaply manufactured junk ready to start squeaking and falling apart off the dealer lot. And that is a lot of miles on that chassis on Pennsylvania roads. Also, if you says it needs some work in the ad, give some details. Oh, and do I get to keep the big bag of garbage in the back of the Magnum?
Magnums didn’t really impress me, but the LS did. So did the S-Type Jag, though I prefer the Lincoln’s calmer styling.
I’d repaint the wheels, or maybe just have them polished. But that nice chassis, sweet little V8 and lower miles puts it over the top for me. Plus the Magnum, like the 300C, turned me into a bit of a claustrophobe.