1997 Lincoln Mark VIII LSC review from North America

Upper rear shock mounts have completely deteriorated. This creates a hell of a noise from the rear of the car over bumps. Lincoln found it necessary to reinvent the wheel with these mounts, and the service replacement kit basically changes them into what the T-bird shock mounts have always been... at a cost of 79.00 per side!

Gas tank leaks really bad when filled up. I do not yet know why this is happening.

Drivers side mirror glass has discolored. I have not inquired on the price of this or if the glass is available alone or if the entire mirror housing has to be purchased.

Of course the rear glass rubber strip has kinked up and looks terrible. one must replace the entire glass at a cost of over $1500.00 to fix this.

The ash tray lid had a broken pivot on it. I cannot get the lid alone, but have to buy the entire console body to get that little lid.

The auto tilt/telescope upon starting the the car does not always tilt down. I have to hit the steering wheel to get it to tilt on its own.

BOTH door panel upholstery have lifted at the upper edge where they meet the door glass. I pulled them off and glued them back down and it seems to be holding so far.

A bad engine vibration has developed in the past 500 miles that is apparent at 1200 RPM. I have no idea what THIS is going to be.

I like having the compass feature. It worked until about 1,000 miles ago and now when I select the compass the display advises me to CHECK COMPASS.

About 5 days after I bought the car, the drivers side seat became inop. Of course it was stuck all the way back due to the easy exit/enter feature. At the same time the mirrors and various DRIVER SETTINGS failed. Turned out to be a main fuse that blows out every now and then. I keep a stock of them in the car.

The rubber strip around the drivers door handle is all cracked and pieces are falling out of it, looks terrible.

The multi-piece window and lock switches have one by one come apart. I glued them back together and it was NOT the first time someone had to do that.

Fuel pump is noisy when the car has been operated continuously for an hour or longer.

Both serpentine belt idler pulleys have failed, starting with a "chirping" sound.

The throttle cable was stretched (seems to be a common Ford issue) to the point that there is over an inch of free play in the pedal.

Headlamp lens UV coating is becoming hazy and looks like junk.

A very irritating creaking/squeaking noise developed in the headliner (no sunroof) about 5 inches behind the right sun visor. LIGHT pressure in this area would silence the noise. I took all the surrounding trim down and then took a slim jim and moved it around above the liner and found that a label stuck to the liner at the factory had dried up and the glue had let go. The label said FN-10 BLK L/SUNROOF.

Vibration at 80+ MPH from the two-piece driveshaft.

I flew from my home in Los Angeles to North Carolina and picked up a 1995 Mark VIII for a friend of mine that bought the car from his parents. The car had 99,000 miles on it when I picked it up and I was SO impressed with EVERYTHING about this car that I decided to buy one for myself. I looked at these cars for over a year before deciding on the one I bought this one. This car was a one owner car with 65k miles on it, all service records, and seemed to be a good buy. This car drives nothing like the '95 I brought across country.

My car has been inspected from top to bottom, front to back, side to side and is CLEAN! There is NO evidence of damage repairs what-so-ever, and I am very easy on a car. I take very good care of my cars and have had 68 different cars.

Prior to this I was driving a 1978 Lincoln Continental Mark V that I bought 4 years ago with 72k original miles. It now has 100k miles on it and it has only required the replacement of the water pump at about 90k miles. The A/C is still charged with freon and will freeze you out of there, the Cartier clock still functions flawlessly, even the day/date function is dead on! The am/fm 8-track quadraphonic stereo performs as it did when new, along with all four cigarette lighters and windows/locks. The power antenna still works fine, the car is MUCH quieter inside than the VIII and at nearly 20 feet long and 5,500 pounds, NOBODY gets in your way! As soon as I have fixed all the problems with the VIII, I will sell it and return to driving my V. The V gets about 13 in town and a respectable 18 on the highway (cruise control engaged).