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Sedans Lincoln Zephyr/MKZ Lincoln Zephyr/MKZ
2865 messages, Last post on Dec 02, 2009 at 6:02 AM
You are in the Lincoln Zephyr/MKZ Forum. Your Hosts are pat & karens
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I want to stir things up a bit on this board, so I'll recount my recent car shopping experience. Just finished looking at Infiniti, Audi, BMW middle lines, plus AWD MKZ Quickly ruled out Lexus 350 as too boring. It came down to the Bimmer vs MKZ. Back-to-back test drives led to my choosing the Lincoln. You're probably thinking I'm either a fossil or a wacko, and in either case I probably wear a white belt and white shoes and still watch Lawrence Welk and Love Boat reruns. Nope -- I'm not 500 years old. In fact, I've leased both a 528i (my favorite car in 40 years of buying cars) and an MKZ in recent years, and was really wanting another Bimmer. In favor of the MKZ -- A surprise to me: More acceleration than the 528 (not the 535 though); quieter running; much more comfortable seating (even without factoring in the cooled seats) more back seat legroom, fold-down seats at no extra charge, backup camera and BLIS vs. BMW's front/back sensors, better driver crash ratings (I found that hard to believe, so I doublechecked: five stars for the MKZ driver and three (!?!?!?) for the BMW. Lincoln --better sound system, though I could care less about Synch (like I'll ever figure THAT THING out!) MPG roughly comparable, but Lincoln does it with "regular." MKZ price was about $12-14K less, but that was far from the deciding factor. Going into the process, I knew the BMW would be that much more, but I still in my heart of hearts wanted the Bimmer. Until I drove them back to back. Looks -- defnitely subjective. But both interiors seemed a little plainer than I would have liked, though in different ways. Too much Ford in the MKZ interior, but much too bland in the BMW and with needless, affected starter button. Exteriors: To me the Lincoln design (albeit as one forum writer put it, a tarted Fusion) equals or betters the BMW. I've never been a Bangle fan though, and neither exterior is merits any special praise to my mind. Against the MKZ -- dealer experience. Long drawn out waits (at times, 15-20 minutes) in the not-to-classy Lincoln showroom while the sales person went behind the curtain to confer the Wizard of Oz. Lack of inventory at the Lincoln store -- had to order it. Zero MKZ dealer discount vs. $3k discount from BMW. No loaners for the MKZ when being serviced, but always available BMW loaners at the BMS dealer. BMW showroom and service areas immaculate, professional looking as befitting the brand. As for the Lincoln digs, they're shoved into what used to be the used car building(?) adjacent to the dealer's Ford store, with people nearly tripping over one another, and room for only one car on the floor at most. Also working against the MKZ -- absolutely no cachet, prestige or whatever you want to call it. None, no how and no way. Zilch. What I usually got with the last MKZ from people was something like, "Hey sharp car -- what kind is it?!" When I'd tell them, the subject changed. One other point -- yes, certainly in the hands of a competent sports car nut, or professonal driver, the BMW will out-everything the Lincoln. But unless I inadvertently become a star feature on "World's Greatest Police Chase Videos," I will never need or experience the differences. And beside -- even a Bimmer can't outrun the LA traffic copters.
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Replying to: alakerson (Aug 23, 2009 12:58 pm) |
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Replying to: gregg_vw (Aug 24, 2009 5:24 am) I think Ford will have to wait for the Fusion/Mondeo merger where we'll see a new U.S. plant in addition to Hermosillo and we'll see the Milan dropped and the Fusion move upmarket some (just like the Taurus). That will allow the MKZ to also move upmarket with unique sheetmetal and Lincoln's best gadgets and powertrains.
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Replying to: gregg_vw (Aug 24, 2009 5:24 am) Ford did take my advice on one thing. Late this summer an "Executive Appearance Package" will be available for the MKZ. Among other things, it includes upgraded seating, new door trim (hopefully getting rid of that black vinyl overload) and a wood console. This will certainly help out with the interior but, you are going to have to pay for it. I'm going to get 2010 something or other and would consider an MKZ. The problem, though, is that I want a nice stereo and Nav. Since I don't like the std interior I would have to opt for the upgrade which would bring the MKZ in at about $42K! THIS IS NOT A $42,000 CAR!!! AIN'T GOING TO HAPPEN! My advice to Ford - make the interior upgrade pkg std and offer a $2,500 rebate. The MKZ is competitive in many ways. It is not competitive in name recognition, cachet, image, perception, prestige or whatever you want to call it and unfortunately, those things are very important at that price point.
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Replying to: tiger16 (Aug 24, 2009 6:40 am)
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Replying to: brucelinc (Aug 24, 2009 7:00 am) |
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Replying to: tiger16 (Aug 24, 2009 7:16 am) There are obviously discounts to be had on an MKZ and there may be rebates at some point. Earlier this summer, local dealers were advertising 2009s for around $26,000, IIRC. However, I kind of like the idea of limiting inventory, pricing cars reasonably with minimal need for rebates, and making profit. |
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Replying to: akirby (Aug 24, 2009 6:13 am) Yes, Allen, that is all well and good. However, it makes my point too. Well before auto sales tanked, and going back to the tail end of the era when Lincoln was doing well, they only issued concepts they had no intention of building. Now, Bill Ford may have hated Lincoln--I don't know--but the Continental, Navicross, Mark X, etc. were given no chance of production precisely at the time Lincoln really needed some new metal. The Zephyr/MKZ was a total afterthought (after everyone was saying, OMG we got nothin'). For the first couple years of its production, it really showed. No, Ford wouldn't need to build any MKZs, as the capacity could be used fully for Fusions and Milans. But what poor planning. With as much hurt as Cadillac is in now, where would they be if they had decided to use a bit of excess Malibu capacity to build a tarted up Chevrolet into a Cadillac? If Lincoln had actually invested in a dedicated mid-sizer as Cadillac did, I daresay Lincoln would have been doing significantly better than Cadillac these past 4-5 years. As long as MKZ is really not necessary to Ford's bottom line (and it is not), Lincoln will continue to suffer lower sales.
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Replying to: gregg_vw (Aug 24, 2009 8:15 am) But what poor planning. Exactly. Mulally and the new regime changed all that thinking 2 years ago but as we've discussed over and over they have to fix the volume brand first before they can fix Lincoln. Ford can't survive if they don't fix the core brand so Lincoln will just have to get by on table scraps until then. Even so, there are a few good signs that Lincoln is headed in the right direction: 100% unique sheetmetal for the MKS new interior for the MKZ (not usually done on a mid cycle refresh) New MKS tech features (adaptive cruise, park assist, etc.) |
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Replying to: tiger16 (Aug 24, 2009 7:16 am) What good does it do to jack up rebates just to get sales volume unless you're temporarily overstocked? That's what got Ford in this trouble to start with - making too many cars and putting too much money on the hood. That kills resale value. What Ford is doing now is cutting production to match demand so that they don't have to put cash on the hood. Putting cash on the hood is not the answer to sustainable profitability. Any extra plant capacity not used by the MKZ can be filled with Fusions and Milans which are selling quite well.
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