Yep, it takes plain old Mercon.
And congratulate yourself for buying another vehicle equipped with an AX4N transmission.
And congratulate yourself for buying another vehicle equipped with an AX4N transmission.
How about a 1996 Lincoln Continental?
- Thread starter TomJones76
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Yeah. I can't decide if the AX4N or the air bag suspension worries me more. It's a tie, I guess.
JHZR2
Staff member
thats why you keep $2000 saved for replacement costs... then when it dies, you replace it.
JMH
JMH
I'll just need to remember not to do any dukes of hazzard style jumps of lakes... that could kill my tranny AND air suspension in one fell swoop.
Either that or not run moonshine, one. Then again, load leveling WOULD be a plus.
Either that or not run moonshine, one. Then again, load leveling WOULD be a plus.
I knew a lady who used to drive these FWD Lincoln's and they were nothing but problems. I personally have no experience with them, but we had a few traded into the dealership where I used to work at and they all had air suspension problems. They were definitely a step below quality compared to the Cadillac's of the same vintage. If you're going for a Lincoln, Town Car is the only one I'd consider. There is a reason they don't build a FWD Lincoln anymore.
If you have a '96 Caprice now, you're probably better off keeping that car. It is more reliable and cheaper to fix, plus these cars have a big following. If your car is an LT1, it will have better performance than that Continental. FWD hampers the performace of the Lincoln. I found that the LT1 Caprices could even generally out perform the Caddy Northstar's of the same vintage.
If you have a '96 Caprice now, you're probably better off keeping that car. It is more reliable and cheaper to fix, plus these cars have a big following. If your car is an LT1, it will have better performance than that Continental. FWD hampers the performace of the Lincoln. I found that the LT1 Caprices could even generally out perform the Caddy Northstar's of the same vintage.
Sorry, the LT1 Caprice got traded in on the Sable that I'm planning on ditching.
Now if someone was offerring me a Florida '96 Caprice LT1 with 65K and minor cosmetic issues for $1500, I'd choose that over this thing *all day long*.
Given the fan club the Caprice/Impala has, no way that would be the price.
I'd still have that Caprice if the tranny hadn't started acting up. Never was the same after the time that lady totalled her Escort ZX2 by running into me.
Beautiful accident for illustrating why a big car is safer: Her radiator was smashed, the front of the car was toast, the airbags went off.... meanwhile she had smashed my Caprice's turn signal assembly and left headlight, along with cracking the air cleaner box and bending the front bumper and hood... but it was still basically drivable, albeit poorly air filtered. She was crying from the impact, though only bruise and shaken, while the hardest impact I felt was my foot stabbing the brakes.
Now if someone was offerring me a Florida '96 Caprice LT1 with 65K and minor cosmetic issues for $1500, I'd choose that over this thing *all day long*.
Given the fan club the Caprice/Impala has, no way that would be the price.
I'd still have that Caprice if the tranny hadn't started acting up. Never was the same after the time that lady totalled her Escort ZX2 by running into me.
Beautiful accident for illustrating why a big car is safer: Her radiator was smashed, the front of the car was toast, the airbags went off.... meanwhile she had smashed my Caprice's turn signal assembly and left headlight, along with cracking the air cleaner box and bending the front bumper and hood... but it was still basically drivable, albeit poorly air filtered. She was crying from the impact, though only bruise and shaken, while the hardest impact I felt was my foot stabbing the brakes.
JHZR2
Staff member
The problem is, in accidents like that, you can get a good feeling attributing your safety to big car use, but it sounds like really, she didnt hit you in the right spot with the right wallop to do anything but haveher car adsorb the impact. Get into a real impact where the structure of your car is effected, and Id say that your chances are about equal...
But all the same, glad it came out how it did that you were unharmed. I believe in engineering, not explicit size. My MB 300D saved my life when rear ended at very high speed, but I attribute it to daimler engineering, instead of relative sizes (the two cars were about the same size).
So the question is, will the continental have th esmae level of safety engineering as a caprice would??? The caprice is on a frame, where as the continental is unibody, right?
All the same, I always thought the continentals (when they werent being driven with a super low riding rear end) were nice cars... good luck and safety with your new car!
JMH
But all the same, glad it came out how it did that you were unharmed. I believe in engineering, not explicit size. My MB 300D saved my life when rear ended at very high speed, but I attribute it to daimler engineering, instead of relative sizes (the two cars were about the same size).
So the question is, will the continental have th esmae level of safety engineering as a caprice would??? The caprice is on a frame, where as the continental is unibody, right?
All the same, I always thought the continentals (when they werent being driven with a super low riding rear end) were nice cars... good luck and safety with your new car!
JMH
Actually, in that accident, it really was a "corner to corner" collision... I wasn't in an advantageous position.
The advertised curb weight was 1900 lbs heavier on my car than the lady's, and that is the *ONLY* thing that I can think accounted for me and my brother-in-law barely feeling the impact and her being in pain afterwards.
This being said, I'm sure engineering DID play a role, and I thank my lucky stars and four-leaf clover that the only people seriously injured by that accident were American Family Insurance.
As far as your 300D, yes, my goodness, those were WONDERFUL cars. Built like tanks, actually made with honest to goodness german STEEL body panels. I'll bet 100 guys like you have stories to tell about what it looks like when they get in a wreck... I'm one of them. I got into a glancing collision with a Chevy Celebrity... cracked my left-hand turn signal, put a black mark on my fender... and his rear quarter panel basically ripped off.
Will the continental have the same safety engineering?
I WISH the NHTSA had tested these cars, but they never did.
The IIHS did, and the results were:
IIHS Offset Acceptable
IIHS Bumper Bash Good
From the pics, looks like you'd be okay, but if the accident was fast enough, you *MIGHT* break your left leg. The Sable, interestingly enough, you wouldn't break your leg, although the Offset test is basically a crash into a brick wall, and doesn't account for vehicle weight.
The advertised curb weight was 1900 lbs heavier on my car than the lady's, and that is the *ONLY* thing that I can think accounted for me and my brother-in-law barely feeling the impact and her being in pain afterwards.
This being said, I'm sure engineering DID play a role, and I thank my lucky stars and four-leaf clover that the only people seriously injured by that accident were American Family Insurance.
As far as your 300D, yes, my goodness, those were WONDERFUL cars. Built like tanks, actually made with honest to goodness german STEEL body panels. I'll bet 100 guys like you have stories to tell about what it looks like when they get in a wreck... I'm one of them. I got into a glancing collision with a Chevy Celebrity... cracked my left-hand turn signal, put a black mark on my fender... and his rear quarter panel basically ripped off.
Will the continental have the same safety engineering?
I WISH the NHTSA had tested these cars, but they never did.
The IIHS did, and the results were:
IIHS Offset Acceptable
IIHS Bumper Bash Good
From the pics, looks like you'd be okay, but if the accident was fast enough, you *MIGHT* break your left leg. The Sable, interestingly enough, you wouldn't break your leg, although the Offset test is basically a crash into a brick wall, and doesn't account for vehicle weight.
Here's what my mechanic said:
Problems:
Exhaust System Hangers... Rubber Donuts, shot
- $70
CV Joint, Axle Shaft
- $250
Ball Joints.. Left Side Bad
- $300 for both
Turn signal/high beam switch
- $150
Actual Turn Signal
- $90
Pluses:
-Brakes Done Recently
-All fluids look good
-Air bags in good shape, but look like factory original ones
Figuring all this in, it's about $1000 below book rather than $2000 below book.
Not as exciting of a deal.
Problems:
Exhaust System Hangers... Rubber Donuts, shot
- $70
CV Joint, Axle Shaft
- $250
Ball Joints.. Left Side Bad
- $300 for both
Turn signal/high beam switch
- $150
Actual Turn Signal
- $90
Pluses:
-Brakes Done Recently
-All fluids look good
-Air bags in good shape, but look like factory original ones
Figuring all this in, it's about $1000 below book rather than $2000 below book.
Not as exciting of a deal.
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