The sadness is growing...

"Eric @ opposite-lock.com" (theyrerolling) 04/21/2018 at 14:00 • Filed to: Selling a car, An Infinite Well of Sadness and Regret

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My wife found someone on FB looking for a car and she offered up my blurple friend that I really don’t drive much, but it will be so painful to say goodbye. 

My wife has been trying to get me to get rid of it for a while, but the insurance is cheap, it runs great, and I enjoy the sublime feel of cruising around in it. It’s not fast or sporty, but enough of each to make me happy. It also is far from perfect on the outside, yet it’s the most luxurious car I’ve ever owned, with super comfortable seats and ridiculous luxury features like rain-sensing wipers. It has that perfect blend of modern safety (airbags all over the place and big pillars for rollovers), while having plenty of greenhouse. Compared to a modern tombmobile, it feels so light and spacious. It’s probably the closest to a perfect car for me all around, but I already had my FoST on order when I bought it (stupid FoST took far longer than expected) and I still owe money on it (which I foolishly contributed to the house down payment funds), so this one gets the short end of the stick. Plus I drive maybe 2k miles a year now between my two cars and we are logging around 7-8k a year between both of us, so even owning one car dedicated to me is ridiculous overkill. The LS has a mere 32,700 miles (18 years old), while the FoST has a mind boggling 14,500 (3 years old, and 14,000 of these were in the first 2.5 years).

A pre goodbye, old friend. I’ll miss you in your generic luxury car triple clear coat metallic midnight blurple and light tan leather, dear cruiser.

If we had ended up with a 3-car garage, I would keep the car until it passed into classic car status, as it would be a ridiculously rare car by then. It’s at that bad point where it is too old to be desirable to those buying newer cars and too new to be desirable for being a classic car, so it is simply old at the bottom of the depreciation curve. It really is only suited to be a babied second car with a garage spot (it’s breaking my heart to keep it outside); I don’t even care if it’s reliable - I have other cars and wrenching doesn’t bother me.

interstate366, now In The Industry > Eric @ opposite-lock.com 04/21/2018 at 14:03

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It’s hard to see them go. On a lighter note, the other day I found out that my town has one of these as an undercover cop car.

Eric @ opposite-lock.com > interstate366, now In The Industry 04/21/2018 at 14:10

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Really? One of these? This would be an amazingly unusual police car.

LOREM IPSUM > Eric @ opposite-lock.com 04/21/2018 at 14:12

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Pull one of the FoST’s spark plug wires.

“Sweetie, sumptins up with the Ford. We should probably hang onto the Lincoln a little longer, just in case...”

Ash78, voting early and often > Eric @ opposite-lock.com 04/21/2018 at 14:13

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Wow. I love seeing these. The best car from Lincoln’s “Not quite sure what our plan is” phase.

interstate366, now In The Industry > Eric @ opposite-lock.com 04/21/2018 at 14:16

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Yep, it’s a V8 in that light blue that they had.

Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo > Eric @ opposite-lock.com 04/21/2018 at 14:17

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Wow, how long have you been keeping this secret from us?

Eric @ opposite-lock.com > Ash78, voting early and often 04/21/2018 at 14:18

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Yeah. It’s RWD, has decent suspension, and isn’t just a rebadged/tarted-up Ford. It was their last great hope for taking on European luxury makes...

Eric @ opposite-lock.com > Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo 04/21/2018 at 14:19

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I got some flak from someone here (may have been Jalopnik) because apparently these are terrible cars that should be hated. I love mine dearly and will miss it so. I guess I can hope the person decides not to buy it.

Stapleface > Eric @ opposite-lock.com 04/21/2018 at 14:20

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Weren’t these pretty prone to overheating? Maybe the wife is doing you a favor? With as nice as that one looks though, maybe someplace where you’d get more exposure for selling it?

Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo > Eric @ opposite-lock.com 04/21/2018 at 14:21

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Well that must have been FP, that response doesn’t sound very Oppo

Eric @ opposite-lock.com > Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo 04/21/2018 at 14:33

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It probably was. I actually contemplated taking the Lincoln to the last meet, but it was filthy (because parked outside), nobody knew it (so you wouldn’t recognize me), and it’s not as practical for driving in Seattle (parking spots are often short)...

Eric @ opposite-lock.com > Stapleface 04/21/2018 at 14:35

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It had a coolant problem a few years before I bought it and a full replacement of everything. It also had a full replacement of the fuel system due to ethanol gas. The original owner spared no expense having it serviced at the dealer for 15 straight years after they bought it new in January of 2000 (first year). It has never given me any problems aside from one of the original coils finally going that I replaced a year or so ago.

fintail > Eric @ opposite-lock.com 04/21/2018 at 14:36

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Wife’s fb friend looking for a car - sadly, I don’t predict a good future for the old dear.

Eric @ opposite-lock.com > fintail 04/21/2018 at 14:40

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I’m afraid, too. It’s a random person in need of a car. The problem has always been that I had no clue how to find a good buyer since she insisted. I hope they say “no”.

fintail > Eric @ opposite-lock.com 04/21/2018 at 14:58

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In my experience, chances are it is the kind of person who drives something into the ground and moves on, probably more than once a year.

How much?

Eric @ opposite-lock.com > fintail 04/21/2018 at 15:18

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I’m a little worried about that. They totaled a 2006 Pacifica before posting about their need of a car. There are a lot of downfalls to this car, particularly if you treat it like a normal car, which the price implies. It’s a car that was like $45k new in 2000, and my wife negotiated $3k for it. The problems they have are mostly because later owners treat them like cheap cars, while they’re designed to run on premium fuel, have full synthetic oil, and decent maintenance. They’re not like an old econobox...

seoultrain > Ash78, voting early and often 04/21/2018 at 15:22

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How long can a phase last before it becomes who they are?

fintail > Eric @ opposite-lock.com 04/21/2018 at 15:39

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Maybe you can scare them away from it, tell them it *needs* premium, synthetic oil, and to be serviced by the book, or it will die. If they treat it like a Corolla, they’ll maybe get in a year or two at best before some kind of system failure, and off to the junkyard it goes. Would be a huge waste.

Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo > Eric @ opposite-lock.com 04/21/2018 at 15:47

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Buckle up for that potential person in need to knock on your door the second something breaks, and they try to make it YOUR problem.

The nice lady who cuts my hair owns a 2002 LS V8. As you said, if and when it needs something, it won’t be cheap. Hers has about 11-times as many miles on yours, so there’s definitely not much left, but it just keeps chugging along.

If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent > Eric @ opposite-lock.com 04/21/2018 at 16:22

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I don’t care what anyone else says, those are nice cars.

Eric @ opposite-lock.com > Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo 04/21/2018 at 16:45

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This has also crossed my mind. At least a message on FB. I mean, something could go wrong tomorrow and I could never predict it. I have a hard time with the inability to really guarantee anything on any used car, but particularly when someone is worried about depending on it.

I’d really rather sell it to someone that is an enthusiast or at least a decent mechanic. Selling an econobox that you’ve done 55k miles in is easier for me because it’s a somewhat more known quantity. With this car, it’s like, “yeah, I’ve driven it 6k miles and beyond regular maintenance all it has needed was a COP, but it could break tomorrow, I can’t promise anything”.

Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo > Eric @ opposite-lock.com 04/21/2018 at 16:50

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Yeah this person is just “looking for a car,” meaning they might not know anything much about them, especially your model. I guess it’s always a risk selling any car, but like you said, if you were selling to someone who has been looking for a clean LS V8 for a while, you know and they know the risks. But everything might turn out fine right?... Right???

Ash78, voting early and often > Eric @ opposite-lock.com 04/21/2018 at 16:58

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A Jag S-Type in disguise, IIRC...

OmerCarrothers333 > Eric @ opposite-lock.com 04/21/2018 at 17:01

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Eric @ opposite-lock.com > Ash78, voting early and often 04/21/2018 at 17:03

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Basically, yes. They are better balanced, have more conservative/German styling, and I believe retuned suspension. This car was declared better than the contemporary 5-series by a number of journalists when it first went on sale...