Test Drive: 2003 Lincoln Town Car Cartier L

Even so, that didn’t stop legions of faithful buyers from buying this roomy, comfortable, and relatively inexpensive American-made luxury car; almost 60 percent of current Town Car owners are repeat buyers and 65 percent of them say they don’t even consider another vehicle.

Then there’s the limousine market which makes up about 25% of Town Car sales. Limousine companies appreciate the Town Car’s roomy back seat, low price and ease of repair.

The problem was, and is, younger buyers aren’t interested in the Town Car. Its market is literally dying off. The average age of the current Town Car buyer (excluding limo fleet buyers) is now seventy – and 70% of them are retired.

Personally, I like the 2003 Town Car’s styling better than the 2002 model, although it can’t be said to be ground-breaking. There’s a new grille, headlamps, hood and fenders and a return to the stand-up Lincoln emblem. More useful are the new halogen headlamps which are 60% brighter than last year, and the optional HID lamps which are even brighter. The revised tail design is cleaner and the tires and wheels are now 17 inch instead of 16 inch.

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The 2003 Town Car is offered in three trim levels: Executive (for limos only), Signature ($55,650), Cartier ($59,615), as well as long wheelbase Cartier L ($64,880) and Executive L models. My test car was a top-of-the-line extended wheelbase Cartier L model which included just about everything as standard equipment.

With about 120 cubic feet of cabin space, the extended wheelbase Town Car has the roomiest passenger cabin in the luxury car class – five cubic feet more than its nearest competitor, the Cadillac DeVille (source: Roadcompanion.ca). Most of that room is in the rear seating area where Town Car passengers can really stretch out their legs and get comfortable.

Not surprisingly, the extended wheelbase Town Car has really long doors – the rear doors are four feet long! This provides a large door opening to get in and out, but parking too close to another car in a parking lot can mean hitting the adjacent car with the door.

The Town Car’s revised interior has a simple, attractive design which includes warm walnut burl wood trim, metal ‘satin nickel’ door handles, a polished metal clock in the centre of the dash, a steering wheel with a combination of wood trim and leather, and various complimentary shades of leather and plastic interior surfaces. My one design criticism is the instrument cluster which consists of a rather lonely and plainly-designed central speedometer flanked by two smaller fuel and coolant gauges and two bright green digital displays for the odometer and trip computer functions which seem to simply overpower the analogue gauge cluster. A smarter design here would improve the instrument panel 100%.

The Town Car’s leather-upholstered front 40/20/40 split bench seat will seat three passengers (there is a centre lap belt) but the centre seat is not a comfortable place to sit: when is the last time you saw a Town Car with three people in the front seat? Both outboard front seats have eight power adjustments, including power height adjustment and power lumbar support – I found them very comfortable, particularly on long drives – however the front seats could use a little more side bolstering. The driver also has a tilt steering wheel and power adjustable gas and brake pedals which can be moved closer with the press of a button.

Both front seats have two-temperature seat heaters, and there is a center folding armrest with a storage lid that can flip up both ways, and two flip-over cupholders mounted lower between the seats.

The centre dash area has a classy round clock made of polished metal, and a central glare-free matte black surface – however, the buttons look like they’ve been borrowed from the Ford parts bin. The stereo includes a cassette player and a single disc CD player, but the CD changer is located inconveniently in the trunk. An overhead console includes a compass, garage door opener, map lights, and oil life indicator.

Below the stereo is a standard dual zone automatic climate control. The driver and front passenger can choose their own temperature settings, however rear passengers can also control the passenger side temperature and the overall fan speed settings. Unruly rear passengers, such as young children, can take over the heater and the radio controls, but fortunately the rear controls can be locked out.

Rear passengers are very well treated in the Cartier L. If the expansive rear legroom is not enough, the right rear passenger can increase legroom by moving the right front seat forwards using a power seat button on the centre armrest. Rear passengers have seat heaters with two temperature settings, lighted vanity mirrors which fold down from the ceiling, two cupholders, a tissue box holder, map lights, a covered storage bin with two 12 volt powerpoints, map pockets and door pockets for storage.

Town Cars have always been known for a great highway ride, but with improvements to the suspension and steering, the 2003 Town Car is also a comfortable car to drive around town and even on twisty highways. A new stronger frame and changes to the independent short- and long-arm front suspension and live axle rear suspension have improved ride quality significantly. As well, the Town Car’s extremely long wheelbase and wide track minimize bobbing and swaying.

The prevous Town Car’s recirculating ball steering gear has been replaced with a new rack-and-pinion system with speed-sensitive variable power assist which provides low steering effort at parking lot speeds and more firmness at highway speeds. I was very impressed with the lack of friction and vibration coming through the steering wheel, its ease of use, and general responsiveness. The engineers have done a great job with this new steering system.

To my surprise, I enjoyed driving the Town Car in the city as much as I did driving it on the freeway. Though big, it doesn’t feel heavy and cumbersome to drive – the improvements made to the steering, its sure straight-line tracking, and suspension tuning have made the Town Car easier to maneuover – its turning diameter of 12.7 metres (41.6 feet) is very good for such a long car – although it does require a pretty long parking space. The optional rear parking sensor makes a lot of sense on a long car like this – it flashes and beeps more quickly the closer you get to an object behind you. I found it invaluable when parallel parking.

The Town Car’s standard 239 horsepower 4.6 litre V8 is not as powerful as its major competitors – the Cadillac DeVille DTS for example, has 300 horsepower. The Town Car’s 0 to 100 km/h time of 9.2 seconds is between one and three seconds slower than its major competitors. Still, even though the Town Car weighs over 2000 kilograms (4,467 lbs.), I never felt the Town Car was underpowered. The engine pulls strongly from rest with a faint whine reminiscent of a supercharger, and has no problem accelerating up steep hills, or pulling out to pass cars on the freeway.

Cruising down the freeway, the Town Car is extremely comfortable – my passengers fell asleep on more than one occasion. The cabin is very quiet, and drivetrain vibrations are almost non-existant. A major contributor to this is the car’s new hydraulic engine mounts which control idle shake and act as a shock absorber for the engine to damp the effects of road inputs, braking and acceleration forces. I also found the standard Michelin Energy LX4 225/60R-17 inch tires to be very quiet too.

As rear-wheel-drive cars tend to offer less traction in the snow and ice than front-wheel-drive cars, the Town Car’s standard traction control system is a good idea. It can be turned off using a button on the dash if you wish.

Many of the Town Car’s competitors have five-speed automatic transmissions, but the Town Car’s four-speed automatic offers everything you need in a luxury car – whisper-quiet, smooth shifts and responsive gear changes when prompted. There is an on/off overdrive button on the end of the column shifter, but I found little use for it. Perhaps it would of some use when towing a trailer.

The driver’s view is unobstructed to the front and sides, and though the rear window is not particularly big, the standard Reverse Park sensors take the guessing out of reversing into a parking space.

Competitors for the long wheelbase Lincoln Town Car Cartier L ($64,880) include the Cadillac DeVille DTS ($65,145); Lexus LS430 ($82,800); Infiniti Q45 Premium ($73,000); Jaguar XJ Vanden Plas ($82,950), Mercedes-Benz S430 LWB ($103,150), BMW 745Li ($102,900); and Audi A8 LWB ($95,450).

In terms of value for money, the Town Car Cartier L has the most interior room and the biggest trunk for the money, and is more than $35,000 cheaper than some of its import competitors.

Though it’s not the best performer on the track, the Town Car is much improved over previous Town Cars and offers a more satisfying combination of ride, handling, and luxury.

Its warranty of four years/80,000 km is comparable to the others, but the Lexus and Mercedes have longer powertrain warranties.