Anyone Drive a Lincoln LS or Grand Prix GTP?

N

nyyankees22

New member
Looking into purchasing either a 2000-2002 Lincoln LS or 1999-2002 Pontiac Grand Prix GTP...has anyone owned one and have any input. Reliability, power, fun to drive, hows the paint....etc
 
back in 03 i sold my 01 GTP DD to my neighbor. it was fully loaded with 13K on the clock. she still owns the car @ 125K. it has sat outside all these years and, in addition, has also been lovingly abused by her now 20 year old daughter. she only uses 87 octane fuel. the paint is great and mechanically is has only needed normal items for its age/mileage. it has been a great car for her, FWIW, :nixweiss
 
I drive an 02' LS V8. Got it back in May, and have put ~2000 miles on it so far. The V8 is definitely the one to get, the V6 is anemic unless it comes with the 5 speed stick (which are very hard to come by).



Reliability isn't great. A few persistent problems that I can almost guarantee you will have are leaking valve cover gaskets, the airbag light staying on, foggy headlights, seatbacks that are loose, and a few others I'm probably forgetting.



Power is adequate, RWD, near 50/50 weight distribution and well weighted steering make it overall very enjoyable to drive. Gas mileage is awful with the V8 (15 around town, 18 on the highway) and it needs premium fuel.



The paint is not very chip prone, but does seem a bit thin I suppose.



If you need any more info just PM me, I'll be glad to help you out.
 
bufferbarry said:
Big Poppa how is your tranny?
Click to expand...



No huge problems thus far.



When it's really cold out and the car isn't warmed up it can be a little jerky and hesitant to shift, especially when I am really light on the throttle. It also can be a bit rough shifting from park into reverse and then from reverse into drive. Other than that (the transmission on this car has been mediocre since it came out) there aren't any real issues, no slipping etc.



A lot of the overall jerkiness in the tranny, the slight whine from 1200-1800 RPMs during light acceleration, and the power steering whine go away after about ten minutes of driving.
 
Between the 2 I'd pic the Lincoln. I've just always hated GM interiors and the cheap plastic bugs me enough to not want one. And I'm not bashing GM, I've owned my share.
 
Just an FYI, the 3800 Series II found in the pre 2004 Grand Prix's are known to have issues with bad/leaky Intake Manifold Gaskets. About a $20 part and 8-10 hours labor to replace. This problem (to my knowledge) was fixed with the 2004 model's Seires III motor. I don't know if it is also common on the pre-2004 GTP's or not, but it would definitely be something to check into and research as it's about a $400-500 fix if it's needed.
 
I would suggest that you also take a look at the 04-05 GTP....probably still within your budget. Also all of the 2006 and newer models...the GT comes with the supercharger so....04-05 GTP and 06+ GT to get the supercharged version. I personally like the looks of the 04+ better, though some may disagree.



Oh, and we have a 04 Grand Prix GT that my wife mainly drives and we love it....I think I like it even more than my accord and even the GT model has plenty of balls to get out of it's own way. Pretty nice torque for a family car. I can only imagine the GTP model...
 
A friend of mine had a newer GP GXP. I think it was either an 06 or an 07 and boy was it fun to drive. It had alot of power and handeled quite nicely. I also liked the overall stance of the car. I'am not to famaliar with the older GP GTP. I have been in a few standard GP. I didn't think it was anything to special. I have had my fair share with Lincoln, but not the LS. But overall I have alays loved the Lincoln cars. If I was you, I would look for a 2004-2005 GP GTP. 04 is when Pontiac restyled the GP, and in my opinion is 100X better then the previous body. And they are much more fun to drive.
 
nyyankees22 said:
I would love to go with the 04' or newer but this will be a first vehicle and I only want to put out like $3500-$4200
Click to expand...



TBH, if that is your price range than the LS is not for you. With that money you will only get something thats been beat on and has high mileage. Even a well maintained example will probably have stuff go wrong with it in the first 8-10 months of ownership.
 
Nice cars. Sister had a GTP. The only problem with the GTP is the leaky gasket on the s/c. Which is the snout seal, the one buy the belt. You have to check if it's still tight and doesn't wiggle when you try to move it with your hand. They have the M90 eaton blower on them with coated rotors. They are STUPID easy to rebuild. The snout seal is cake to change. 3 jaw puller and yank it the pulley off of there. You can also do a smaller pulley on the blower to add more boost, probably best bang for the buck mod you can do to one. Just don't go adding alot of boost with out an intercooler. The M90 is a massive heat pump as well... The 3.8 is a rock solid motor.



Also the transmissions "can be" a weak point.
 
avoid the lincoln ls



i have 10 vehicles and it by far had the most problems-looked good, sounded good with v8 and dual magnaflows but, i had constant issues. bad ignition coils etc
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top