Lincoln Mark VIII

How mechanically reliable is a 1993 Lincoln Mark VIII with 62000 miles.

The biggest potential problem is the automatically adjustable, self-leveling, rear suspension, if this particular car has it. Other than that there’s not too much to worry about.

It does. What is the potential problem?

When these systems fail the rear end of the vehicle will sag, and the repairs are very expensive.

or they blow up on one side and are in the thousands to repair…

Actually, the Mark VIII uses a four wheel pneumatic leveling system (the car has no wire springs). The cars are reliable on the whole, and with that few miles on it, as long as it’s been given proper maintenance, it should be reasonably trouble free.

The experts to ask are at http://www.tccoa.com, that’s the Thunderbird and Cougar Club of America, they also deal with the Lincoln Mark VIII, which is built on nearly the same platform as the '89-'97 Thunderbird and Cougar.

ok4450 has a Mark VIII that he’s been pleased with, perhaps he can chime in.

Yes, I have a Mark VIII and it’s been extremely reliable. It has almost 240k miles on it and the motor and transmission have never been touched other than routine maintenance and a few accessories. It still runs/drives like new and gets about 27 MPG on the open road and about 18-19 MPG in town.
It’s also by far the most comfortable road car I’ve ever owned. After 3 back surgeries most car seats kill me within a 100 miles. With the Mark I’ve hit the Interstate and driven well over 400 miles without even stopping at all.

As mentioned, sometimes the air suspension can be prone to leaks due to aged rubber.
Often the suspension repair is not that costly if you’re not being gouged.
The main sources of air leaks (leading to a sagging rear or front) are the ride height solenoid O-rings and the rubber bellows; or air bags.

Rubber dry rots with age (so do tires, belts, etc.) and the bags are no different. They usually rot and leak at the fold where they attach to the strut or mount.
These can be replaced separately and there are on-line resources to help you determine where a problem lies if it crops up.

In the event an air suspension problem crops up and you don’t care to repair it the car is easily modified to run without airbags.
Arnott Industries sells a conversion kit for about 400 dollars that will eliminate the air suspension altogether. For the DIYer, a trip to a salvage yard and some mid 90s T-Bird parts will do the same thing.

With any used car there will be some knick-knacks though. Electrically speaking, they’re very complicated but I’ve had few problems at all with mine.
The early models like the 93s had push buttons on the climate control that were prone to crumbling and becoming unreadable. This can be updated with the hard button variety if desired (eBay, etc.)
Sometimes the security alarm may be set off due to the ignition “jiggle switch”. This is an easy update if needed and there is an outstanding recall on the 93 for a cruise control switch. The recall is free at the Ford dealer if it has not been done.

The only mechanical things I’ve had to do to mine was a water pump, one alternator, and one fuel pump; the latter being killed by a tank of contaminated fuel which clogged the filter.
It’s had one set of rear brake pads and one set of front pads and amazingly enough; the car still has the original brake rotors on it. Never been machined even and not a sign of shudder.

For the mileage the car has seen I’ve spent very little on it and if I have a complaint it’s that FOMOCO quit building them.
Hope some of that helps in your decision.

Just an additional note. On several occassions in the past I’ve had strangers come up to me at a filling station while I was getting gas or something and ask me what year my car was.
They would then tell me they used to have a Mark VIII before trading it off and regretted doing so.

One old farmer spent about 10 minutes lamenting about getting rid of his Mark and he stated that it was the best driving, sweetest running car he had ever owned.

YOu can avoid lots of problems with the air suspension by replacing the pump-mounted dryer every few years.