2007 Lincoln Mark Lt 4-door 5.4l Black With Black Leather Sunroof Beautiful! on 2040-cars

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Car subscription services: A slow, expensive start — but the potential is huge

Americans are used to paying for subscriptions — to magazines and cable television, for instance — but experience shows they'll cancel when the price of admission gets too high, or there are more tempting alternatives. Cord cutters ditched nearly 1.5 million pay-TV subscriptions in 2017, according to a survey by Leichtman Research Group. Cable TV started out cheap with basic offerings, and then got expensive. The auto industry's subscription offerings are new, but they're starting out costly, and not price-competitive with traditional leasing. The upside is that they take the hassle out of car ownership for busy people by letting the service take care of maintenance, insurance, licensing and taxes. And they give consumers choice, often allowing relatively painless switches between different cars in the automakers' lineup. Subscription services also point the way toward an ownership-free auto experience, and offer an easy transition to a potential world where ride- and car-sharing will be dominant. Subscriptions are here to stay, but consumers may take a while to "get" them. Lincoln's subscription service for lightly used 2015 to 2017 models, offered through the Ford-owned Canvas beginning this year, got off to a slow start. Many early subscribers canceled. Last month, Cadillac announced it would " temporarily pause" its $1,800-per-month Book subscription service for "adjustments" as of December 1. According to the Wall Street Journal, "Snags with the back-end technology used to support the service made some customer-service functions tedious and time-consuming, adding costs for the company." The challenge for automakers is to come up with a strategy that offers consumers a compelling, affordable option to regular ownership, and one that can also make a profit. I think they'll find that sweet spot, but they're not there yet. Jack Nerad, former executive editorial director at Kelley Blue Book and author of " The Complete Idiot's Guide to Buying or Leasing a Car," points out that "A lot of people expected that subscriptions would be very valuable for people who wanted inexpensive transportation, but the reality is quite the opposite. Subscriptions are offering more choices for the wealthy.

Aye Captain! Hennessey's 2018 Lincoln Navigator has 600 HP

Texas tuner John Hennessey wants to steer the 2018 Lincoln Navigator into some serious performance SUV waters, presently dominated by the Mercedes-Benz G-Class and Range Rover SVR. Upping the power of Lincoln's range-topping sport-utility, from 450 horsepower to an even 600 hp, is enough to hustle the Navigator from 0-60 mph in 4.8 seconds and run the quarter mile in 12.9 seconds at 107 mph. In terms of the 0-60 sprint, this performance upgrade nets you about 0.7 seconds versus the stock model. Good to know, in case you're hot to run a Navigator at your local drag-strip. "The 2018 Navigator is a world-class luxury SUV and we wanted to take its already impressive power and performance to the next level," said president and company founder, John Hennessey. So, what exactly has been done under the hood? The key to the performance improvements is better breathing, courtesy of a HPE600 twin-turbo engine upgrade. Using the Navigator's twin-turbo 3.5-liter V6 as its base, Hennessey adds a new engine management computer, a stainless steel exhaust system, high-flow air induction, and a large front-mounted intercooler with blow-off valve. Hennessey's six-wheel VelociRaptor, which uses the same base engine, produces 602 hp and 622 lb-ft of torque. Optional extras include 22-inch forged alloy wheels, a lowering kit, and Brembo brakes at the front and rear. Those brakes might not be a bad idea, especially considering this 600-hp motor is attached to approximately three tons of SUV that will, eventually, need to be stopped. This performance package rings in at $19,950 (including installation) and comes with a 3-year/36,000-mile warranty from Hennessey. Only 200 examples will be built for the 2018 model year. While not quite as crazy as the VelociRaptor, this Lincoln is also only about one-third the price of that monster truck. Related Video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Aftermarket Lincoln SUV Luxury Performance Hennessey lincoln navigator

2015 Lincoln MKC

Back in 2012, Lincoln claimed its comeback bid was finally underway with the new-for-2013 MKZ. But don't you believe them - the renaissance won't actually begin in earnest until the shapely compact crossover seen here reaches showrooms in big numbers. That's because while the four-door MKZ was indeed a proper step toward rebirth, the 2015 MKC is the first wholly conceived vehicle under Lincoln as a standalone brand, a move first announced back in 2012.
That's an important distinction, because Lincoln's newfound emancipation from Ford's design and development processes has given the struggling marque both the corporate wherewithal and the will to develop a more fully formed product. The four-wheeled result seen here is a surprisingly cohesive luxury CUV, one with significantly more aesthetic and dynamic separation from its Ford Escape sibling than the MKZ and its Fusion counterpart. Said another way, after flogging Lincoln's latest for hundreds of miles over canyon roads outside of Santa Barbara, we've come to understand that this is far from a re-grilled Dearborn special with luxury tinsel - it's a bona fide standalone product that readily displays the sort of clear differentiation seen in platform cousins like the Audi Q5 and the Volkswagen Tiguan. It's the real deal.