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Really? The only thing that makes sense any more is that as the cars get bigger the numbers go up (wait, that's not true anymore, as BMW's sedan is a 3 and the coupe a 4). Once upon a time, Euro makers' names had relationships to engine displacements and that doesn't exist anymore. MB has such an alphabet soup at this point that I have trouble keeping all of the GL's and SL's and SC's and E-coupes (which are really C based) clear. I stopped trying a while ago and just starting thinking of them by type and size, which I think is the point overall. MB wants you to think you're buying a MB, not a E or a C. Similarly, Lincoln wants you to think about buying a Lincoln, not a Continental. I remember my late Uncle loved his Lincoln Town Cars, but he loved *Town Cars* and didn't care about anything else Lincoln. Not Marks, or Continentals. He was loyal to the line, not the brand. That is brand suicide in 2013... The recent Automotive News article said the next MKS was rumored to be called Continental (see the most recent media thread post). I personally hope not. See above...

Some new stuff: Pretty vicious review of the hybrid from Car and Driver Speaking of Car and Driver, since inflatable rear belts were just newly offered on the Fusion, C&D declares this means Lincoln is doomed, seriously... A quick blurb from the Robb Report A bit of a downer hybrid review from the NYTimes Automotive News overview of the upcoming MKC launch plus a look at upcoming Lincoln models, which most of us reading here already know but still a bit disappointing as no surprises... That's all for now...

Two things: That one is in the "Ford Motor Company News" discussion forum. As much as I like this site, I don't have the time or desire to monitor every forum here for Lincoln chat and I really only come here for the Lincoln board and, well, that news wasn't here, but was there... I was hoping there would be better and more focused chat about it here by people who actually care... 95% of those posts are off topic and only seem to criticize Lincoln's existence... I was surprised they are talking end of model year 2014 to roll out the Black Label. Given what we've seen of how they operate, this really likely means early 2015 MY or so I'm guessing. I'll be VERY curious to see the pricing. Does anyone know what similar BMW and Audi programs run?

Totally agree on the Town Car and the lack of a "hole" in the lineup. If anything, Mercury was (trying) to occupy too narrow a niche and pricing point. I may be the only one here who likes the MK naming scheme. It has a heritage to point to with it, and people were abbreviating Mark as that anyway for years. At least MKZ, S, N, C is somewhat unique and, really, it's not THAT hard to remember them all. I mean, I'd prefer that to BMW or Audi rip-off names like MK3, MK4X, MK5, etc...

I'm very surprised no one has started a Black Label thread as yet given this trim option was introduced at Pebble Beach a week or so ago. I'm guessing that the lack of a thread thus far is actually pretty indicative of how people feel about this. My personal take, only through looking at photos online, is as follows: None of the three interior themes personally appeals to me at all and I really don't think any of them are good fits for the MKZ design or mission. The admirable level of detailing, in my opinion, actually should be standard for all MKZ's. I think a 1-3K increase in base pricing to allow for that level of material and detailing I think would be very welcomed by the marketplace and I wonder how totally different all of the lukewarm MKZ launch reviews would have been if the MKZ had this level of interior fittings from the get go. I think the MKC launch will totally benefit from its availability. Looking at the wheels, I'm still trying to decide what I think the "Black Label Rims" on the Pebble Beach cars vs the standard ones. What are your opinions? Talk about being overshadowed by Cadillac. That Elmiraj concept is absolutely gorgeous and is, in my opinion, the first Art and Science design that absolutely knocks the ball out of the park in all respects. In my opinion, every Caddy design since the original CTS, while admirable, have all been flawed in one respect or another looking at different angles. Maybe a design make the tires look too small, or maybe the taillights seemed unresolved, or maybe a design appeared too narrow or tall. I thought the XTS and upcoming CTS made it about 95% of the way there, but this Elmiraj concept is just about perfect in my mind. Also, hello Lincoln! Look at the classy, yet modern, new take on the Caddy logo. Time to work on the Lincoln logo folks! What's your take?

Thanks for the update! Did you order the multicontour seats?

In its day, I actually like the Bravada quite a bit, so, ah, bravo! I wish I had your (or any) photoshop skills at all. I'd be 'shopping cars all day and never getting any work done...

There's something that feels a bit "Olds Bravada" about that to me... Anyone else see that? I think it's going to be really hard to marry the current Lincoln grille scheme to SUV's, and I look forward to seeing how they do it. I would like to see the logo panel in the front become more beak-like and do a reverse slant, but I think that would cause pedestrian impact problems. However, BMW does a bit of a similar slant right now so it might be possible. I wouldn't mind if Lincoln had separate auto and SUV design themes that harkened back to each other but weren't identical. I think the current motif suffers somewhat on the MKT and, to a lesser extent, the MKX. I also think the Lincoln logo is a problem, frankly (wasn't there a thread about this some time ago elsewhere?). It's a VERY vertical logo that somewhat hamstrings designers as to how they can implement it on front and back panels, as well as elsewhere. I was looking at a pre-refresh MKS in a parking lot the other day, and it has that HUGE Lincoln logo plastered on before the front doors on the side and it looked terrible. If Caddy can constantly tinker and refresh their logo, so can Lincoln. I would love to see a modern variant of one of the classic logos with a more symmetric, less vertical Lincoln star in a symmetric box. It would really free-up the designers somewhat in my opinion to do different things with the front and rear looks while giving the make a more fresh graphic design identity...

I added a whole bunch of other recent reviews to page 1 of the thread that should bring us up to date. There's 59 linked web or video reviews there currently, so send anyone considering an MKZ there to choose their whatever review source they respect or prefer. The newer ones are: Tree Hugger Review The Republic Review Autospies Review (pretty harsh,but I don't trust them anyway) Cars.com Review Autogo.ca Review

Good review today by the Star Phoenix in Canada (added to the master list on page 1). The Canadian reviews thus far have generally had a more positive tone than the US ones. Interesting...

Good find. Added to the master list. Some additional new ones, both what you would expect at this point: Driving.ca The National Post And a pretty harsh one from Vince Burlapp at his page: Burlapp Cars

This is actually what all of the premium makers are doing in every class as they all barrel along towards having full lines... Acura is doing their own Civic as the ILX, Audi has the A1, BMW the 1. Lincoln was for a while rumored to be doing a version of the Focus (that's what everyone thought an MKC would be at first). And what premium maker doesn't have a CUV right now? Jaguar is about to do one as well, with a concept upcoming. I see no reason Lincoln shouldn't play along. That's about as heretical as, well, Porsche doing an SUV, right?

For what it's worth, all 2014 vehicles have been removed from the Lincoln website (and defaulted back to 2013) save for the MKT. Odd, no?

Great news! Keep us informed. Thanks!

The seats have been a hot topic here for a while and on some other threads here there's been some suggestion that cars with the multicontour option have been assigned VIN's and are being built, but there's still a lot of ambiguity. I have the salesperson at a local dealer looking into it for me. If we're talking about September or October until Job 1 for the seats, I would still probably order now considering it's 6-12 weeks from order to build anyway, but if we're talking spring, I won't wait and will order without them. Let us know anything else you find. Oh, and BTW, I hope they are *different* from the MKS multicontour seats, since I think the MKS seats are, well, bad and the standard MKZ seats are far superior. I'm hoping it's a multicontour version of the MKZ seats.

An additional review today from Coolhunting.com (tracking these reviews has introduced me to lots of websites I did not know existed). Added to the master list at the top of the thread...

Ah, that means it's about time for me to order then! (as soon as they put the 2014 info back on the site) Thanks.

Great find! All this suggests, though, is that they ordered the model with the multicontour seats, not necessarily that it's actually in production, or am I wrong?

There haven't been any reviews for a while. This one at Gotta Be Mobile just popped up, and is balanced and positive (also added to the first page). With the impending model year changeover, I'm guessing we'll see far fewer reviews.

Who at Lincoln would I email, talk with, etc to check the status of the Multicontour seats for 2014? Long after The Internet had previously confirmed that the Multicontour seat option was dead for 2013 my local dealer was absolutely insisting that they could get it for me if I only just ordered with them, even after I told them I read otherwise online. This really hurt their credibility with me and I really don't want to languish on a national order list for months while waiting for a vaporware option. Would the concierge know? Dealer? Call Lincoln customer service? Ideas? If the wait for that feature is going to be 8-10 months, then I won't delay and will just order without it now...

I've noticed there there are several people posting or lurking who like myself are likely going to order MKZ's soon so I thought I would start a thread for questions about the MKZ buying experience. I'll start myself with 2 questions: 1) Does it matter where you buy your MKZ? I'm fortunate to live in a region with several Lincoln dealers. Does it matter which one you buy a vehicle at and which one you service at? Are there certain owner benefits you don't receive by servicing at a location you didn't do the buy? For example, a CPO BMW I once purchased limited loaners for repair work to the dealer where you purchased your CPO. That wasn't fun after I moved and no longer had that available. With the MKZ, what I was looking to do was to take the exact model I wanted from the "build" feature of the website and basically contact 4-5 regional dealers and see who would give me the best 2 year lease, but to do servicing and repairs work at the dealer closest to me. Any reason I would absolutely need or want to do the purchase only at the closest dealer? 2) Stupid Leasing Question: Other options besides the dealer? This will be the first lease I'm doing after previously only having done CPO or new purchases through loans. Like loans, can you do leasing through several independent agencies or banks? Does the dealer usually have the best rate? Thanks!

While not yet an owner (I will likely be ordering within the next few weeks), I face a near identical situation. My current Saab Turbo-X is an almost perfect compromise car. AWD, luxurious, blisteringly fast, manual tranmission, and a wagon. The problem now is that there is no more Saab motor company, and every repair now is an expensive adventure in parts tracking. For a 100,000 mile vehicle, that's not fun... The MKZ Hybrid I'm looking to buy is a, ah, very relaxed sedan to drive in comparison. Here were my rationalizations for choosing the Hybrid over the punchier V6: My metro area is so traffic drenched that I can barely ever appreciate the performance abilities of my current car. Better to have a super high MPG, relaxed ride... I feel the hybrid is the best personality match for the MKZ overall... Also, frankly, if I want bleeding edge performance and handling that badly, I'm probably choosing the wrong car altogether and should be shopping for an ATS or used CTS-V... If I do miss high-spirited driving, then I can take solace in the fact that excellent used performance cars (sedans and outright sports cars) are a dime a dozen and, with the money I'd save per year on gas with my commute with an MKZ hybrid given the miles I drive, I could certainly save to buy a pre-owned high performance vehicle for the occasional weekend sprint when I need my sports car itch scratched (an older Impreza WRX or Evo should do the trick if I really desire). So those are my feelings. Whether you buy the 4 cylinder or the hybrid, in the end, the MKZ is a relaxed cruiser with a capable platform. In day to day driving on the highway or around town, the difference in the car's personality will be minimal, so why not rack up the MPG? That's my thinking... PS: I recently drove a loaded Buick Verano Turbo. I don't love GM, but I must say, I was really impressed. A great drive, good handling, lots of power, incredibly comfortable seats, good mileage, stuffed with comfort and convenience features, and not terrible looking for a reasonable price. I think the MKZ feels and looks at least a decade ahead of the Buick, but the Verano is undoubtedly the better drive and I would fault no one for buying one. Also available with a manual.

That's not the only reason. I also start to get a little itchy for a new ride between 2-3 years of ownership (the downside to being an auto enthusiast, I guess). The change in the maintenance issue just helps make the decision a bit. When leasing, it's all about low maintenance ownership.

Of course, how could anyone forget? No, like everyone buying a vehicle, I'm just trying to figure out timing for what I do with my current vehicles. Do a make major, expensive repairs to my Saab now and buy the MKZ this coming Spring? Do I hold off the expensive work and do the MKZ now because then I won't be putting miles on the Saab? Etc... Oh, and if there's a delay of 2014 models causing the dealers to be down stock this year, I'd be amazed. Ford would look sooooo bad if that were the case. Yeah, I plan on letting everyone know that I will eventually be doing a two rather than 3 year lease because of the maintenance change. Regarding the pano roof, I sat in cars with them at the NY Auto Show and in the dealership and it didn't move me. I have yet to drive one outdoors, so my impression on its impact on the cabin might change, but as of now I'm not going with it. In fact, there are very few cars in my opinion where the sunroof is something the driver can appreciate. When I took my MKZ test drive, I opened and closed the shade on the standard sunroof and couldn't tell the difference...

My '08 BMW did that, moving the mirrors down automatically when I went into reverse. I actually really liked that. My Saab doesn't do it automatically, but has a button to move the driver's side mirror down (curious decision, that). I was wondering myself what the MKZ would do...