Lincoln Navigator as work truck?

B

Bob W

Joined
Dec 31, 2000
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My old-school pickup may have finally kicked the bucket, or at least the patch may cost more than the truck's value. Parking brake, broken cable. Bad oil leak somewhere. Huge screaming dent on drivers side. Dashboard no longer attached to the rest of the truck. Untraceable electrical glitches. And last night while atop a mountain in Colorado, the clutch went out.

No complaints though, the truck has 190,000 miles and only cost $12,000 when we bought it used eight years ago. If the thing spontaneously burst into a ball of flames, I'd say farewell with a satisfied smile. But these non-catastrophic problems are driving me crazy.

Unable to find a compelling replacement truck within a 500-mile radius using Autotrader, I had a great idea. Why not a Lincoln Navigator? Plenty of room for my gear, the same frame and suspension as an F150, and more comfortable sleeping conditions than the truck. They depreciate like sinking rocks, and there are plenty of them around.

And, to be honest, since selling my Mark VIII, I've felt like half a man. You see, I think of myself as a Lincoln sort of guy.

Is it possible, could I gain regain my soul and replace my work truck with the same vehicle?

Or does anyone have a truck for sale with these specs:
- F150/250
- V8 gasoline
- supercab
- 4WD
- 5 speed manual trans.
 
I had a similar idea recently. For me, "work truck" means long drives on rough, washboardy (is that a word?) roads and my old ford w/a 460 was killing me with it's horrible gas milage. I traded it in on a '00 Grand Cherokee last summer, thinking I'd save on gas and ride in comfort. Which I do, after 3 months and over a grand in parts trying to fix a really rough idle. And then I found that I really had uses for the truck that I hadn't considered!

If you don't need the bed for hauling dirty stuff it's a good idea, but be really careful when shopping for the Navigator. Take a long test drive and check out everything! Start the motor multiple times (at least 5) because the check engine light can be cleared off and it will take multiple starts for it to come back on. No matter how nice it is, don't buy one that 'just needs a couple of things done to it', because if there are electrical problems they can be a nightmare (as you've seen with your truck).

Don't get me wrong I love Lincolns, but they seem to have more that can go wrong with them if they aren't kept up properly. And for a work truck, you may be better off splitting the difference and picking up a Crew-Cab pickup. Plenty of room inside, plus a bed for the dirty stuff!
 
Thanks, definitely stuff to think about. I think it's going to come down to the repair estimate for fixing my truck, and the availability of another similar truck.

The truck has depreciated down to $5,000, minus $3,000 worth of damage to the body and at least a thousand dollars worth of other flaws that aren't worth the bother of fixing. So if the clutch, brake, and engine leak repairs add up to much at all, it simply isn't financially logical to keep it.

And if I can't find another pickup with all of the features that I really want, I'll be more open to other options, like the Lincoln. Unfortunately this isn't the best time of year to be used truck shopping. And for whatever reason the combination of features on my truck is almost impossible to duplicate; you can't even configure a brand new truck like it at the Ford website...

On the good news side, I can borrow a spare pickup from the office until mine is repaired/replaced. That really takes the pressure off.
 
I have an Expedition Limited (2000 about 125000 miles) I drive them till they stop or cost too much to fix. I use it to pull a 6000m lb travel trailer and a small boat. It is essentially the same as a Navigator except for the frosting. Only had the usual problems, starter, alternator, 2 ignition coils replaced. Put some mods on it, Borla exhaust, performance MAF sensor, and a K&N filter. Mileage is 14 and 18. The only thing I don't like about it is the air ride suspension, rides great, lifts the car up when in FWD and rides great. Had to replace broken air lines twice, not expensive, just a pain in the butt. Would feel more confident with plain springs. Would I buy it again or a Navigator? Yes!!! You can find nice used ones on the lot with low mileage 15 -20 K cheaper than new.
 
Thanks. You comments are appreciated, especially since you seem to have the same ownership philosophy as me, "drive em til they drop," and have owned a similar vehicle.

Put some mods on it
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Aside from some all-terrain tires and a front grill guard, I'd probably leave mine stock.

Mileage is 14 and 18.
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That's what I wanted to hear. The EPA estimates and online owner reviews say the Navigator will get about that, which is good news indeed. 18 highway will be a 38% improvement over my current truck!
 
OK, this is a flyer, would a regular Ford explorer work? There's a bazillion of the damn things.
 
Ah yes, the worst of both worlds philosophy, lacking the utility of a truck while still leaving the gap in my soul created from not having a Lincoln.

Just kidding. :)

The Explorer is just too small considering the amount of work gear I haul around plus the need to sleep in it regularly. But I am expanding my investigations to include the Expedition, based on zman's post. I expect they'll be a bit less expensive than the Navigators, and lower repair costs than a Lincoln would have. And an Eddie Bauer or XLT would privide all of the comfort that I really need or deserve.

I've also seen some GMC models with decent interior design and plenty of space. The availability of two-door models is a huge attraction. I'm not familiar with their different model names though, so it's going to take some reasearch.

The one thing that is a big strike against the SUV models compared to a real truck, the lack of manual transmission options.
 
If you really like the truck why not just look for another used one just like the truck you have?
 
I have a Lincoln Navigator that I have owned for 156,000 miles and wouldn't part with it. Love the thing! Best thing I've ever owned in fact and I've had a lot of nice vehicles in my time. Just to name a few. I've owned 3 LandCruisers, 1 4Runners, 1 Tacoma, 2 T100 pick ups before, a Toyota Cressida, Honda Prelude, Jeeps, both Cherokee and now the Liberty, Trail Master conversion vans from both GMC and Chevy, and pickup trucks both Ford and Chevy all decked out with the whole ball of wax offerings from the companies and I could go on. I've had a couple caddys back a few years ago too.

I've had a lot of nice vehicles. I used to drive them to the ground and get a new one every two years with my job. I've never owned anything as long as the Nav and never had anything I liked better. It will pull more weight than its rated for, I've done it, its comfortable and the only vehicle I've driven across the country that my butt didn't get numb in while driving, and yeah you could say it sucks some gas in the city but you know what, my wife's Liberty is a bigger gas hog than my Navigator. No lie! And its a V6. For that matter my Nav is far more economical to drive than my LandCruisers were or the 4Runner too and it is faster from 0 to 60 than both, pulls far more than both in the way of a weighted down trailer and its more stable with a wider stance.

I can drive the Navigator from here in Bartlesville to Memphis Tenn. for a 1/3rd less money than I could the same distance in my wife's Jeep. We've done it and found out the hard way. It gets over 18mpg on the highway easy in the Lincoln. I've already decided that when something goes wrong with my Nav. I'm just getting it fixed.

Are there issues? I guess with anything there is. Gas consumption is the most often heard complaint but I think most guys buying them should know that goes with the territory personally. It gets 14 or so in the city. If you have a heavy foot maybe less.

The air ride suspension is great and especially when towing but the on board compressor is noisy. Took me a while to grow used to that but its not a big deal now. I understand its like $2000 to fix if it goes out but so far so good on mine. I also have been told its impossible to go to regular shocks with the Navigator so in case you were wondering I've looked into that as well.

If you work on them yourself the plugs are a challenge to get to. The oil filter is in the damnest place I've ever seen but it works. All Navigators have a habit of the check engine light coming on and 99.9% OF THE TIME ITS THE GAS DOOR OR THE GAS CAP NOT ON RIGHT WHEN IT HAPPENS so you might make note of that right now. It will happen.

Otherwise mine has been solid and just as steady and reliable as I could ever ask for. One of the other little said things about the Navigator is this. The air ride suspension is set so that in my 4x4 Navigator it sits like a two wheel drive for height so the center of gravitiy is low. This stablizes it and you can see how much less it sits up by parking next to a Ford Expedition 4x4 with the regular suspension. Put it in four wheel drive or all wheel drive though and the Navigator compressor kicks on and it sits it right up there as high if not a bit higher than the Expedition in about a minute or more. Its a neat trick I've always liked and appreciated a couple of times crossing the Little Mulberry River at night when I needed my headlights a bit higher than the splash.

By the way. There is a hump behind the two bucket seats and although the back in the back seat comes out you will have to unbolt the buckets to remove them for any camping. Its not a simple short work job. I did it once though so it can be done but the trouble isn't the seats. Its the center console in the back between the seats. You have to remove that alslo and it wasn't easy.

STR
 
If you really like the truck why not just look for another used one just like the truck you have?
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Easier said than done at this time of the year. Plus, there seems to be something in the combination of truck features that make a replacement nearly impossible to find. Supercab + split seats + 4WD + manual transmission = what the heck? I couldn't even configure a new truck with that combination at the Ford website.

Also, the SUV models depreciate much faster than the pickups, especially with trucks in such high demand seasonally. For instance, stopped at a local dealers yesterday. Used trucks, two in stock, were $18,500 apiece. By comparison, a used Eddie Bauer Explorer was $11,000. Buying locally is always a rip-off, and I can probably save thousands by buying in the city. But based on what I've seen advertised, the price difference between trucks and SUVs is similar everywhere.

Thanks STR for the comments on the Navigator. I need to find one to physically look at - there are none locally. But the Explorer I saw yesterday seemed like plenty of room for what I need. The third seat row was removeable and the second row folded flat. If the Navigator has a different configuration, that would be a factor.

18MPG would be a huge improvement over what my truck gets!

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Got the news on my truck. Probably the clutch master cylinder and/or clutch plate. Both parts are replaced at the same time. The hit is going to be $1,000 for parts and labor. For a truck that's only worth $5,000 and has other problems too... it's going to take some thought. Maybe get it fixed, but plan on selling it as soon as I find another truck I really like.
 
Something to consider instead of how much the repairs will cost in relation to the value of the truck is how long will the truck keep running after you put another thousand into it. If that's all it needs to keep it on the road for another year then it seems like a fair price to pay.

Chad
 
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