Agreed it is not worth the Black Label price, but it's a fine car for 45-50K.

I'm surprised you didn't find the 400 HP TT version (350 HP with FWD) to your liking in the power department....after all, you aren't buying a Bugatti or Dodge Hellcat. And that "torque-management" issue you mention on shifts is (probably) just some built-in slippage to smooth out the shifts and avoid bumps.....Ford/Lincoln transmissions, in the past, have often been criticized for too-firm shifting.

I didn't notice many fit/finish issues in the Continentals or MKXs I've seen (or the ones I test-drove)....but, agreed, somewhat loose assembly quality in the smaller Lincoln MKC SUV and MKZ sedan is one of several reasons I passed up on them in favor of a Buick Lacrosse.

 

Fleets. I'd bet a considerable amount it's to fleets. It's a great car for fleet use.

Not a car I would consider for myself, there are just better cars out there for the money.

$45-50k the Continental doesn't even have real leather seats and is very plain. I'd much rather have a well optioned Genesis G80, or even a high optioned ES350.

 

I have not owned a car for 10+ years with less than 400hp, so that level, to me is merely adequate in such a large, heavy car. The shifting was unacceptable, you can have smooth shifts without a horrendous dead spot between each shift. That is just crap work by Lincoln. The ZF in my truck shifts very smooth with no laggy-ness, same with the Asin box in our ISF.

I was frankly shocked at the poor quality of the exterior. There was literally trim falling off of some of the cars, and the heat in Texas has yet to reach 100, wait until mid summer and there will be trim and body parts laying all over the lot.

 

Well, OK, maybe the assembly line is starting to slip up on the latest ones...I'll take your word for it, as you actually saw some of the more-recent ones, and are in a position to judge. The ones I looked at, earlier, seemed OK...but I haven't looked close-up at one for several months.

 

C&D ranks the Continental #15 in the segment. On their list of negatives they say "interior diminished by poor choice of materials, excess bright work, ergonomic flaws".

 

Black Label the trim and materials looks very nice IMHO. However I think the ergonomic flaws are harder to notice on a quick review and test drive. If I lived with one for a few weeks I might agree but on a quick drive everything seemed reasonably well placed, proportioned and easily accessible. At least from the driver's seat.

 

Their tester was a $66.5 Reserve model. I'm not sure where that falls in the lineup, and realize that it's just one mags review.

 

Reserve is one step below the Black Label so it is the highest "regular" trim I think.

 

It is astonishing how much attention this new Continental gets from some members on here. With that said, I love the looks of the new Conti. 400hp from a V6 and a unique look works for me. And the simple fact that the new Conti does not have a stupid remote touch or idrive and uses a touchscreen puts it ahead of Lexus and a comparable MB IMO. BMW has gone to both touchscreen and iDrive thank god.

I have also warmed to marketing by Annie Leibowitz and the use of her photography.

 

In the area of infotainment, yes. If all you want out of a car is an infotainment system though you can buy something with the same system and same quality of system for way less money than a Continental. That doesn't make up for its warts in other areas as a car. Infotainment system is way, way down the list for me.

As other have said, if it was $65k fully loaded up and done up like the black label, it would be a compelling car, but as it is the car optioned at that "mainstream" price is very plain and middle of the road, and fully loaded the car is silly overpriced. I feel the same way about the CT6. Its a good car "for a Lincoln" but compared to its competitors its just not compelling.

 

Pretty sure depreciation is going to be extremely brutal(like V12 AMG Benz type of brutal), especially on some of those Black Label cars that are 70k. I bet in a year or two you can pick up one of these Contientials with under 20k miles on it for HALF of what the new MSRP was.

 

This has me thinking about what sedans I would want over a Continental its spans of price range...

(compared to a similarly priced Continental): G80....G90...ES350....GS350 w/lux package...5 Series...E Class...CT6...LS460...Volvo S90...Audi A6...Jaguar XJ...thats a big list of cars you can buy for the same money or less than the Continental at various price points which I've driven and feel are significantly superior in one or more ways.

 

No BMW 540i? Or did they screw it up too much for you at the last redesign?

 

Luxury cars suffer from higher deprecation rates compared to lower priced mainstream cars. Not really sure most people are going to care about depreciation on a Lincoln.

 

I said 5 Series...which includes the 540. The new 5 is great.