DrakeR

leftoverture, Unfortunately nearest Discount Tire to me is in Pittsburgh, 300 miles away. But thank you.

Hello leftoverture, Are the Pirellis the "Plus Two" version that came out about a year ago? Or are they an older version? My understanding is that the older Cinturatos had a rep for being bad in the winter (and even in the rain, I think). This newer Cinturato "Plus Two" supposedly is improved for those conditions. Whether that is true or not-I'm not sure. Falkens: Yeah, I was actually interested in those but they kind of fell off the radar for me. I was sort of looking for a GT tire (while realizing that these tire categories are kind of arbitrary in a sense). Falken makes the Sincera which is their GT tire, and was highly rated by Consumer Reports but when I input my car into various tire shops websites the Sincera never comes up as an option. Maybe they're not made in my size. Maybe I will look into the Ziex, which I think are classified as "high performance". One thing I like about Falkens-they are a Sumitomo product. Best tires I ever owned were a set of Sumitomos I bought back in 2004. Best treadwear I ever got, and provided good handling and ride quality. Was going to purchase them back in the day on the next car I owned, but got talked into BF Goodrich instead by the sales rep, and was locked into them for awhile because of treadwear warranty. Still regret it. Thanks for your reply, leftoverture.

Hello bbf2530, Actually there is a treadwear warranty on OE Michelin tires for MY 2011 through MY 2017. My info comes from three sources: A: Page 34 of the Tire Warranty Guide included with the warranty material I received when I bought my 2019 MKZ (under the Michelin section it states: "Michelin passenger and light truck tires [replacement and original equipment] are covered by a limited warranty for treadwear.") (Emphasis mine). B: Phone conversation with a Michelin rep who stated that "OE tires are only covered 2018 and earlier" (I was told this after I went through a tire inspection at a local tire shop and several other conversations with Michelin reps, before they decided to check what year my car was purchased). Apparently their info was a bit wrong though because......... C. Michelin website https://www.michelinman.com/auto/assistance/warranty All MICHELIN passenger and light truck replacement tires, and original equipment tires for 2011-2017 model years, are covered by a limited mileage warranty for treadwear, as well as a limited warranty which covers defects in workmanship and materials for the life of the original usable tread, or for 6 years from date of purchase, whichever occurs first. (Again, emphasis mine) Like you, I had previously always assumed their was no treadwear warranty on OE tires on a new car. And I know for a fact that at least one car I owned (OE Firestones) MY 1999 explicitly stated no treadwear warranty in the warranty literature included with the car. I believe that the three cars I leased afterwards (but prior to the MKZ) also explicitly stated the same in their warranty lit, though I don't actually remember so. None of them were OE with Michelin products. So I never pursued a treadwear warranty on any OE tires before, despite the OE tires always wearing out well before their treadwear rating, and despite always undergoing required tire/wheel maintenance. A product of my driving habits and the very hilly area, changeable weather and lousy roads in my location, I suppose. So when I purchased the MKZ, and was going through the warranty literature and looked in the tire booklet, I was surprised to see that my car had a treadwear warranty stated in the booklet. I filed that info in my brain for future reference. Unfortunately, the info in the booklet was apparently not updated for MY 2019. So all for naught. Well, for me at least. But if anyone out there is running OE Michelins from MY 2011-2017, maybe you can get some use from this info. Probably too late for the vast majority, however. Michelin Pilot Sports: I had Pilot Sports on the MY 1999 car I referred to earlier (I remember it well, I purchased them on September 11, 2001). Then, as now, they were very highly regarded. I thought they were good tires at the time, but perhaps a bit overrated (Michelin and Sears were very good about replacing them under the treadwear warranty a year and a half later, however). I actually liked the Primacy(s), in fact I had purchased them as replacement tires on my previous ride, an Acura, and was pretty happy with them, though again the treadwear was a bit worse than I expected. I turned the car in before the tires were worn out, so it didn't really matter. But my understanding is that Michelin is a pain anymore to get to honor their treadwear warranties (the shop that was dealing with me explicitly told me this, and I have seen other references on the internet to this aspect of the brand, as well.) Though I'm not sure if anyone else is any better. Still I think I'm going to try a different brand for that reason, plus just to see how the other half lives, as it were (and maybe save a little money, as well). Thanks for your reply bbf2530.

Looking to replace the OEM Michelin Primacy(s) on my 2019 MKZ (down to 4/32s at 25 K despite regular rotations). Michelin stopped treadwear warranty coverage on OEM tires after 2017 model year. Have pretty much narrowed down my search to the Vredestein Quatrac Pro vs. Pirelli Cinturato P7 Plus Two. Looking at Tirerack these seem to be the top two GT tires (along with the more expensive Continentals) in that category. Main difference seems to be Pirellis may have better treadwear vs. Vredestein better in winter (definitely an issue here in upstate NY). Vredestein's are a bit cheaper. Best deal on Vredesteins is about an hours drive vs. Pirellis in town. Using Tire Rack installer $100 more expensive on Vredesteins than an hours drive, plus I prefer to buy from non-internet businesses when I can. BTW, the Pirellis are the Cinturato P7 Plus Two(s) that reputedly have better rain and snow traction vs. the previous generation Cinturato P7 Plus. Anybody have any experience with either tire? Thanks.

I didn't actually try mine in "Park", I will later. The touchscreen "Browse Artist" did work when I had the car in Accessory mode, before I started the engine. In my car the voice commands for the USB are all now working as they did before, at least the ones that I use. I haven't checked any other voice commands. In my car it is still allowing you to select from the touchscreen for the USB once you get past the "Browse Artist" command, so for example, once you input the artist name using a voice command, it will bring up a list of albums for that artist that are on the USB and you can select the album from the touchscreen, if you want.

Chris109: Excellent tip. The "Reset Index" command worked. Now I can "Browse Artist" again using voice commands. Thank you very much. Interestingly, you can no longer "Browse Artist" using the touchscreen while the car is in "Drive". Apparently, this update eliminated that option, due to driver distraction issues, I assume.

Jay2019: Did you get a solution to your USB music browsing problem? My car updated to SYNC 3.4 overnight (Automatic Update), and today I am no longer able to browse through my music collection on my USB, either through the screen or by using voice. Seems similar to the problem you are having. The only way I can access the files now is with the screen command "Explore Device", but that is cumbersome, and because it does not work with voice commands, a distraction while I am driving. Frustrating. I've tried two different USB sticks, both formatted FAT32, one a USB 3.0, one a USB 2.0, and with both sticks that functionality is gone. Worked fine before the update. Anyone have an idea for a solution? I take it that it is not possible to restore back to SYNC 3.3, is that correct?

Thanks for the advice everyone. I'm kind of leaning toward the Weathertech mats rather than the liners, just because I like the deeper channels in those. But I must admit those MAXpider liners look really sharp and look like they fit really well.

Anyone have any recommendations for all-season floor mats (for a 2019)? I'm leaning toward Weathertech (mainly because I can get them in a tan color, as opposed to the Lincoln ones that only come in black). But I'd be interested in any ideas or experiences. Lots of snow and slush where I live (upstate NY). Thanks.

Longislander, bbf2530, and drolds1: Again, thanks for the help. And I would say that characterizing this car as smooth and comfortable is very accurate. Seems to be the best riding car I've ever had, and one of the few current cars I tried (and I tried many) where the seats fit me well, especially the position of the headrest. In the end that was the deciding factor. Audio is the best I've had also, better than the ELS system in my old Acura, (and that was a good system). Quite enjoying it.

So....finally pulled the trigger today. Reserve II AWD. 2.0T Blue Diamond, Cappuccino. No other options. $47.99K MSRP. $41.5 K cap cost. 15K mi/yr. $500/mo. $2.7K DAS, including 1st payment, Acquisition, Fees, etc. Wasn't eligible for loyalty. First FoMoCo product for me in a long time, so obviously I knew that going in. Negotiation took about 20 minutes. Rather pleasant. Put down a little more upfront than I usually do, but not so much that I wasn't OK with it, as long as it came off the back end. Which it did. Ray Price in Stroudsburg, PA. Very professional IMHO. No games. Quite happy with the deal, overall. Maybe could have done a little better, but I guess I'm getting old-don't have the fight in me I used to have. Was glad to get it over quick. Cheers and sincere thanks to everyone who replied-you were all very helpful, and gave me a good basis to work from. That was invaluable.

Thanks.

Thanks. It's not out of the question for me to go to the Albany-Schenectedy area to get a car. I leased a BMW from Keeler about 9 years ago, because they beat my local BMW outlet by a good margin on price. I know the area pretty well, I have some family there, and get up there a lot for work, also. So, I'll keep that in mind. Thanks.

Chris109: Sorry, I didn't see your reply earlier. I am in the Binghamton area.

drolds1, Thanks for your reply. Yeah, my head was spinning also. Three days later, I'm still laughing to myself every time I think about it. I don't understand what rationale that sales guy had, if any. Earlier I said it was the weirdest car buying experience I had in a while-but I've been buying/leasing used and new cars from new car dealerships for more than 30 years, everything from new BMWs to used Plymouths, and upon further review I have never had an experience anywhere near as weird/disturbing as that one. In fact, almost all the experiences I've had were good to excellent, whether i ended up buying or not. I am in Upstate New York. I believe you generally don't get quite as good a deal here as you can get in places like So. Califonia, Dallas-Fort Worth, or New Jersey, where the sales volume per dealership is generally higher, and there is more competition. Still, it's obviously nowhere near as bad as what that guy was trying to pawn. I like your X-Plan idea. Mustang Club is probably out for me as 60 days is too long for me to wait at this point. But I went to that Experimental Airplane Association website you linked to and looked at their X-Plan member benefit page and didn't see any reference to a waiting period. Do you know if that is in fact the case? If there isn't a waiting period (or if it isn't very long), then yeah I'll join up and take advantage of that. It would certainly be 40 bucks well spent. Thank you very much for your help.

bbf2530, What you're saying is true and I understand you're not defending him....but at that point I decided his offer was so outrageous, I would just answer his question without getting into the details. Basically...that offer was so high it seemed very unlikely to me to be able to negotiate it down to a more reasonable figure. I mean...my current lease they came in a bit high roughly 100/month more for their first offer-so yeah, I negotiated the cap cost down over a half an hour or so-but from this Lincoln guy's reaction I didn't get a cue that was even an option, or else it was going to be a knock down drag out marathon, and I don't have the patience for that anymore. Also, I doubt he thought I didn't know how leasing works, since I had discussed some details of my current lease with him, and I made sure he knew I understood the importance of credit rating to getting the best interest rate. I also discussed the details of what my "money down" was to cover, so he knew I was acquainted with the concepts such as acquisition fee and cap cost reduction. If he thought I was a dummy, he is probably not very smart, himself. And to be jacking up the interest rate by more than 3 points on top of offering no discount other than the factory lease discount-that just tells me that the guy wasn't serious about doing business with someone who is even half-informed. So I'll let him wait for the next dummy to come along. Though they'll have to be really dumb to go for that. I gave the locals their shot, due to their small inventory they weren't my first choice anyway, but I thought I'd be a nice guy-now it's time to move on. I've only bought or leased one out of my last five cars in this town. Looks like it'll be one out of six, soon.

OK. There may be something to that, but even by those standards the lease price he quoted to me was beyond ridiculous. At first I had assumed it was a very highball starting point for a round of negotiation. But his silence and response after my counter-offer led me to believe he was serious. Which was sad. Furthermore, I ran his numbers through a lease calculator using the residual and money factor figures for the MKZ I gleaned from Edmunds. Supposedly, I was getting the $2500 lease incentive from Lincoln, with no other discounts off of MSRP (and quite frankly, that sucks). But even using that horrible cap cost, the lease figure I calculated came out $95 a month cheaper than his quote-which means he was also not giving me the Tier I interest rate (despite the fact that I stressed to him that I checked my Experian this morning and it was well above 800.) So either he was ripping me off, or in effect, calling me a liar-either one makes me not want to do business with him.

OK. So I actually rented a 2018 MKZ last week, just to take an extended test drive and make sure I like this car. For the most part, I liked it a lot. So I just got back from my local dealer. After some preliminaries we got down to business. I explained I was interested in a Reserve II AWD, interior: Cappucino, Exterior: flexible. Nothing on the lot, we'll do a search. Came back with one. MSRP: about $47.6 K-Him:"you interested?" Me: "Yeah". Him :"Want me to run numbers?" Me: "Yes, please". Comes back with $720/month, $1500 down. Me: "More than I was expecting to pay." Him: "Really?!? How much were you expecting?" Thinking this was possibly an opening to negotiation, I come back with: "more like $500/month". Him: (stunned look) "Oh no...not at Lincoln, man". Me: (after a pause to hear if he had anything else to say), "Well, I guess I was aiming for the wrong car then. OK, thanks. Take care". Walked out, fast. I mean, come on...... Haven't had a buying experience like that in a long time. Off to a more distant dealer.

Will do. Thank you.

Thanks longislander. Your lease was a couple of years ago, but it is useful info-and again, your lease is in line with what I suspect a 2019 at 47K or so would lease for. That is helpful. And yes I agree-a 400 HP turbo V-6 is tempting. They sticker a bit higher now, though. About 51K minimum, I think, since the configurations are different for 2019. You did well.

bbf2530: First off-thank you for your reply. Yeah, I had basically gathered from reading this board both this year, and in the past, that buying rather than leasing seemed to be more popular with the posters on this board. And a relatively large number of those seem to special order (such as yourself). Which is a good way to go-but I've never been decisive enough to order a car. Not yet, anyway. And I agree my question was a bit generalized, which probably was not one of my better ideas. I guess I figured coming right out and asking if anyone wanted to tell me what they paid seemed a bit ....gauche. But your reply is very helpful, because yes, I am familiar with the money factor and residual figures that should be available to me if I lease an MKZ, but finding good figures for acquisition costs is more difficult. I gather what I can from TrueCar, KBB, etc, as well as looking at the websites of dealers who advertise their discounts up front. But that is an incomplete picture. But having a real person let me know what they paid is very helpful (and in this case, you pretty much confirmed what I expected). From what I have gathered, the discounts on the 2019's (including incentives) are in the ballpark of what you reported for your 2018. I've only got two weeks left on my current Acura lease, and I definitely like the MKZ overall better than my Acura. My only other contender is Infiniti Q50, but I think I like the MKZ a bit better. I will probably hit my local Lincoln dealer first, but they don't have anything on the lot that interests me, so I'll see what they say about bringing a car in-if I like their deal I will take it-if not my next nearest dealer is about 50 miles away-and there are quite a few within 100 miles or so-and I'm willing to travel-I've only bought or leased one out of my last five cars in this burg. Probably will go for a 2.0 T Reserve II AWD. May try to stretch to a V6. I'll see how it goes. Thanks again, bbf2530.

So.....no one has leased an MKZ recently?

So how do these cars lease? I know the residual and money factor figures. But how much in your experience do dealers discount these cars? Test drove one and (still) like it. But the last time I was lease shopping (2016) IMHO the lease deals were not too competitive vs. comparable cars (Acura TLX, Infiniti Q50, Hyundai Genesis, Audi A4). But the refreshed MKZ had been just starting to hit the lots back then. Anybody here have any leasing experiences recently? Thanks.

Never mind. I just looked at the 2017 MKZ owners manual online-even though these MKX multi-contour seats in the video look identical to the seats in the MKZ-I see they have different controls, so you are correct. Thanks.

These aren't the same seats as in the MKZ?