SHO is in! Keep old car for a couple months until snow is gone?

[Matt M PA]

The title sums up my question. The SHO I ordered came in late last week and I’m picking it up tomorrow. My current daily car is a 2006 Lincoln Zephyr. It has 125,000 miles on it and is in really nice shape. In fact, I’ve had a few people express interest in buying it.

My thought process is to keep that car and use it when the salt and slop is on the roads for the next couple months. Then clean it up, and sell it.

Most of my friends seem to think it’s a good idea, but a couple are telling me not to bother, they think it’s too much effort.

So guys, what do you think?

 

['14SHO]

I have a 2006 fusion for a daily. I’ll always have a daily to keep the miles off the SHO and to keep salt and crap off it. I feel lucky to have a car to drives and keep the SHO right

 

[bpd1151]

I have 3 other cars to choose to drive, beyond the SHO.

Although I did use my SHO as a daily driver previously, even during those craptastic Winter months here in CHI-Town, I have since chosen to "treat her right" by relegating her exclusively to car shows, track duties, and/or an occassional spirited romp around town (only during the warmer months) in which I'm feeling feisty, and she needs to stretch her legs.

YES! Keep the Lincoln you own, and put all the DD miles, and all of it's associated wear -n- tear on it, and NOT your brand new, beautifully built, limitedly produced SHO.

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[Bronco2fan]

**** yeah. Keep it and use it, especially if it's paid for. I have, in order of age, 97 Jeep GC, 5.2, 03 Mustang GT 4.6, 06 F150 Harley Davidson edition, 5.4, and of course the SHO. IMHO, you can't have too many toys lol.

 

[SHOinVa]

That really is a question only you can answer, and it comes down to two questions, 1. Can you afford to keep both cars and 2. How important is the SHO too you. To some people a SHO is just a car they drive and they don't care about it, in fact my car was a lease at one point and whoever had it drove it like a lease, to me its a special car I only use for road trips and nice days. I also have a 89 Mustang I only drive on nice days and it was a DD most of its life. If I one day win the lottery I will probably get a new SHO every year as a DD but my first will still be well cared for.
C/

 

[shomanbob]

In the northern states (like me in NY and you in PA), the only way to keep any vehicle nice is to not drive it in the winter. If, 26 years from now you want your SHO to stay like the one on the left, keep it out of the salt and and snow. I will admit that it is a hassle to take it off the road and put it back on every year, though.

 

[Magna]

If you can id say yes, use your old car as a Winter car. I would have if my garage was just big enough :-(

 

[Jeff2017]

If you plan to drive the SHO in the snow and slop next year then you just as well sell the Mercury now before any mechanical issues arise and drive the new car. Plus you will save on insurance.

 

[BoostfoSHO]

I kept my '13 VW Passat as a DD so I can put all the miles on it while the SHO is garage kept and I can mod it and if it breaks or needs dealer visits which it already has spent over 1month at the dealer I always had my other ride. Plus the VW gives me 35mpg on the highway which is 98% of the driving I do, way better than the 19mpg the SHO gives me.

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[Matt M PA]

Thanks guys....looks like the Lincoln's gonna stay a couple months. Insurance guy says it'll cost about $150 for 6 months of basic insurance on the Lincoln. Money well spent so that I can go over the bottom with Fluid Film, etc. By Spring, it'll be time to let the Lincoln go. I have a few folks interested in it.

Plus, I'm working on emptying out my late Mother's house, so it'll be good to have the old car for shuffling stuff around.

I'll post pics as soon as it's in hands!

 

[SHOdded]

Sorry to hear about your Mom, Matt.

 

[Matt M PA]

Thank you, SHOdded. 2017 was rough for her, ever worsening COPD, feeding peg tube, ofull time xygen, then stage 4 bone & lung cancer that seemed to come out of the blue. Thankfully, no pain. My wife and I did all we could to keep her in her house..where she wanted to be...all but the lat few days. I was blessed to have her.

 

[Lostneye]

First off sorry for your loss Matt.

I would like to have a second car and sometimes have but for me it’s usually not worth the hassle. Insurance is expensive in NY and with a second car that would have to be older to make sense financially for me that’s extra maintenance/repairs.

If you are driving your SHO through the winter wash it often.

 

[sperold]

To me, it is funny to hear of a Lincoln being used as a winter beater.
If you bought it new, you had no problems using it in the winter for the first few years.

Winter use is not a death sentence for a car, there are lots of things you can do to lessen the impact of less than ideal weather and salt exposure. My 28 year old winter SHO is a testament to that. And no one has worse winter conditions than what is experienced here.

Sell off the Lincoln when a good situation arises, winterize your SHO; and get a hidden hitch and a light duty trailer for all your upcoming chores.

Enjoy your new car year round.

There is always the chance that your pampered, summer only car, gets stolen or totaled. So get your enjoyment sooner than later.

If that becomes distasteful in the future, then buy a true winter beater, carry an AAA card, and use wing nuts on the license plates.

 

[zak]

sperold, be interested to hear all the steps that you take. Do you use FluidFilm? Do you spray the undercarriage down with water on occasional warm days? Wax doorjambs ;-) ?

Remember that most insurance companies will allow you to place a car into storage mode, significantly dropping the insurance cost and coverage to minimal levels. Just remember to call them before you take it out of storage.

At the OP, you are under warranty right now so may want to balance total warranty mileage to how far you plan to drive each year.

 

[sperold]

I recommend a rust-proofing service that you have to re-apply every year.

They all make great promises, but fact is, they all have weasel clauses that if they can't access the panel that rusts, it is not warrantied.
The idea is, you have to have a formula that is fluid enough to get into the seams of your metal construction, in that way keeping any salty water from making a home there.
Stay away from places that blast under your hood to impress you with how much gunk they use, insist on none in that area.

Don't bother spraying the bottom on warm days, all you are doing is forcing the existing slop deeper into the crevices and seams. And a lot of spray wash places recycle at least some of the water, which is worse than doing nothing.

Be prepared to park on the street or on a painters spread sheet in your garage, after you apply the stuff or have it applied by someone else.

 

[SHOinVa]

sperold - Your post made me laugh, for what its worth I have a different point of view.

To me, it is funny to hear of a Lincoln being used as a winter beater.

- A daily driver does not a "beater" make. Your just not going to get freaked out if you get a dent.

My 28 year old winter SHO is a testament to that

So your point is that he should not have a winter Lincoln but you have a winter SHO,

and get a hidden hitch and a light duty trailer

LMAO So don't drive the Lincoln because its too nice but put a trailer hitch on a brand new $55,000 sport sedan. LMAO If I see a trailer hitch on any SHO much less a Gen4 I will say mean things to your face an make fun of you behind your back. It even says somewhere in the Manual that the SHO should not be used for towing. LOL But that's just my point of view. Merry Christmas.
C/

 

[Matt M PA]

My Lincoln is a Zephyr (MKZ) that's 12 model years old with 125,000 miles. I got it when my Dad passed and it needed lots of TLC. Lots of door dings to get taken out from his opening them into the pole in the garage..all the wheels were curb-surfed...so it was easy to put the car into service and not get too worried. I haul stuff in it, eat in it...I've driven that car 10 miles at a stretch...in the snow...with no issues. It's a well used and well loved car.

I have a couple toy cars for nice days and playing so the SHO needs to be the daily driver. We also have a 2005 Excursion that I bought new to share the garage with the SHO.

I'm planning to just keep the Lincoln a couple months until the salt is off the roads...and move full time into the SHO.