For four days spanning the Labor Day weekend, I got to abandon my work horse of a mom mobile and test drive the new Lincoln MKT. I was looking forward to the Lincoln's arrival. Goodbye mini-van, hello Lincoln MKT.
By the time the car was delivered, I was already running late for a meeting. So with keys to autotopia in hand, I hopped in and then spent a record 10 minutes trying to work out how to get the darned vehicle to start. The push button start was a novel feature for me, and I pushed and I pushed and I pushed.
Then, I got hot and sweaty. The afternoon sun was blazing and there I was, an automotive illiterate, with the windows rolled up in a car that wouldn't start. My vision of a smooth sailing air-conditioned ride across town was fading fast.
It was almost like that scene out of that 1980s film, Risky Business. Worse, even. At least they were able to get the engine to start.
Finally. I noticed a friendly little suggestion flash across the in-dash screen: Step on brakes to turn on motor.
Duh! Bingo!
Vrooom...and I was off. A little late, but driving down the highway in climate controlled style.
That night, I opened the glove compartment to search for the car owner's manual. I'd wanted to give it a brief read through, so I'd be familiar with some of the car's features. I'd particularly wanted to figure out how to use the Active Park Assist, especially as we'd planned to head to San Francisco the following day. Ever try to parallel park in reverse up a San Francisco hill? In a stick shift, I could never do it. Would the automatic drive Lincoln MKT be up for it? Not sure if I was...what if auto-assist failed?
But...no manual. Uh oh. I was on my own.
The glove compartment only revealed a manual for the navigation system, nothing more. I queried my fellow Bay Area Lincoln MKT testers (@mamaspeak / review, @glennia / review , @bonggamom / review, @citymama) on Twitter and learned I needed to push a button on the gear shift in order to activate the Active Park Assist. I totally see the need for the Active Park Assist feature because there really isn't a whole lot of rear visibility using traditional methods of glancing at rear and side mirrors and of course, the old-fashioned head turn to look behind.
Apparently, I'm no good at pushing buttons because I swear, I pushed that gear shift button and nothing happened. Not that I devoted more than a minute to the task (I had cranky kids in the car at the time), but I just couldn't get it to work.
No matter. I soon got back to enjoying the experience of driving a new-to-me car.
The following morning, our family of four set of for San Francisco, about a 45 minute drive away. My husband noticed the Michigan plates on our car and predicted we'd be mistaken for Michigan tourists <eye roll>.
San Francisco is one of my all time favorite cities, a way to see a microcosm of the world when we no longer have the time or finances for far flung adventures.
The Lincoln MKT handled the drive beautifully, gliding up scenic highway 280 and climbing up and down the city hills with minimal effort. It felt like a car commercial. The navigation system was a hit with my directionally challenged husband; while it took some getting used to for me and my innate good sense of direction (yep, stereotype reversal). But I enjoyed connecting my cell phone to the car's built-in Bluetooth, it was so much less distracting to drive that way than with an ear piece.
We stopped briefly in Pacific Heights for lunch and then headed over the Golden Gate bridge to the Bay Area Discovery Museum. Our two children occupied one space each in the second and third rows and they were in awe of the foggy view that unfolded as we opened up the Lincoln's two ample sun roofs.
Riding in the Lincoln MKT seems like a dummy proof, fail proof experience. They've got you covered. Someone in your blind spot? Small dots on the side mirrors light up. Blind spot! Blind spot! Lost in an unfamiliar city? Turn on the navigator. Backing out of the driveway? Rear view cameras show the world behind you. (Again, I suspect that this warning system is needed because visibility out the side and rear windows is obstructed by the car's headrests and exterior design.) There's just so much luxury that I feel I almost don't have to do anything for myself. Even my butt can get cooled down or warmed up with a push of a button via the handy seat warmer and cooler controls.
On Labor Day, we drove down the coast in the opposite direction, heading down to Monterey and Pacific Grove. We worked this car!
On a side note, we decided to take our newly purchased Graco backless Turboboosters out for a test ride in the Lincoln MKT as well. We've got 5-point Latch Britax Marathons in the mini-van and 5-point Latch Safeguard Go car seats in my husband's car but we needed a third set of seats for when my boys go off on playdates or ride in grandma's car. So we opted for the wallet friendly, ultra portable Graco Turboboosters for which my nearly 5-year-old twins were now height and weight qualified to use.
This is a classic example of what not do - can we say D A N G E R O U S? (And yes, I know about car seat safety.) My boys were actually fitting into the boosters just fine...when they were awake, but lulled by the boredom of the road, they quickly fell asleep. The backless Turboboosters offered no head and body support and neither did the seats of the Lincoln MKT. Fortunately, everything turned out okay and the Turboboosters will be stored away for a while.
It was really nice to have that third row seating in the Lincoln MKT. My boys tend to fight when seated next to each other, so as we do in our mini-van, we put them in separate rows. The one disadvantage of the Lincoln's third row seats is access. You need to be a tiny person to get back there. There's no way my dad could ever get back there - it's just not physically possible. I also didn't like the center storage console (probably an optional accessory) as it made the car feel bulky inside. To access the third row seating my kids had to scamper over either the center console or the folded up second row seat. Either way, they had to STEP on something, leaving footprints or tiny scuff marks; I'd rather that they could access the very back row by being able to keep their feet on the car floor. Another disadvantage is that there is far less trunk space in the Lincoln MKT than there is in my mini-van.
Overall, we enjoyed our time with the Lincoln MKT. It's probably the maximum size I would ever opt for in a car and feels a bit more like a chunky station wagon than an SUV. It felt safe and gave a smooth ride and I was constantly entertained by the endless features available in the car. We subjected that car to our active lifestyle and it passed the test. We ate in it and spilled crumbs. We drove it near and we drove it far and some of us (see above) even slept in it. I'm not a car techie, but as an ordinary mom who needs a car for an active lifestyle, this car works.
A big thank you to the folks at Ford for making the new Lincoln MKT available for me to test drive. This was not a paid test drive and I received no compensation.
Original post to Chalk and Cheese Chronicles.
