Maybe it's my covetousness working its way out every Sunday morning on the church parking lot. I'm currently drooling over the new MB CLK series, but back in the real world I'm probably going to wind up with a comfortable mid-size sedan to replace the aging minivan my wife is so reluctant to give up.

Last Sunday I parked next to a new Milan, and was very impressed. One of the great secrets of the Mercury marque (especially for cheapskates like me) is the fact that with a judicious touch, you can carefully check off the options boxes to build yourself a Lincoln at a fire-sale price. The interior was very nice - quite stylish compared to the Toyota/Honda upscale family 4-doors. Color was nice, well applied, fit and finish was unlike most Fords in my experience, but it was the tasteful 2-tone leather interior that got me.

Now I have no delusions that this is a luxury car, but it achieves near-lux status, if not a rave review from me simply because of its sticker. You would have a great deal of difficulty optioning one of these up to $30K - even with the Duratec V-6, AWD, and nav. In today's market that's quite a feat.

Meanwhile, I'm staying away from that end of the parking lot. If JK sees it (especially lovely in dark blue) that van of hers will never see 200K and the money we've set aside for a new windshield, side window, paint, wheels, tires and rocker cover gaskets might go toward the first payment on a Milan. I've gotta start parking between a couple old rusty pickups - if I value my bank account and/or immortal soul.

 

Don't kid yourself...the Lincoln Zephyr/MKZ's interior trumps the Milan's, no matter what option box you check off on the order form.

Having said that, though, the Fusion and Milan do offer much of the same engineering for a lower price. I have formally reviewed two different versions of these cars.....a FWD Lincoln Zephyr (MKZ) and an AWD Ford Fusion. Both were nice cars. The Zephyr didn't quite have the smooth, Town-Car ride that a lot of Lincoln traditionalists would want (it is a luxury/sports sedan), but was otherwise a very nice car. Same with the Fusion....though, for some reason, I noticed a distinct lack of rear headroom in the Fusion compared to the Lincoln, and its interior, of course, was much less plush.

All three of these cars have quite an ace up their sleeves, too....their first-year reliability was well above average, quite unusual for a American-designed vehicle. Their first-year reliability, in some cases, beat even the well-established Accord and Camry's. Ford's well-publicized efforts at improving quality control seem to be starting to pay off.

 

I had a 4-cylinder basic Fusion rental car in Tucson, AZ a few months back and remember being very impressed by it overall. The chassis had very nice taut and controlled feedback over bumps and during tight corners, almost as good as my Audi, and I'm pretty sure it was quieter than my Audi.

Granted if you equip a Fusion with all of the features found in my Audi you basically have an MKZ and the price is no longer an advantage... but still, if I could live with a less powerful slightly less tightly handling car with fewer options at half the price, the Fusion would make a great choice.

 

if ford actually attempted to make its mercury counterpart look different than its ford counterpart maybe id be remotely interested. They really dont try to make it look different, its lame

 

The lady in the Milan commercials is on the throb list.

 

yea shes freaking hot

 

. . . but now you're moving into Lexus ES sticker territory, and the Lincoln is going to finish a distant second in that comparison.

We'll probably wind up with something relatively inexpensive, or something off the "pre-owned" lot. Her car gets only about 500-600 miles per year, unless #1 daughter begins driving more. We won't be making any moves until spring, but I'm beginning to make a list. Of course it won't be my decision, but one can always hope . . .

 

I'd honestly rather have the Lincoln's interior...if you have followed my posts lately, you know I think the new ES350 is a disappointment compared to the last-generation model. The interior has lost a lot of its former superb wood paneling, especially on the dash and doors, and the new 55-series tires and firmer underpinnings stiffen up the ride as well. There were also creaks and minor rattles in the ES350 I reviewed.
Both the Lincoln and the new ES, however, are well above average in reliability.

The Milan....the thread topic......is a good compromise, though, between the Fusion and the MKZ, both in interior quality, standard equipment, and, of course, reliability. The Milan, like most Mercury products, lags far behind its Ford brother in sales, so L-M dealers have more incentives to bargain and discount. You certainly have my blessing if you and your wife want to buy one......especially the AWD model. Even though you generally don't get snow and ice in Houston where you are, you DO get heavy rains where AWD is beneficial. However, reliability data on the newer AWD models is somewhat lacking compared to the older FWD ones, so the much-better-than-average record may or may not end up applying to them too.
But, please..... DO check out that rear seat headroom if tall people are going to ride back there.

 

I like the Milan but do your self a favor, Look at a 08 Avalon.

 

Yes, a nice car, but generally more expensive, AWD not available, and not necessarily any more reliable (although most Milans are still relatively new and unproven in the long run). Some of the interior plastics, finishes, and ***** on the new Avalon don't impress me either.

The Avalon does not compete directly with the Fusion/Milan twins either......it competes more directly with the larger and more expensive Ford Five Hundred/Mercury Montego (since renamed Taurus/Sable).

 

Yea, but it rides nice.

 

I consider you one of the smartest guys here but in this case, it sounds like listen to the heart, not logic.

The Milan is nice to look at and a good car. Its not going to be a mag heartthrob or internet king. Its nice, if you like it, rock it!

 

The Milan is a very good car imo. It looks ok which is more than i can say for the fusion/ mkz. I see used '06 Milans for ~$16k w/ low miles!

 

You think YOU'RE unhappy with the latest ES? Take a walk over to the ES forums and try to say something nice about it. Hint: come wearing your flame suit.

I agree that the Avalon is probably a better buy.

 

But...Milan = twin of Fusion
The could have at least made some changes