That’s a great buy. Amazing condition for basically a 20 year old car. Taxi companies swore by the 4.6 for its low maintenance through an easy 200k miles. You should be able to enjoy it for many years. Congrats!

 

Just tell your family and friends to start calling you Honest Abe. That should make them more comfortable with your Lincoln collection. This information came from an expert, BTW.

 

Nice purchase Andrew3689!

 

You found me

 

In 2005 my Mom bought an Aviator and I bough a Lincoln LS, my first new car out of University (both awesome cars that would be discontinued in a few years for a pair of rebadged FWD Fords). The Aviator was a phenomenal car, one of my all-time favorites! It's a tragedy it was short-lived, one of many hapless decisions by a brand that can't stick to anything (but I know that's a Detroit thing in general).

 

Very nice example. Every time I think of Aviators and Navigators those older generations immediately come to mind. They were really tastefully styled for being body-on-frame SUVs.

 

Same here honestly. I still love the styling of the 03 to 06 Navigator. I had them on my list too as with pretty much every other mid to large SUV but they still command a premium especially with low miles.

 

That's a great find!

 

Test drove one back in the day. Nice.
The cooled seats are actually cooled seats, not ventilated seats.

 

Yep my LS was the same way. In fact every Lincoln have owned since have true cooled seats where it's tied into the AC. They do get nice and cool too which is great for those hot FL summers.

 

Great shape - even the headlights aren't frosted over!

Beautiful dog - they have loads of energy and curiosity.

 

They sure do! Whenever it's time for him to go out and do his business he has this routine where he has to run from one side of the house to the other and look down the "alley" and see who's in the front yard even if no one is there but he doesn't walk he has to run full speed to either side lol..

And yes this must have been garaged its whole life cause the headlights are crystal clear. Underside is super clean too. No pealing on the paint or clearcoat either.

Very nice! The Aviator isn't bad, either! Is Maxwell...smart? We were looking for a weimar, but after talking to several breeders and handlers, we ended up with an australian shepherd - fantastic breed!

The Aviator was on my short list, along with the Buick Rainier/Saab 9-7X. Ended up with the Rainier...still going strong with 170k! 🤞

He's very smart but also kind of a derp at the same time it's hard to explain. He figured out how to open his old cage from the inside early on just by watching us open the door we ended up having to get a different one cause of that haha. But he also hasn't figured out how to walk or run on the first floor with the vinyl flooring he slides around like crazy. He also LOVES ice give him an ice cube and you've made his day he chases it around the floor and punches it and watches it slide then eventually eats it.

Australian Shepards are beautiful dogs I love their coats! My guitar instructor had one who was extremely friendly.

 

Very nice! The Aviator isn't bad, either! Is Maxwell...smart? We were looking for a weimar, but after talking to several breeders and handlers, we ended up with an australian shepherd - fantastic breed!

The Aviator was on my short list, along with the Buick Rainier/Saab 9-7X. Ended up with the Rainier...still going strong with 170k! 🤞

 

Nice! I always kinda liked that era Aviator.

 

That looks very clean! Congrats.

 

We wish you many years of enjoyment with both Maxwell and your Aviator!

 

I don't understand why Ford didn't keep the body-on-frame Explorer platform going. That platform had plenty of life left in it along with having a lot of potential. They could even tow up to 7300 pounds.

 

I've always loved that generation of Navigators and Aviators - just a classy look that I still think looks great today.

 

It looks really good, nice find . That one in the chair looks really good too.... .

 

Congratulations on a great find ! I'm delighted that's working out for you, the used car market is so fraught that it scares off most new car buyers these days.. Many many years ago, 10 year old cars were around $100.. Those days are long gone.

Great looking Weimaraner by the way.. Those are high energy dogs.. I have a white/yellow Labrador retreiver these days.. A curious pup that chases after anything of interest and goes insane at the sight of a laser beam dot.. If I take her with me on a ride, she immediately walks over the console from the rear seat to occupy the driver seat..

 

Just got back from my mechanic. He said I got a good vehicle everything is pretty solid mechanical wise there are a few things that need to be addressed though and they are mostly on the easy side

1. Rear brakes are shot also need brake fluid flushed it's pretty old.
2. Rear HVAC blend door is clicking he said that it's very easy to get to and a quick job (I didn't have the rear air on till today so I didn't notice this till today)
3. Filters and other fluids need to be flushed he noted the oil filter is pretty bad and wants to get me in ASAP for an oil change to get that swapped out, at some point I am hoping to do my own on this car but for now I will have him do it
4. Injector cleaning he noted a slight vibration and said injector cleaning should resolve that since it just got all new spark plugs not too long ago.

Other than that everything else looks good on it. Side note I drove it at night for the first time because the battery died on it, turns out it was less than a year old but a cheap Wal Mart EverStart battery that had a 1 year warranty. I decided to swap it out for something a lot better instead of replacing it with the same thing under warranty and after it was done was surprised to see it has factory HID headlights. Also some night time interior shots for you guys. I kind of dig the soft white lighting. I also ordered replacement trim pieces for the center stack since they are worn pretty bad and the vents are cracked. They were all very cheap on eBay and look like new.

Next thing to look into is a nice double din head unit with a screen that can do android auto. I'd also like to keep the CD player if possible I saw Pioneer has a headunit that has both. I also want to get a backup camera too. One thing at a time though.

 

^I didn't know the analog clock lit up. Nice.

 

I had an 05 Aviator. Outstanding acceleration, superbly comfortable interior, excellent build quality. I really, really liked driving it.

However, it had a brand new dealer installed transmission at 80k (before I got it) and the 5.4 has hazards of its own. It was sold off.

 

You mean 4.6? This has the 4.6 not the 5.4, the Navigator has the 5.4 InTech

 

That is a great looking dog!

 

Super clean SUV - beautiful best friend you have there too.

Sidenote: I don’t know why I thought this entire time Aviator offered the 5.4 as an option. Now that I think about it, that was the Expedition that offered both the 4.6 and 5.4. I don’t remember the Aviator having a console in the middle of the second row with the captains chairs either. That’s nice!

 

Yep the center console with captain chairs was an option. Since I am mostly using this for utility I wanted the bench seat but then I saw the center console can flip forward and make a flat load floor so it works out.

 

Just an update for those interested. Put on about 2k miles since I got it now at 120k and change, been driving it more than expected and enjoying it. Got mostly all the issues worked out, only 2 things left. I am taking it to a dealership to fix the final things since my mechanic can't figure them out and he's pretty good.

1. The TPS is not working he swapped out the sensors and the system is still reading 99 PSI on all 4 tires which is impossible. His computer is limited so he recommended I have the dealership look at it, could need re-calibrating.
2. Cruise control is not turning on might be a bad module we will see. He checked the fuses and a few relays and nothing is showing blown or out of whack so he's a bit confused by this one. Not the end of the world I don't "NEED" cruise control but it would be nice to have.

Other than that everything is going smoothly with it. I got the front windows tinted and the windshield done with a ceramic tint to keep the heat out and it makes a HUGE difference especially in the FL sun. I have taken several trips to the dog park since and the tint plus butt coolers are a game changer for this.

I also got a really nice Kenwood head unit that has wireless android auto and wireless apple carplay as well as a backup camera and asked the shop to keep the steering wheel controls. This unit also is a rarity since it has a CD player as well. I don't play CDs that often but I do get some recordings from my guitar instructor sometimes on CD and he's given me a few of his albums on CD so it's a nice little bonus. The stock sound system isn't too bad it's not the THX one that was an option but it's the middle Audiophile one. I believe this is the same system my 04 LS had. It has plenty of speakers throughout the cabin and a subwoofer in the trunk which adds a nice boom to it. Not as good as the Revel Ultima in my MKZ but solid nonetheless.

That cheesy Lincoln cover over the radio now comes in handy where I can hide what radio it has sitting in there:

So far I am enjoying the journey and hopefully after I get those last 2 issues squared away I have plenty of trouble free miles a head of me. Only "issue" is fuel economy it is a pig through and through I have been averaging 14.6 MPG with it and that's mostly city driving but really I can't complain I knew what I was getting into with this. To add to that also I don't drive that often. I work from home so it's only really used right now to go to the dog park and back. Soon I will start taking it to the bike trail and start getting back on my bike I just need to find my trailer hitch adapter in my garage since my bike rack uses the smaller 1.25" hitch. It's in there somewhere need to dig through all my crap... That's my next project on the list is to declutter and get rid of stuff. Already made a huge dent this week in some of computer parts. Listed some nice HP LED monitors I had in storage and they sold in a matter of days. One day at a time.

Also side note. My g/f's Nissan Rogue was out of washer fluid. I picked some up for her and topped her off and went into the trunk to add the remainder to the rear washer but couldn't find a reservoir. She told me it all goes through he front one. I never saw that before because I've never really owned an SUV before last thing that comes close to that was my mom's old Subaru Legacy wagon which had a separate one in the trunk. I looked in the rear of the Aviator earlier today and couldn't find one back there so I checked the manual and son of a gun if it isn't the same way:

Guess I have been living under a rock when it comes to wagons/suvs makes me wonder when that change happened.

 

Haha, yeah, they all use the same front reservoir.

 

^ Yeah, most are one resevoir today. Can't remember the last time one of my SUV's had a separate one.

CD/Radio install looks nice and clean. Bluetooth/AA/CarPlay are nice to have today, crazy how fast that tech moved forward.

My old Explorer with the 5.0L + 5Speed AWD got around 14.5 mixed driving, just for a reference. It never liked to shift into 4th until it warmed up either...... , no mechanic ever figured that one out.

 

^ Yeah, most are one resevoir today. Can't remember the last time one of my SUV's had a separate one.

CD/Radio install looks nice and clean. Bluetooth/AA/CarPlay are nice to have today, crazy how fast that tech moved forward.

My old Explorer with the 5.0L + 5Speed AWD got around 14.5 mixed driving, just for a reference. It never liked to shift into 4th until it warmed up either...... , no mechanic ever figured that one out.

Shows what I know haha

The radio is seriously impressive the guy told me if my car was newer it could hook into the car's computer and display other info too like car diagnostics and such. I love that it even has the sound delay where it keeps playing till the drivers door is open any after market radio Ive dealt with in the past never had that. When I put one in my 04 LS it was a feature I missed from the stock radio.