It’s safe to say that internet car enthusiasts love the Ford Flex Ecoboost. Not only does it feel like the last gasp of the great American station wagon, it’s far more potent than most people would expect. However, allow me to present something even better. To jog your memory a little, the Flex has a posher brother, and it’s nearly mastered the art of invisibility. Sure, the Lincoln MKT looks a bit like a hearse, but not only does it have a nicer interior than the Flex, it rides better, comes with more toys, and is readily available used with a turbocharged slug of torque courtesy of the 3.5-liter Ecoboost V6.
Perhaps the best part of the package, even beyond the brisk acceleration and bountiful amenities, is the fact that the MKT Ecoboost seems to have escaped the used crossover resale bump. While a whole bunch of popular crossovers are holding strong values, this forgotten crossover is surprisingly cheap on the second-hand market. How cheap? Read on.
Welcome back to Beige Cars You’re Sleeping On, a weekly series in which we raise the profile of some quiet greats. We’re talking vehicles that are secretly awesome, but go unsung because of either a boring image or the lack of an image altogether.
The formula for creating a premium car brand on the cheap is rather simple — take a mainline model, change the styling, ritz up the interior, and sell it under a different make and model name. Even today, the bulk of the Lincoln lineup is like that, and the MKT was no exception. Underneath the wagon-like styling sat the bones of a Ford Flex, which in turn recycled the platform of the old Taurus X, which was just a facelifted Freestyle, which actually cribbed its basic underpinnings from Volvo, then cut costs. While this doesn’t sound like an auspicious start, a solid platform is a solid platform, and the MKT made the most of it.
We’re talking about a practical three-row crossover with seating for either six or seven, solid passive safety, and plenty of cargo space. In the Flex, that combined with brick-like styling to create a cult classic, but the MKT put on a weirder facade and took things to another level. Not only was it roughly six inches longer than the Flex, it also took equipment levels to new heights.
Second-row passengers could be pampered by available heated and cooled captain’s chairs, a luxury that’s only now starting to become a killer app in the three-row crossover segment. Oh and yes, you could get a fridge with that, perfect for family road trips. Likewise, while the available 12-speaker audio system in the Flex was good for the segment and era, the available 14-speaker system in the MKT was a cut above, offering proper 5.1 surround sound and the weird flex (heh) of THX certification. Hey, that’s what a Lincoln badge gets you.
Oh, and it also gets you a whole bunch of nice little touches, from nicer interior materials to second-row side window sunshades to standard heated and cooled front seats. If you can get around the weird looks, the MKT just offers a whole lot more kit than the Flex, but uses familiar mechanicals, so replacement parts are generally common and inexpensive.
While the standard 3.7-liter V6 engine was a cut above the Flex’s standard naturally-aspirated 3.5-liter V6, the one you want is the Ecoboost model. It features the same 3.5-liter twin-turbocharged V6 as the Taurus SHO, and outputs are solid. From 2010 until 2012, power figures stood at 355 horsepower at 5,700 rpm and 350 lb.-ft. from 1,500 rpm to 5,250 rpm, but a 2013 facelift saw those figures revised to 365 horsepower at 5,500 rpm and 350 lb.-ft. of torque at 3,500 rpm. Mated to a six-speed automatic transmission and all-wheel-drive, the early MKT Ecoboost ran from zero-to-60 mph in 6.1 seconds and through the quarter mile in 14.6 seconds at 94 mph during Car And Driver instrumented testing, and acceleration figures aren’t the only things that impressed the magazine.
The MKT is not for carving up back roads, but body motions are nevertheless well controlled and the ride is very smooth—and better than the Flex’s. Bumps, dips, and broken pavement rarely seemed to upset the chassis or necessitate excessive steering corrections as they did for the Q7, and the brakes stopped the hefty crossover well despite a soft and squishy pedal.
Yep, the Lincoln MKT Ecoboost is a prime highway vessel for the entire entourage, and if you ever want to drop that zero-to-60 mph time to less than six seconds, all you need to do is make the right calls to uncork the bottle. Michigan-based Livernois Motorsports has dialed in a tune good for an extra 95 wheel horsepower and 130 lb.-ft. of torque at the wheels on 93 octane pump fuel, staggering numbers that can turn one of these things into an unassuming juggernaut. Just check out the video below, in which a tune-only MKT Ecoboost runs from zero-to-60 mph in the low five-second range.
Enticing, right? You’re probably wondering what sort of coin gets you into one of these lavish family haulers, and let me tell you, it’s less than you might think. Because everybody forgot these things existed, used values are astonishingly low, to the point where you can usually pick one up for less than a similarly-aged Toyota RAV4.
For instance, here’s a 2015 model with 86,435 miles on the clock up for sale in Indianapolis for just $13,900. Sure, it might have a minor hit on its Carfax, but for a family car to drive into the ground, that’s no big deal. It really makes you wonder if it’s possible to get more family hauler for less.
Let’s say you want to get absolutely pristine with it. Well, here’s a loaded 2019 MKT Ecoboost up for sale at a Mazda dealership in Enterprise, Ala. It has just 45,015 miles on the clock, a clean history report, and looks damn near new, so do you care to guess how much this five-year-old luxury crossover is listed for? That’s right $24,824. What an absolute steal.
In the other direction, maybe you’re one to buy cheaper examples, and you aren’t scared to potentially get a little greasy. If it’s higher-mileage you’re looking for, check out this 2010 MKT Ecoboost up for sale in Troy, Mich. Sure, it may have 97,714 miles on the clock, but it’s listed for a mere $9,975. Sure, it doesn’t have the optional second-row captain’s chairs or the fridge, but that’s so much crossover for the money.
By now, you’re probably wondering what the catch is. Well, the biggest common issue with these cars is just lack of maintenance. The MKT Ecoboost routes a ton of output through its six-speed automatic gearbox and all-wheel-drive power transfer unit, and if the fluids in both of those aren’t changed regularly, expensive problems can arise. Remember, lifetime fluid means your car will be junk when that fluid breaks down. Otherwise, the MKT Ecoboost largely just suffers from typical older car problems. As miles piles on, bushing and anti-roll bar end links wear, shocks wear out, and you just have to do the typical maintenance expected from any car. With a little care and feeding, these things are great for the long-haul.
So, if you want a practical and surprisingly punchy daily driver and have the space for a crossover that’s noticeably more than 200 inches long, why not take a good look at a Lincoln MKT Ecoboost? Sure, the styling might not be to everyone’s tastes, but the visual controversy’s softened over the years, and the end result is a ton of vehicle for the money.
(Photo credits: Lincoln, Autotrader sellers)
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Lincolns and Buicks are definitely the best deals for used low mileage cars.
The facelifted ones don’t look half bad from the front. They seem to be trying to evoke a 1930’s car from the rear. Swing and a miss. Kind of wanted one until learning about the timing chain driven water pump. And $4k for dealing with a timing chain issue doesn’t seem fun.
I had a 2010 EcoBoost Flex and my timing chain tensioner got wobbly enough (under extended warranty) to require timing chain replacement. I explained to the repairing dealer that it might have a water pump leak and they got the message. So that was all done together on the warranty company’s dime at 73k mile to the tune of a bit over $3k.
The PTU had developed a seal leak at around 65k miles, and that was (at least at the time) a “replace the whole damn thing” fix. So the warranty company paid $1,900 for that as well. There were a few other minor glitches in the ten years I owned it, but nothing worth noting.
If you’re in the market for one, absolutely check the status of the PTU, timing chain, and water pump. And if the water pump has anywhere more than 90k miles on it and hasn’t been replaced, the one in that car is on borrowed time. And when they go, you have about 2 minutes to notice your engine overheating before it’s a goner.
I’d own another in a heartbeat, and would love a later one that needs some paint so I can have the more attractive 2020+ Lincoln front clip put on it. I’ve seen funeral cars with that conversion and it really makes them look better.
I wonder if any of that is what happened to my parents’. It was a 2010 NA Flex though. Took 180,000 miles in 8 years until somehow, apparently coolant got into the engine and it would’ve needed a new engine. Wasn’t running right. Got two garages’ opinions because it was still (barely) drivable.
My dad replaced it with a 2014 Sienna and it’s superior in just about every way. Roomier, more fuel efficient, and still plenty peppy (too peppy from a stop, I would argue, but otherwise fine).
The exterior of these gets criticized a lot, but I actually kind of like them.
They’re weird. Like a modern version of a Goth car. The 2012 version of a late ’50s Plymouth Belvedere.
This article didn’t mention the elephant in the room. This thing looks like a baleen whale. Not in a good way. Is there a good way?
No kidding I just saw one of these a couple days ago and realized I had forgotten about them. I also remarked to myself what a stupid looking design.
I’ve looked at used SHOs which have the same motor, but what stops me from pulling the trigger on a cheaper/higher mileage example is the stupid water pump design that is kind of a ticking time bomb that a lot of owners sell the car before dealing with.
This is the number one reason I’ve never seriously considered anything with that Duratec V6, which is a shame because I really like the Flex otherwise.
Agreed, otherwise the Flex is a cool/interesting/useful/FAST vehicle. I’ve also wanted one of those.
I much prefer this platform in Flex guise; the MKT is solidly a funeral limo in my mind, it’s basically the only time I see them
The MKT is still the vehicle of choice for the two funeral homes near me. Each time I see one of them, dressed up in the funeral home trim and cues, I always wonder how many people have been carried in one that, while alive, said they wouldn’t be caught dead in something so ugly? Oh the irony…
My ex had a Flex, that she loved. The transmission died and she sold the car. She drove an Escape for around a year and hated it. We got rear ended and I found her an MKT for not much more than the insurance claim. Bam! She’s in her favourite vehicle ever
Well… the reason it rides better is because the suspension has been softened like crazy so it handles much worse. The styling means you can no longer fit plywood in it, which we could in the Flex. And, worst of all, the turbos grenaded which is, apparently, normal
Get a high spec Flex with the base engine
I worked at a Ford Lincoln dealer around the 2012 era when these were around and they definitely were a tough sell. How do you sell something that looks like a baleen whale had sex with a hearse? A guy at the dealership who had the in with all the limo companies knew that the time of the Town Car was quickly coming to a close and he’d be pushing these for the replacement for all those livery companies. He was probably sweating.
There are literally as many stretch MKTs as there are standard ones
I can’t imagine these sold more than maybe 5000 a year in any year they were available. It’s pretty paltry considering there is at least 500-600 dealers in the US.
“looks like a baleen whale had sex with a hearse”
COTD right there
It’s a shame the MKT is absolutely awful to look at.
I was walking through a parking and a lady was getting out of a green-ish MKT as I walked by. I said something intended to be friendly that was like, “I love a good station wagon, practical and useful. Good for you.”
She was not happy about that. NOT HAPPY AT ALL. She went straight to angry yelling “It’s a crossover!” and then kept going from there for a bit. After about 30 seconds I tried to apologize, and then walked away. She stayed at that car mumbling something I didn’t hear as walked away.
There you go. Now you know why I don’t talk about cars in public.
And just like the SHO you WILL be spending ~$4k somewhere around 90k miles for a new water pump, timing chain, etc. I have a 2013 SHO tuned by Livernois. They would not be my tuner of choice at this point. Their tunes shift like shit and several other tuners make more power without the shifting issues.
The turbos will also grenade, writing off the vehicle
The turbos will not generally cause any catastrophic damage and provide clear clues when they are on the way out. Same with the timing chain. When you hear that rattle at start-up and get a p0016 code, don’t just ignore it. It’s $4k to fix at that point or over $8k once the engine grenades. Great design, Ford!
I didn’t notice anything prior to the turbos sending shrapnel into the engine. Doesn’t mean nothing happened, but it sure wasn’t obvious
I had a client of mine that drove on my lot in one of these, looking for a new car. She said she did not like it anymore, I joked that it looked like a hearse… come to learn she was a funeral director and had done pick ups in that vehicle. I did not share that when I sold it on our pre-owned lot.
Last year when I was looking for a good used crossover, I found the case for Lincoln was quite compelling. This was a surprise, despite the fact that I already enjoyed my Ford. Maybe turning 70 gave me the liberty to consider an old man’s brand? Lincoln offered low-mileage cars at excellent prices, and the best financing and certified warranties I could find. Yes, the feature lists were long, and that made up for some ungainly styling. But did all those features really work? I had a nice MKX in mind, but a long test drive showed me that the heated/cooled seats did little of either function. It wasn’t just that car, but a well-known bug of the 2017-18 cars. It didn’t make sense to buy a car with such feebly heated seats, so I looked elsewhere and found an extremely low-mileage Mercedes GLK.
My inlaws had one of these, in golden beige. It was a weird car. I don’t really get the Lincoln approach to luxury when the interior is so obviously a Ford with a couple pieces of fake wood tacked on, kinda like a Platinum F150. That said, it was a big old wagon and it drove just fine.
My son has one in black. We all give him a hard time about the hearse, which we determined as a family before any of us saw it online. He’s had several issues with it, turbo going bad, transmission failing, water pump failing (it’s in the middle of the Vee and a royal pain to replace). He wanted the power, he got more than he planned on.
My wife got a Flex with the 3.5 V6, and I’m glad we never found an Eco-boost in our price range (I was looking). It has plenty of power to get onto the freeway.
The Flex Ecoboost is awesome. This is a luxury version of the same thing but man, the fun, funky freshness of the Flex’s design has been sold out for the automotive equivalent of Sadness from Inside Out. Having to look at this thing day in and day out will require a pretty high dosage of Sertraline to not develop the urge to drive it off a bridge. It’s just so droopy, and doughy and chunky and the first thing that anyone will think of it when it pulls up is dead bodies.
For whatever reason though I still like it and would consider owning one so… there’s that.
I never forgot about these, it’s been stored in a secret memory file of cars in my head, which I would buy in the future if the right deal came along.
I forgot about it until I moved to a poorer county and I see tons of them now. Also an insane amount of PT Cruisers.
One is an insane amount of PT Cruisers.
There are 3 in my work parking lot and only 25 people max are here at any time! One guy is on his third!!!!
Somebody’s uncle ran a dealership.
This reminds me of that Cage/Travolta mess “Faceoff.”
Is it really a good deal if you wind up looking like Nicolas Cage?
The main car I learned to drive in was my family’s 2010 Flex (splitting time with their 2005 Focus wagon). The Flex only had the NA engine and I’m disappointed in retrospect that I never really used it to its potential. My dad always pointed out that “higher RPMs = higher fuel consumption” so I made an effort to keep it reasonable…although I don’t know how much that was worth when it made only 20-22 mpg.
In a weird way, though, I never thought it felt like it wanted to go faster. I only found out the high-ish horsepower numbers it had recently. It was definitely a car that I thought sounded like it was “complaining” at higher RPMs rather than wanting more.
The only reason we actually got it was because the seats were nice and wide for an obese family member.
MKTs look like a good time.
If you forgot about this car then you’re admitting that you don’t actually appreciate good automotive design. Because this thing is a poster child for insulting the existence of attractiveness
“See, BMW? This is how you can do two blobs for a grille and not upset people. (Or at least, as much.)”
Man the rear end is tough to look past though. Saying something “looks like a hearse” is overdone, but this really really looks like a hearse from the direct rear. The other angles don’t show it as much.
Hearses can be cool though. I don’t see why looking like one is such an issue.
I agree with you, hearses are peaceful, I wouldn’t mind looking like one.
The rear end is your hang up here? Have you seen the front?
Had one. 2014 with every option box ticked. Got it on a steal due to depreciation. 18 months old, literally less than half price.
Fantastic road trip car. Would happily cruise in the 70’s with about 25mpg, and easily jump up with pull to pass anything into the 90’s and climbing.
It is large, but just ate the miles happily.
“Sure, the styling might not be to everyone’s tastes”
Yeah, I forgot about that one on purpose
Especially in Towncar drag.