Thank you to both
@bbf2530 and
@metroplex for your very thorough and well-thought-out responses!
I will say that,
for me, I just haven't found an MKZ that had the full set of options and, of course, at a price I'd be willing to pay. Actually, the full set of options is really the main problem because, as I was mentioning, I really honestly haven't seen any that had the full set. I've looked a decent amount, but they just don't seem very common. That tells me that you might be right,
@bbf2530 , when you mention people not wanting to pay for features they don't need, especially on the highest-end, most luxurious Ford brand, which is already expensive. However, I would say that, again,
for me, I'm just not interested in buying something that's not fully optioned if I'm going to get a high-end car. My FFS is fully optioned (well, other than the block heater; I don't think I have that, although I don't know that I've ever really checked--but I don't think it's on mine). Anyhow I have every other option, and that's a fairly fully-loaded car. So it's just pretty much impossible for me to make a case for why I would ever trade in my FFS and get an MKZ that wasn't fully loaded. At the very least, with every single option I have (or its higher Lincoln equivalent).
I mentioned the Adaptive Cruise. That, to me, is a deal-breaker. If I have a long drive, there's no way I'd ever want another car that didn't have that feature. Ever. So I don't plan to, ever again, own a car that doesn't have some form of adaptive cruise (or whatever replaces it and is better, somewhere down the road). I'm not making a value judgement on people who choose to not have Adaptive Cruise; that's a personal choice, and there are good reasons for not having it, for instance just not wanting it, or if someone is planning an upgraded intercooler that might get in the way. But again, it's personal choice. However, again
to me, a car without that would be a downgrade. Even if it was a brand upgrade.
And to be sure, there are certain things I would gain if I did trade in for the Lincoln. I would assume I successfully found a 3.0AWD, because anything less than a V6 would just be unacceptable, despite my respect for all the Ecoboost engines in their respective applications. The 2.0T is a great engine. But I wouldn't want to step down to that from a 2.7TT V6. Same with AWD, I wouldn't want to move from AWD to FWD. I'd consider that a step backward.
Anyhow, I know I'd gain certain things. For instance, the Sony audio system I have is pretty good; I actually like it a lot, unlike some folks on here. I think it sounds pretty good. But I have no doubt that the Revel Audio system would be better. No doubt about it. But am I willing to give up any of the features I now have in my car, to get that? No. I'm really not. I wouldn't want to take a step back, or at least what I would personally perceive as a step back. Others may not see it that way, but if it's me reading the signs, that's a step back.
Then of course there's the price. I care a lot less about that than the features, to be honest. But if an MKZ that has features critical to me, like Adaptive Cruise, missing, is priced at slightly more than my basically fully-loaded FFS would be on trade-in, then I'd be in for a pretty hefty bill if I actually did manage to find one fully loaded. Which, again, I would have to have because otherwise I'd personally consider it a step down. At least in some very important ways that I value too highly to allow that to happen. So the price is part of it, given the large disparity, but it's really a lot more about the feature set. If I'd have known about the two cars back when they were new, preferably 2018 I would have bought one brand new, fully optioned, if I had the money to do it. That would have been idea. As it is, at the time I didn't know much about either of these cars so it's a moot point.
So I think, as much as I like MKZs, and really do admire them from a distance, I don't think I'll probably ever trade my FFS in to get one because I just don't see a way to get there from here.
