Headlights are extremely weak, to the point of being unsafe in many driving conditions. Driving in the rain at night is a scary experience to say the least. The brochures for my car promised hid lighting but it didn't materialize for the 1995 model year.
1995 Lincoln Mark Viii lights complaints
Page 4 of 5: complaints 71 to 100 of 103, newest first, as owners wrote them.
The lights turn yellow and glaze over and you can hardly see any light from them at night. I temporarily sanded them to get the yellow off, but soon I will have to replace the whole assembly. The car is marginally safe to drive at night and it scares me to do so.
The headlights on these vehicles are horribly underpowered. At any rate of speed over 40 MPH it poses a risk at night not only to myself, but all the other things I do not see properly. Trees, animals, pedestrians, parked cars. These lights desperately need to be strengthened to aid in night vision.
You can not see at night with the low beams. ****dims 11 ivoq entry posted after 12/12/02 cut-over to artemis******776798.*ak
The reflevtive coating has worn off of the headlamp assembly making driving at night very dangerous, I was told I would have to replace the right and left headlight assembly at well over $200 each. This is a serious problem and should be addressed. The headlamps hardly light up the street signs when on dim setting - when using high beam the lighting is what would be expected on a low beam setting.
The headlights have very poor output, making it nearly impossible to drive at night. Ford refuses to budge on this issue and will accept nothing short of $700 per side for replacement. This is a very dangerous and unfair situation.
Consumer is concerned with the light output of the headlamps, the reflective coating on the rear of the lamp is discolored and flaking off the light output, causing poor visibility especially at night. *tt jg
The headlights on this vehicle present a dangerously severe handicap when driving at night, especially in inclement weather. The lenses have severely discolored creating a translucent lens through which the light has to pass. Discussions with other mark viii owners has revealed their disatisfaction with the headlamp assemblies. Ford dealers answer to the apparently widespread problem is an offer to sell new sets at upwards of $800. I believe ford has an obligation in this matter to replace or offset the replacement of the affected headlamp assemblies.
No summary listed for above vehicle.
The problem has to do with moisture buildup on the inside of the headlights. This has become an extreme hazard and a saftey issue. Car cannot be driven at night due this hazard. The moisture buildup has been an issue with these cars and ford has refused to address this issue. New parts are very expensive and should be recalled. This is a saftey hazard and the car can not be driven at night. This needs to be addressed asap. Thank you. *ak, dominique lama
Dim headlights (poor lighting).
Headlight output on 93-95 mark viii's is extremely weak to the point that driver cannot tell if low beams are actually lit. Light output is less than that of turn signal lamps.
Headlights are so dim on all these vehicles except for those with the optional headlight system. The poor reflector design and the short lifetime of the reflective coating make it as if the vechicle has no headlights. I drive withe the highbeams on all the time and they are still so dim that oncoming traffic doesn't notice. Even with high beam illumination on the lumen level is lower than the aveage low beam of other vechicles. Apparently the manufacturer knew that there was a problem and made "optional" effective lighting available at the time of manufacture of my vechicle. I have talked to others with the same vehicles and they also have the same problem. The replacement headlights are very expensive and still do not correct the problem.
Low beam headlamps are inadequate for safe night highway driving.
The car seems to lose gear while going slowat higher rates of speed it seems to shift okay.it appears like it is 3rd. Gear that seems to slip. .regarding windshield wipers they stay up when you stop them as oppose to settling down underneath the hood. Finally the door ajar sensor stays on even though both doors are closed,if I play with the passenger seat sometimes the sensor will stop showing door ajar signal.
The stock headlights are inadequate and unsafe. We hit a deer. Lincoln should replace stock lights with the hid version. My daughter and I were almost killed hitting a deer. The standard lights are so bad we didn't stand a chance.
Factory headlights (non hid) insufficient for night use. Does not disperse enough light on the road surface to be safe. Headlights need to be augmented with either foglights/driving lights to be sufficient for driving at night, especially in the rain. Headlights create a safety hazard and should be recalled.
The headlights on this vehicle perform extremely poor and due to bad design, the light output becomes extremely low with time due to melting of the reflective housing and bad wiring. This makes the vehicle dangerous to drive on the freeway at night or in poor weather(rain). I have nearly gotten into several accidents on the freeways since purchasing this car due to the lights not giving good visibility. Also, ford is price gauging customers for replacing the headlights on these vehicles(charging upwards of $600 to repair these lights), only to have the lights break in a short time period again. There are numerous accounts of this problem from other lincoln mark viii owners. The struts on this vehicle are air inflated and they become extremely bouncy on the freeway making the vehicle hard to control. This is very dangerous for average drivers.
The current headlights of the car do not light the road adequately at night, especially in the rain! Ford has upgraded the lights on the 96 version and up to solve the problem. But driving my 95 lincoln markviii at night proves difficult and dangerous. You can hardly even tell the lights are on at night and in the rain they are useless. I have the VIN number if you need me to supply it, please contact me and I will gladly give it to you. I have also heard rumors of ford fixing this problem once in a while for customers so they must know it is a serious issue! Thank you.
Headlights too weak to allow safe night driving. Need high beams continually.
Low beam headlamps are inadequate for safe night highway driving; insufficient light.
The factory headlights are substandard at best and dangerous in low light conditions, such as poorly lit streets.the brake rotors front and rear are failing on my car and many others cars at an alarming rate. I've changed brake pads before in as little as 5000 miles, never have I had to replace a rotor at 3000 miles. 3000 miles is an interval for engine service...not brakes, brakes should last 10,000 miles easy. My rotors were warped in 3000 miles from the purchase. This is causeing brake and control problems with my car.
Extremely difficult to see with low beams - have to use high beams to see fairly well.
Horrible vision while driving at night. Request a factory upgrade to the '1996 light system.
Both front headlamp assemblies have deteriorated to the point where the car will not pass state inspection, and also the lights are so dull you can not see the road at night. I have been using my high beams at night for several weeks and they are so dull no one knows that they are the high beams. The dealership replaced the bulbs with new ones and performance did not improve. There was no increase in brightness in the headlamps. It looks like the opacity of the plastic lens has clouded or changed and will not let light through. The entire assembly has to be replaced at a cost of $550. The dealer has told me that these headlamps have failed in other lincolns and been replaced at the dealership. This is only a small town, I wonder how many of these have failed across the country. I believe this is a safety design flaw. This car has never been in a collision to cause the deterioration. Lincoln has been contacted and has no details that they would tell me on the failure of the headlamps. I have previously reported this to you several days ago and had not received any notice that you had received the information. Thank-you for looking into this matter.
No summary
Need lamps replaced due to manufacture problem
The low beam headlights on this car have been inadequate from day one. Visibility is extremely limited, and large sums of money have been spent to try and remedy the situation to no avail. The squat design of the lamps reduces the available size of the reflector. Then, the close proximity of the bulb to the reflector causes the reflective coating to cook and burn off. I have had several close calls when driving this car at night, and avoid doing so anymore. Lincoln is aware of this problem, but has done nothing to resolve it.
No summary
The low beam headlamps on these vehicles are inadequate. In my 35 years of driving, I have never experienced a vehicle with such poor headlights. Every mk viii owner I know has the same complaint. I don't believe these headlamps provide the minimum amount of lumens required by the dot.
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