S P E C I A L     :     L O N G - T E R M    T E S T

Imagine playing The Weakest Link.  If Edu Manzano were to ask the question, name a car from the 1.6-liter sedan segment, 99 percent of the time you’ll get one of three responses: Honda Civic, Nissan Exalta or Toyota Corolla Altis.  Sure enough these three cars make up a huge chunk of sales in this category, but there are other players as well—some of them are noteworthy even though they’re quite old. 

In 2000, motioncars.com was the first to feature the Ford Lynx Ghia—a feat that caught the other people flat-footed.  Sure enough, we loved it, despite its Mazda 323 underpinnings.  At that time, we mentioned that the Lynx was the best valued car in its class since it combined the sporty attributes of the Honda Civic with never-before seen luxuries in this segment that included leather seats, champagne silver center console and a 6-disc CD changer. 

Of course, a few months later, Nissan face lifted their Sentra and came up with an options list as long as War and Peace.  It sold well.  Subsequently, Toyota joined the fray by introducing cow hide as standard on yawnsville Corolla Altis. 

Two years later, it seems that every car maker in the so-called economy sedan segment had to have at least one luxury feature installed.  With the exception of Honda, everyone produced some sort of visually enticing treats, luring buyers as if they were Hansel and Gretel.  They made their products seem like good value for money.  So, with everyone having everything but the kitchen sink as bog standard, where does the market innovator, Lynx stand?  A long-term test beckons.

With 23,512 kilometers on the odometer of our long-term test Ford Lynx Ghia, everything still looks pretty much fresh on the outside.  Although the styling may have aged a bit, especially after looking at the tall stature of the latest offerings from Toyota and Honda, the Lynx’s overall design is still very much elegant and simple.  Compared to the Nissan Exalta, the Lynx looks more opulent and classier.  Admittedly, Ford made a booboo with the chromed 15-inch alloy wheels that became hard to maintain as evidenced by the numerous scratches visible.

The overall interior design is still every bit as fresh as well.  Although the Lynx may have borrowed parts from the Mazda 323, Ford made use of them wisely, substituting the cheesy parts for better ones resulting in a car that’s convincingly put together.  The door panels are especially a nice touch: the combination of the silver trim, chromed door handles, perforated leather and gray plastics is nice to look at and more trendy than the Corolla Altis’ extensive faux wood trim.

The plastics are pretty solid as ever too—a testament to Ford’s good choice of trim quality.  The silvery parts don’t seem to have any scratch marks visible while the gray interior paneling has better overall consistency in terms of texture and feel than the new Honda Civic.  A few rants include the thinly padded steering wheel which is uncomfortable on long trips (our unit's owner even had to buy a steering wheel cover to make Lynx more suitable for daily Metro Manila traffic use) as well as the already-deteriorating leather on the driver’s seat. 

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