There's a fraternity of used luxury car owners...

And the auto manufacturers need to pay attention. So do ad writers and media buyers.

A few days back, as I was loading groceries into my 1998 Lincoln Town Car, I was approached by a guy who looked remarkably like me: short, sixty-ish and pudgy.

He looked at me and said, "That a 2000?"

At first, I had no idea what he was talking about. Then I realized he was referring to my car.

"No, sir," I replied, "it's a '98."

Then we started discussing car stuff, the way guys do: the deal we got when we bought our respective Town Cars, local and highway gas mileage, how many miles on the odometer and so on.

It was a brief conversation but it occurred to me a few days later that he and I had written a commercial for used luxury autos, especially those which do not qualify for the gubmint's Cash For Clunkers program that is currently eliminating affordable used cars for Americans with a need for transportation but little loot.

My 1998 Lincoln gets over 20mpg in the city and almost 25mpg on the highway. It has fewer than 99k miles on the odometer and I usually drive it less than 20 miles a week. The V-8 engine is tuned and the the suspension is carefully set up. A tank of regular unleaded lasts me about a month. Driving it is like sitting in a recliner and telling the vehicle where to go.

Then my parking-lot pal gave me the payoff line for the spot: "I hear that after this year you'll only be able to buy new Lincoln's special order."

Dunno if that's true (and if it is, it'll be a damned shame). But that info becomes this tag line for a used luxury car spot:

Experienced luxury.

...or maybe:

Luxury. Once experienced, now shared.

Hey, it's free to use. Have a big time.

Discuss on the STLMedia Message Board. (Registration required)