Interior

Daylight-saving time occurred while I was testing the MKS. There’s a modern phenomenon called feature creep, by which the proliferation of technological features can overcomplicate things to the point at which the simplest designs and functions are lost. That’s a long-winded way to tell you that I couldn’t figure out how to set the time on the clock on the very modern MKS. I first attempted it without referring to the owner’s manual (in a perfect world, something as simple as setting the clock shouldn’t require literature); when I discovered that I couldn’t figure it out on my own, I cozied up with the car’s manual, which instructed me to press the “CLOCK” button, etc. But there wasn’t a CLOCK button anywhere in the car. I thought about calling a manufacturer’s rep or even popping into a dealer, but I didn’t on principle because it’s a clock for goodness sake, and I don’t have time to go chasing down clock info. Alas, I spent the week having to subtract one hour from the clock in order to determine the correct time. I was told there’d be no math on this test (drive), so that stunk.

Have I mentioned that this is a big car? It’s supposed to seat five people, and guess what? It actually can fit five adults comfortably. I could even sit easily in the back between my kids’ car seats, which were easy to install with the nicely marked Latch connectors, by the way. Furthermore, the 12-way power adjustable seats were some of the most comfortable I’ve ever had the pleasure of using. They gently hugged me with silky smooth leather, and the standard heating and cooling feature on the front seats was delectable. The backseat also comes standard with heated seats as well.

The glove box is the best out of all of the MKS’ interior storage options, and it can hold enough extra diapers and wipes to get you through the week. The other interior storage compartments aren’t anything spectacular (four cupholders and door pockets that are of average size and usability), except for one little rectangular cubby near the gearshift that’s a perfect fit for your cell phone and/or MP3 player and even a lip gloss.

My test car came with the Ultimate Package. At $5,715, it adds everything you could hope for in a luxury vehicle (except for the ability to change the clock…do I sound bitter yet?) and pushes the MKS into aforementioned urbane-legend category. This package includes voice-activated navigation, which turns the standard Sync system into a virtual font of information that can give you not only directions to the nearest movie theater or gas station but also movie times and gas prices. The Ultimate Package also has keyless entry and ignition; a forward sensor to warn of obstacles in front of you (which turned out to be very useful when I pulled into my garage since I had to “kiss” some storage cabinets to fit the car in, and without the sensor, I’d have smushed the cabinets); and, the coup de grace for my son, the dual-panel moonroof. He’d just chill out in his car seat and tell me about all of the things he was seeing above him as we drove along. Good times.

Storage Compartments (Puny, Fair, Ample, Galore): Fair/Ample
Cargo/Trunk Space (Puny, Fair, Ample, Galore): Galore

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