Who's on First? 


The old Abbott and Costello routine "Who's on First" epitomized confusion at it simplest. Unfortunately, in the limousine industry, we are going through our own version of this old vaudeville skit.  The Lincoln Town Car, the full-size sedan model, was discontinued last year and will be replaced by a much more modern and family friendly crossover vehicle known as the MKT.  Actually, the MKT will bear the Town Car name, but it is a vast departure from that industry icon.  In short, this change has set the entire industry on its head, and has created a ripple of confusion across the country.  It seems that very few industry operators are willing to accept the MKT as heir-apparent, and many seem content to hang on the whatever vehicles they have with the expectation that (sooner or later) someone of significance in the industry will step up and make the decision for them.  Unfortunately, the "big guns" are just as edgy about this decision as the smaller operators.


For the last three decades, O'Hare-Midway has maintained some of the highest standards in the industry when it comes to fleet age and appearance.  Cars that operate with us are rotated out of service in approximately 32 months, with no vehicle older than three years.  This assures quality as well as reliability.  The Lincoln Town Car was the perfect vehicle for the livery industry and for O'Hare-Midway, since the number of problems we encountered in those 32-36 months tend to be negligible, even though the mileage (100K-150K per year) was substantial.   And as final testimony to the workhorse  reputation the Town Car has built, it can be extremely difficult to tell a well-maintained four year-old model from a that is three years newer.  It is a vehicle that will be sorely missed.


Now...who's on first.  Some companies are choosing to go "economy" and using the demise of the Town Car as the perfect excuse to steer away from quality and opt for less expensive options.  This may work in some markets and fail in others.  We have decided to stay the course with luxury, and have currently added several Mercedes R350 Crossovers to our fleet.  This is not the future of O'hare-Midway, but the beginning of an industry wide process as we search for a vehicle or group of vehicles that will adequately replace both the style and dependability of the Lincoln Town Car.


Over the next few years, as the last of the Lincoln Town Cars begin to age and drift out of the livery market, you will begin seeing a mix of foreign and domestic options emerge as possibilities.  Several manufacturers are boasting the benefits of their particular offering, but few if any of these vehicles are "battle tested", and one has to wonder how well they'll hold up after 200,000 miles...or more.


Who's on first?  Yes...that is correct.  What?!?  What's at second.  I don't know.  He plays third.


Confused yet?  I know I am.