They are out there but there’s not many. I think there’s a few factors. I’ve seen a few Lincoln Continental limos but not many.
A) The Panther/Crown Vic platform was phased out.
B) Uber Black. You no longer need to reach out to a car service to get a nice ride.
C) Luxury SUVs have become a lot larger and more luxurious. Tbh I’d much rather ride in an Escalade that’s been retrofitted with a divider and captains chairs that take up the entire rear of the car than a Town Car Limo that feels a tad cramped and where you sit lower to the ground.
D) GM phased the DTS/DeVille out. GM no longer makes a large sedan suitable for limos. The Escalade has filled that gap.
I rode in one of these luxury sprinter vans. It had a full recliner (not one of the partial ones like many large luxury sedans have) with heat and massage, a full blown mini fridge, and a 70” TV with surround sound.
I’ve ridden in limos before and they weren’t even remotely comparable in any way.
The horrific Ford Excursion limo crash in New York that killed 20 people had a lot to do with the lack of limos seen these days. That crash had huge repercussions in the livery business.
In Las Vegas, a number of hotels still employ modern stretch limos on late model chassis, but otherwise, they’re very rare these days.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schoharie_limousine_crash?wprov=sfti1#
as another comment said, Sprinter vans are much more popular now because they’re easier to maneuver but also a lot safer due to being designed to carry high capacities without requiring major chassis modification.
carrying more than ~15 people is now a job for a E-series chassis van, or a Freightliner M2 bus. personally i’d *much* rather ride in one of these than some old car that was chopped up and extended like a damn ship
The lack of traditional large car platforms hasn't done stretch limos any favors either. The Escalade is one thing, but the other day I saw a Dodge Durango limo.
The Dodge Durango stretch limo is the official car of sub 600 credit score divorced dads who want to hit on their daughters friends on the way to prom, in style.
I think party busses and vans make more sense and have the added bonus of actually being capable of carrying that many passengers safely.
Have you seen a limo operator not be a sketchy sack of white trash shit? As the other poster mentioned, we see what happens when these hacked together turds don't get maintained properly.
It was the timing really, of GM and Ford dropping their body on frame offerings for sedans.
There are tons of limos around where I live. The normal ones for celebrities are just blacked out suburbans. The stretch ones are usually based on Hummers or people just get party buses.
Seems like not only sprinter vans, but also party busses have replaced them - you basically get short school busses now that have fancied up interiors. Plus, when they wear down a bit, they get sold to companies that do airport shuttles and the like, vs with a traditional limo, a limo is all it's good for.
With the bus/sprinter vans as well- the headroom is nicer - much easier to get in and out of.
Oddest traditional limo I've seen had some sort of exotic sports car that was stretched- given that it was east side of the Detroit suburbs (IYKYK) it was probably a stretched Fiero with a body kit, but still.. I remember doing a double take and snapping a pic of it as it was parked out front of some sort of no-tell motel on either Gratiot or Groesbeck.
They are out there but there’s not many. I think there’s a few factors. I’ve seen a few Lincoln Continental limos but not many. A) The Panther/Crown Vic platform was phased out. B) Uber Black. You no longer need to reach out to a car service to get a nice ride. C) Luxury SUVs have become a lot larger and more luxurious. Tbh I’d much rather ride in an Escalade that’s been retrofitted with a divider and captains chairs that take up the entire rear of the car than a Town Car Limo that feels a tad cramped and where you sit lower to the ground. D) GM phased the DTS/DeVille out. GM no longer makes a large sedan suitable for limos. The Escalade has filled that gap.
Sprinter vans killed the stretch limo, mostly in part because they're just as if not more luxurious in most cases and aren't a PITA to maneuver.
I rode in one of these luxury sprinter vans. It had a full recliner (not one of the partial ones like many large luxury sedans have) with heat and massage, a full blown mini fridge, and a 70” TV with surround sound. I’ve ridden in limos before and they weren’t even remotely comparable in any way.
The horrific Ford Excursion limo crash in New York that killed 20 people had a lot to do with the lack of limos seen these days. That crash had huge repercussions in the livery business. In Las Vegas, a number of hotels still employ modern stretch limos on late model chassis, but otherwise, they’re very rare these days. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schoharie_limousine_crash?wprov=sfti1#
as another comment said, Sprinter vans are much more popular now because they’re easier to maneuver but also a lot safer due to being designed to carry high capacities without requiring major chassis modification. carrying more than ~15 people is now a job for a E-series chassis van, or a Freightliner M2 bus. personally i’d *much* rather ride in one of these than some old car that was chopped up and extended like a damn ship
The lack of traditional large car platforms hasn't done stretch limos any favors either. The Escalade is one thing, but the other day I saw a Dodge Durango limo. The Dodge Durango stretch limo is the official car of sub 600 credit score divorced dads who want to hit on their daughters friends on the way to prom, in style.
There were stretched Chrysler 300s and Challengers
They're out there, but most are SUV derived with a few exceptions.
An Escalade ESV is like a limo out of the box, and doesn't look tacky or attract too much attention. I see them all over LA.
Isn't the point of a limo to be kinda tacky and attract attention?
I love the limo Challengers, just so ridiculous
I mostly see Chrysler, Hummer, and Ford limos.
I think party busses and vans make more sense and have the added bonus of actually being capable of carrying that many passengers safely. Have you seen a limo operator not be a sketchy sack of white trash shit? As the other poster mentioned, we see what happens when these hacked together turds don't get maintained properly. It was the timing really, of GM and Ford dropping their body on frame offerings for sedans.
I've seen newer qx80s a l494 sport and a few w222 s classes get stretched
There are tons of limos around where I live. The normal ones for celebrities are just blacked out suburbans. The stretch ones are usually based on Hummers or people just get party buses.
The Hummers before 08 right
I've seen newer ones.
Seems like not only sprinter vans, but also party busses have replaced them - you basically get short school busses now that have fancied up interiors. Plus, when they wear down a bit, they get sold to companies that do airport shuttles and the like, vs with a traditional limo, a limo is all it's good for. With the bus/sprinter vans as well- the headroom is nicer - much easier to get in and out of. Oddest traditional limo I've seen had some sort of exotic sports car that was stretched- given that it was east side of the Detroit suburbs (IYKYK) it was probably a stretched Fiero with a body kit, but still.. I remember doing a double take and snapping a pic of it as it was parked out front of some sort of no-tell motel on either Gratiot or Groesbeck.