Owners have filed 413 complaints on the Lincoln Aviator, covering 2003–2025. The system named most often is Power Train (90 reports). Worst years by volume: 2020, 2003, 2004; cleanest: 2024, 2025, 2023. 16 reports describe a crash, 4 a fire. On average the car was 4.1 years old when the problem happened.
What breaks on Lincoln Aviator
Grouped by the system owners named — percentages are shares of all 413 Aviator complaints. Open any row for the full reports in owners' own words.
Power Train 90 Read
The contact owns a 2005 lincoln aviator. While the vehicle was parked in the driveway on a small incline in light snow, the vehicle rolled away in reverse and crashed with another vehicle. There were no occupants in either of the vehicles. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where they found the gear shift selector…
The consumer complained about a sudden acceleration problem. While backing out of the driveway the vehicle began to surge forward. The consumer slammed on the brakes and the vehicle eventually stopped. *ak recall campaign# 02V313000. *sc
I purchased a brand new 2025 Lincoln Aviator on 9/27/25, with 33 miles on it. I do not even make it home from the dealer before it started making a scrubbing/grinding noise, which subsequently led to the replacement of the transfer case and transmission on a vehicle with approx 180 miles on it. It calls into question…
Electrical System 64 Read
My fiance went out to start the car. The car wouldn't start, but the starter kept clicking for around 5 minutes even when she was out of the vehicle with the door shut. During that 5 minutes the car started to smoke really bad and you could smell an electrical fire. She ran in the house to get me. We started moving…
The second row seat is moving or reclining while I’m driving. The car seat motor has a sound while it reclines
On 7/27/25 while driving on a residential street the car behaved extremely erratically and was attempting engage the brakes resulting in an uncontrollable driving condition. Brakes were engaging automatically and dashboard showed fault messages including "Antilock brake fault" and "pre-collision assist not available."…
Structure 48 Read
In addition to the recall for the C-pillar appliques and window division bars (NHTSA ID Number: 25V407000), the chrome trim piece directly below the window also suffers from insufficient adhesive bonding. See the photo below. It came lose while driving at high speeds
Top handlebar on passengers side fell off completely causing my mother a great fall. Nearly died the way her head bounced off on gravel with handle in hand. The SUV was only a month old. I have other people on a fb page stating their handle came off completely too but no accident like my moms. This is definitely a…
While driving down GA 140 near Waleska, GA, I hit a bump in the highway and the hood popped open. It stopped at first catch and I was able to stop before hood came all the way up. Was able to open hood completely and relatch successfully. No further incident's but it was very stressful to get the vehicle stopped and…
Engine And Engine Cooling 24 Read
The contact owns a 2024 Lincoln Aviator. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the accelerator pedal was depressed, and there was an abnormal sound coming from the vehicle. No warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, where it was diagnosed with a…
The contact owns a 2023 Lincoln Aviator. The contact stated that after parking the vehicle in the garage, the garage became extremely hot, and the fans underneath the vehicle activated. The contact opened the garage. The vehicle was towed to the local dealer, who was unable to determine the cause of the failure. The…
The contact owns a 2020 Lincoln Aviator. The contact stated that while reversing, the vehicle independently engaged the automatic braking feature and the vehicle stopped. The contact stated that there were no objects behind the vehicle. The contact stated that the failure was intermittent and there was no warning…
Air Bags 17 Read
On 6/9/22 I ran off the road and down a ravine. I hit a large tree head on and hit some smaller trees on the right side of the vehicle. After the head on collision with the large tree, it broke the frame in two places. The car had severe damage on the front and right side as you will notice in the pictures I am…
Vehicle was in owners drive way she put vehicle reverse moved two feet and air bag partially deployed she put the vehicle in park and exited the vehicle and the bag fully deployed
Driving and slowing down accident brakes and frontal collision and airbags didn't go off
Back Over Prevention 17 Read
The contact owns a 2023 Lincoln Aviator. The contact stated while reversing, the rear-view camera did not function as intended. The contact stated that the rear-view camera display flipped the image to the front of the vehicle. In addition, the rear-view camera system did not alert the contact. The contact's vehicle…
The contact owns a 2022 Lincoln Aviator. The contact stated that after switching to the reverse position, the backup camera image failed to display, and while driving approximately five MPH in reverse the vehicle crashed into the front end of a second vehicle. During the crash, the occupant in the second vehicle…
The contact owns a 2023 Lincoln Aviator. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V598000 (Back Over Prevention) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The contact stated that the back over prevention system remained activated showing the rearview of the vehicle. The…
Steering 17 Read
Steering locks up during low speed maneuvers. Problem began at approximately 192 miles and has repeated well over 25 times in under 650 miles
4/19/22 Staten Island NY. As I was getting off of the Hylan Blvd exit from the SI Expressway traveling toward NJ, I made a left turn. While the wheel was turned the power steering failed, locking up the steering wheel. These alerts came on the dashboard: Hill Start Assist Warning, Service Steering, Pre-Collision…
Hello. My name is [XXX] and I have a potentially serious issue with my car and Lincoln refuses to look into it. The short story : When you press the brakes moderately or harder (as if stopping for a yellow light) it sounds like you’ve run over a brick or hit a BIG pothole. It has been in 6 times and to 3 dealerships…
Service Brakes 16 Read
I was unable to stop 2003 aviator and ran into a building. There was extensive damage
The contact owns a 2025 Lincoln Aviator. The contact stated while driving 55 MPH, the brake pedal was depressed; however, the vehicle was slow to respond. The local dealer was contacted, and the contact was informed that the failure might be due to a computer chip failure. The dealer was unable to duplicate the…
Everytime I start my vehicle the parking brake fault service now light comes on
Aviator years to avoid — and the clean ones
Complaints per model year. More reports usually means more cars on the road as well as more trouble, so read the crash and fire columns alongside the count.
| Model year | Complaints | Top system | Crashes | Fires |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Electrical System, Exterior Lighting, Engine | — | — | |
| 2024 | Electrical System | — | — | |
| 2023 | Air Bags, Seat Belts | 1 | — | |
| 2022 | Air Bags | 4 | 1 | |
| 2021 | Air Bags | 1 | 1 | |
| 2020 | Back Over Prevention | 2 | 1 | |
| 2005 | Air Bags | 1 | — | |
| 2004 | Air Bags | 2 | 1 | |
| 2003 | Air Bags | 5 | — |
The same model year, different builds
Every complaint carries the first 11 characters of the VIN — plant, year, body and engine. That is a production series, and complaints are spread across them very unevenly.
| Measure | Value |
|---|---|
| Distinct production series | 180 |
| Average complaints per series | 2.3 |
| Worst single series | 10 complaints |
| Average age at failure | 4.1 years |
A model average of 2.3 hides a worst series at 10. Enter a VIN above to see the numbers for that exact build instead of the model as a whole.
Owners reported these. Find out if yours is one of them.
- Complaints matched to the exact production run, not just the model
- What the car is worth given what tends to fail on it
- The original window sticker and factory options
- Full research report as a PDF for the pre-purchase inspection
- No ads, on every page
- No ads, no tracking — and much more
How we count
Every figure here comes from complaints owners filed with NHTSA — 1,109,349 of them, covering 2,013 models built between 1981 and 2026.
A complaint is an unverified report: someone wrote down what happened to their car. It is not a confirmed defect and not a recall. What makes the volume useful is the pattern — when thousands of owners of the same build describe the same failure, that is a signal no marketing brochure will give you.
Two things we do that the source does not. First, we compute the age of the car at the moment of failure from the incident date and the model year. Second, we group complaints by the first 11 characters of the VIN — the production series — so a bad plant run does not disappear into a model-wide average.
Frequently asked questions
What are the worst years for the Aviator?
By complaint volume, 2020, 2003, 2004 drew the most owner reports. Bear in mind that popular years put more cars on the road, so check the crash and fire columns too.
Which Aviator years are the cleanest?
2024, 2025, 2023 have the fewest complaints on file. For recent years that can simply mean the cars are young.
How many complaints does the Lincoln Aviator have?
413 owner complaints filed with NHTSA, covering 2003–2025. Of those, 16 describe a crash and 4 a fire.
Are these complaints verified?
No. They are unverified reports from owners. NHTSA publishes them as filed and investigates only a fraction. The value is in the pattern, not in any single report.
Can I check complaints for one specific car?
Yes — enter its VIN above. We match the first 11 characters, which identify the plant, year, body and engine, so you get complaints on that exact production series rather than the whole model.
Mark ForCar as a preferred source and our data shows up first in your Google results. One click, no account.