Owners have filed 199 complaints on the Lincoln Nautilus, covering 2019–2026. The system named most often is Power Train (47 reports). Worst years by volume: 2019, 2020, 2025; cleanest: 2023, 2026, 2022. 7 reports describe a crash. On average the car was 2.8 years old when the problem happened.
What breaks on Lincoln Nautilus
Grouped by the system owners named — percentages are shares of all 199 Nautilus complaints. Open any row for the full reports in owners' own words.
Power Train 47 Read
On the way home from the dealer the vehicle powered down on its own and then shut off in the middle of the road. Luckily we were able to coast into the median without incident. The vehicle started back up and we garaged it until the dealer came the next day to retrieve it. The vehicle remains at the dealer with this…
There is a class action lawsuit for the 2019-2021 Nautilus with the 8F35 transmission, which is the same transmission that my 2022 Nautilus has. Ford has also issued multiple technical service bulletins (25-2154, 21-2389) regarding the 8F35 transmission. My transmission has had a catastrophic failure and began…
The contact owns a 2022 Lincoln Nautilus. The contact stated that while another person was driving approximately 15-50 MPH, the vehicle sputtered and jerked. The vehicle was driven to the workplace, and the contact attempted to test-drive the vehicle. The contact stated that upon starting the vehicle and shifting to…
Electrical System 35 Read
I am reporting a serious vehicle safety concern involving my company-leased 2024 Lincoln Nautilus Black Label. The vehicle was damaged while in the custody of the dealership (Tasca Lincoln). The damage was not minor cosmetic damage and involved replacement of a door assembly. The dealership returned the vehicle to me…
Ongoing Electrical Failures (2024 Lincoln Nautilus) This vehicle has experienced repeated and unresolved electrical system failures despite being brought in for service at least seven times. The issues remain ongoing and impact both safety and reliability: 1. Rear driver-side window defect – window reverses and will…
The contact owns a 2024 Lincoln Nautilus. The contact received notifications of NHTSA Campaign Numbers: 24V953000 (VISIBILITY), 25V337000 (ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, EQUIPMENT), 26V165000 (BACK OVER PREVENTION, ELECTRICAL SYSTEM) and 25V691000 (BACK OVER PREVENTION, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE), and the vehicle was taken to…
Steering 11 Read
I had a 2020 ford explorer with co-Pilot 360 which is lane centering with your hand on the wheel. The new Nautilus is equipped with this same system and Blu Cruise. Unfortunately, the system will not work without the eye scanning system as it says it does and the sales rep says it will. The car has non-working safety…
Front right brakes make grinding sounds when stopping and lose traction when roads are wet. Vehicle causes safety issues when roads are wet. Due to lack of control. Issue was reported to the dealer and I was told Lincoln is aware of the issue but there’s no fix at the time. Vehicle was inspected by dealer at 7,500…
My 2023 Nautilus is currently at the dealership I purchased from.Shults Lincoln. Steering column, tilt and telescopic adjustments. While driving vehicle the tilt and telescopic moves on its on. This has happened mulitudes of times. The most danderous event occured while my wife was driving and the telescopic feature…
Engine 10 Read
The contact owns a 2024 Lincoln Nautilus. The contact stated while driving 75 MPH, the vehicle began shaking violently with the check engine warning light illuminated and the vehicle stalled. The vehicle was steered off the road and restarted; however, there were several unknown warning lights illuminated. The…
Recall 24S55/24V635 was issued in October 2024, the issue with intake valves was discovered prior to October 2021. My car was manufactured in July 2021 within the time of inefficient intake valves. The problem continues to exist as there is no remedy. No remedy and no problem dealer won't look at the car, (even with a…
The component that has failed is the Transmisson. The vehicle is available for inspection upon request. We are at risk of being stranded on major highways with small children every day. This vehicle problem has been inspected by both the dealer and two independent service centers. There was one symptom noted that…
Service Brakes 9 Read
During an emergency break, when applying full force to the break, and the vehicle is traveling at 20 or less mph, the vehicle cannot come to a full stop. Automatic Emergency Braking and pre-collision warning failed to engage. When pressing the break with full force, loud noise of all the break pads grinding can be…
The brake pedal is designed in such a manner that the shaft/arm gets in the way of the pedal as you start pressing the pedal. As the pedal is pressed away from the driver, the shaft is setup in such a way that the driver's foot then hits the shaft and loses the ability to press the actual pedal. Given the shaft is a…
The brakes on my 2025 Lincoln Nautilus make a scraping/grunting noise when first applied after the car has been sitting. When applied, in addition to the noise, the brakes require more pressure to stop. The issue is worse in the rain. My vehicle is available for inspection upon request. There were several times while…
Back Over Prevention 9 Read
The automated parking assist function malfunctioned. I will attach the video. Lincoln claims that the auto functioned as designed
Backing out of a parking stall at the store and as I was moving, two pedestrians walked behind the vehicle and no alert sounded in the vehicle while backing up, nor did the vehicle brake as it should to avoid hitting them. Vehicle was in electric mode and I did not notice if the rear beeper was operating at the time…
Backing out of a parking spot at Lowe's in Jacksonville, vehicle was in motion and a pedestrian walked behind the vehicle and no warning or braking occurred inside the vehicle, I manually stopped when I saw the person appear in the camera as they walked behind the vehicle
Structure 9 Read
Factory windshield has what looks to be micro sized cracks clustered throughout the glass and when the sun or other bright light hits at certain angles makes it look like a star field and drastically obscures forward vision
The back rear seat WINDOW on the left-hand side spontaneously exploded while driving around 60 mph on the highway on the morning (10:30 AM ET) of October 7, 2025. All of the pieces blew into the car. There was a loud boom when the window imploded. Had this happened on the driver's window, I would have wrecked. As loud…
The door jam and hatchback seals are letting dust and emission fumes inside the vehicle. When driving down a dirt road the seats are covered with dust. The dealership says that the seals are properly installed they said to the cabin fan on high to pressurize the vehicle which has not helped. When sitting stopped in…
Seat Belts 6 Read
The newer Lincoln Nautilus starting model year 2024 has an issue of moving seat positions while in motion. For the seat memory settings I am set to position 1 my wife is set to position 2 and there's at least a foot difference between us. If the Nautilus enters power save mode which seems to be quite frequent the…
The contact owns a 2019 Lincoln Nautilus. The contact stated that the front driver’s side seat belt failed to unlatch as designed. The contact took the vehicle to the local dealer however, the mechanic was unable to duplicate the failure. The failure recurred. The manufacturer was not informed of the failure. The…
With booster seats in rear seat, passenger side seat belt is extremely difficult to snap in in place. Got extenders but will not work on passenger rear seat different than the other 2 rear buckles. Wife can not strap grand children in and I the grandfather have a hard time. Shouldn't all the belts be the same? No…
Nautilus 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Service Brakes | — | — | |
| 2025 | Air Bags | 1 | — | |
| 2024 | Back Over Prevention | 2 | — | |
| 2023 | Electrical System,unknown Or Other | 1 | — | |
| 2022 | Electrical System,unknown Or Other | — | — | |
| 2021 | Back Over Prevention | — | — | |
| 2020 | Back Over Prevention | 1 | — | |
| 2019 | Air Bags,vehicle Speed Control | 2 | — |
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 | 145 |
| Average complaints per series | 1.4 |
| Worst single series | 7 complaints |
| Average age at failure | 2.8 years |
A model average of 1.4 hides a worst series at 7. 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
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How we count
Every figure here comes from complaints owners filed with NHTSA — 1,100,006 of them, covering 1,982 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 Nautilus?
By complaint volume, 2019, 2020, 2025 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 Nautilus years are the cleanest?
2023, 2026, 2022 have the fewest complaints on file. For recent years that can simply mean the cars are young.
How many complaints does the Lincoln Nautilus have?
199 owner complaints filed with NHTSA, covering 2019–2026. Of those, 7 describe a crash and 0 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.