Lincoln Nautilus Reliability by YearBest & worst years, problems & recalls — NHTSA data
Comparing used Lincoln Nautilus options? We analyzed 8 model years (2019–2026) using real NHTSA complaint and recall data so you can spot stronger years, avoid riskier ones, and know what to inspect before buying.
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- Accident & damage history
- Odometer rollback records
- Open recalls & title brands
Based on NHTSA complaint data, the Lincoln Nautilus has 206 owner complaints and 33 safety recalls across model years 2019–2026. The most reported issue area is POWER TRAIN. 2019 drew the most complaints; 2023 drew the fewest.
- Make
- Lincoln
- Model
- Nautilus
- Model years analyzed
- 2019–2026 (8 years)
- Total NHTSA complaints
- 206
- Safety recall campaigns
- 33
- Crash-related complaints
- 9
- Fire-related complaints
- 0
- Worst model year (by complaints)
- 2019 (96 complaints)
- Best model year (fewest complaints)
- 2023 (6 complaints)
- Top reported issue area
- POWER TRAIN
- Reliability signal
- Poor
By model year
Lincoln Nautilus: which years to avoid & which to buy
Based on total NHTSA owner complaints per model year. Higher complaint counts indicate a riskier year to buy used — lower counts suggest a cleaner reliability record.
These years have the most owner complaints. Inspect carefully and always run a VIN check.
These years have the fewest owner complaints on record — lower risk starting points.
Crash test ratings
NHTSA NCAP crash test ratings
New Car Assessment ProgramNCAP crash tests measure how well a vehicle protects occupants in controlled frontal crash, side crash, and rollover scenarios. Stars are awarded per category (5 = safest). These laboratory results are independent of owner complaints and are performed by NHTSA engineers on new production vehicles.
Source: nhtsa.gov/ratings
What the complaint data suggests
PoorThe LINCOLN NAUTILUS has 206 NHTSA complaints and 33 recalls on record. 9 complaints involve crash-related incidents. This data reflects owner-reported issues submitted to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
- 206 total complaints filed with NHTSA
- 33 federal recall campaigns
- 9 crash-related complaints on record
- Review NHTSA complaint history for the most-reported components
- Check recall completion status at nhtsa.gov/recalls
- Verify service records for frequently complained components
Consult the by-year breakdown to identify model years with elevated complaint rates.
Consult the by-year breakdown to identify model years with fewer reported issues.
- Run a VIN check on the specific vehicle you are considering
- Verify all open recalls are completed at nhtsa.gov/recalls
- Request service records for the most-reported complaint components
- Have a certified mechanic inspect the vehicle before purchase
Problems by model year (best vs. worst)
Source: NHTSA public complaints database. Updated: Jul 2026
Safety recalls
NHTSA safety recalls
33 recalls foundSafety recalls are mandatory repair campaigns ordered by NHTSA when a vehicle defect poses an unreasonable risk to safety. Manufacturers are required to fix recalled vehicles free of charge. Always verify open recalls before buying a used car.
ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING:EXHAUST SYSTEM:EMISSION CONTROL:GAS RECIRCULATION VALVE (EGR VALVE)
VISIBILITY:POWER WINDOW DEVICES AND CONTROLS
BACK OVER PREVENTION:SOFTWARE
BACK OVER PREVENTION:SOFTWARE
BACK OVER PREVENTION:SOFTWARE
EXTERIOR LIGHTING:LIGHTING CONTROL MODULE
VISIBILITY:POWER WINDOW DEVICES AND CONTROLS
VISIBILITY:POWER WINDOW DEVICES AND CONTROLS
VISIBILITY:POWER WINDOW DEVICES AND CONTROLS
VISIBILITY:POWER WINDOW DEVICES AND CONTROLS
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
BACK OVER PREVENTION:SOFTWARE
CHILD SEAT:VEHICLE TETHER ANCHOR
SUSPENSION:REAR:SHOCK ABSORBER
ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING:ENGINE:HARD PARTS INTERNAL/MECHANICAL
ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING:ENGINE:HARD PARTS INTERNAL/MECHANICAL
VISIBILITY:POWER WINDOW DEVICES AND CONTROLS
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM: INSTRUMENT CLUSTER/PANEL
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
BACK OVER PREVENTION:SOFTWARE
Source: NHTSA Recalls Database. Data covers model years 2019–2026. Always run a VIN-specific check below for the most up-to-date open recall status.
Common problems
What goes wrong most often
The vehicle systems owners complain about most, ranked from all 206 NHTSA complaints — these are the areas to inspect first on a used car.
Owner complaints
NHTSA complaint reports
206 totalThese are consumer-submitted safety complaints filed directly with NHTSA. Each complaint describes a real owner's experience. Complaints flagged as crash-related or fire-related are highlighted.
This was the first long trip for the new Nautilus. I was using cruise control, along with adaptive cruise control, and hands free driving. A prompt came up to resume control. The road was not twisty, so it was somewhat unusual for this to happen from my experience. I put my hands on the steering wheel to resume control. The engine began stuttering and the flashers came on. The car then began decreasing speed. Please, something is clearly not right with this car. This was a dangerous situation on a highway at 65 mph. The car was rapidly decreasing speed and the highway was busy with holiday traffic, campers, etc. going to Mt. Hood. Yes, this car is available for inspection upon request. This was a dangerous situation on a busy highway when the vehicle suddenly began decreasing speed requiring me to take immediate action while traveling at 65 mph. No, the problem has not been reproduced. No, the dealer has not looked at it despite repeated phone calls. I do not have another car and cannot afford a rental. They have had me on a LONG wait list for a loaner. No, there were no warning lamps, messages or other symptoms of the problem prior to the failure.
This is the third Lincoln Nautilus that the facial recognition sensor does not operate as it should and creates a significant distraction while driving. The system constantly will go into the "Watch the Road" warning and then proceed to the "Resume Control" which also activates the four way flashers and pulses the brakes despite taking action such as moving the steering wheel or pressing the "OK" on the steering wheel touch pad to acknowledge the warning which does not clear out. If the vehicle is being tailgated which happens frequently this could lead to a collision either from the tailgater that hits you or the tailgater making a sudden move to avoid a collision and cause a different impact or loss of control. I have video of this occurring frequently while driving, however it is too large of a file to upload. The design and placement of the sensor on the top of the steering column is also a contributing factor due to glare that frequently occurs and will increase the instances of this warning as well. I also tested it while wearing sunglasses and that too increases the frequency of the warning indications which makes this a very flawed design overall because of the fact that milions of drivers wear sunglasses daily (especially here in Florida) yet the designers and developers obviously did not take that (sunglasses) into account along with the failure of the system when glare is produced - another frequent item that happens on sunny days. As stated, this is the third new Lincoln Nautilus that I have experienced this on, the first two were 2025 models, this vehicle is a service loaner from the dealer while mine is in the shop for this and other problems.
When I went to change lanes on the highway, I went to look in the passenger side mirror to check for traffic. What I saw was my shirt. The mirrors have auto open and close. They malfunctioned and did not open,. This was a safety risk. I have an appointment with the service center at the dealership.
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 small metal bar rather than a flat grippy surface like the pedal, this creates unstable footing. It is very difficult to use and is quite unsafe. It is an issue in all cases when pressing the brake (i.e., it is not only for aggressive braking; it is always persistent). I have found in many cases my foot slipping on the shaft and it causing real danger to myself, my family, and other drivers as the inability to brake effectively has obvious implications. This is not a unique case of me having large feet or anything like that; in fact, I have small feet. It is probably a much bigger issue for the average person with larger feet than me. I reported it to the dealership, and they acknowledged that they have heard the complaint, but their response was "get used to it". No other parties have inspected the component. There are no warning lights. This is not a "failure" of a component, but rather a design flaw that is unsafe. I would recommend inspecting the 2026 Lincoln Nautilus to assess the risk of the brake pedal / shaft design and suggest a recall on the brake pedal whereby Lincoln must replace with a design that does not cause this interference.
I was driving on M 53 south bound approximately 11:30 am when I heard two consecutive soft “tick” tick” sounds and immediately noticed the stress cracks appearing on my windshield top drivers side. I will be taking it for inspection as there was not any type of object to cause these cracks.
I purchased a new 2026 Lincoln Nautilus only 3 days ago. While driving on a public road, both side mirrors suddenly auto-folded on their own without any driver input. This created a serious safety hazard because I immediately lost side visibility while operating the vehicle. I had to pull over in the middle of traffic and manually restore the mirrors before continuing to drive. This malfunction is extremely dangerous and unacceptable in a brand-new vehicle. Side mirrors are critical safety equipment, and unexpected folding while driving could easily lead to an accident. I request that this issue be investigated as a potential safety defect affecting the Lincoln Nautilus.
Read 14 more owner reports
When using Apple Car Play and Sirius radio through Apple Car Play, the radio station controls on the steering wheel do not function properly and actually function differently than when using the native Nautilus radio. When using Apple Car Play, in order to change radio stations, you must use the display screen to change stations. This forces the driver, if driving alone, to take their eyes off the road, locate the proper screen, and then change the station. When using the native radio and listening to Sirius, using the radio controls on the steering wheel function as expected. I reported this to Ford through my local dealer, and the response was that "it is functioning as anticipated". To me this means Ford is aware they require one to take their eyes off the road to change radio stations in the manner outlined above.
Recently took a trip from [XXX] to [XXX] and during the course of this trip the lane departure, lane keeping and automatic braking would constantly fail during the course of the drive as the facial recognition sensor kept failing to detect my face and would start going into the Resume Control mode which pulses the brakes and turns on the four way flashers. There was also two different warnings displayed on the dash from the camera failure "Driver Facing Camera Blocked" and also "Driver Facing Camera Cannot Detect Face" several times during the past couple months. Additionally, the system would go straight to the Resume Control mode, when it is supposed to begin with the "Watch the Road" preliminary warning which is supposed to be able to be cleared with either the button on the steering wheel or by shaking the wheel, and that too does not operate properly. These instances happened even more frequently when the "Blue Cruise" hands free driving system was in operation. Additionally when the Blue Cruise Hands Free Driving system was making a lane change, over half the time the Blue Cruise would suddenly disengage before the lane change was completed, so the lane assist would try to take over and jerk the wheel back into the lane, making it seem like there was a loss of control over the vehicle. Furthermore the lane centering system is highly biased to the right side lane marker as it would not center the vehicle in the lane but stay right on the right side line even when passing another vehicle it stayed close to the lane line when the system is showing that it was moving the vehicle away from the vehicle being overtaken. And when I tried to move the vehicle away manually the system was fighting the manual correction and trying to keep the vehicle along the line. Very unsafe operation, not to mention that constantly fighting against these systems made this one of the most tiring drives I have done, and I have made this trip many times since 1983. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
The blind spot warning and the turn signal marker are the same color so when trying To change lanes the blind spot warning is worthlesss because it is the same color and right next to the signal flasher both yellow. It needs to be changed and have an audible warning . The Blind spot warning is essentially useless because when looking in the side mirror you can’t distinguish between the signal and the blind spot. This is true on both sides and is an accident waiting to happen. There should be a recall as A Safety feature is not a safety feature unless It works .
The panoramic display on the car went black from just left of center to almost the end of the display on the drivers side . Alll information was blacked out speed mileage Etc. I restarted the car no change went back the next day it was working. If this happens while driving it could cause a serious problem
My 2025 Lincoln Nautilus forward collision avoidance system reduces cruise control speed unexpectedly and wanders between lane markers. The driver-facing camera is also overly sensitive — triggering “watch the road” warnings even when glancing over a shoulder to change lanes, while wearing sunglasses, and does not stop warning even when looking straight ahead out windshield. Then the system activates a “resume control” warning and braking and hazard lights. This distraction has almost caused me to have three accidents. The BlueCruise also shuts off without warning, which is also dangerous. This is a time when a warning noise would be justified. Lastly, random cancelled messages appear on dashboard and I have zero idea what wa cancelled. I can only enter one date below but this is an ongoing issue. Service continues to claim there is no issue even though this is a known issue.
Driving on Interstate 10 eastbound on May 9th, the lane departure system suddenly stopped working and would not turn back on and a warning on the dash stating Driver Facing Camera is Blocked but there was nothing in front of the camera which is on top of the steering wheel column. Then when returning home later that same day, the system began operating again but now it would continually go directly to the "Resume Control" and begin the emergency brake pulsing while on the highway as the facial recognition camera is apparently failing to recognize that I was facing forward. And when it goes into the Resume Control mode, the only way to regain control is by turning off the cruise control system entirely, pressing the gas pedal or moving the steering wheel or even pressing the brake did not disengage the system as it should.
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.
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 contact owns a 2025 LINCOLN Nautilus. The contact stated while operating the vehicle at an undisclosed speed she stated she was coming up to a red, the vehicle was suddenly t-boned by a separate vehicle right by the right front passenger side. The contact vehicle ended up by a median which led to the other vehicle hitting the contact by the rear a second time. The vehicle came to a final stop on top of a median. The air bags were not fully deployed, the steering wheel airbag deployed partially but it was white stuffing and no actual air bag came out. The vehicle was towed to deep south towing tow yard. A police report was filed. The contact stated she was injured in the incident, stated her thumb was shattered with surgery needed, and her right arm was severely Bruised. Medical treatment was given for injuries and pain meds. The dealer was notified of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 9,800.
The rear hatchback window shattered with the vehicle sitting still overnight. All of the glass was shattered and most of it was in place and many pieces behind the vehicle on the driveway (as if it happened from inside the vehicle). Low temperature for the night was about 45 degrees, so nothing significant. The only explanation I can think of is the rear glass defroster turned on and overheated?
Driving on Interstate Highway 10 just west of Jacksonville Fl the Adaptive Cruise Control and Lane Departure systems were on and functioning and then suddenly the system shut itself off and a warning that the Driver Facing Camera cannot detect face, see manual appeared on the dash.
Driving the vehicle with the cruise control on to remain at the posted speed limit and suddenly the vehicle went into Resume Control mode, began pulsing the brakes and engaged the flashers due to the Facial Recognition camera failed to recognize that I was looking straight ahead, and even pressing the accelerator pedal to override, nor pressing the "OK" button on the steering wheel to override operated, I had to shut the cruise control completely off in order to regain control of the vehicle driving. I have a video from my camera of the incident as it was occurring, however the file size due to being video is too large to upload per the instructions.
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 or not.
The rearview camera appears foggy with poor visibility even in clear weather. The problem was reported to the dealer during the December - February snowy weather; their suggestion was to keep the camera clean. At [XXX], getting out to clean a camera presents additional health and safety risks. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
Showing 20 of 206 total NHTSA complaints. Source: NHTSA Complaints Database
Check the exact car
Before you buy, check the exact Lincoln Nautilus
These pages show model-year patterns across 8 years. Enter a VIN to verify the exact vehicle's accident history, title brands, odometer records, and open recall status before purchase.
The basics
How to read this data
Complaints, recalls, investigations — here’s what each number actually tells you about a used Lincoln Nautilus, in plain English.
What is an NHTSA Complaint?
An NHTSA safety complaint is a report filed directly by a vehicle owner or driver describing a safety-related issue. Anyone can submit a complaint at NHTSA.gov. The number of complaints is a signal of how common a problem is — but complaints per model-year matter more than raw totals, since popular vehicles naturally receive more reports. The Lincoln Nautilus has 206 complaints on record across 8 model years.
What is a Safety Recall?
A safety recall is a mandatory campaign issued by NHTSA when a vehicle component poses an unreasonable risk to safety or does not comply with federal motor vehicle safety standards. Unlike complaints (which are owner-reported), recalls are formally investigated and confirmed by regulators. Manufacturers must fix recalled vehicles free of charge. The Lincoln Nautilus has 33 recall campaigns in the NHTSA database.
What Are Crash Complaints?
Crash complaints are NHTSA filings where the owner indicates a crash occurred as part of the incident. 9 of the Lincoln Nautilus's 206 complaints involved a crash. This metric is particularly important because it indicates how often defects resulted in actual collisions — a key safety signal beyond general reliability.
How Is the Reliability Verdict Calculated?
The reliability verdict (Poor) is generated by analyzing the vehicle's total complaints, recall history, crash complaint ratio, fire complaint ratio, and top component failures relative to class averages. This verdict gives buyers a quick interpretation before they review year-level details and VIN-level history. It should be treated as one decision input, not a substitute for a VIN-specific report.
Why Do Newer Years Have Fewer Complaints?
Newer model years appear to have fewer complaints because there has been less time for owners to file them. Complaints accumulate over years of ownership. A 2020 model year vehicle will typically show fewer complaints than a 2015 model year even if it is less reliable — simply because fewer owners have had time to report issues. Focus on complaints per year of market presence when comparing across model years.
Fleet Data vs. Individual VIN
Everything on this page reflects aggregated data across all Lincoln Nautilus vehicles on the road — not any specific car. Two Lincoln Nautilus vehicles of the same year can have very different histories: one may have been in three accidents and have an open recall; another may be clean. A VIN check gives you the individual car's history: accidents, title brands, odometer records, service history, and real-time recall status.
What Are NHTSA Investigations?
When NHTSA receives a pattern of related safety complaints, it opens a formal investigation. A Preliminary Evaluation (PE) is the first stage — NHTSA determines if a safety defect may exist. If evidence is strong, it escalates to an Engineering Analysis (EA), which can result in a mandatory recall. The Lincoln Nautilus has 0 investigations on record (0 active). Investigations listed above may have already led to the recalls shown on this page.
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Lincoln Nautilus reliability — frequently asked questions
Is the Lincoln Nautilus reliable?
Poor. The Lincoln Nautilus has 206 NHTSA owner complaints and 33 recall campaigns across model years. A commonly reported issue area is POWER TRAIN. Use year-level data as a pattern guide, then verify the exact car with a VIN check before purchase.
Which Lincoln Nautilus years to avoid?
Years with the most NHTSA complaints: 2019 (96 complaints), 2020 (32 complaints), 2025 (20 complaints). Use these years as a shortlist for deeper inspection, and always run a VIN check on the exact vehicle before purchase.
What are the most common Lincoln Nautilus problems?
Top reported issues: POWER TRAIN (54 complaints); ELECTRICAL SYSTEM (44 complaints); UNKNOWN OR OTHER (34 complaints).
Does the Lincoln Nautilus have recalls?
Yes — 33 NHTSA recall campaigns have been issued for the Lincoln Nautilus. Check nhtsa.gov/recalls or run a VIN check to see if your specific vehicle has open recalls.