Open Letter to Lincoln - How I'd Improve the Aviator

[Radguy]

Mine has a washer for the rear camera (2021 Grand Touring fully optioned). When the rear camera is activated, if you pull on the wiper lever to wash the front windscreen, the rear camera washer is also activated.

 

[peterk9]

Mine has a washer for the rear camera (2021 Grand Touring fully optioned). When the rear camera is activated, if you pull on the wiper lever to wash the front windscreen, the rear camera washer is also activated.

Ahhhh, the good old days.

Peter

 

[Homer1946]

I just got my 2025 Aviator but it is an easily list so far

1) Passenger needs memory seats. Having 30 way seats without a memory setting actually makes the number of adjustments a liability. If they are too cheap to add a switch in the door just have a setting on the seat control screen, easily brought up by the botton which is on the door. Trivial. Odd miss.

2) Need the mechanical override on each door to allow it to open when the power goes out.

3) Need and easily way to pause audio from the steering controls. You so often want to pause a book or podcast so you can pay attention to something else (like backing out, etc) that lacking this is inconvenient. An EASY solution is just to have turning the volume to zero pause playback but that doesn’t happen.

4) Much better ambient lighting with more color options (like my A6 had)

5) It should come with BlueCruise 1.4 (the latest version which IS shipping). It actually comes with the very old version of 1.2 (not even the not new 1.3) and, from what I can tell, no non-EV Ford ever gets updated.

6) Rear view mirror screen/camera.

Outside the scope of features requests..

I am still trying to get the wireless charger to connect reliably to my iPhone 14 Pro. Haven’t figured out the sweet spot yet. Also the Android automotive system in the 2025 is a little buggy. It took my a minute to figure out how to force the infotainment system to restart but knowing how to do that is key. Hopefully an update will fix this.

Understand that I am liking the vehicle very much so far and every car I have ever owned has had misses.

Rick

 

[peterk9]

^^ Welcome to the Forum Rick.
Just wanted to add my coments to your concerns.
1. Any adjustments to the seats should be made prior to driving. Having said that, the passenger can adjust the seats while the vehicle is in motion. I don't see how making adjustments could be a liability,
3. I've only used 1 colour (Ice blue) in all the vehicles I've had so I personally don't see a need for more choices.
6. The rearview mirror camera is available on lesser value Ford products. I don't see why you'd want to go from a full screen view to a smaller one especially with all the sensors and cameras.
I'm sure that may owners would like to see changes to the current available setup. That's just a given, but I'm happy with what I have.
Good luck and enjoy the ride.

Peter

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[Homer1946]

^^ Welcome to the Forum Rick.
Just wanted to add my coments to your concerns.
1. Any adjustments to the seats should be made prior to driving. Having said that, the passenger can adjust the seats while the vehicle is in motion. I don't see how making adjustments could be a liability,
3. I've only used 1 colour (Ice blue) in all the vehicles I've had so I personally don't see a need for more choices.
6. The rearview mirror camera is available on lesser value Ford products. I don't see why you'd want to go from a full screen view to a smaller one especially with all the sensors and cameras.
I'm sure that may owners would like to see changes to the current available setup. That's just a given, but I'm happy with what I have.
Good luck and enjoy the ride.

Peter

1. It’s not the ability to make adjustments, it’s the 5-10 minutes to set all the adjustments, and the several trips to get all those adjustments just right, just have have the next person who gets in the car screw it up. Then the first person has to set it all again, if they can remember the perfect settings. Of course they could just write them down and tape them to the window but…you see the point. The car should really be able to save those settings for you.

The more adjustment a seat has, the more nuisance it is not to have a way to save the settings.

This it the one thing where I would like to have a talk with the Lincoln engineer who missed this and ask…WTF?

3. This was actually the pausing of the playback. I have found that just pressing the Audio power button (the physical power knob) pauses playback and pushing it again resumes. This is a perfectly acceptable option/work around.

4. I like to change the ambient lighting with the seasons, and holidays, and even weather. Note the I came from an Audi A6 that had led light strips throughout along with the indirect well lighting, both of which could be set to ANY color independently, at any brightness level independently. It was FAR more advanced and cool than the one in the Aviator (and likely more similar to what an inevitable redesign will be like). If you don’t care about changing the lighting, or having fined grained options, then this request would not resonate with you.

6. I had a review camera in my Cadillac CT6 and it was AWSOME. It had a much wider view, and nothing IN the car, such as cargo, obstructed it. It had a washer so getting dirty was never a problem. My wife’s current car also has one and she prefers it to a regular mirror. Lincoln is just behind on this and this is another thing I have little doubt will be changed in the future. (Although the CT6 had one, my immediate predecessor car, the A6, did not).

Also, keep in mind that the question was about what we would improve, not what we like. I could have come up with a list for any car I have owned. I am a new Lincoln Aviator owner and, so far, I am very satisfied. For example my A6 was beautiful, fast, and quiet, drove amazing and had a great interior but the lane keeping was primitive and it’s method of keeping the driver informed about what it was doing almost non-existent, it’s sound system was just the north side of good, but not excellent, and not even in the same ballpark as the Aviator, and it’s interior storage was just awful…

Rick

 

[_Robert]

Two things that could be improved. Have the front camera display come on automatically when you put the vehicle in Drive. Many other brands I've driven have the front camera come on when the car is in drive and it goes off after reaching a set speed. The second thing that bugs me and could be improved is a setting that that tilts your right mirror all the way down when you put the vehicle in reverse....

 

[peterk9]

Two things that could be improved. Have the front camera display come on automatically when you put the vehicle in Drive. Many other brands I've driven have the front camera come on when the car is in drive and it goes off after reaching a set speed. The second thing that bugs me and could be improved is a setting that that tilts your right mirror all the way down when you put the vehicle in reverse....

Welcome to the Forum Robert.
I've only had my 2025 a month and found out that when pulling into the garage the front camera automatically comes ON. I have also seen it happen when pulling into a tight parking spot. I haven't checked yet to see if there is a setting for that. As for the tilting mirror, I have always added those small 2" stick-on convex mirrors on all the vehicles I've ever had. Properly placed, they allow you to see the rear wheels. No need for tilting and you always have the full view as well.
'

 

[Homer1946]

Have the front camera display come on automatically when you put the vehicle in Drive. Many other brands I've driven have the front camera come on when the car is in drive and it goes off after reaching a set speed.

Yes! The perfect behavior would be to have the cameras come on automatically at slow speeds, with the forward camera if in drive, and the rear camera if in reverse, and automatically switch between them as you switch between forward and reverse. An alternative behavior would be to have the camera behave as now (only come on when you are in reverse and when you press the camera button) but once it is on, and your speed remains below the existing cut off, then it automatically switches between front and rear as you switch between forward and reverse.

Notes:

1) Yes the camera automatically comes on when the car detects an obstacle, but that is different.
2) There has literally never been and single time I have been in drive and wanted to see behind me, or been in reverse and wanted to see in front of me (beyond what the 360 degree view provides).

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[_Robert]

Yes! The perfect behavior would be to have the cameras come on automatically at slow speeds, with the forward camera if in drive, and the rear camera if in reverse, and automatically switch between them as you switch between forward and reverse. An alternative behavior would be to have the camera behave as now (only come on when you are in reverse and when you press the camera button) but once it is on, and your speed remains below the existing cut off, then it automatically switches between front and rear as you switch between forward and reverse.

Notes:

1) Yes the camera automatically comes on when the car detects an obstacle, but that is different.
2) There has literally never been and single time I have been in drive and wanted to see behind me, or been in reverse and wanted to see in front of me (beyond what the 360 degree view provides).

Two things that could be improved. Have the front camera display come on automatically when you put the vehicle in Drive. Many other brands I've driven have the front camera come on when the car is in drive and it goes off after reaching a set speed. The second thing that bugs me and could be improved is a setting that that tilts your right mirror all the way down when you put the vehicle in reverse....

Did a test today with my 2022 Aviator. Put a fairly large cardboard box about 10 feet in front and slowly moved forward. The front camera did not turn on, but now my box is flattened for putting into the recycle bin. Has anyone else tested this to see if the front camera comes on ?

 

[peterk9]

Did a test today with my 2022 Aviator. Put a fairly large cardboard box about 10 feet in front and slowly moved forward. The front camera did not turn on, but now my box is flattened for putting into the recycle bin. Has anyone else tested this to see if the front camera comes on ?

I believe this is something new with the 2025 model. My 2025 Aviator will trigger the front camera on occasion when pulling into the garage or when pulling in behind a vehicle/obstacle in a parking lot. Neither my 2020 nor 2023 Aviators did it.

Peter

 

[G-902805]

not to speakfor the OP, but if you have little kids… in car seats/booster seats, you want the ability to adjust it on the go.

Exactly right

 

[Devil Duck]

Is this post still active? Suggest for first post to have list of suggestions for focus and reduce duplicates.

Things I’d like to see in an aviator that my ‘22 BL doesn’t have:
-passenger seat memory
-center console control for passenger memory seat, adjust rear heated+ventilated seats function and 3rd row fold up/down
-rearview mirror camera
-rear entertainment controls from front center console
-vehicle height adjustment controls on the fly (passenger entry ease especially for elderly or shorties)
-lights on sides or nightvision for backing up at night (can’t see a thing on sides at night with cameras)
-garage opener buttons moved from sunshade
-cameras as dashcam, memory stick slot for videos, lincolway app able to view cameras on demand
-better tires from factory, too much road noise with OEM. That loud even with air suspension is disappointing and embarrassing

Most of these stems from providing a luxury experience for passengers. Allowing driver to adjust and cater to passengers to give them greatest comfort and convenience from the driver seat.

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[inmanlanier]

Since there's some chatter about cameras AND these cars are set up for towing - why not allow the rear camera view while towing so that you have a chance to make sure all is well back there?!?!

 

[Silverskates]

More settings tied to the driver memory setting. I like auto hold, my wife does not. Guess which setting is kept off almost 100% of the time.

The bass on the revel system can at times be impressive but seems flat more often than not. Seems like someone at Lincoln believed that "feeling" bass wasn't luxurious. My MKT has fuller richer bass over a larger frequency range, but i think that has a 10" woofer vs the 8" in the Aviator. The "sweet spot" of that 8" woofer is narrow so there is a peaky and narrow frequency range that drops off quickly. Most of the time it feels like the 6x9s in the doors are doing more of the bass work. Lets down an otherwise amazing sound system.

More control over the drive modes. My MKT allows me to set the handling feel for the two available drive modes meaning i can have smoother throttle and sharper handling by setting D to sport handling. The available modes on the Aviator seem to change throttle, transmission and AWD settings with no real noticeable difference to ride and handling.

Don't drop park assist, but DO make it simpler. My wife uses park assist all the time on the MKT, it's the one feature that sold her on getting that car. She NEVER uses park assist on the Aviator because it's too complicated for her even after i gave her a tutorial. When I told her Ford was dropping park assist as a company her response was "guess we're not getting a Lincoln next time"

We ended up with a 6 passenger reserve despite the wife's trepidations, the ideal configuration for us was a 7 passenger grand touring black label..... This was never offered. You can get the grand touring as a 7 passenger and i think the black label was also available as a 7 passenger.... why not the BL GT? Would have made our conversations about which trim to get much simpler.

It's already been mentioned in this thread but build quality. My hud has visible NVH tape hanging out, my infotainment screen occasionally rattles. I have a strange clunk in the drivers door over large bumps that sounds like the door itself is loose, my passenger door has a rattle in the speaker like it's not mounted properly or is interfering with something in the door. The drivers power mirror is jerky when in folding/unfolding. One of the clips in the rear passenger door was installed at an angle and never pressed in all the way leaving a visible gap. The exterior panel gaps aren't consistent and even the paint has defects that seem odd on a vehicle in this price range. Don't even get started on the recalls and TSBs out there on this car. The car only has 15k miles at this point. My MKT had nothing like this and at 10 years old is still chugging along without any real or perceived quality problems.

I've had several Lincolns and despite the flaws I'm happy with my Aviator. As someone with brand affinity I'm more likely than most to be forgiving of these concerns, but I can imagine many people experiencing this after coming from a Benz or BMW or any other lux brand and being turned off from the Lincoln brand for life. Which is painful to imagine for someone who wants to see Lincoln at its very best

It remains to be seen how the 25 Aviator fares vs the above concerns and as someone who buys and hangs onto cars for a long time my next one is likely to be a 2028 or 2029 model, which will probably be a whole new platform by then.

I agree with your wife’s input (& yours). There are many things that make the Aviator NOT female friendly (or for shorter/smaller person):
1. DRIVER SEAT ADJUSTMENT: Easy access feature is a BIG fail & oxymoron IMO because it doesn’t lower seat ALL the way down. Turned it off & programmed another memory setting so I can get in/out of car easily. Though I could set my profile to lowest seat setting, then I’d need to constantly raise seat all the way up in order to drive so I have enough visibility over hood. ALSO, can’t adjust seat back to support top of thoracic spine so back hurts on a long drive.
2. HEADREST ADJUSTMENT: Can’t adjust headrest back far enough if you’re wearing a hair clip so only option is to move seat further away from body or hair clip is pressed into headrest (unsafe I think).
3. FRONT PASSENGER SEAT: Needs 2 memory settings (dare I say 1 for female, 1 for male?). When my female friends get in after 6’ tall spouse has adjusted seat, they can’t see over dash so need to adjust it.
4. CAN’T REACH WINDSHIELD to clean it off or clean wiper blades w/o using a step stool.
5. PARK ASSIST: Great feature & want to use it but too complicated. Can you give me the tutorial you gave your wife?

Wish Lincoln made a smaller 3 row SUV similar to my 2008 Chrysler Pacifica. Aviator is a gorgeous powerful car but it’s really too big for me (5’5”, 110 lbs).

 

[zildar2]

"2) There has literally never been and single time I have been in drive and wanted to see behind me, or been in reverse and wanted to see in front of me (beyond what the 360 degree view provides)."

I have one for this - when I'm in a car wash (in neutral) I would like to run my rear camera. This is because once I was in a car wash and the rear cover for the trailer hitch was knocked off. Now I'm paranoid and would like to make sure it stays put.

 

[zildar2]

I have read some great responses and wanted to put my list. Recently I rode in a new fully loaded Jeep and was frankly disappointed that it had more (and sometimes better) features than my Lincoln. I know most of these were already mentioned, but I want to give them weight by mentioning them again:

• Touch-free liftgate (the whole reason I bought my first Aviator)
• A PHYSICAL button to turn off the screen (this would have come in handy more than once when my Aviator did not auto-dim the screen at night)
• Add a discrete screen for the passenger (the Jeep had HDMI input so the passenger could watch something)
• Control of the second row seats heating/cooling (none of my passengers have been able to do this on their own)
• Auto-lock when I walk away. The car auto unlocks when I approach, and I would like the option to lock when I leave.
• Memory seat positions for the passenger side.
• Tie in the last screen on the display, HUD display options, auto-hold, etc to the driver's profile.
• Auto-tile mirrors down when in reverse.
• A physical mute button.
• Allow pausing audio from the steering wheel.
• Use the cameras as dash cams with SD card slots.
• Night vision assistance
• Auto dim the HUD when the headlights come on
• Allow me to adjust the height on my own - would be especially helpful when trying to pick up my elderly mother.
• RELIABILITY - I've owned my Aviator less than a year and so far I'm averaging that the check engine light comes on roughly every two months. Usually something to do with the PHEV features. Always covered under warranty, but frustrating.
• Would it be possible to allow the check engine error codes to be sent to the app on my phone?
• I would also like more control over the layout of my dashboard. On the Jeep, I could move the odometer, tach, speedometer, compass, clock, etc., etc. to wherever I wanted it. On the Lincoln I feel very stuck in what somebody else feels is best.

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[EcoBrick Bob]

Remember... the 2025 has fewer buttons and more items handled ONLY on the screen!!

You failed to mention that currently every interior has a large portion or all of it BLACK. I HATE BLACK in a luxury vehicle. My 2023 has the Neutral/Sandstone interior. This was a major factor in our purchase. How about it Lincoln.... when are we going to have a cherry/burgundy interior option? I had it in my 1974 Lincoln Mark IV!!!!

Fortunately for us, we have not had any issues in 24,000 miles once the initial issue of the defective amplifier was fixed. This was an issue where the selling dealer didn't prep the vehicle other than washing it! Overall, we are very happy, satisfied customers.

 

[G-484771]

Lincoln executives have been watching this community for years. They've also made improvements to their vehicles based upon what they've read here. They are listening to you.

This discussion will serve as a quick and easy way for Lincoln executives to gauge interest and help make decisions moving forward.

As am Aviator driver, you should state exactly what you'd like to see enhanced, added, and/or omitted from your Lincoln Aviator.

Any posts that don't stick to the subject matter will be moved elsewhere.

Aviator Black Label. As soon as the car is turned off, the vehicle should lower itself to aid in exiting. Wireless Android Auto...seriously cannot believe this was not automatic.

 

[breichert23]

For the 2026 Aviator bring back the fog lights and wireless Apple Carplay.

 

[peterk9]

For the 2026 Aviator bring back the fog lights and wireless Apple Carplay.

I see more and more manufacturers deleting fog lights. Given the improved lighting systems, I seldom need them. I live in the country and have maybe used them once or twice in the last ten years.

Peter