Are all Lincoln Navigators Lemons?

[navcap]

Been a while since I posted here, since I first purchased my 2020 Navigator Reserve back in July. I feel like there are likely a dozen threads here that all point to the same thing: the Lincoln soft product is a joke, despite being a nearly best in class hard product. Ford never bothered to invest in Lincoln tech, instead has tried to shove Ford Sync into what's mostly but that entirely a Ford user experience. This may not have been an issue when Lincoln was nothing more than a livery vehicle. If Lincoln is serious about getting into the luxury family SUV market, it's not going to get very far without a thorough postmortem of its tech shortcomings. I for one, will not be purchasing a second Lincoln once I can get rid of this thing. Rant over, now to specifics:

1. sync update pushed overnight in my garage in August about a month into ownership
2. immediately lost front driver and front passenger zone temp displays on touchscreen
3. it took 4 months for anyone at Lincoln to acknowledge this was a problem, and required a dealership corrupting another lot vehicle display to prove the point by downloading the same update
4. PAAK works 50% of the time. Often requiring entering my 10 digit backup safety code while stopped at a red light to get the car moving again.
5. It became clear that the steering wheel controls for toggling between Sirius stations were not programmed correctly. Often times when switching between the three Sirius preset lists or from FM to Sirius, the car would mis-tune to the incorrect channel, not the one selected.
6. Sirius radio data failure to display on cluster, despite FM/AM/Streaming appearing - it works on some Navigators (including my loaner last week) but not mine
7. second row display constantly shows "Aquir" which is neither English nor accurate when listening to a Sirius station
8. A local dealer informed me the answer to my Sirius problems was replacing the head-unit/cluster display - in doing so, they returned the vehicle to me without having finished configuration so none of the driver assistance was functional and none of the drive modes were working. The dealer also forgot to log the mileage in, so when they had to input the mileage into the new cluster, they used an old odometer reading from several months prior - seems like that in violation of some kind of federal odometer regulation. I pointed all this out to a different dealer and Lincoln Concierge, who then had to order a new display and reprogram with the actual last known mileage. I still don't have Sirius displaying correctly on the cluster, the second row display is still corrupted, and my steering wheel Sirius control doesn't work.

In other news, if anyone is in the Chicago area and wants a brand new-in-box WeatherTech all-weather liner for the 2nd and 3rd row (all one piece including the aisle between for the second-row captain chair with pass-through) DM me. Free if you pick it up.

 

[jkeaton]

Not my Lincoln. 17 years old and still chugging along like the day she rolled off the assembly line.

 

[G-866844]

Not my Lincoln. 17 years old and still chugging along like the day she rolled off the assembly line.

They evidently don’t make ‘em like they used to...

 

[navcap]

Not my Lincoln. 17 years old and still chugging along like the day she rolled off the assembly line.

no doubt they don't build 'em like they used to. That and it used to be good enough to just build a great car, now there's a whole other layer that Lincoln has ignored and that's the software development side. Very complex computers which in the case of the new navigators (for me) ruin the vehicle. I honestly think Lincoln never did any QC and didn't sit an engineer or certainly a market research customer in the new Navigators to just push buttons and see if everything worked as conceived and expected. Maybe for the first time, Lincoln is nearly competing with Europe, but has failed miserably on the software.

______________________________

 

[Black Label]

DM sent. Sorry about you Nav. That stinks.

 

[Black Label]

Your #6 above is an ongoing head into brick wall issue for me as well. Review videos back to 2018 and the 2 newer loaners I have driven display Sirius in the instrument cluster. Also saw your #7 in the 2 loaners I drove.

I sometimes get your #5, but I had that issue in my 2008 Expedition. Not sure how they fix that. It'll be something they can never duplicate.

 

[Ballyhoo]

I currently own two Lincolns. A 1998 Town Car which is still near mint and a 2011 Navigator L. Over the years I've owned several others, none ever giving me issues other than normal wear parts (alternator, wheel bearings/hubs, air springs ect.). So my thoughts are that no matter how dependable there will always be that off chance at a "lemon". That said, and of my personal opinion, to label them otherwise is silly. Do they need revamped to compete with the European market? Absolutely. I would love nothing more than to see Lincoln put the same drive into a competition with Mercedes like Ford did with Ferrari back in 1966. And that's in no way a knock against Mercedes, just saying.

 

[MarkL]

Been a while since I posted here, since I first purchased my 2020 Navigator Reserve back in July. I feel like there are likely a dozen threads here that all point to the same thing: the Lincoln soft product is a joke, despite being a nearly best in class hard product. Ford never bothered to invest in Lincoln tech, instead has tried to shove Ford Sync into what's mostly but that entirely a Ford user experience. This may not have been an issue when Lincoln was nothing more than a livery vehicle. If Lincoln is serious about getting into the luxury family SUV market, it's not going to get very far without a thorough postmortem of its tech shortcomings. I for one, will not be purchasing a second Lincoln once I can get rid of this thing. Rant over, now to specifics:

1. sync update pushed overnight in my garage in August about a month into ownership
2. immediately lost front driver and front passenger zone temp displays on touchscreen
3. it took 4 months for anyone at Lincoln to acknowledge this was a problem, and required a dealership corrupting another lot vehicle display to prove the point by downloading the same update
4. PAAK works 50% of the time. Often requiring entering my 10 digit backup safety code while stopped at a red light to get the car moving again.
5. It became clear that the steering wheel controls for toggling between Sirius stations were not programmed correctly. Often times when switching between the three Sirius preset lists or from FM to Sirius, the car would mis-tune to the incorrect channel, not the one selected.
6. Sirius radio data failure to display on cluster, despite FM/AM/Streaming appearing - it works on some Navigators (including my loaner last week) but not mine
7. second row display constantly shows "Aquir" which is neither English nor accurate when listening to a Sirius station
8. A local dealer informed me the answer to my Sirius problems was replacing the head-unit/cluster display - in doing so, they returned the vehicle to me without having finished configuration so none of the driver assistance was functional and none of the drive modes were working. The dealer also forgot to log the mileage in, so when they had to input the mileage into the new cluster, they used an old odometer reading from several months prior - seems like that in violation of some kind of federal odometer regulation. I pointed all this out to a different dealer and Lincoln Concierge, who then had to order a new display and reprogram with the actual last known mileage. I still don't have Sirius displaying correctly on the cluster, the second row display is still corrupted, and my steering wheel Sirius control doesn't work.

In other news, if anyone is in the Chicago area and wants a brand new-in-box WeatherTech all-weather liner for the 2nd and 3rd row (all one piece including the aisle between for the second-row captain chair with pass-through) DM me. Free if you pick it up.

I get that it is very frustrating when we spend around 100k on our cars and they are pieces of garbage but most people with good experiences just do not post about their cars that often hence you see all of these issues on car forums. I have a 2019 Reserve and it has been perfect for me, not even a rattle, and I put on the miles like crazy already needing new tires late last year. I get it though and I'm sorry that your Navi has so many issues.

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[Bmolina13]

Sounds like replacing your APIM would fix all of your problems. The issue with Sirius would not be resolved by replacing the IPC at all. The APIM is what controls Sirius. I would recommend taking it to another dealer with more experienced technicians.
And there should be an update to resolve the PAAK issue. There is an ssm for that concern.
Also it is against federal law to program the wrong mileage into the vehicle and the dealership would be at fault for that.
I think it just boils down to a crappy dealership doing crappy work...

 

[Black Label]

Sounds like replacing your APIM would fix all of your problems. The issue with Sirius would not be resolved by replacing the IPC at all. The APIM is what controls Sirius. I would recommend taking it to another dealer with more experienced technicians.
And there should be an update to resolve the PAAK issue. There is an ssm for that concern.
Also it is against federal law to program the wrong mileage into the vehicle and the dealership would be at fault for that.
I think it just boils down to a crappy dealership doing crappy work...

My APIM was replaced. Things generally work better.

 

[Black Label]

I understand the frustration these tech issues can cause. tech is a big reason we buy vehicles these days. That said, the ride, comfort, engine, the whole experience otherwise, for me is so great, I will deal with these issues as I work to get them resolved.

It's been discussed here, but the struggle for Lincoln, IMHO, is getting stand alone dealerships so those stores can focus on the Lincoln Way, not being Ford shops that sell Lincolns.

 

[Egarza911]

Been a while since I posted here, since I first purchased my 2020 Navigator Reserve back in July. I feel like there are likely a dozen threads here that all point to the same thing: the Lincoln soft product is a joke, despite being a nearly best in class hard product. Ford never bothered to invest in Lincoln tech, instead has tried to shove Ford Sync into what's mostly but that entirely a Ford user experience. This may not have been an issue when Lincoln was nothing more than a livery vehicle. If Lincoln is serious about getting into the luxury family SUV market, it's not going to get very far without a thorough postmortem of its tech shortcomings. I for one, will not be purchasing a second Lincoln once I can get rid of this thing. Rant over, now to specifics:

1. sync update pushed overnight in my garage in August about a month into ownership
2. immediately lost front driver and front passenger zone temp displays on touchscreen
3. it took 4 months for anyone at Lincoln to acknowledge this was a problem, and required a dealership corrupting another lot vehicle display to prove the point by downloading the same update
4. PAAK works 50% of the time. Often requiring entering my 10 digit backup safety code while stopped at a red light to get the car moving again.
5. It became clear that the steering wheel controls for toggling between Sirius stations were not programmed correctly. Often times when switching between the three Sirius preset lists or from FM to Sirius, the car would mis-tune to the incorrect channel, not the one selected.
6. Sirius radio data failure to display on cluster, despite FM/AM/Streaming appearing - it works on some Navigators (including my loaner last week) but not mine
7. second row display constantly shows "Aquir" which is neither English nor accurate when listening to a Sirius station
8. A local dealer informed me the answer to my Sirius problems was replacing the head-unit/cluster display - in doing so, they returned the vehicle to me without having finished configuration so none of the driver assistance was functional and none of the drive modes were working. The dealer also forgot to log the mileage in, so when they had to input the mileage into the new cluster, they used an old odometer reading from several months prior - seems like that in violation of some kind of federal odometer regulation. I pointed all this out to a different dealer and Lincoln Concierge, who then had to order a new display and reprogram with the actual last known mileage. I still don't have Sirius displaying correctly on the cluster, the second row display is still corrupted, and my steering wheel Sirius control doesn't work.

In other news, if anyone is in the Chicago area and wants a brand new-in-box WeatherTech all-weather liner for the 2nd and 3rd row (all one piece including the aisle between for the second-row captain chair with pass-through) DM me. Free if you pick it up.

Been a while since I posted here, since I first purchased my 2020 Navigator Reserve back in July. I feel like there are likely a dozen threads here that all point to the same thing: the Lincoln soft product is a joke, despite being a nearly best in class hard product. Ford never bothered to invest in Lincoln tech, instead has tried to shove Ford Sync into what's mostly but that entirely a Ford user experience. This may not have been an issue when Lincoln was nothing more than a livery vehicle. If Lincoln is serious about getting into the luxury family SUV market, it's not going to get very far without a thorough postmortem of its tech shortcomings. I for one, will not be purchasing a second Lincoln once I can get rid of this thing. Rant over, now to specifics:

1. sync update pushed overnight in my garage in August about a month into ownership
2. immediately lost front driver and front passenger zone temp displays on touchscreen
3. it took 4 months for anyone at Lincoln to acknowledge this was a problem, and required a dealership corrupting another lot vehicle display to prove the point by downloading the same update
4. PAAK works 50% of the time. Often requiring entering my 10 digit backup safety code while stopped at a red light to get the car moving again.
5. It became clear that the steering wheel controls for toggling between Sirius stations were not programmed correctly. Often times when switching between the three Sirius preset lists or from FM to Sirius, the car would mis-tune to the incorrect channel, not the one selected.
6. Sirius radio data failure to display on cluster, despite FM/AM/Streaming appearing - it works on some Navigators (including my loaner last week) but not mine
7. second row display constantly shows "Aquir" which is neither English nor accurate when listening to a Sirius station
8. A local dealer informed me the answer to my Sirius problems was replacing the head-unit/cluster display - in doing so, they returned the vehicle to me without having finished configuration so none of the driver assistance was functional and none of the drive modes were working. The dealer also forgot to log the mileage in, so when they had to input the mileage into the new cluster, they used an old odometer reading from several months prior - seems like that in violation of some kind of federal odometer regulation. I pointed all this out to a different dealer and Lincoln Concierge, who then had to order a new display and reprogram with the actual last known mileage. I still don't have Sirius displaying correctly on the cluster, the second row display is still corrupted, and my steering wheel Sirius control doesn't work.

In other news, if anyone is in the Chicago area and wants a brand new-in-box WeatherTech all-weather liner for the 2nd and 3rd row (all one piece including the aisle between for the second-row captain chair with pass-through) DM me. Free if you pick it up.

I’ll take the weather tech if no one else has claimed.

Been a while since I posted here, since I first purchased my 2020 Navigator Reserve back in July. I feel like there are likely a dozen threads here that all point to the same thing: the Lincoln soft product is a joke, despite being a nearly best in class hard product. Ford never bothered to invest in Lincoln tech, instead has tried to shove Ford Sync into what's mostly but that entirely a Ford user experience. This may not have been an issue when Lincoln was nothing more than a livery vehicle. If Lincoln is serious about getting into the luxury family SUV market, it's not going to get very far without a thorough postmortem of its tech shortcomings. I for one, will not be purchasing a second Lincoln once I can get rid of this thing. Rant over, now to specifics:

1. sync update pushed overnight in my garage in August about a month into ownership
2. immediately lost front driver and front passenger zone temp displays on touchscreen
3. it took 4 months for anyone at Lincoln to acknowledge this was a problem, and required a dealership corrupting another lot vehicle display to prove the point by downloading the same update
4. PAAK works 50% of the time. Often requiring entering my 10 digit backup safety code while stopped at a red light to get the car moving again.
5. It became clear that the steering wheel controls for toggling between Sirius stations were not programmed correctly. Often times when switching between the three Sirius preset lists or from FM to Sirius, the car would mis-tune to the incorrect channel, not the one selected.
6. Sirius radio data failure to display on cluster, despite FM/AM/Streaming appearing - it works on some Navigators (including my loaner last week) but not mine
7. second row display constantly shows "Aquir" which is neither English nor accurate when listening to a Sirius station
8. A local dealer informed me the answer to my Sirius problems was replacing the head-unit/cluster display - in doing so, they returned the vehicle to me without having finished configuration so none of the driver assistance was functional and none of the drive modes were working. The dealer also forgot to log the mileage in, so when they had to input the mileage into the new cluster, they used an old odometer reading from several months prior - seems like that in violation of some kind of federal odometer regulation. I pointed all this out to a different dealer and Lincoln Concierge, who then had to order a new display and reprogram with the actual last known mileage. I still don't have Sirius displaying correctly on the cluster, the second row display is still corrupted, and my steering wheel Sirius control doesn't work.

In other news, if anyone is in the Chicago area and wants a brand new-in-box WeatherTech all-weather liner for the 2nd and 3rd row (all one piece including the aisle between for the second-row captain chair with pass-through) DM me. Free if you pick it up.

not sure how tonDM on here, but I’ll take the weather tech liners if no one else has claimed them.

______________________________

 

[Vics 2020 Black Label]

That’s awefull I hate hearing about those kind of problems but there are a lot of cars that don’t have any problems my new 2020 Black Label is one of them my car has been perfect since the day I picked it up. I’m sorry to hear that you’re having that much trouble I’ve driven Lincoln’s just about my whole life since my first Town car in 1988 and I have never had that many issues!

 

[Vics 2020 Black Label]

I’m a retired Ford Motor Co employee and I seen some of the cars going down the line with a lot of flags on them the flags were to denote problems that the upgrade would deal with but these software problems are something that the factory would not deal with its up to the dealer to get your car right! So it’s basically a dealer issue if they have the staff or care enough to get it right!

 

[Vics 2020 Black Label]

I understand the frustration these tech issues can cause. tech is a big reason we buy vehicles these days. That said, the ride, comfort, engine, the whole experience otherwise, for me is so great, I will deal with these issues as I work to get them resolved.

It's been discussed here, but the struggle for Lincoln, IMHO, is getting stand alone dealerships so those stores can focus on the Lincoln Way, not being Ford shops that sell Lincolns.

Yes I agree 100 percent The Lincoln dealers need to be separate from the Ford dealers so we that bought such a high end vehicle can get the customer service that we deserve and paid for!