Car Defect Radar
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Built from NHTSA complaints and recalls collected for this model, generated October 26, 2026. Totals reflect what has been collected, not every complaint ever filed.
Confirm 6 recalls before you buy.

Ask the seller for proof the repair was completed, or run the free VIN check. Recall repairs are done at no cost by a dealer.

Recalls

6 total · 6 to confirm

Safety issues the manufacturer must repair for free. A recall means confirm the fix was done, not walk away.

Safety recall

Confirm it was repairedRecall 26V165000 · Mar 2026

Loss of the rearview camera image and certain driver assistance features, can reduce the driver’s ability to detect hazards, increasing the risk of a crash.

Remedy
The Image Processing Module A software will be updated by a dealer, or through an over-the-air (OTA) update, free of charge. This is a Phased campaign. Phase 1 will include 2025 Aviator, 2025 Explorer, 2025 Nautilus notified owners on 4/13/2026. Phase 2 will include 2025 Navigator will notify owners on or about 4/20/2026. Phase 3 will include 2022-2024 Navigator will notify owners on or about 6/8/2026. Phase 4 will include 2024 Nautilus will notify owners on or about 6/22/2026. Owner notification letters were mailed April 13, 2026. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 26S21. Vehicle Identification Numbers (VINs) involved in this recall will be searchable on NHTSA.gov beginning March 25, 2026.
Status
Remedy available. Confirm by VIN that this repair was completed.
What to do
Enter the VIN on NHTSA's recall lookup to confirm this car was repaired.

Engine recall

Confirm it was repairedRecall 26V122000 · Mar 2026

An unexpected loss of drive power increases the risk of a crash.

Remedy
Dealers will replace the EGR valves, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed July 31, 2026. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 26S10. Vehicle Identification Numbers (VINs) involved in this recall became searchable on NHTSA.gov on March 4, 2026.
Status
Remedy available. Confirm by VIN that this repair was completed.
What to do
Enter the VIN on NHTSA's recall lookup to confirm this car was repaired.

Exterior lighting recall

Confirm it was repairedRecall 25V519000 · Aug 2025

Exterior lighting failure can reduce visibility for the driver and other road users, increasing the risk of a crash.

Remedy
Dealers will inspect and replace the LED Driver Modules, as necessary, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed September 22, 2025. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 25C39.
Status
Remedy available. Confirm by VIN that this repair was completed.
What to do
Enter the VIN on NHTSA's recall lookup to confirm this car was repaired.

Body & glass recall

Confirm it was repairedRecall 25V518000 · Aug 2025

A closing window may exert excessive force by pinching a driver or passenger before retracting, increasing the risk of injury.

Remedy
Dealers will update the driver door module (DDM) and the passenger door module (PDM) software, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed on September 23, 2025. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 25C36.
Status
Remedy available. Confirm by VIN that this repair was completed.
What to do
Enter the VIN on NHTSA's recall lookup to confirm this car was repaired.

Electrical system recall

Confirm it was repairedRecall 25V343000 · May 2025

An overheated engine block heater can increase the risk of a fire.

Remedy
Dealers will replace the block heater element and inspect the electrical cord, replacing it if necessary, free of charge. Owners will also have a alternative option to replace engine block heater element with a threaded blanking plug coupled, and remove the block heater electrical cord. Owner notification letters were mailed June 9, 2026. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 25S52.
Status
Remedy available. Confirm by VIN that this repair was completed.
What to do
Enter the VIN on NHTSA's recall lookup to confirm this car was repaired.

Body & glass recall

Confirm it was repairedRecall 24V953000 · Dec 2024

A closing window may exert excessive force by pinching a driver or passenger before retracting, increasing the risk of injury.

Remedy
Dealers will recalibrate the driver door module (DDM) and the passenger door module (PDM), free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed on February 28, 2025. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 24C43.
Status
Remedy available. Confirm by VIN that this repair was completed.
What to do
Enter the VIN on NHTSA's recall lookup to confirm this car was repaired.

Owner complaints by system

21 total

Unverified reports owners filed with NHTSA, grouped by the part of the car. Useful for spotting patterns. Open a group to read recent examples.

Engine & powertrain

Minor
2

Most reports here involve software faults.

software faults 2
A recent report: 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…
Read full complaint

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.

Source: NHTSA complaint ODI #11737338 · view all complaints for this vehicle at nhtsa.gov

Electrical & infotainment

Minor
4

Most reports here involve software faults.

software faults 2
A recent report: 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…
Read full complaint

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 .

Source: NHTSA complaint ODI #11742585 · view all complaints for this vehicle at nhtsa.gov

Brakes

Minor
5

Most reports here involve loss of braking.

loss of braking 2software faults 1
A recent report: 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…
Read full complaint

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.

Source: NHTSA complaint ODI #11736828 · view all complaints for this vehicle at nhtsa.gov

Steering, suspension & tires

Minor
2

Most reports here involve software faults.

software faults 2
A recent report: 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…
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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)

Source: NHTSA complaint ODI #11742531 · view all complaints for this vehicle at nhtsa.gov

Airbags & seat belts

Worth reading
1

Most reports here involve airbags not deploying. Of these, 1 mention a crash, 1 mention an injury.

airbags not deploying 1
A recent report: 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…
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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.

Source: NHTSA complaint ODI #11735591 · view all complaints for this vehicle at nhtsa.gov

Structure & body

Minor
4

Most reports here involve electrical shorts.

electrical shorts 1
A recent report: The contact owns a 2025 Lincoln Nautilus. The contact stated that while driving 50 MPH during 105-degree weather, the contact became aware of a micro-fracture on the front windshield from the front…
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The contact owns a 2025 Lincoln Nautilus. The contact stated that while driving 50 MPH during 105-degree weather, the contact became aware of a micro-fracture on the front windshield from the front driver's side over to the passenger’s side. The vehicle was taken to a local dealer where it was determined that the crack was caused by possible road debris. The vehicle was not repaired. Upon further investigation, the contact stated that the cause of failure could be due to the hot temperature. The contact was adamant that the front windshield was not struck by road debris. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure, but no assistance was provided. The failure mileage was approximately 2,500.

Source: NHTSA complaint ODI #11755029 · view all complaints for this vehicle at nhtsa.gov

Other systems

Minor
3

Most reports here involve software faults.

software faults 2
A recent report: 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…
Read full complaint

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.

Source: NHTSA complaint ODI #11736827 · view all complaints for this vehicle at nhtsa.gov

Is 21 complaints a lot? They were filed between 2025 and 2026, roughly 21 a year, which is more than the typical model in this dataset. We do not have sales figures for this model, so treat this as a rough volume, not a rate per car on the road. Popular, high-volume models naturally collect more complaints over time.

How does it compare with other years? The 2025 has 21 complaints on file, fewer than the 2024 (22). Of the 6 model years of the Lincoln Nautilus we cover, the 2019 has the most (102). Older model years have had longer to collect complaints.