Problems · NHTSA complaints
2025 Lincoln Nautilus problems
Owners filed 31 complaints about the 2025 Lincoln Nautilus with NHTSA between Dec 2024 and Oct 2026. The most-cited component is forward collision avoidance (9).
Complaints
31
Filed with NHTSA
Crashes
1
Reported by owners
Fires
0
Reported by owners
Injuries
1
People reported injured
Deaths
0
Reported to NHTSA
Complaints by component
One complaint can cite several components
- Forward collision avoidance9
- Lane departure9
- Electrical system4
- Service brakes4
- Steering3
- Power train2
- Visibility2
- Vehicle speed control2
- Back over prevention2
- Visibility/wiper2
- Equipment2
- Engine1
- Structure1
- Air bags1
Complaints are unverified owner reports to NHTSA and are not normalized for sales volume. One complaint can cite several components.
Data from NHTSA Complaints API · synced Nov 8, 2026NHTSA vehicle page
When complaints were filed
Does it get worse with age? Complaints per calendar year filed
1
8
22
View as table
| Model year | Complaints filed per calendar year |
|---|---|
| 2024 | 1 |
| 2025 | 8 |
| 2026 | 22 |
Mileage at failure isn’t a structured field in NHTSA complaint data, so we don’t chart it. Some owners mention it in their reports below.
Top problems in owners’ words
Verbatim from NHTSA complaints, newest first
Forward collision avoidance
9 reports
“The vehicle’s BlueCruise/adaptive cruise system has repeatedly slowed unexpectedly while traveling on interstate highways. In some instances, the vehicle slowed to approximately 40 mph in a 70 mph zone without an apparent traffic reason. The system also slows excessively in curves. These events create a rear-end collision risk and require immediate driver intervention. The concern has occurred more than once and has not been limited to one isolated event.”
Lane departure
9 reports
“Traveling from [XXX] to [XXX] and when I had the lane departure/lane keeping system turned on, the system was constantly going into the Watch the Road warning and many times it went straight to Resume Control without first putting up the Watch the Road that is supposed to be the initial stage. More than once when the system would go directly to the Resume Control, the only way to get rid of the warning and the brake pulsing and four way activation was by turning the cruise control completely off - pressing the Cancel or OK to acknowledge the warnings will not clear the the warning. I do have video on my smart phone available but the file is 17.7 Mb which is larger than allowed to upload, so I am uploading a screen shots from a couple of the times that it was occurring when I was able to get video while it was happening. On many occasions and the one in particular that I got video on, even pressing the Off switch for the cruise control would not turn the system off, it continued to stay active with the Resume Control warning, brake pulsing and four way flashers on until several presses on the off switch. This occurred multiple times during the trip so the date…”
Electrical system
4 reports1 related recall
“The simulated brake pedal/electronic braking system allows for far too long of a delay(3+ FULL SECONDS) at lower speeds and is extremely likely to cause accidents with pedestrians or with other stationary objects. the brake pedal is extremely inconsistent at times at other speeds and causes full lack of controllability of the vehicle for the driver at low speeds. There are no issues with the vehicle, no warning lamps, vehicle has less than 3000 miles on it, yes 3000 not 30000, but 3000. the vehicle has been inspected by carmax reconditioning process. dealer has not been informed”
Service brakes
4 reports
“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 miles No warning lights present”
Steering
3 reports
“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 equipment. The eye scanning system is very sensitive and constantly yelling at you. When you turn off hands free lane centering there is no lane centering which is very dangerous.”
Power train
2 reports
“During a short drive between [XXX] and [XXX] roughly 27 miles, the red battery light on the dash display illuminated just as we were turning into the Holiday/Circle K gas station in [XXX]. No other warnings or messages appeared on the dash, and upon restart after returning to the vehicle, the red battery light did not reappear. However from that point on my return drive to [XXX], the Hybrid Electric Drive would not engage unless I was fully coasting with zero accelerator input and even when letting off the accelerator the vehicle would slow down far more noticeable than it did prior to the battery light on, it acted as though I had applied the brakes compared to a normal coasting. I kept track of the number of miles on electric only and the percentage of miles on electric dropped from a normal 15-18% per tank to 5.7% over the next full tank. I did notice that the system began working normally again in [XXX] on the return trip and the percentage on electric only has returned to the normal 15-18% per tank since. A service appointment was made and on XXX the dealership brought the vehicle in and during tests the technician provided a video of their testing, and…”
Data from NHTSA Complaints API (owner reports, unverified) · synced Nov 8, 2026
Complaints are unverified owner reports to NHTSA and are not normalized for sales volume. One complaint can cite several components.