2013 Lincoln Mkx Awd 14k Miles Hot Cold Seats Nice!! on 2040-cars

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The Lincoln Blackwood was the original luxury pickup. It was also weird.

As the 20th century drew to a close, Lincoln's mainstay product, the venerable Town Car, was well on its way to livery-car limbo and the brand's sales were sinking. The surprise-hit Navigator, introduced for 1998, indicated a possible way forward: luxury trucks. The following year, Lincoln rolled out a concept (pictured at bottom) that was essentially a dolled-up F-150 pickup: the Blackwood. Reaction was sufficiently enthusiastic that the Blackwood appeared in showrooms, essentially unchanged, for 2002. Luxo-trucks are now all the rage, but Lincoln's attempts to make the Blackwood truly special tripped up this pioneering pickup, which was canceled after just one year. That means this 2002 Blackwood for sale right now on Cars and Bids presents a rare opportunity. Lincoln grafted a Navigator nose onto an F-150 body, and if they had stopped there, the Blackwood might have fared better. But Lincoln went further. Motivation was provided by a 5.4-liter InTech V8 with 300 horsepower driving the rear wheels. Four-wheel drive wasn't offered, because Lincoln didn't want to raise the ride height. Air springs supplemented the rear leaf springs. The interior was stuffed with all manner of Navigator-spec luxury gear, with leather, heated and cooled seats, power-adjustable pedals, and even an early navigation system — which was the only option. Seating was strictly for four thanks to the rear captain's chairs. As if adorning it with faux African wedgewood and aluminum inlays wasn't distinctive enough, the cargo bed became a cargo trunk thanks to the standard, power-operated hard tonneau cover. Inside, the floor was carpeted, the sides were brushed aluminum, and the space was illuminated by LED accent lighting. Rather than a drop-down tailgate, access was via a pair of Dutch doors. To align with the nameplate, the only color offered was Gunslinger Black with a black interior. To maintain exclusivity, Lincoln planned to cap sales at 10,000 units. That provided wholly unnecessary, as sales only reached 3,356. Lincoln pulled the plug after one year. The 2020 asking price was $52,500 (roughly $77,000 today). The truck for sale on Cars and Bids is sure to go for less, although bidding is pretty strong out of the gate. It currently sits at $8989 with six days to go in the auction.

Consumer Reports no longer recommends Honda Civic

Consumer Reports annual Car Reliability Survey is out, and yes, there are some big surprises. First and foremost? The venerable publication no longer recommends the Honda Civic. In fact, aside from the walking-dead CR-Z and limited-release Clarity fuel-cell car, the Civic is the only Honda to miss out on CR's prestigious nod. At the opposite end there's a surprise as well – Toyota and Lexus remain the most reliable brands on the market, but Buick cracked the top three. That's up from seventh last year, and the first time for an American brand to stand on the Consumer Reports podium. Mazda's entire lineup earned Recommended checks as well. Consumer Reports dinged the Civic for its "infuriating" touch-screen radio, lack of driver lumbar adjustability, the limited selection of cars on dealer lots fitted with Honda's popular Sensing system, and the company's decision to offer LaneWatch instead of a full-tilt blind-spot monitoring system. Its score? A lowly 58. The Civic isn't the only surprise drop from CR's Recommended ranks. The Audi A3, Ford F-150, Subaru WRX/STI, and Volkswagen Jetta, GTI, and Passat all lost the Consumer Reports' checkmark. On the flipside, a number of popular vehicles graduated to the Recommended ranks, including the BMW X5, Chevrolet Camaro, Corvette, and Cruze, Hyundai Santa Fe, Porsche Macan, and Tesla Model S. Perhaps the biggest surprise is the hilariously recall-prone Ford Escape getting a Recommended check – considering the popularity of Ford's small crossover, this is likely a coup for the brand, as it puts the Escape on a level playing field with the Recommended Toyota RAV4, Honda CR-V, and Nissan Rogue. While Ford is probably happy to see CR promote the Escape, the list wasn't as kind for every brand. For example, of the entire Fiat Chrysler Automobiles catalog, the ancient Chrysler 300 was the only car to score a check – there wasn't a single Dodge, Fiat, Jeep, Maserati, or Ram on the list. That hurts. FCA isn't alone at the low end, either. GMC, Jaguar Land Rover, Mini, and Mitsubishi don't have a vehicle on CR's list between them, while brands like Mercedes-Benz, Volvo, Nissan, Lincoln, Infiniti, and Cadillac only have a few models each. You can check out Consumer Reports entire reliability roundup, even without a subscription, here.

2021 Lincoln Nautilus' inner chamber: Interior gets a complete redesign

Unlike the sea creature with which it shares a name, the Lincoln Nautilus luxury crossover is steadily evolving. It was refreshed just two years ago when it adopted the Nautilus name (it was previously called MKX) as well as an updated exterior and turbocharged engine lineup. For 2021, the Nautilus doesn't change much on the outside, but it does get a thoroughly redesigned interior. The exterior design updates to the Nautilus are hardly noticeable. The lower intakes on the bumper have been closed up and smoothed over, giving the fascia a slightly cleaner design. The opposite has happened at the back where the faux diffuser area has been given a bit more detailing. Otherwise, the rest of the crossover is unchanged, from the corporate grille to the deeply creased lines over the wheel wells. The inside is the big draw, where the flowing, but somewhat plastic-looking design has been replaced by a glitzier design based on the interiors of the rest of the Lincoln lineup. It features a low, horizontally-oriented dual-plane dashboard with lots of chrome and leather or leatherette. It also has a gap between the center console and center stack that gives the console a bit of a floating appearance. Another big change is the availability of a 13.2-inch infotainment screen running Sync 4. It's the largest screen offered on any Lincoln model. It's also 1.2 inches larger than the unit in its cousin, the Ford Edge. But unlike the Edge's screen, this one is mounted horizontally, and it doesn't appear to replace many, if any, buttons and knobs. Along with Sync 4 comes natural speech recognition, over-the-air updates and wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. Mechanically, the Nautilus is unchanged. The standard engine is a turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder making 250 horsepower and 280 pound-feet of torque. A turbocharged 2.7-liter V6 with 335 horsepower and 380 pound-feet of torque is available as an option. Both engines come with an eight-speed automatic transmission. Front-wheel drive is standard with all-wheel-drive as an option. The new Nautilus goes on sale early next year. Pricing hasn't been announced, but shouldn't change drastically from current pricing. The current Nautilus starts at about $42,000. Related Video: