2022 Lincoln Nautilus Reserve on 2040-cars

Auto blog

2018 Lincoln Navigator Black Label Drivers' Notes Review | American luxury

For years, the Lincoln Navigator played second fiddle to the Cadillac Escalade. Even with a refresh a few years back, the big ute couldn't quite match what Cadillac (or anyone else in the class) offered. The design looked dated, and the interior felt a full generation behind. Things sure have changed, as the new Navigator might just be the first Lincoln in years that gets near-universal praise from the Autoblog staff. This class of SUV may not be everyone's cup of tea, but Lincoln deserves credit for doing more than just phoning it in. Our tester this week is a Chroma Crystal Blue short-wheelbase Navigator Black Label. That's the top-trim model, so features like heated and ventilated leather seating, full-LED lighting, a panoramic moonroof, a 20-speaker audio system and adaptive suspension are all standard. The only options on our 2018 model were the $1,750 paint and the $1,250 perfect-position seats. At $98,320, it isn't cheap, but it's right on the mark for the segment. Editor-in-Chief Greg Migliore: The Lincoln Navigator is a demonstrative improvement in luxury, power and design. It's more sophisticated and elegant than ever before, but it remains true to itself. The interior is gorgeous — the best-looking cabin I've ever seen in a Navigator — and it's the best in the segment. The Cadillac Escalade, which is still great but is due for a freshening, feels dated and less user-friendly inside, by comparison. Our Navigator, outfitted in the Black Label trim, looks like something out of a 1960s Camelot photo spread. The powder blue materials remind me of old pictures of Jackie Kennedy. The way the Lincoln crest appears above the glovebox also feels very Jet Age. The knobs, switches and buttons for the controls add to the retro look, but they're also tactile and functional. People don't want to navigate four touchscreens to adjust the heat. Lincoln and other carmakers are wisely going back to simplicity for interior features. That being said, the interior has all the modern features and amenities you would expect. Sync 3 is solid. The large touchscreen is easy to read and use. It's colorful and intuitive. Finally, it's a Sync system I can get on board with. The seats are comfortable, supportive, and the front ones can be positioned 30 different ways. There's so much variety I never found the perfect spot in my two nights in the Navigator. The exterior touches from the most recent redesign accentuate the Navigator's luxurious feel.

Again? Ford issues second 2015 Fusion and Lincoln MKZ seat belt recall

In 2016, Ford issued a recall for 603,392 2013-2016 Fusions and 2013-2015 Lincoln MKZs due to potentially faulty seat belts. Apparently, that wasn't the end of it. Ford announced another recall this week for the same issue, this time covering 108,399 2015 Fusions and MKZs.  In both cases, the seat belt anchor pretensioners are the issue. According to Ford, "increased temperatures generated during deployment of the driver or front-passenger seat belt anchor pretensioner could degrade the tensile strength of the cable below the level needed to restrain an occupant." Basically, heat could weaken the seat belts, and in extreme cases, they wouldn't be able to keep up proper safety standards. Ford knows of at least one injury that has occurred due to this issue.   The recall includes 103,374 vehicles in the United States, 4,002 in Canada, and 1,023 in Mexico. Possibly affected Fusions were built at Ford's Flat Rock Assembly Plant between August 1, 2014 and January 30, 2015. The MKZs were built at the Hermosillo Assembly Plant between August 1, 2014 and November 21, 2014.  As a fix, Ford says dealers will add an extra coating to the seat belt pretensioner cable for protection from the heat. If this recall might affect your vehicle, call your local Ford dealership and use recall reference No. 19S25. This news comes after Ford recalled 1.3 million Fusions and MKZs in 2018 due to the possibility that the steering wheels could fall off. Fusions have also been recalled due to the risk of rolling away.

How the Lincoln Continental Concept almost wasn't

That Lincoln Continental Concept that everyone is so excited about? It almost didn't happen. Speaking at the private reveal event for the concept yesterday, Ford Motor Company CEO Mark Fields revealed that when the design team started working on the vehicle that eventually became the Continental, the designers thought it was just another full-size luxury concept, and were turning in ideas to match. The problem, Fields said, is that this was an important vehicle to get right. "A full-size luxury sedan for a luxury brand is a very important marker that, I think, sets the beat for the brand and it creates a lot of awareness and favorability if you do it right," he said. "As we were designing this concept ... we reviewed with the designers the themes. The first couple of themes the team came with really didn't do it for us because we want to make sure that every vehicle that we bring out with Lincoln moves the brand forwards in a big way. So we went through the first couple of them and we really didn't get that kind of 'oomph' in the pit of our stomach." The team was stuck with an upcoming debut and nothing exciting to show for it, until the past was brought into the present. "In one of the design reviews, we were looking around at everyone and we mentioned, you know what, why don't we call this the Continental Concept? And I have to tell you, the body language was unbelievable in the design showroom. Everybody's head snapped up and you could see everybody's eyes widen and they started nodding and they said, 'now we get it.'" Aside from the Navigator, every vehicle Lincoln currently sells is simply named a trio of letters that start with M and K. Fields knew that the large luxury segment sedan is important for a company like Lincoln, with about 1.8 million units sold last year and an expected growth to around 2 million units by the end of the decade, he said. "When you think about where that growth is coming from, it's still a substantial segment here in the US, it's a very substantial segment and even more substantial segment in China. As a matter of fact, that segment grew by 17 percent last year and China is the largest market for full-size luxury sedans." Given the positive reaction to the Continental Concept thus far, bringing the name back from the dead might be just the thing Lincoln needed.