9 complaints reported

2018 Lincoln Navigator Power Train

Owner-reported problems and safety issues filed with NHTSA. Review common failures, severity levels, and complaint trends over time.

Reports
9
Crashes
0
Fires
0
Injuries
0

Complaint Timeline

Chronological view of owner reports

Dec 2025

The contact owns a 2018 Lincoln Navigator. The contact received notifications of NHTSA Campaign Numbers: 23V598000 (BACK OVER PREVENTION) and 25E070000 (POWER TRAIN); however, the part to do the recall repair on the Power Train was not yet available. The contact stated while driving 60 MPH, the steering wheel vibrated, and the vehicle failed to accelerate as intended while depressing the accelerator pedal. The contact exited the freeway and when the vehicle stopped at a traffic light the vehicle stalled. After several attempts the vehicle failed to restart. The transmission warning light and the service indicator light were illuminated. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic who diagnosed that the transmission had failed. The transmission was replaced. After three weeks, the failure reoccurred. The transmission warning light and the service indicator light were illuminated. The vehicle was taken back to the independent mechanic who diagnosed that the spark plugs, and transmission had failed. The spark plugs were replaced and some unknown part on the transmission was repaired. The contact stated that the failure persisted. The vehicle was taken to the independent mechanic who diagnosed that the transmission needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was not made aware of the issue. The failure milage was approximately 72,000.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2018 LINCOLN NAVIGATOR, Manufacturer: Ford Motor Company
Incident: Dec 2024
Nov 2025

Transmission is having major issues with flaring and shifting. Vehicle has trouble engaging torque convertor, vehicle almost seems to stall out when accelerating with heavy traffic due to transmission engaging poorly.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2018 LINCOLN NAVIGATOR, Manufacturer: Ford Motor Company
Incident: Jan 2025
Nov 2025

Front differential - entire system needs to be rebuilt due to bearings going bad. While the vehicle has not ceased up due to the differential bearing, it is a Safety issue and known to Ford. Note this is the second time I’ve personally had to have the front end rebuilt in this vehicle. First time at 79,000 miles and now again at 149,000. Giving me a 70,000 mile service life. How is that possible that a differential only last 70,000 miles.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2018 LINCOLN NAVIGATOR, Manufacturer: Ford Motor Company
Incident: Jan 2025
Mar 2025

The same problem that is currently being reported by the NHTSA for the Ford F-150 has been happening to my Lincoln Navigator for the past few years. During higher-speeds (50 mpg and over) the auto will lurch forward as if trying to shift gears and has, on more than one occasion, actually downshifted into a lower gear while driving on expressways, forcing me to pull-over, stop the engine and restart in order to get the auto back into normal operation. When this downshifting occurs, a graphic appears on the dashboard. This graphic shows a stick-shift icon and also includes the words "Manual Shifting". However, the exact words cannot be verified since the graphic only stays visible for a split-second. Since I'm a bit shocked when this happens, my concentration is on safety and not on the specifics of a dashboard graphic. When I have taken the auto into service and mentioned these occurrences, the service persons have always stated that the computer system has been updated and the problem is marked solved. I have a warranty of 100,000

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2018 LINCOLN NAVIGATOR, Manufacturer: Ford Motor Company
Incident: Mar 2025
Jul 2024

Vehicle experienced failed auto-start on road, resulting in vehicle inmobility from stop in traffic, causing safety hardzard to passengers other vehicles on the road. The cause is worn VCT unit, as described in TSB 23-2143. The issue is safety critical and should not be merely addressed with an already expired customer safety program, it should be a safety recall.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2018 LINCOLN NAVIGATOR, Manufacturer: Ford Motor Company
Incident: Jul 2024
Mar 2024

The transmission doesn't respond several times and could not picking up speed up hill. There were twice the transmission stopped working, the car could not move and stopped in intersection at traffic light. The problem was first reported to Lincoln during 6 years/70,000 miles powertrain warranty Lincoln did the reprogramming but didn't solve the problem and then refused to repair when the problem recur at 6 year and one month, even my car has extended warranty. Lincoln issued several TSBs and knows the CDF drum failure but reluctant to fix the issue. It is not safe to drive when the transmission could not work after a stop at red light or pickup speed at ramp.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2018 LINCOLN NAVIGATOR, Manufacturer: Ford Motor Company
Incident: Dec 2023
Dec 2023

Transmission will randomly stop shifting or jolt. Poses a safety concern when you have to accelerate or slow down to merge, switch lanes, cross an intersection, etc. This is a common problem with this year and model that everyone is complaining about.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2018 LINCOLN NAVIGATOR, Manufacturer: Ford Motor Company
Incident: Dec 2023
Feb 2022

The contact owns a 2018 Lincoln Navigator. The contact stated while the vehicle was in park and the key was not in the ignition while opening the front driver side door the vehicle started moving forward independently and down a hill. The contact jumped into the seat and depressed the brake pedal in order for the vehicle to come to a stop. After the incident, the vehicle was able to be driven to the residence. The vehicle was taken to a local dealer where the failure was unable to be duplicated. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact was concerned that the failure was related to NHTSA Campaign Number: 18V213000 ( power train) however the VIN was not included. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 51,000.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2018 LINCOLN NAVIGATOR, Manufacturer: Ford Motor Company
Incident: Feb 2022
Jun 2019

STARTING AT 20,000 MILES I STARTED ASKING THE DEALER TO CHECK THE TRANSMISSION ON MY VEHICLE. VERY OFTEN THE TRANSMISSION SHIFTS VERY HARD TO THE POINT YOU HEAR AND YOU FEEL LIKE SOMEONE HIT YOUR CAR ( USUALLY FROM 1ST TO 3RD GEAR ) AND ALSO WHEN YOU SHIFT IT TO REVERSE IT SLIPS. DEALER KEEPS SAYING THERES NO CODES COMING OUT ON THEIR COMPUTER. THIS ALWAYS HAPPENS IN MOTION ON A CITY STREET.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2018 LINCOLN NAVIGATOR, Manufacturer: Ford Motor Company
Incident: Jan 2019

Trend Over Time

Complaints by year

Quick Summary

The 2018 Lincoln Navigator has 9 Power Train complaints on file. Review the timeline above for detailed owner experiences.