2020 LINCOLN AVIATOR Complaints

While driving, the vehicle displayed a “Stop Safely Now” warning and immediately began limiting operation. At the same time, steering effort increased significantly, similar to a loss or reduction of power steering assist, making the vehicle difficult to control. I was unable to safely pull over when the warning appeared and was forced to limp the vehicle into a nearby residential street to avoid traffic. After stopping, the vehicle became immobilized and repeatedly engaged the electronic parking brake. The vehicle could not remain in neutral and required roadside assistance. Towing was difficult due to the inability to keep the vehicle in neutral. The vehicle was inspected by a dealer, and diagnostics identified a high-voltage isolation fault (DTC P0AA6) traced to the air conditioning compressor on the hybrid system. The component is currently being replaced. The sudden shutdown combined with increased steering effort and inability to safely pull over created a significant safety risk.

We purchase car on [XXX]. On [XXX] there is a significant leak in the panoramic sunroof that completely floods the trunk (unsure if this is related to the next problem). Our car is at the dealer for repairs 12/12/25 - 1/8/26 and is "fixed" as per the dealer. On [XXX] it starts running independently in the driveway when we are not home and both keys are untouched inside our locked home. We return a call from a concerned neighbor to enter our home, get the key, and turn off the car. After this incident the car is nearly undriveable because so many error messages begin to populate the screen. With the unpredictable nature of the car starting it is extremely frightening to depend on this car and know if it is going to suddenly start running (or driving!) unsupervised which could lead to all different kinds of compromised safety situations, especially since our driveway has easy access to the main street where kids often play. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

Driver side and passenger seats will not recline. The back will move forward and all other parts will adjust properly, but it always stops at a certain point that is clearly not as far as it will recline. I had this issue fixed at the dealership under warranty in December and less than a month later, the drivers side it doing the same thing. I see that the car's system automatically updated on 12/29 and I'm wondering if the system updates are causing this. This could be a safety issue if someone was stuck in a position where the seat is leaned too far forward.

Upon starting the vehicle around 7p on Friday, 10/31/25, the following errors flooded the screen: Hill start assist not available Service advancetrac 4WD Malfunction service required Pre-collision assist not available Rear sense breaking not available Additionally, cruise control could not be turned on and utilized. There was no incident to trigger these. The car had been sitting parked and off for ~2 hours prior to being turned on. No issues or errors prior to this date and time of turning on the vehicle. The warnings detailed describe how our safety was put at risk. All of these safety and basic features no longer functioned and our children’s safety was put at risk due to this electronic issue causing major functionality breaks/discontinuation of functions. Reproduced and confirmed by Capital Mazda of Cary (NC). Quoted to repair at our expense and “remove and throw out the electronic and replace with a manual.” Furthermore we’ve been informed verbally by our service associate that Ford (parent company) is aware of this safety issue. A TSB was located with a summer 2023 date. Lincoln customer service has stated this would’ve been covered under warranted “if it had come up while under warranty.” This dealership is the only place that has reviewed the vehicle and conditions and provided the explanation and information.

Driving on interstate, a flex pipe (part of the exhaust) fell off at the forward end, Dragging the ground and damaging the catalytic converter and rear exhaust pipe. This was repaired by the dealership, but the flex pipe was not covered under the extended Warranty program. The vehicle had just over 50,000 miles on the odometer.

Glass portion of passenger side rear view mirror fell off as vehicle was exiting driveway possibly due to defective adhesive much like the safety recall on the door pillar trim. Incident was captured on home surveillance camera.

My engine lost power and would not start. It was determined that it needed a new fuel pump. The fuel pump was replaced and the car is starting to lose power again while driving.

Axle shaft Seal no warning besides loud grinding noise. Electrical issues- causing speakers to not work and the lights coming on and going off. Then it causing the crash detection to not have sound.

No one was in the back seat when this happened. The back passenger door flung open while driving down the road. Immediately pulled off the road and it would not latch! Drove immediately to the dealership and got a loaner. Dealership stated it was the latch and repaired in a day or two.

I don't know the component or system that failed but sometimes when I am parked and put my car into reverse, the brakes lock up but my car will roll backwards. I have to either jam both feet on the brake pedal or quickly shift the car back into park and turn the car off and restart it. This usually will correct the problem. It feels like the brakes are locked and they are really hard to press. I drop kids off at school and this has happened in the parking lot several times with children walking behind me as I am getting ready to leave. I no longer am able to pull in forward to spots and have to back in to avoid reversing with people/cars behind me. I would rather hit a curb then potentially roll into a person or another car. I've taken it to the Lincoln dealership and they were not able to reproduce it or diagnose anything with it. Nothing shows up on their system as an error. It happens infrequently but I've owned the car since Nov 2024 and it's happened at least 10 times. My husband thinks its an electronic issue because it corrects itself when the car is restarted. It also randomly allows me to turn the wheel but the wheel does not turn back to 12. It stays at 3 but drives straight. This also is corrected by turning off the car and restarting. It has also been looked at by the dealership without any fixes.