2025 Lincoln Aviator Problems & Complaints

Average1.3× as many complaints as a typical year of the Aviator at the same age

Owners have filed 18 complaints about the 2025 Lincoln Aviator with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. That is about average for the Aviator at the same age. The most reported problem area is the electrical system (5 complaints). 15 recalls cover this model year.

18complaints
15recalls
0crashes
0fires
0injuries
0deaths

Most common 2025 Lincoln Aviator problems

  • Electrical system
    528%
  • Brakes~2,000 miles
    528%
  • Driver assistance
    422%
  • Seats
    317%
  • Windows, wipers & sunroof~86,000 miles
    317%
  • Engine & cooling
    211%
  • Steering
    211%
  • Lights
    16%
  • Transmission & drivetrain
    16%
  • Speed control & acceleration
    16%
  • Other / not specified
    16%
  • Fuel & propulsion system
    16%

Share of the 18 complaints; one complaint can involve more than one system. "~" is the median mileage when the problem started.

Lincoln Aviator complaints by model year

2003200420052020202120222023202420252026202711181511104046247184
Owner complaints per model year, Lincoln Aviator. Colour = our verdict for that year (red: avoid, orange: caution, green: better than average, blue: too new).

Best Aviator years: 2024. Years to avoid: 2020, 2022, 2003. Compare all years →

2025 Lincoln Aviator recalls (15)

Seats › Front assembly › Power adjust

NHTSA recall 26V-470 · Jul 21, 2026 · 76,748 vehicles

Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain 2025-2027 Explorer and Lincoln Aviator vehicles. An unoccupied driver's seat may recline unintentionally during certain scenarios, such as remote unlock or remote start.

Remedy: Dealers will disable the driver seat module (DSM) feature until parts are available. Once available, the motor will be replaced. Repairs will be performed free of charge.

Seats › Mid/rear assembly

NHTSA recall 26V-451 · Jul 14, 2026 · 387,911 vehicles

Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain 2020-2027 Aviator and 2020-2026 Explorer vehicles. The switch for the easy-entry second-row outer seats may bind or stick, resulting in the seats unlatching, tipping, or sliding unexpectedly.

Remedy: Dealers will inspect and replace the bezel around the switch as necessary, free of charge. This will be a phased campaign, with the remedy becoming available in different phases based on model and model years.

Electrical system › ADAS

NHTSA recall 26V-165 · Mar 18, 2026 · 254,640 vehicles

Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain 2022-2025 Lincoln Navigator, 2024-2025 Lincoln Nautilus, 2025 Lincoln Aviator and Explorer vehicles. The Image Processing Module A (IPMA) may experience multiple unexpected resets, resulting in loss of the rearview camera image and advanced driver assistance (ADAS) features,…

Remedy: The Image Processing Module A software will be updated by a dealer, or through an over-the-air (OTA) update, free of charge. This is a Phased campaign.

Seat belts

NHTSA recall 26V-159 · Mar 17, 2026 · 561 vehicles

Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain 2020-2026 Explorer and Lincoln Aviator vehicles. The seat belt anchor bolts at the second-row outer seating positions may be improperly secured.

Remedy: Dealers will inspect the second-row outer seat belt lower anchor bolts and replace or repair them as necessary, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed March 30, 2026.

Visibility › Windshield

NHTSA recall 25V-730 · Oct 24, 2025 · 56,841 vehicles

Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain 2025-2026 Lincoln Corsair, Lincoln Aviator, and Explorer vehicles. The windshield glass may have visible air bubbles, which can obscure the driver's visibility.

Remedy: Dealers will inspect and replace the windshield as necessary, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed November 6, 2025. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332.

Trailer hitches

NHTSA recall 25V-687 · Oct 10, 2025 · 1,412 vehicles

Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain 2024-2026 Explorer and 2024-2026 Lincoln Aviator vehicles. The trailer hitch assembly bolts may be loose.

Remedy: Dealers will inspect and tighten the trailer hitch bolts, or replace them as necessary, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed October 29, 2025.

Show 9 more recalls

Exterior lighting › Tail lights

NHTSA recall 25V-543 · Aug 22, 2025 · 213,121 vehicles

Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain 2025 Explorer and Aviator vehicles. When towing a trailer, the tail lights on the trailer may fail to illuminate due to an improperly manufactured body control module.

Remedy: Dealers will replace the body control module C on vehicles with less than 9,000 miles. For vehicles over 9,000 miles, dealers will perform a functional check on the body control module C and replace it as necessary.

Visibility › Power window devices and controls

NHTSA recall 25V-484 · Jul 25, 2025 · 23,111 vehicles

Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain 2025 Lincoln Aviator vehicles. When closing the windows with the global closing feature, the side rear windows may exert excessive force when encountering an object, before they automatically reverse.

Remedy: Dealers will update the Body Control Module (BCM) software, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed October 7, 2025. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332.

Structure › Body

NHTSA recall 25V-407 · Jun 13, 2025 · 132,914 vehicles

Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain 2020-2025 Aviator vehicles. The rear door window bars and C-pillar trim may have insufficient adhesive bonding, which can allow the trim to detach from the vehicle.

Remedy: Dealers will repair or replace C-pillar appliques and window division bars, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed September 29, 2025. Owners may contact Ford Customer Service at 1-866-436-7332.

Seats › Mid/rear assembly

NHTSA recall 25V-393 · Jun 13, 2025 · 304,662 vehicles

Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain 2020-2025 Aviator, and Explorer vehicles. The switch for the easy-entry second-row outer seats may bind or stick, resulting in the seats unlatching, folding, or sliding unexpectedly while driving.

Remedy: Dealers will inspect the second-row seat switch, and replace the bezel around the switch as necessary, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed August 7, 2025.

Structure › Frame and members

NHTSA recall 25V-316 · May 9, 2025 · 206 vehicles

Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain 2025 Explorer and Aviator vehicles. A mounting bolt for the front subframe may have been tightened improperly.

Remedy: Dealers will inspect and tighten the subframe bolts as necessary, free of charge. Owners may contact Ford Customer Service at 1-866-436-7332. Owner notification letters were mailed May 21, 2025.

Power train › Automatic transmission › Fluid/lubricant › Valves/valve body

NHTSA recall 25V-164 · Mar 14, 2025 · 269 vehicles

Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain 2024-2025 F-150, Bronco, 2024 Ranger, 2025 Mustang, Explorer, and Aviator vehicles. The transmission valve body may have been machined incorrectly, which can cause reverse gear failure, or unexpected forward movement in reverse or neutral gear.

Remedy: Dealers will replace the transmission main control valve body, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed April 11, 2025. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332.

Structure › Frame and members

NHTSA recall 25V-020 · Jan 17, 2025 · 259 vehicles

Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain 2025 Ford Explorer and Lincoln Aviator vehicles. The transmission may be improperly secured due to loose cross member bolts.

Remedy: Dealers will inspect and replace the transmission cross member bolts as necessary, free of charge. If the cross member bolts are missing, dealers will replace the cross member and install new bolts, free of charge.

Equipment › Other › Labels

NHTSA recall 24V-852 · Nov 8, 2024 · 27,678 vehicles

Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain 2020-2025 Explorer, Lincoln Aviator, 2020-2024 Escape, Lincoln Corsair, 2018-2024 F-150, Expedition and Lincoln Navigator vehicles. The air bag warning label may be missing from the dashboard.

Remedy: Ford will mail owners the warning labels, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed December 19, 2024. Owners may call Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 24C39.

Back over prevention › Software

NHTSA recall 24V-801 · Oct 25, 2024 · 391 vehicles

Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain 2025 Explorer and Lincoln Aviator vehicles. The rearview camera image may fail when the vehicle speed reaches 10 MPH or greater. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard number 111, "Rear Visibility."

Remedy: The accessory protocol interface module (APIM) software will be updated through an over-the-air (OTA) update or by a dealer, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed on March 28, 2025.

What 2025 Lincoln Aviator owners say

Electrical system

on 7/27/25 while driving on a residential street the car behaved extremely erratically and was attempting engage the brakes resulting in an uncontrollable driving condition. Brakes were engaging automatically and dashboard showed fault messages including "Antilock brake fault" and "pre-collision assist not available." Contacted Lincoln customer support and they arranged for a tow to the dealership and rental car. Dealership stated updates to system resolved the issue. Seems to be running fine now. If this incident had occurred on a highway it would have been extremely dangerous since the brakes were being engaged without driver knowledge and input.

Jul 2025

Multiple loss of power, misfires, rough running and abnormal shifting. These events have put my family and I at risk as well as posing a significant risk to other drivers sharing the road due to the sudden loss of power while on the highway. Lincoln is dismissive and not taking this seriously. The problem continues and it is currently in the shop for the 4th time

Sep 2026

Brakes

The contact owns a 2025 Lincoln Aviator. The contact stated while driving 55 MPH, the brake pedal was depressed; however, the vehicle was slow to respond. The local dealer was contacted, and the contact was informed that the failure might be due to a computer chip failure. The dealer was unable to duplicate the failure. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The contact was concerned about driving the vehicle. The manufacturer was contacted and opened a case. The failure mileage was approximately 2,000.

2,000 miles · May 2025

My 2025 Lincoln Aviator is experiencing a serious and dangerous malfunction involving the forward collision detection and automatic emergency braking system. The vehicle falsely detects an object or obstruction in front of it when the roadway is completely clear and then unexpectedly slams on the brakes without any driver input. This is not simply a false collision warning. The vehicle physically applies the brakes aggressively, despite there being no vehicle, pedestrian, or other obstruction requiring emergency braking. I have nearly been rear-ended by other vehicles as a direct result of these unexpected braking events. When the system activates, my vehicle abruptly decelerates without warning, leaving drivers behind me with little time to react. These incidents have placed me in immediate danger of being struck from behind and potentially causing a serious multi-vehicle collision. …

Sep 2026

Driver assistance

On 12/4/25, I visited Corley's Lincoln and reported several issues. One issue was that the vehicle would accelerate or decelerate while using cruise control. There were several other issues, but the following two issues are safety issues. I visited again on 3/5/26 with several of the same issues, although the speed issue was not listed on the work order. They could not find any issues, but I encountered the same issues on my drive home. I immediately returned to the dealer, and they kept the vehicle from 3/6/2026 to 4/2/26. Again, the speed issue was not listed on the work order. At this point, I began to keep a log. On 4/19/26, I set the speed at 56 MPH while driving on [redacted] , and within a short time the speed increased to 65 MPH before I stepped on the brakes. I have tested the cruise control several times since with the same result. Also on 4/19/26. …

Adaptive cruise control · Dec 2025

My 2025 Lincoln Aviator is experiencing a serious and dangerous malfunction involving the forward collision detection and automatic emergency braking system. The vehicle falsely detects an object or obstruction in front of it when the roadway is completely clear and then unexpectedly slams on the brakes without any driver input. This is not simply a false collision warning. The vehicle physically applies the brakes aggressively, despite there being no vehicle, pedestrian, or other obstruction requiring emergency braking. I have nearly been rear-ended by other vehicles as a direct result of these unexpected braking events. When the system activates, my vehicle abruptly decelerates without warning, leaving drivers behind me with little time to react. These incidents have placed me in immediate danger of being struck from behind and potentially causing a serious multi-vehicle collision. …

Warnings · Sep 2026

2025 Lincoln Aviator engines & fuel economy

EngineTransmissionDriveMPG city / hwy / combined
3.0L 6-cyl turbo10-speed automaticRWD18 / 25 / 21
3.0L 6-cyl turbo10-speed automatic4WD17 / 25 / 20

EPA ratings. Class: SUV.

Frequently asked questions

Is the 2025 Lincoln Aviator a good car?

Based on 18 owner complaints filed with NHTSA, the 2025 Aviator rates average: 1.3× as many complaints as a typical year of the Aviator at the same age. Complaint counts don't account for sales volume or individual maintenance, so have any used car inspected before buying.

What is the most common problem with the 2025 Lincoln Aviator?

The electrical system — 5 complaints, 28% of all complaints for this model year. Next are the brakes (5) and driver assistance (4).

How many recalls does the 2025 Lincoln Aviator have?

There are 15 recalls for the 2025 Lincoln Aviator, the most recent from July 21, 2026 (power adjust). Recall repairs are free at any authorized dealer — check whether yours has been done with the VIN recall check.

What are the best and worst years of the Lincoln Aviator?

The best years by complaints, compared at the same age, are 2024. Years to avoid or approach with caution: 2020, 2022 and 2003. See the full Lincoln Aviator years comparison.

At what mileage do 2025 Lincoln Aviator problems happen?

The median mileage reported in complaints is about 9,000 miles; 67% of problems with a recorded mileage started before 50,000 miles.

Source: U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) — owner complaints through October 20, 2026, recalls and defect investigations; fuel economy from the EPA. Complaints are unverified reports and are not proof of a defect. How we rate model years.