Ford is having trouble with the 2020 Lincoln Aviator and Explorer models that have disrupted deliveries. Despite that deliveries are disrupted, for Ford to ship the Aviator to Flat Rock and have a special group of workers check the vehicles, some of the Aviator SUVs are making it into the wild with serious issues. These issues have reportedly led some workers to worry that Ford has lost control of quality. So far, only 1,899 Lincoln Aviator SUVs have been sold since it went on sale officially in August.
Among the problems that the small group of Lincoln Aviator owners has reported include the emergency brake unexpectedly activating while the SUV is driving. Passenger assist alarms randomly going off, and dashboard screens that show scrambled information are among other issues reported. Unfortunately for Lincoln, one of the Lincoln Aviator SUVs that has issues was purchased by Consumer Reports.
The publication notes that when you first get into the vehicle, the speedometer and tachometer “kind of goes berserk.” For the first few miles, it’s hard to see what you are doing said the publication. The Lincoln Aviator that Consumer Reports purchased was driven off the lot on September 9th.
Another Lincoln Aviator owner called Laurel Spencer bought her SUV in mid-August and said that 24 hours after buying it, she had her first issue. That first issue was a leaky sunroof. She says a week after that the “seat belts didn’t work.” More recently, she says that the Aviator was in the shop for nearly a week for computer malfunctions that “had my crash detection set off when driving on a quiet road.”
The woman notes that the parking brake came on when driving and a major transmission fault alarm activated. While they were fixing all of that, the “seat controls went.” She says she regrets buying the SUV. Ford has confirmed that Aviators are shipping directly from the Chicago Assembly Plant to dealers, but a large number of them are still at the Flat Rock Assembly Plant for post-production troubleshooting. It’s unclear if Spencer’s Lincoln Aviator was among those sent to Flatrock for troubleshooting or if it shipped directly from Chicago Assembly. There are lots of Lincoln owners who have had no issues at all.
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Source: Free Press
Comments
I guess the smoke cloud was the Aviator crash landing – while the competition sends “challenges” to Lincoln from somewhere near Durango……
Even with all of this, I’d still buy an Aviator over an XT6.
Glad I waited. Now maybe that ridiculous price on the top models will come down. Come on Lincoln…GET IT RIGHT!!
I’ve been driving my Avaitor Black Label since September 2 and have had no issues. In every way, the car has exceeded my expectations. As for Consumer Reports, it doesn’t matter. Their reviews are a joke, with comments like “the piano key shifter was hard to figure out.”. Really? If their tester was perfect, CR would slam it. I’d it isn’t imported, you can pretty much guarantee they’ll hate it. Did you ever read carefully their reviews? Contradictions like…some found the seats uncomfortable, but our testers enjoyed them on longer journeys; or, driving position provided excellent visibility, but the B pillar blocked rear sightlines. This is a reason I didn’t renew my CR subscription.
I personally wait for the second year of an entirely new model. I bought an 18 Toyota hybrid. The 19s were all new from front to rear, drivetrain, etc, but I wanted the “tried and true.” Just a personal thing. Seating evaluations are rubbish. Car makers are trying to make a seat for a 110 pound female all the way up a 280 pound burly man. Any seat evaluation has to be done by the purchaser. Good luck with your Aviator. Ford will work out the issues and wind up with a great SUV. Growing pains.
Lincoln has got it right so right that the competition that it’s bringing down in numbers Will be fighting hard with negative marketing and isolated stories like this kind of like political so-called whistleblowers it’s competition ! The Continued Increasing success of the product speaks for it self and very well it appears
How can you possibly know that these critical stories about the Aviator are not true? You need to understand the difference between what you “think” is true and what you actually “know” is true.
This is completely unexceptionable. Big dollar car like the Aviator should absolutely have no issues.. I think the problem starts at the top… I think Mr (non automotive ) Hacket is unapproachable therefore not a good leader. Boss #2 Hindrich and #3 Galhotra are both very capable people as time has proven but this is a major &^?* up. Roll outs are suppose to be difficult but perfect in their execution.
I went through a myriad of problems with our Edge, the tailgate would go up and down on its own , car would not start, radio went on by itself, compass not accurate, etc. recently we had to pay to install a new electric lock to the tune of over $800, a common problem, but Ford declared it a non safety issue and would not cover it. We are in the market for a new vehicle, but after this Edge and the news stories of the new Aviator and Explorer we will not be purchasing a Ford product after many years of loyalty.
The Consumer Report article will torch the Avaitor. Lincoln seemed to be turning a corner and this will really put the brakes on that. In 2020, consumers will not tolerate these kinds of issues, especially on a Lincoln. Ford would be wise to immediately take these vehicles back quickly and replace them to the buyers with new units that have been throughly checked out.
How refreshing it would be if, instead of smearing these vehicles with social media and options which contribute nothing to capability or safety, automakers concentrated on capability and dependability? How many of the options ever get used during a lease’s lifetime? Just think how much simpler a wiring harness would be? How many gremlins would be avoided.
The highest measure of luxury is quality. For such an important vehicle it is mind blowing that Lincoln (and Ford) to get this so wrong. They are getting good at swinging and missing.
Sadly, the Aviator will likely not recover from such a poor start. It’s just not enough to look good anymore.