AutoUtility currently tracks 52 official NHTSA owner defect complaints for the 2018 Lincoln Navigator. Powertrain & Transmission issues are the most frequently reported category, appearing in 20 complaints (38.5% of submitted records). Among these NHTSA complaint records, 3 cite a fire, 1 reports one or more injuries.
- • Total NHTSA Complaints: 52 reports
- • #1 Reported Problem Area: Powertrain & Transmission (20 reports • 38.5% of submitted complaints)
- • Secondary Problem Areas: Engine & Cooling (11), Electrical System (8)
- • Crash-Citing Complaints: 0 filings
- • Fire-Citing Complaints: 3 filings
- • Complaints Reporting Injuries / Fatalities: 1 injury filings • 0 fatality filings
Most Reported Problems for 2018 Lincoln Navigator
Top automotive subsystem defect categories ranked by unique owner complaint volume in federal records
Powertrain & Transmission
NHTSA records list 2 official safety recall campaigns for this model year involving the same broad component area:
- Campaign #26V402000 POWER TRAIN:AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION
- Campaign #18V213000 POWER TRAIN:AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION
Engine & Cooling
Electrical System
Steering System
Driver Assistance & Safety Tech
NHTSA records list 1 official safety recall campaign for this model year involving the same broad component area:
- Campaign #23V598000 BACK OVER PREVENTION: SENSING SYSTEM: CAMERA
Symptoms Mentioned in NHTSA Owner Reports for 2018 Lincoln Navigator
Specific mechanical, electrical, and driver-assist defect symptoms identified via deterministic narrative analysis
AutoUtility uses deterministic phrase matching to identify recurring symptom descriptions within consumer-submitted NHTSA complaint narratives.
Loss of Motive Power While Driving
Recent NHTSA Owner Reports for 2018 Lincoln Navigator
Representative defect filings submitted by owners to the NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation
"The contact's wife owns a 2018 Lincoln Navigator. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the gear shifter independently shifted to park and other gears while driving over a railroad track. The vehicle was turned off and restarted and operated as intended. A dealer was contacted...."
"I have experienced harsh shifting from gear 1 to 2 and as well from 2nd to 3rd gear. This results in delayed acceleration at expressway onramps and when turning into forward traffic. This is a known risk with unresolved recall 26S48 related to transmission parking system dammage and related..."
"We purchased a 2018 Lincoln Navigator L in 2022 with 29,489 miles, and it has been great. We are at 64,351 miles, and it is making the cold-start rattling noise. We have called Lincoln for assistance, and they are refusing to help. They stated that there is no help. I took it to Duval Ford, and..."
"The other weekend, we were unloading the back of the Lincoln when all of a sudden the liftgate came down on us. Fortunately, we were able to back away in time... Later that weekend, my son was unloading the back and it came down and hit him in the head to the point it made him cry (and he is a..."
"The contact owns a 2018 Lincoln Navigator. The contact stated that while driving at 70 MPH, the transmission seized, and the vehicle failed to accelerate. The contact stated that several unknown warning lights were illuminated during the failure. Additionally, the brake warning light was..."
Complaint History for Lincoln Navigator
Reported defect complaint volume across sibling model years (2015–2026)
| Model Year | NHTSA Complaints | Crash Reports | Safety Recalls | Detailed Report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 Lincoln Navigator | 21 | 2 | 4 | View 2015 Problems → |
| 2016 Lincoln Navigator | 25 | 0 | 4 | View 2016 Problems → |
| 2017 Lincoln Navigator | 30 | 2 | 5 | View 2017 Problems → |
| 2018 Lincoln Navigator Current Page | 52 | 0 | 12 | Current |
| 2019 Lincoln Navigator | 73 | 3 | 10 | View 2019 Problems → |
| 2020 Lincoln Navigator | 31 | 2 | 13 | View 2020 Problems → |
| 2021 Lincoln Navigator | 31 | 2 | 12 | View 2021 Problems → |
| 2022 Lincoln Navigator | 20 | 3 | 14 | View 2022 Problems → |
| 2023 Lincoln Navigator | 6 | 0 | 8 | View 2023 Problems → |
| 2024 Lincoln Navigator | 15 | 3 | 7 | View 2024 Problems → |
| 2025 Lincoln Navigator | 11 | 0 | 6 | View 2025 Problems → |
| 2026 Lincoln Navigator | 0 | 0 | 2 | View 2026 Problems → |
Detailed NHTSA Component Breakdown for 2018 Lincoln Navigator
Complete distribution of consumer defect reports across all 24 granular NHTSA system and subsystem classifications
| Vehicle Component / System | Total Complaints | Crash Reports | Fire Reports | Reported Injury Entries | Reported Fatality Entries |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Powertrain NHTSA category: POWER TRAIN | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Engine NHTSA category: ENGINE | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Other / Uncategorized NHTSA category: UNKNOWN OR OTHER | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Back Over Prevention / Camera NHTSA category: BACK OVER PREVENTION | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Steering NHTSA category: STEERING | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| POWER TRAIN,ENGINE | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Seat Belts NHTSA category: SEAT BELTS | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Electrical System NHTSA category: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,EXTERIOR LIGHTING | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,LANE DEPARTURE | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,SEATS | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,STRUCTURE | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| ENGINE,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| EXTERIOR LIGHTING | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Fuel System NHTSA category: FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| POWER TRAIN,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,ENGINE | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| POWER TRAIN,ENGINE,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| POWER TRAIN,WHEELS,LANE DEPARTURE | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Seats & Restraints NHTSA category: SEATS | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| STEERING,POWER TRAIN,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| STEERING,POWER TRAIN,ENGINE | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Suspension NHTSA category: SUSPENSION | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Visibility / Glass NHTSA category: VISIBILITY | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Visibility & Wipers NHTSA category: VISIBILITY/WIPER | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Official NHTSA Defect Investigations (1)
Formal safety defect inquiries and engineering analyses opened by the NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation (ODI)
Seat Belt Retractor Pretensioner Inadvertent Deployment
On November 22, 2023, the Oï¬ce of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened Preliminary Evaluation (PE) PE23021 to investigate complaints of front seat belt retractor pretensioner inadvertent deployment in model year (MY) 2019 Ford Expedition vehicles manufactured by Ford Motor Company. Some complaints alleged hearing a loud, explosion-like sound immediately followed by the seat belt tightening around the occupantâs torso area. The complaints did no...
The complaint records on this page are retrieved directly from the NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) public database.
Local Production Store Compiled: August 2026 • Deterministic Audited Dataset • Zero Dynamic External API Runtime Latency.