2021 Lincoln Nautilus Recalls, Ratings & Complaints

Incident: August 1, 2026 · Filed: October 21, 2026

Drivers front door inner sheet metal structure has failed/torn at the check arm mounting points under normal operating conditions.. safety hazard. Dealership and Lincoln will not take full responsibility after known structural defect exists. I note on your website that in Nautilus alone there are 10 complaints including mine. Our car had less than 42,000 miles when we noticed. The entire door needs to be replaced.

Incident: October 15, 2026 · Filed: October 15, 2026

Drivers front door inner sheet metal structure has failed/torn at the hinge and check arm mounting points under normal operating conditions.. safety hazard. Dealership and Lincoln will not take full responsibility after known structural defect exists

Incident: October 1, 2026 · Filed: October 13, 2026

Both front doors on my 2021 Nautilus Reserve have structural stress cracks in the sheet metal surrounding the check-arm bracket, along the edge of the recessed mount and under the weatherstrip. I first noticed cracking and popping when opening and closing the doors on 8/1/2026 at about 84,000 miles. No collision; normal use. The bracket mounts to the inner door panel with no reinforcement. The panel visibly flexes every time the door opens and checks, and that flexing has fatigued and cracked the metal. The cracks are growing. This is a safety issue. Once the bracket tears out, the door has no hold-open or stop. It can be pulled open by wind, strike a person or vehicle beside it, or swing closed on an occupant's arms or legs. Complaint 11767021 reports a 2021 Nautilus door torn from the owner's hand by wind after the check broke. In PE23-013, NHTSA's investigation of the same failure on the Ford Escape, NHTSA documented 25 injuries, mostly from doors closing on occupants, and cited risk of a door failing to latch, failing to open, or opening while driving. Both my front doors are affected, so the driver and passenger exits are both at risk. At least eight other 2021 Nautilus owners have filed NHTSA complaints on the same failure, and Ford Edge owners report it too. Ford covers this failure on the 2020-2023 Escape under CSP 23B56 (reinforcement plate or new door, no cost, no mileage limit), but no recall or program covers the Nautilus or Edge. Lincoln (case CXH-09573152) offered $4,400 goodwill instead of a full repair. Other 2021 Nautilus owners report this failure as early as 20,000 miles, so it is a design flaw, not wear. Re-welding or installing the same unreinforced door will not fix it; any remedy must add reinforcement at the check-arm mount. I request an investigation of front door check-arm related stress cracking on doors of 2019-2023 Nautilus and Edge vehicles. Photos, video, and an evidence brief are available.

Incident: June 1, 2026 · Filed: October 3, 2026

Transmission was shuddering when it shifted gears. It would lose power and jerk between each gear. We paid for diagnostic at the dealership and they diagnosed as torque converter shudder under 2 separate TSB's. Dealership offered to fix at a cost of $6400. Told not to drive the vehicle or at least as little as possible. They refused to cover this under the TSBs. Contacted Lincoln Client Care. The shudder became worse even driving through town and it would jerk and the RPMS were jumping all over. Also took it to AAMCO after dealership stated they would not cover it under a TSB. AAMCO provided free diagnostic and came to the same conclusion of the torque converter and estimated cost of $3300, which was 3100 less than dealership. Asked Lincoln for goodwill fix and they spent a month talking to the dealership trying to get the dealership to a lower price, to whichthe dealership raised the price to $6800 and they offered 4k in goodwill, but said that it would take 4 to 6 weeks to get the parts. By this time AAMCO already had the parts after waiting3 weeks on backorder and AAMCO made te fix at an out of pocket cost of $3300. Total out of pocket costs were the 300 for the diagnostic and the 3300 for the torque converter fix.

Incident: September 16, 2026 · Filed: September 29, 2026

Noticed cracking sound when opening and closing front drivers door. Subsequently discovered same issue on Ford Edge (recall in place) and many other owners having same problem (FaceBook posts).

Incident: September 18, 2026 · Filed: September 25, 2026

Door check is broken in high winds the door pulled out my hand. Could have injured someone of that person was standing near the opening path of the door.

Incident: April 1, 2026 · Filed: August 30, 2026

The driver's side door is cracked at the door hinge assembly. This is a widely documented defect. My door cracked at 50,000 miles. There are thousands of 2019-2024 Nautilus's with this defect. Lincoln wants $5,000 to replace the door. They offered $2,000 toward the repair. This should be a recall.

Incident: June 20, 2026 · Filed: August 23, 2026

The door broke and cracked the window when I opened the door to get in the car

Incident: July 11, 2026 · Filed: August 3, 2026

The contact owns a 2021 Lincoln Nautilus. The contact stated that while the vehicle was at the dealer for an oil change and trade-in, the contact was informed that the front driver’s side door had a crack and that the welding was cracked and loosened. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure, and a case was filed. The failure mileage was approximately 92,800.

Incident: July 5, 2026 · Filed: July 6, 2026

The transmission occasionally jerks/studders between second and third at acceleration and deceleration.