walkabout

Eh? I turned in my MKX as the lease expired. That sounds system was one of the best I've ever heard. When the mkx first came out, that system was ranked in the top two or three by various sites. It was one of the true highlights of the vehicle.

Adam - I found the seats in the new RDX to be comfy. The infotainment system in that vehicle is disappointing, especially in comparison to Sync 3.

Guys - as some know, my lease was up and I decided against the Nautilus (which, incidentally, I still consider to be vastly superior to most vehicles in the class and better overall than my current vehicle. At the very least, I don't think any car -including BMW, MB, Audi offers a superior engine to the 2.7). I tried the base and 22-ways in the new Nautilus and did find them improved, but I think the bottoms are still way too narrow and I could see if continue to have problems. As much as I prefer the Nautilus to other vehicles, I decided to move on. Lincoln is not the only vehicle with this tendency. I found the seats in the Audi and BMW x3 to be similarly over bolstered in the seat bottom. I actually like the base seats in the Edge (which, btw, is superior to euro cars costing thousands more) better than the Lincoln. I agree with Gurgeh though -it's a personal choice. Every car forum on the interweb has threads attaching and praising seats. If you like the seats in the MKX/Nautilus though, it's the best option in the class (imo).

Thanks Guergh. It was slightly more than an RDX but the RDX doesn't have Android auto. I got a T6 Inscription with Advance package and some other goodies for roughly $3,000 more than the RDX advance (which was my second choice). $6,000 below invoice. The size was a big selling point as was the visibility (which is horrendous in the Acura). I'll be honest, having driven everything, I still consider the Nautilus the best vehicle in the price range. It's superior overall to XC60, RDX, RX, XT5, etc. However, I decided that even the new seats were not going to work for my body. It came down to Volvo and RDX mostly because those cars had the best seats. Otherwise, even the engine upgrades don't compare to the 2.7t and Sync 3 is still the most full featured and elegant infotaiment system available (if you don't need Android Auto - iDrive would be my top pick). I'd be lying if I said I was happy to be moving on from the Lincoln. It was a fantastic vehicle. Really one of the best vehicles I've owned. Every word that you wrote here while evaluating the cars was true. You were more accurate than Motor Trend!

My lease is up this summer, so I couldn't wait for the Corsair. Otherwise, it would have been close to the top of my list - especially with the new hybrid drive train. I expect the Volvo will be the last vehicle I lease and also my last gasoline engine

Lease is up in a few months but the dealer actually bought out the end of the lease and I'm going to move into a Volvo XC60 T6. I had a pin code for employee pricing so the Volvo was out the door for about $10,000 less than a Nautilus equipped with similar features. Honestly, living in LA and being somewhat single, I wanted a smaller vehicle. There Nautilus/mkx had been a tad large for me My observation over the last three years is that the MKX/Nautlus is a ridiculously good vehicle. Not only do I think it's a better vehicle than the direct competition (RX, XT5), I think it is competitive with Audi, BMW, M-B. The 2.7T is one of the sweetest engines on the planet and Sync 3 may be the best infotainment system available. I never really came to love the seats, I still think it needs a bit more refinement in the cabin, and Lincoln customer service has been hit or miss. But, I've enjoyed my ownership experience and I'm looking forward to returning to Lincoln showrooms. The last three years have convinced me that Lincoln/Ford can take on the big boys and win.

The big problem with the Fusion hyrbid is that it literally has no trunk. The entire trunk, except for a small shelf, is taken up by the battery. To make a real hybrid, they'd need to start from scratch.

Thanks for the update!

akirby - I test drove lots of cars this weekend: Ford Edge, Volvo XC60, BMW X3, Nautilus, and Audi Q5 (which, in all honesty, was less of a drive and more of a sit in the vehicle for a long time). The Nautilus was not only more comfy than my MKX, it's seats were better than any of the other vehicles - with the exception of the volvo. Lincoln has stepped up and fixed that problem. Also, and this could be my imagination, but I think they've fixed the less-than-impressive seat cooling. At least in the car I drove, it worked quite well.

The massage feature is pretty useless, imo. I like the adjustability of the seats though.

that's probably a minor trim, but it would make me nervous too.

I did a lot of test driving this weekend (my lease is up late this summer, but I can early out now if I wanted a Nautilus). I drove an XC60, BMW X3, Nautilus, Edge ST, and Edge Titanium First up, a few comments on the new Nautilus: The seats are, indeed, way more comfy. the bottom bolsters that used to cut into my legs and raise the sides of my butt enough to cause muscle strain on long rides are now sensibly shaped. In all honesty, the new seats were some of the most comfortable I drove yesterday. Its also my totally subjective impression that the cooling function works a lot better. It was vastly superior to the same option on the XC60, in fact. There are a few more subtle things I noted - steering a bit tighter, even more quiet, and ride was impressive (even with the 21"). One hell of an impressive package, overall. The XC60's seats are even better. Probably the most comfy car seats I've every experienced. Nice car, but with a stiff busy ride. The upsides are visibility (vastly superior to the Nautilus), interior materials ,and seating comfort. The ventilated seats are not worth the effort - basically don't do anything. The XC60 may be smaller than the Nautilus, but it doesn't handle or ride as well, and the base engine is lackluster. The Edge was pretty disappointing. I thought of it as a bargain Nautilus, but the seats in the Edge ST are insanely uncomfortable. The Titanium, with the 2.0, felt very under powered to me. Crossed it off my list. The X3 was the most fun. It doesn't have Android Auto, the main downside. But, right now, I am likely to go in that direction. The Nautilus' main enemies are not really smaller vehicles like the X3 and XC60 - but rather the Lexus RX and the Caddy XT5. Not only is the Nautilus superior to those vehicles overall, I don't think that either car is in the same class (TBH).

You have an mkx? I thought you had an suv like the rest of us? Why would you put a trailer hitch on a sedan anyway?

Just watched it. It's not bad. He overstated the"softness" of the vehicle but it's a mostly fair review.

With the MKX review, he was just plain wrong about one or two issues. When he described the seats, he claimed the top part articulates separate from the bottom (as in the BMW 7-series). However, the MKX never had that feature nor does the Nautilus. It was a little mistake, but it did leave me scratching my head and saying, "huh?"

He did complain about torque steer, which is interesting.

I've become increasingly less convinced by his reviews.

My '16 (loaded reserve) has them as well.

Those are webcams installed by your significant others.

In 2021, they'll be replacing the CD player with 8 track (man, I'm old).

The seats don't soften much over time, and I really would discourage you from trying to alter them physically. That rarely works. I honestly don't think aftermarket cushions are going to help much either. I hated the seats at first, it took me a while to adjust. I don't hate them now but I also don't love them. I'm ok with them being hard - I like firm seats. I just find the bottoms too narrow and devoid of padding. I hope they work out for you in time. Overall, I think you'll find that the MKX is a great car - really underrated.

Guergh -thanks so much for this very valuable insight. Much appreciated! Also, thanks for not making fun of so the autocorrect errors in my post.

Gurgeh - The Q5 just got dropped from my list because of those seats. Hard as a rock and the bolster cot into my leg. Honestly, the foot and finish was not all that impressive either - not like the Audi of old.

I wonder if you Nautilus owners might answer a few questions for us MKX owners. I suspect, that like me, a few are coming off of expiring leases and are considering re-uping: 1) Do the seat coolers (a weakness on the earlier versions) work well? 2) Anybody have the parking sensors (comes with the package that had the 360 camera)? Does it ever false (it does like crazy on the MKX)? 3) Comments on comfort of seats (which appear to be less aggressively bolstered from what I can see)? I've narrowed my choice down to the Nautilus and Volvo XC60. I was optimistic about the Q5 too but my evaluation yesterday did not go well.

Congrats! I hope you enjoy it for a long time to come!