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Dear mmoretti and enigma-2, . Thanks for your interest and suggestions. It does brighten up an otherwise dismal situation. Too bad Lincoln isn't interested. I think your suggestions might possibly lead to finding the root cause of this defect. I wonder if this suggestion can be modified to be useful in solving my situation. The problem is that my unit is a SYNC3 . It uses a a hard drive rather than an SD card to store navigation data. The repair attempt description doesn't say if anything like this was looked at. I will mention it and ask on Tuesday. The dealer gave up on trying to "replicate" the problem. They do know it exists, because they have already actually seen it twice. The Service Manager and Service Writer gave me the car back with their apologies. I am going in to see the General Manager on Tuesday to see what it would take to get me into a different car. Step 1 on the decision process of what to do when Lincoln can't fix your car and refuses to do anything because they don't have to. I looked on cars.com and saw several VERY low mileage 2016 M.K.X. vehicles for sale as "Certified used cars". One in Minnesota was actually even advertised as a Minnesota Lemon Law return. I wonder how many problems they are really having? Disappointing doesn't even begin to describe how this has gone.

Dear AKirby, If only Lincoln were as rational as you. I would immediately accept ANY of the suggestions you make. I have suggested variants of these same possible solutions to Lincoln. They are simply not interested. Their response was "Based upon our policies developed in consideration of the "lemon laws" of your state, we are not required to consider any of these solutions". They are not interested in any "promise". I could be wrong, but their "reluctance" seems more about avoiding cost than an inability to fix the car. (And if it is an "inability" to fix, that is even scarier) Fairness to the customer isn't even on the radar. They will only help you if legally compelled to. They are betting you will avoid the time and expense of court and just give up. Not exactly "World Class" in my book.

Dear M.Moretti You pretty much have the picture. It has been clearly illustrated that the navigation unit randomly faults out. The dealer has even seen it in progress twice (as well as pictures provided for other occasions). The dealer can't get a fault code that tells them why it happened so they cannot "reproduce" or validate the fault. On the present attempt (7th) The dealer has been trying for almost 3 weeks now to make it happen themselves, and cannot reproduce the fault on command. Lincoln says "can't reproduce it, we won't pay to fix it." Even after seeing (twice) that the unit fails, Lincoln refuses to fix or replace it because they don't know exactly why it is happening. Not exactly a confidence builder about future purchases of their product. The Concierge people refuse to supply any phone numbers or people in the chain of command to appeal to. (They are really the same people as the Ford warranty people (all in central Florida). To me "The Lincoln Promise" isn't much of anything. So far, I have located no one in Dearborn, Michigan (Ford or Lincoln) that I can talk to or any means to contact them. I will continue to try. I did get a survey from RDA Associates asking about quality and service. My responses did not reflect well upon Lincoln. So much for "The Lincoln Promise". You know, when I first read some of your comments (before experiencing first hand Lincoln's (non) commitment to honor it's warranty) I thought your experience was unusual. I certainly don't think that any more. Good luck to you as well. As a last resort, you can always sell your car and get something else. And if I were a new potential Lincoln customer I would "Run away Dude!" "Run Far! Run Fast!" (Apologies to the Big Bang theory)

I got a private message from a Lincoln moderator suggesting I contact the Lincoln Concierge Center. Here was my reply: Dear Todd, No one is more disappointed in this situation than I am. I have been a loyal customer of Ford and Lincoln for over 40 years. I have purchased many new cars from Ford and Lincoln and never have experienced anything like this. I fully intended to purchase a Continental before this happened, but how can I even consider a vehicle with complicated electronics when Lincoln won't stand behind it? I have repeatedly tried to get my car fixed speaking to the Concierge. I even talked to them today. "We can't duplicate it so we will not attempt to fix it" is their only response. I have even brought the car in twice with the navigation fault in progress, and that isn't good enough. I have tried repeatedly to contact anyone else at Lincoln or Ford seeking help and discovered that no matter where I tried to call or who I talked to, I found myself back speaking to "Brittany". I discovered every call goes to the same group of people who refer warranty clients back to each other at the call center. There is no way to contact anyone else. A warranty is only a warranty if you can get the car fixed. My 2016 M.K.X. has not worked properly since delivery. I feel my loyalty has been met with, "We're giving you the infinite loop until you go away." If I get this treatment with a $55,000 car, should I really spend more to get a Continental?

The warranty has been worthless on my new MKX. It was delivered to me with faulty electronics but Lincoln can't or won't fix it. Lincoln is much more interested in selling cars than they are in standing behind them after the purchase. Save yourself some aggravation and money. Take a pass.

The height of irony...I just got an e-mail from Lincoln offering a test drive of the new Lincoln Continental. First thing that comes up is "The Lincoln Promise". Why in the world would I want another Lincoln when you won't (or can't) fix the new one I just bought from you? (2631 miles at present, over 40 days at dealer with no repair) I got a letter from RDA Group yesterday asking me to complete an on-line survey about Lincoln and my new car. I don't think my responses did much in the way of portraying Lincoln as a car anyone would want to buy. Offered to respond further if they were interested. (They do O.E.M. marketing and research) Also started looking for another car.

Phone os is current. 5.x Complete reinstall of os by at&t. Unit has faulted without phone in car. I agree probably some kind of voltage anomaly is causing the fault. Who knows why it is happening. I doubt it is a corrupt file on the phone.

Have done both Bluetooth and USB. The timing of the failures does not appear to be related to phone. (Usually 60 to 90 minutes into a trip) Galaxy 5 is one of the Phones Lincoln tested and certified for use. Anything is possible, but I don't think the failure is RF connected, and I only use good USB cables. Will investigate.

Lincoln doesn't pay for or replace A.P.I.M.s. The vendor exchanges them when you give them a code. It is a dealer to vendor to dealer shipment. Lincoln wasn't interested. The "get a code" catch 22 was immediately invoked. The dealer couldn't get a known good A.P.I.M. to try to figure out the problem without a code. The only way to get a code was to bring in the car when the fault was in progress. The Lincoln solution was always: master reset, try it again. Can't even tell anymore how many times that happened. So, in order to get a code to replace the A.P.I.M., I had to bring in the car with the fault actually in progress. A.P.I.M .failure is a result, not the cause of the problem. The car has now had 3 A.P.I.M.s and still faulting out. It is not the A.P.I.M. I have spoken to the Concierge many times, as well as the Concierge Supervisor. I have written to Ford's website for customer complaints. I have complained in the new customer service surveys. They just send an e-mail back saying "We see you have an open case number. Talk to them". They hand it right back to the Concierge. Now we are back to "Can't duplicate the fault." I expect to be told next to "Take the car and bring it back when it happens again" (3rd time) I've also heard "Maybe its your cell phone." (Samsung Galaxy 5 - per Lincoln recommendation - used in my last Lincoln with no problems) Who knows??? It is all very disappointing. I never even got to the fun of getting a new car. Thanks for the suggestion about Twitter and Facebook. I'll give it a shot.

Here is the problem as I see it in this "catch 22" situation" If, after 7 attempts, Lincoln fails to solve the problem, what good is any warranty they offer? I should not be penalized for their failure to perform. If their practice is going to be "We just don't know what is wrong, so we won't do "anything" is unacceptable from a consumer standpoint. Is the product really so bad that they just can't figure it out? I agree it is entirely plausible that Lincoln is not the only manufacturer guilty of this behavior. The market does sort out these kinds of problems over time when consumers avoid faulty products and buy reliable ones. The offending company goes out of business. It is also possible that a dealer could be playing both sides of the fence. Not true in this case. I have purchased many Fords here and warranty work was never a problem. The dealer has provided excellent service for more than 30 years. Lincoln owes customers much more than this shabby treatment. I have been a loyal customer. They need to deliver and stand by a reliable product. "Reliable" includes doing whatever is necessary to make good on a faulty product. The reputation of any company takes years to build and minutes to destroy. Their assurances are only words when the customer who has trusted them is left holding the bag. Lincoln will demonstrate if they deserve to continue in the marketplace by how well they honor their promises. So far, in my opinion, they haven't. When you are selling $55,000 to $65,000 cars, you need to make a commitment to sell and support excellence. "We don't know, so you are out of luck!" is not a formula to stay in business. I have been told that one of the biggest problems faced by any business in resolving poor customer experiences is the fact that long time loyal customers often just go away and never come back after shabby treatment. I wonder how many will walk away from Lincoln?

Dear MMoretti, My concerns about the car and its problems (though significant) are also secondary to my concerns about the behavior of Lincoln itself. Even verification by their own dealer is insufficient. Lincoln will even tell you that dealers "front" all warranty work and then only get paid when Lincoln decides to pay. The malfunction has been presented at the dealership while it is actually occurring on 2 separate occasions. Photograph have been provided of screens when the unit failed on other occasions. Their stated reason for failing to repair is that the dealer cannot reproduce that failure. Since they don't know "why" it happens, they refuse to "fix" it. Not exactly a situation that inspires confidence in the company or the product. In my opinion, either there is a flaw in the Lincoln design (that they cannot cope with) or they they are refusing to replace a malfunctioning system due to "cost" considerations. In either case, this is not a positive influence on the future value of this (or any other) Lincoln. I too fail to understand how Lincoln could spend gobs of money in a "re-branding" attempt only to throw it all away by failing in its promise of customer support in a "nickel and dime" (for them) warranty issue. I'm sure that their dealers aren't exactly thrilled by how they are being treated either. Way to make it easy for BMW, Audi, Acura, Lexus, and any other brand competing for this market segment.

Thanks for the sympathy. Unfortunately, I think you will not get any info from Lincoln about problems that happen to other owners. Ever. Car was built 12-15-15 according to ETIS. Blend # was 000055 Description of how I feel about it: Jobbed feels about right. To be continued...

Navigation unit update; Still in "catch 22" mode between Lincoln and the dealer. Dealer says "We have actually witnessed the problem on 2 occasions (freezing of map, Navigation fault screen, lockup of controls, etc. But we cannot duplicate the problem ourselves in the shop. Lincoln says, "No duplication, no fix. Me: I'm the "monkey in the middle." My contention is that manufacturer v. vendor v. dealer issues are not included as a caveat to the warranty on my vehicle. Please fix my car. I have clearly illustrated the defect. It has existed since delivery. More mileage on this car has been devoted to trying to troubleshoot the problem than miles that have actually been devoted to personal use. The dealer has had the car as much as I have. Lincoln warrants that their vehicle are free of defects. They promise to fix any defects found for 4 years or 50,000 miles. Lincoln is now adding new conditions I have no control over and did not agree to as preconditions for attempting to fix the problem at all. So what is the real value of their warranty? I understand the need to be able to say "NO" to those who try to use a warranty as a way to get Lincoln to cover their abuse of a vehicle, but that is not the case here. The defect has existed since delivery. 7 repair attempts have not fixed the problem. Lincoln needs to fix the car. As far as Sync 3 is concerned, The jury is out on its reliability. It is too soon to know. This vehicle was one of the first JOB 2 MKX's built. If I were Lincoln, I would have engineers looking at it to try to figure out if there is some problem related to how the car was built. If I were thinking about buying a Lincoln, Lincoln's warranty behavior would give me pause to reconsider the purchase at all. Particularly when it comes to a vehicle containing complex electronics like Sync 3. That is just me.

Custom ordered a new loaded 2016 M.K.X. at the end of October and took delivery on Jan 4, 2016. It was one of the first JOB 2 cars made with SYNC 3. Navigation unit has been faulting out intermittently ever since first use. Numerous reboots, software reinstalls and 2 replacements of the original A.P.I.M. have not solved the problem. Each time the unit faults out again the first time I use it on a trip. Also faults on random occasions. Sometimes center stack controls lock up, sometimes phone use is lost including 911 feature. The dealer says they have applied all resources available to them. The only code they ever find is one to replace the A.P.I.M. (which they find only when I bring it in while the fault is actually happening). The unit automatically resets when the car is turned off and they lose the code. They cannot duplicate the fault themselves and say they need Lincoln's help. Lincoln refuses to do anything or send an engineer without the dealer duplicating the fault. (Even though I have brought the car to the dealer while the fault has actually been happening twice, and provided pictures of fault screens on other occasions.) Lincoln just refuses to actually look at the problem. The dealer states they cannot fix it. Nice warranty. So much for anyone really living up to the so called "Lincoln Pledge". Seems a lot more like "We'll honor our warranties if we feel like it and it is not too hard to do." This is a brand new car. They should fix it, but refuse so far to even try. Anyone else having problems with SYNC 3? Ideas or advice would be appreciated. Or is the only choice the "Lemon Law" route and filing safety complaints with the NTHSA?

Same for me....3 requests with no response of any kind from company. Bought the Husky Floor liners instead. No real difference. I wanted to spend money locally because I live near their production facility, but they are a little too successful to care about us. Oh well... If the company begins to do poorly you will start to hear all about "Buy American" when the problem is really poor business practices.

Have it but never tested it. Too chicken. Supposed to stop you if necessary. Whether it stops fast enough not to hit anything is a definite maybe. It will supposedly "mitigate" not necessarily "avoid" contact. I think it is a good idea to have. Might well eventually become standard equipment.

Job 2 Reserve Pano, no rails. Have not noticed any wind noise problems. Built 12/16

SYNC 3 update: This is all since taking delivery on Jan. 4. Nothing like having a brand new $55,000.00 car with these problems. And only 2 weeks old... Playing the "follow procedure" game. Unit has had a navigation fault error message 5 times and also frozen itself completely (including center stack controls) once, The unit has had a "master" reset done 4 times and somehow Lincoln is still trying to decide if the A.I.P.M. needs to be replaced. (Sound familiar, My Lincoln Touch people?). Also had an unpleasant experience at the local Enterprise rental shop. I have always been one of those unfortunate people sent off to rental land with all the accompanying hassles. I just love going there. I guess the Lincoln Pledge of a loaner only counts if/when the dealer actually has one available. (In my experience I have never gotten one.) Lead time before the appointment never seems to make any difference no matter how long. It makes one wonder if other surprises might lurk within that "pledge". First repair attempt was the typical "If it happens again, bring it back so we can check the trouble code". Happened again the next day. Brought it straight to the dealer so they could get the code. Got the same "Did master reset again, have to see if it throws another code." I wonder how many times this has to happen? I had also reported the previous navigation malfunctions to service (when they happened) and have reset the system at their direction twice myself. Maybe it needs to be double digit numbers of failures to prove something is wrong? I seem to recall Lincoln having to extend the warranty on some A.I.P.M. modules having similar problems with a previous version. Could this be a repeat? All in all, this has been a luxury vehicle experience at its finest. Stay tuned....

I went with HID and Revel 13 speaker sound system. It seemed to me that going with a "middle ground" choice here rather than the "luxury" (to some "overpriced") choice was appropriate given comments made by others about LED issues, Revel sound systems, and overall perceived cost v. benefit of various choices. We won't really know what consumers like until we see used car pricing of MKX vehicles with these options. Till then, it is personal preference and "How deep are your pockets?".

Off to the dealer to get it diagnosed now. I agree that it is typical "computer stuff". I too have found in the past that many electronic components either fail almost immediately or last pretty much forever. I guess that is the nature of solid state things. The dealer has been good so far. Let us hope replacement components are easily obtainable and that the parts are easy for the technician to replace..

Maybe those "early adapters" who got My Lincoln Touch instead of SYNC 3 weren't so unlucky after all. I ordered my MKX on October 26th and picked it up from the dealer on Jan. 4. Took it for its first trip on Wednesday, and had a massive fail of the SYNC 3 Navigation unit. Lost GPS, speed limit signs on speedo., etc. It also locked up several other controls, including radio tuning and volume, climate, and voice controls. Would not release after shutting off car and getting out. Had to do master reset to regain controls. (2nd one in a week). Left it alone after I got the controls back. Going into the shop Monday. Too much fun. I guess quality control missed this one.

If you want "new" (2016) with nothing newer on the horizon for 6 months, you are probably already too late. Next year is always right around the corner. Even though you will not be able to buy one off the floor, newer (2017) models usually "unveil" in August. So while you wait, the clock will be running. I don't think there is really any way to avoid your dilemma. I liked the factory order process. Check True Car or Edmunds numbers. (invoice minus incentives seemed fair to me.) See the Fleet Manager at your dealership, and then shop around. The nice part about a factory order is that you get EXACTLY what you want, not what the dealer has on the lot. You also can get "late availability" items without having to hunt around. I could be wrong, but many do not expect the 2017 M.K.X. to be much different than a job 2 2016 M.K.X. (and you get SYNC 3). A 8-10 week time frame from order to delivery is about right. Time frame for my MKX: Factory Order: October 26 DORA ( week 1) Window Sticker @ Research Maniacs (week 5) ETIS Build Sheet (week 7) Shipping Date (week 8) Delivery (week 10) Jan 4 Christmas slowed things down a little, but not much. It was worth the wait to me. I would go for it. I look at it this way: 2016 will be the latest model year until the end of December, even if the 2017's start showing up in October or so.

Dear MMoretti, I guess I would call that a sort of yes...but really not a "fleet" purchase. I could be wrong, but I suspect that the price your husband is getting comes from one of Ford's special plans for retail customers who also purchase from Ford, are employed by Ford, or part of a business in some way related to Ford. (X, Z, and A plans are some examples of discounts offered to these groups) Again, I could be wrong, but I suspect it is not a "fleet" purchase, but a special price discount because you make fleet purchases.

P.S. Iggy, You most likely can't get fleet pricing. You are not a business ordering multiple, identical vehicles. If someone is offering you a "fleet" price, it is just a made up number. You are only buying 1 car. Besides, a "fleet" vehicle doesn't necessarily get built with the same equipment as a "retail" order. People who buy used cars from rental companies, etc. sometimes discover this fact the hard way. "Fleet" and "retail" vehicles may look the same, but they are NOT the same.

Dear Andrew, If it says MYTOUCH on the window sticker I think it is NOT SYNC 3. The sticker will say SYNC 3 if it is in the car. Sorry.