MKX/Nautilus back to sales leader

[Gurgeh]

Nice to see Lincoln's November sales numbers. The encouraging news is that the crossover/SUV strength is across the board, no longer being carried primarily by strong Navigator sales. Navigator, MKX/Nautilus, MKC sales all up. 

It's particularly nice to see the combined MKX/Nautilus sales at 3,153 (up 20.4%) set a near record, just slightly below December 2016 when the redesigned MKX was hitting its initial stride. It is back to being Lincoln's volume sales leader after falling behind the MKC for much of the year in anticipation of the Nautilus refresh/rebrand.

[Timmer]

I just hit 6,000 miles with my 2018 Black Label. 

 

As with the 2016 Reserve before it, having the MKX/Nautilus light up as I approach it always makes me smile.  It's like arriving home and being greeted by a faithful dog that you love beyond words.

 

And I've loved both of my MKX's...

 

Probably too much to ask for a "wagging its tail" feature in a future software upgrade?

 

Starting the annual cross-country snowbird pilgrimage to warmer winter climate in a few weeks.  This year it will be driving the southerly route to include portions of historic Route 66.

 

Although I've made this road trip many times, I'm especially looking forward to driving it in the Black Label this year.

 

Yup. - I'm a proud owner. There's something special about the MKX / Nautilus.

 

Merry Christmas!

 

Timmer

[Cosmos36]

 

 

... having the MKX/Nautilus light up as I approach it always makes me smile.  It's like arriving home and being greeted by a faithful dog that you love beyond words.

 

.Probably too much to ask for a "wagging its tail" feature in a future software upgrade?

 

Starting the annual cross-country snowbird pilgrimage to warmer winter climate in a few weeks.  This year it will be driving the southerly route to include portions of historic Route 66.

 

There's something special about the MKX / Nautilus.

 

Merry Christmas!

 

Timmer

 

Timmer...just keep watching the current Nautilus ad featuring the homeward bound young lady and the expectant dog loaded with hundreds of loving licks & joyful wags for guaranteed happy holidays.

 

Re: Route 66. When I graduated from the university in January, the wife, two children, and I packed up our Pontiac LeMans & U-Haul trailer in a blinding post midnight blizzard and set out for my first career job on the west coast. On that winter trip from the Midwest, we traveled the full length of the original route to LAX...what an experience with many memories still vivid today. Recently, I was on I-40 a few miles west of Albuquerque when I exited the freeway for fuel. As fortune would have it, the station where I refueled the MKX was on a section of the original Route 66 a mile or so north of the interstate. As I drove towards the station, I Iet out a whoop and tears filled my eyes (alarmed the wife)...I recognized that it was the same station that I had refueled my 1954 Oldsmobile 88 traveling on Navy orders from Florida to the Naval Air Station Whidbey Island Washington in 1955. The section of Route 66, the filling station & small community there hadn't changed one iota in over 60 years. With my spouse and MKX, I had traversed time in good company.

 

And Merry Christmas 2018 to you and yours.

 

Have a great trip and enjoy the winter escape to the Left Coast vicinity.

 

 

[Bravo27]

Got 600 miles on my Nautilus. Been a GM owner for decades. Tried Nissan briefly. The Nautilus 2.7L is terrific as is the ride and handling. It should sell well to those who have never tried Lincoln.     

[akirby]

Wait until you see the new Aviator

[Cosmos36]

Wait until you see the new Aviator

 

And the price...accompanied by much higher interest rates.

[Gurgeh]

Wait until you see the new Aviator

 

I considered waiting for it. It looks to be an astonishing vehicle and class leader for those wanting a 3-row mid-sized luxury crossover. I expect it will come in 10K-15K more than the Nautilus, but that isn't the reason I didn't wait (as a couple of months ago before I switched and put in a Nautilus factory order I had an order in for the Range Rover Velar, which is about that much more expensive). The problem is that for me it is just a little too big, and I don't need or want that 3rd row. I'm good with what the Nautilus is right now, but expect when the redesign comes in MY2022 or MY2023 the vehicle well get the kind of wow treatment that the Aviator and Navigator have gotten and at that point I'll probably switch over to the new version. I would dearly love to see Lincoln move the Nautilus over to a RWD/AWD architecture at that time (as with the Mustang and Aviator), but don't necessarily expect it.

Edited December 11, 2018 by Gurgeh

[akirby]

I’m looking at an Explorer/Aviator as a replacement for the MkX because I bought a F150 back in February and I’ve gotten used to the extra room and now the MKX seems tiny sometimes. Also the new Explorer and Aviator will be available as a hybrid and PHEV respectively. I don’t think Nautilus gets a hybrid for a few more years.

[Gurgeh]

I’m looking at an Explorer/Aviator as a replacement for the MkX because I bought a F150 back in February and I’ve gotten used to the extra room and now the MKX seems tiny sometimes. Also the new Explorer and Aviator will be available as a hybrid and PHEV respectively. I don’t think Nautilus gets a hybrid for a few more years.

 

...and I'm coming from the smaller Audi Q5, which these days is starting to feel a little cramped, so am looking forward to moving on to the roomier Nautilus.  And while I'd love to get that Grand Trouring Aviator (600+ freaking lb-ft of torque!), I'll have to move before I can get a plug-in, as where I live now I can't do home charging. But I do plan to move in the next 2-3 years.  

[akirby]

I'd settle for a 3.3L plug in hybrid explorer (or a 2.3LEB) but that's not in the cards for the near future - just the regular hybrid 3.3L.  We have a brand new house with the electrical panel 3 feet from where it would be parked.

[walkabout]

Personally, I'm disappointed by the Nautilus. There are zero changes inside the vehicle. I was expected at least some upgrades in material quality. At the auto show a few weeks ago, I sat in the new Nautilus and virtually every vehicle in the class. Nautilus interior didn't even compete well with Mazda and Hyundai, let alone Audi et al.

 

Purely subjective, but I liked the looks of the earlier generation better. It's not a huge difference (because not much has changed) but I'm not a fan of those hideous side badges or the more formal nose.

 

That's not to say it doesn't have strengths. When you play with every infotainment system on the market, you'll quickly learn that there is little out there which competes with Sync 3.

 

I tried out the new RDX system, for example. So complex and unintuitive, I couldn't imagine using it while in motion. Ford's former corporate partners, Mazda and Volvo, also had notably weak systems.

 

Also, a lot of the comparison vehicles (comparison in price, not size) rely on FI 4-cyl engines, which require premium and lack the driveabikity of the 2.7T.

[akirby]

That’s strange - we sat in almost every crossover at the auto show a couple of years ago (except Lexus - just can’t go there) and we thought the MKX was as good or better than all the rest.

[walkabout]

I'm talking purely about material quality, where the Lincoln is a notch below -several notches in some cases.

 

It's not an ergonomic mess like some of the competition though. I think some of the folk from Acura and Volvo might want to borrow some ideas from Ford Lincoln. Those goofy transmission buttons make about 800 times more sense than the bizarre electronic shifters in the competition.

[walkabout]

I'm talking purely about material quality, where the Lincoln is a notch below -several notches in some cases.

 

It's not an ergonomic mess like some of the competition though. I think some of the folk from Acura and Volvo might want to borrow some ideas from Ford Lincoln. Those goofy transmission buttons make about 800 times more sense than the bizarre electronic shifters in the competition.

[Gurgeh]

... That's not to say it doesn't have strengths. When you play with every infotainment system on the market, you'll quickly learn that there is little out there which competes with Sync 3.

 

I tried out the new RDX system, for example. So complex and unintuitive, I couldn't imagine using it while in motion. Ford's former corporate partners, Mazda and Volvo, also had notably weak systems.

 

Also, a lot of the comparison vehicles (comparison in price, not size) rely on FI 4-cyl engines, which require premium and lack the driveabikity of the 2.7T.

 

In my view, you shouldn't have to go all the way to Black Label to get materials like better quality leather and headliner. But honestly, the only real downside of the interior, in my opinion, is the hard plastic on the center stack and that cheap-feeling lid to the center stack cubby. I've had Q5s for loaners (I currently drive a '16 Q5 S-Line, which has better interior materials than anything you can get in the current Q5, which doesn't yet have an S-Line trim), and while the knobs and such have a better tactile feel, the dash is made of a pretty uninteresting and not-great-to-the-touch plastic. It feels to me that Audi has been doing some economizing on some interior materials these days on their high volume vehicles, probably trying to make up some of their massive expenses from dieselgate.

 

But I too had hoped for a few more interior changes, other than fairly minor things like the wireless charger, all-electronic instrument panel, rimless mirror and back seats that now fold down nearly flat. If they had just been able to add a head-up display, I would have been thrilled. Still, it is a comfortable and (in Black Label) quite nice interior, not busy and confusing like in some like the RDX. There will undoubtedly be a radically new look with the redesign (which we'll probably see a preview of in the Corsair), pulling in many of the themes we see these days in the Navigator and Aviator.

 

In the end, the main selling points for me were: 1) the comfortable seating (I'm going with the standard seats), 2) the great infotainment system that actually has useful physical controls, and 3) the unmatched power train. The powerful and nearly bullet-proof 2.7 with the new 8-speed transmission is impressive. It is almost impossible to find V6 engines these days in mid-sized crossovers. 

[Timmer]

In the end, the main selling points for me were: 1) the comfortable seating (I'm going with the standard seats), 2) the great infotainment system that actually has useful physical controls, and 3) the unmatched power train. The powerful and nearly bullet-proof 2.7 with the new 8-speed transmission is impressive. It is almost impossible to find V6 engines these days in mid-sized crossovers. 

 

Agree that little has changed in the 2019 Nautilus interior from 2016-2018 MKX model years.

 

In my view, it's hard to improve on perfection... 

 

I also agree that the Nautilus nose, specifically the grille, is not an improvement.  Admittedly, I'm a split-wing grille guy.

 

Removing bugs from the new Lincoln emblem "egg crate" grille is going to be a bugger...

 

See what I did there? Bugs...  Bugger...  Haha!   

 

I'll be playing in the lounge all week.  Early show... Don't forget to tip your server...

 

Merry Christmas to all...!

 

Timmer

[Bad tone]

The interior is basically the same as the 16-18 models, the only thing I’ve noticed is the steering wheel switches and turn signal/wiper stalks, which aren’t really styling cues. The center stack always struck me as pretty plain looking, but ergonomically it’s the best I’ve had. The controls are within very easy reach and the cubbyholes underneath are quite handy.

 

It’s a very comfortable interior, and the NVH suppression is better on the Nautilus. Add that sweet 2.7 and it’s a worthy vehicle, IMHO

[Cosmos36]

The cookie-cutter Nautilus grill is absolutely boring amongst all the ubiquitous egg crate grills on the road today. Ho hum!

[akirby]

I like the new grille. I don’t have a big issue with the center stack. In our Reserve I think it looks fine. I do like the ergonomics - that’s one reason we went with the MKX over the Edge (also the more comfortable seats).

[walkabout]

I was expecting some little changes. In the mkz, the last restyle had a few modest interior upgrades, like the bottom half of the doors got soft touch surfaces.

 

As for the new grille, I'm less happy about it then akirby. I don't like it much. But, I'd also be lying if I said I really cared. It's not a positive change but also not something that would give me any hesitation whatever. I still like the looks of the vehicle overall.

[Gurgeh]

The interior is basically the same as the 16-18 models, the only thing I’ve noticed is the steering wheel switches and turn signal/wiper stalks, which aren’t really styling cues. The center stack always struck me as pretty plain looking, but ergonomically it’s the best I’ve had. The controls are within very easy reach and the cubbyholes underneath are quite handy.

 

It’s a very comfortable interior, and the NVH suppression is better on the Nautilus. Add that sweet 2.7 and it’s a worthy vehicle, IMHO

...and with the new 8-speed transmission. They made real improvements to the drive train, already the MKX's strongest suit. But the interior, yes you have to look closely to see any differences.