Even though the original Lincoln Navigator actually predates the more-widely-recognized Cadillac Escalade, it hasn’t garnered the same attention in pop culture and overall sales success in Canada — and that’s with a one-year head start. Still, Lincoln deserves credit for essentially creating and helping to popularize the full-size American luxury SUV segment. This newest 2025 Lincoln Navigator is the latest iteration of the big-boy Lincoln, and it continues to embody what the Navigator has always been about.
Poster child
The Navigator quickly became Lincoln’s poster child when it debuted back in 1998. This Ford Expedition-based full-size SUV helped reinvigorate a dying brand and quickly became Lincoln’s top selling model, even outselling the Town Car of the time. Now that Lincoln has a larger portfolio with more affordable options like the Corsair and Nautilus, the Navigator is squarely a halo vehicle for the brand, representing the best that Lincoln has to offer.
This latest fourth-generation Navigator comes into 2025 sporting a heavy refresh from the previous year. It sports a new front fascia with slimmed-down headlights connected by a light bar and a more shapely, two-tone grille. The chrome elements have been toned down somewhat as well, offering a more tasteful overall package to go with our tester’s Starlight Grey paint. The taillights have been completely redesigned, with a cleaner and more modern appearance both when lit and unlit. Our tester’s standard 22-inch wheels are ho-hum, but there are larger 24s available as a standalone option. A side-by-side comparison against last year’s model makes all the changes rather obvious, but out in the wilderness you may be hard-pressed to notice each individual change right away. Still, the overall update is pleasing while keeping true to the Navigator’s roots.
Driver, fetch my car
The Navigator’s interior is where the changes are really apparent. It starts with the 48-inch panoramic display Lincoln popularized, and dare I say somewhat pioneered in the automotive space. This party trick was first introduced on the redesigned Nautilus, and finally makes its way to the Navigator to one-up the refreshed Escalade, which also got a widescreen this year. First-timers will surely be amazed at all the visual space and information available at a glance; it was a bit polarizing around the office, but I’ve grown accustomed to it. I appreciated having the gauges, maps, current audio, fuel economy, and even weather all at a glance without having to sift through menus or change screens. There’s also a secondary 11.1-inch touchscreen on the centre console to control most functions and adjust the tiles on the panoramic display. It all works rather well, although seeing maps redundantly in the smaller display can feel a bit odd.
The 28-speaker Revel Ultima audio system is a bright spot. It lands near the top of my list of audio systems, just behind the Bowers & Wilkins in the Volvo EX90 and the Escalade’s AKG system. The Revel system is powerful and clean, but lacks the spacious soundstage provided by the other two, in my humble opinion. I’m also a self-proclaimed audiophile with tinnitus, so take it all with a grain of salt.
The Navigator feels like a car you’d rather be driven in than drive yourself. As you can imagine, space is abundant in the Navigator, with all three rows providing ample room for adults. Seats are comfortable and near-infinitely adjustable (more like, 30-way) up front with Lincoln’s “perfect position” front seating. All four captain’s chairs provide heating, cooling, and massage functions, with the second-row comfort features controllable via an easy-to-reach screen between the seats that’s included in the $4,000 second row captain’s chair package. The brown leather is soft, the wood trim is inviting, and the prominent Revel speaker grilles add a touch of sophistication. It feels like old-money, and in this interior spec I wanted to sit in the back with a cigar. I don’t even smoke!
Driver, you drive
Driving the Navigator might be the biggest letdown of the entire experience. Yes, it actually starts with that damn squircle steering wheel. An enormous 6,000-pound SUV shouldn’t have a sports-car-small steering wheel, and doubly so with a slower steering rack that makes for awkward hand-over-hand manoeuvres. It all feels so … wrong.
What feels right is the 3.5-litre twin turbo V6 engine. It stands at 440 horsepower and 510 pound-feet of torque, besting the Escalade’s V8 on all accounts. The selectable all-wheel-drive it’s paired to works well and puts power down confidently, but a lot of the smoothness is lost in translation in the button-operated 10-speed automatic transmission. It operates smoothly most of the time, but it’s sometimes a bit clunky going into second or third gear. An occasional clunk might be acceptable in a mid-trim F-150, but it has no place here in a luxury SUV. It ruins an otherwise quiet and smooth experience inside the cabin.
Note that I say quiet, but not pleasing. The suspension tuning is a bit of an enigma. The Navigator doesn’t soak up bumps as well as some other large SUVs, but it also doesn’t control secondary body motions well. I noted it felt like riding a school bus again, with how bouncy and busy it all felt without the trade-off of a genuinely soft ride. The Escalade experienced similar cabin shudders over large bumps, but did a better job of controlling secondary motions. Surprisingly, I give the nod to the Infiniti QX80 over both of these American luxury SUVs when it comes to overall ride quality and drivability.
Fully equipped
There aren’t a ton of options on the Navigator, coming well equipped out of the box. Outside of the second-row captain’s chair package, the 24-inch wheels, and the Black Appearance Package, everything comes standard. This includes an excellent adaptive cruise control system, that aforementioned Revel audio system, the 48-inch display, scent dispensers built into the car, and plenty more. It’s missing some ultra-luxe features like soft-close doors or even full power-operated doors a la Escalade IQ, but some of those omissions can be justified by its slight bargain of a price tag. It comes in at $131,700 as-tested, significantly less than its main rival and on the lower end of the full-size, luxe-three-row segment.
You don’t want to drive a Navigator. You want to be driven in one, and that’s where the 2025 Lincoln Navigator really shines. The back seats, the space, the audio system, and overall interior aesthetic all properly signify its luxury intent, and nothing is egregious enough to sway that opinion entirely. It even undercuts a lot of its competitors. Ballin’ on a budget with the Navigator might be a stretch, but it will definitely make you feel like old-money.
