Driving the 2025 Lincoln Navigator Reserve

I’m out of the Mystic Forest scent. Oceanic Azure is okay, but a little saline for my mood. Violet Kashmir is where it’s at.

I’m listening to a guided meditation program through the Calm app. This one is called “Gratitude on the Go.” A soothing voice guides me through noticing the other cars on the road, helping me root myself in the moment.

The massage program firmly rubs my back while a soothing voice wishes me, “may you arrive at your destination settled and centered.”

Oh, did I mention I’m driving to the airport? Well, I’m not. The 2025 Lincoln Navigator is. I’ve engaged the BlueCruise hands-free driving system. It’s accelerating, braking, and turning to keep pace with highway traffic.

It will prompt me to pay attention if I’m not watching the road and ready to take over at a moment’s notice. But what the car is doing is very close to self-driving.

So, I’ve paged through the touchscreen menus to find the meditations Calm recorded specifically for Lincoln, turned on the mechanical back rub, and selected my favorite of the three programmable scents the car can dispense through its HVAC system.

Lincoln loaned me the Navigator for a week of driving around Washington, D.C., and its suburbs. I’ve tested dozens of cars, but the Navigator stands out as one of the most unique.  

It’s a vehicle, yes. But it feels more like a competitor to the local spa than the Cadillac Escalade.

Which Trim Level

Incredibly, my tester has all those luxuries, yet it is the base model. Lincoln builds the Navigator in Reserve, Reserve with Jet Appearance Package, and high-end Black Label models. The company loaned me the Reserve edition. It had a few added luxuries (see the window sticker in the gallery below), but most of what you read about here is on the least expensive version.

Favorite Feature

The Navigator has the best, most useful, and safest screen interface available on any car in 2026, with one frustrating exception.

The Navigator has a single curving screen stretching across the entire width of the dashboard, mounted so high that it’s essentially the bottom edge of the windshield. It sits above a squared-off steering wheel, far enough away that you can’t touch it, and the steering wheel never blocks your view of it.

You set it up with a smaller central touchscreen within arm’s reach. But once I’d configured it, I never needed to touch the touchscreen during a drive. It was wide enough to display every piece of information you might need, from navigation maps to the song playing, at all times.

Mounted almost as part of the windshield, I didn’t have to look away from the road to see it.

It’s the most effective use of technology I’ve seen in a car in years. You don’t have to spend this much money to get it — Lincoln does the same with the Nautilus, starting at $55,535.

The one flaw? The vents are touchscreen aimed. To adjust where the air hits, you have to page through touchscreen menus. That’s a pointless complication of a technology that worked fine without it, and a potential safety risk. Lincoln designers worked hard to keep you from needing to use the touchscreen while driving, and then ensured that you’d have to use it for something you’ve never needed it for before.

What It’s Like to Drive

The Navigator is a luxury SUV that knows precisely what it is, and doesn’t try to be all things to all drivers. It’s easy to drive, but not remotely trying to be a performance vehicle.

A 3.5-liter turbocharged V6 making 510 horsepower and a 10-speed automatic transmission are plenty smooth. However, while Cadillac attempts to sell the Escalade on performance, Lincoln is content with this being a brawny family vehicle.

A towing package lets it pull up to 8,700 pounds, but it never feels like it’s overpowered or snarling at anyone. Power delivery is just confident and smooth. Steering effort is light, and body roll is minimal. Braking is confident, but unremarkable.

Interior Comfort and Technology

In the KBB newsroom, most veteran journalists will tell you Volvo, Nissan, and its Infiniti brand make the most comfortable seats. But quiz them on Lincoln, and many admit these hyper-adjustable front seats may be the best.

A split knee bolster that allows you to support each thigh separately is an especially comfortable feature.

Seating is available for up to eight, with the second row having essentially the same dimensions as the front if you opt for captain’s chairs. Second-row seats are available with the same heating, ventilation, and massage functions as the front row.

The third row is genuinely comfortable for adults. I’m 5 feet, 6 inches tall, but I easily found enough space for taller passengers.

Technologically, though, the big screen is the showpiece. If you dislike it, this car won’t work for you. I liked it so much that it reset my expectations for car interior design. Even the base Reserve model gets a bountiful 28-speaker Revel Ultima 3D audio system.

Limitations

Of all the full-size luxury SUVs, this is the one with the least performance pretensions. Lincoln wants you to relax in the Navigator, and it shows. This likely has the power to tow your boat or trailer. But if you are looking at luxury vehicles to feel the confident power of a sporty ride, this isn’t it.

Key Considerations

Generously wide running boards and a convenient grab handle make getting in and out relatively easy for those with limited mobility, but this is still a tall vehicle that won’t suit some.

A piano-key style transmission is also a nice accessibility touch — easy to use, even if twisting or gripping motions are sometimes painful for you.

Also, Lincoln dealers might not like hearing us say this, but the least-expensive model is so well-equipped that there is little reason to spend more.