2025 Lincoln Navigator First Look

Lincoln's redesigned big SUV loads up with luxury and tech.

Andrew Ganz | 

Aug 27, 2024 | 5 min read

Lincoln

The redesigned 2025 Lincoln Navigator adds a huge screen on its new dash, but it does it in a more subtle way than its longtime archrival, the Cadillac Escalade. Still, with available 24-inch alloy wheels and a driver's seat that can adjust in 30 directions, there's nothing modest about Lincoln's new flagship model.

Here's what to know about the new Navigator, which goes on sale in spring 2025.

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There's a Big Screen With Plenty of Dash Below

Unlike the Escalade with its dash-as-a-screen setup, the Navigator has a curved 48-inch display that stretches ribbon-like across the top of the dash. Below, a wide shelflike panel gives way to climate control vents and a smaller 11.1-inch touchscreen that serves as the primary control interface.

The upper 48.0-inch screen is near the base of the windshield, and it's divided into various display sections. The bigger screen runs the automaker's new Lincoln Digital Experience software, which makes use of Google Assistant for voice commands and comes with Google Maps.

This display isn't a touchscreen. Instead, drivers can use buttons on the steering wheel's two spokes, while both front passengers can make use of the more conventional 11.1-inch touchscreen centered on the dash above a handful of traditional buttons and a crystal volume knob.

When the transmission is in park, the widescreen goes into what Lincoln calls Pano Mode, which can display gaming apps or video on either side of the display. With 28 speakers, the standard Revel Ultima 3D audio system should provide a suitably theater-like experience. It's worth noting, however, that the Escalade can have 40 speakers.

Lincoln

The Navigator comes standard with three rows of seats. The driver's seat offers up to 30 ways of power adjustment, including individual left and right cushion extensions.

Three second-row configurations are on offer, including a traditional three-seat bench, individual captain's chairs, and a setup with heated, ventilated, and massaging individual seats separated by a center console with a storage bin.

The third row has an unusual 40/20/40 split instead of the more conventional 50/50 split for folding seats, and it can be heated.

Lincoln

The large rear cargo area is accessible via a new split liftgate/tailgate. A liftgate opens upward at the top of a button or automatically if it detects the key fob or a user's paired phone. A small lower tailgate hinged at the bottom can be dropped separately to reduce the risk of items rolling out or to serve as a small bench with a hefty 500-pound capacity.

Lincoln will offer the Navigator in two lengths: standard with up to 107.0 cubic-feet of maximum cargo space; and the longer Navigator L, with 121.6 cu-ft of maximum cargo space.

Lincoln

Navigator's New Look Eschews Chrome

The Navigator's front end features a big grille with a tall, skinny Lincoln badge bisected by a horizontal LED light bar that runs toward the headlights. The Navigator has aluminum accents with a satin finish in most trims, while the available Jet Appearance Package swaps in an all-black grille with a black matching roof rack and black 22-inch wheels.

The light-bar theme continues at the rear, where a thin strip of red LED lighting stretches across the liftgate above widely spaced letters that spell out the word Lincoln.

Befitting its status as Lincoln's flagship model, the Navigator comes with plenty of luxurious features in its base configuration. The top Black Label version stands apart with its extra equipment and unique materials. You'll find leather upholstery on all three rows of seats and more leather on the front and rear center consoles. Outside, massive 24-inch alloy wheels have copper accents.

Black Label is offered in two themes:

• Enlighten with warm brown and black hues as well as black-finish birch-wood trim with laser etching
• Atmospheric with light gray and copper accents plush ash wood trim

Lincoln

The Navigator Can Tow up to 8,700 Pounds

The Navigator comes with just one powertrain setup: a twin-turbocharged 3.5-liter V6 rated at 440 horsepower and 510 pound-feet of torque, which sends power to all four wheels through a 10-speed automatic transmission. There's no Navigator hybrid or all-electric version here.

Lincoln has not provided fuel-economy estimates for the 2025 Navigator.

With an optional trailer towing package, the Navigator is rated to tow up to 8,700 pounds, though opting for 24-inch wheels reduces this by 200 or 300 pounds, depending on whether or not it's the short- or long-wheelbase version.

The independent suspension comes standard with adaptive dampers that adjust automatically in response to road conditions below. They'll soften the suspension in preparation if they detect a bump in the road below. In certain drive modes, they receive information supplied by forward-facing cameras to prepare the dampers for rough or smooth terrain ahead.

The Navigator comes standard with a four-year subscription to the automaker's BlueCruise, a Level 2 autonomy system that allows for hands-off-the-steering-wheel, eyes-on-the-road driving on many highways.

A new lane-change assist feature lets drivers tap the turn signal if they want to switch lanes while BlueCruise is engaged. The vehicle will then determine when it is safe to switch lanes before executing the move without the driver having to steer.

As of August 2024, Lincoln hasn't said how much the redesigned Navigator will cost, but the automaker expects it to reach dealerships in spring 2025.

Andrew Ganz

Andrew Ganz has had cars in his blood ever since he gnawed the paint off of a diecast model as a toddler. After growing up in Dallas, Texas, he earned a journalism degree, worked in public relations for two manufacturers, and served as an editor for a luxury-lifestyle print publication and several well-known automotive websites. In his free time, Andrew loves exploring the Rocky Mountains' best back roads—when he’s not browsing ads for his next car purchase.