2025 Lincoln Nautilus Review: Despite Gadget Overload, The Luxury Feels Genuine

The definition of a luxury car is hard to pin down, not least because it depends on the priorities of the driver. To some, a luxury car means it has the latest and greatest tech available. To others, it has plush suspension and La-Z-Boy-like seats complete with heat, ventilation, and dozens of ways to adjust. Still, some will see it as brand specific.

The 2025 Lincoln Nautilus tries to fit in every possible definition of luxury car you could possibly conceive of, and I think it succeeded. Early last year, I drove a Lincoln Corsair and compared it to its Ford brother, the Ford Escape. With the demise of the Ford Edge, I had no blue-oval counterpart for which to compare the Nautilus, but given my week behind the wheel, I have a feeling it's a lot more Lincoln and much less blue collar Ford. To quote my mom, the 2025 Lincoln Nautilus Black Label was "really nice."

The Nautilus is an odd duck of a car. It's ostensibly a Ford, yet it doesn't really have an equivalent Ford product at the moment, and it's primarily made in Ford's Hangzhou plant in China, a facility that doesn't make much else for the American market. Ford and Lincoln clearly spent a lot of time, money, and effort to get the Nautilus on American roads, but was it worth it?

I can't speak on macro-economics anymore than I can successfully bring a luxury SUV to market. I can, however, tell you what it's like to live with and what you're looking at, should you visit a Lincoln dealership in the future.

The mechanical aspects of the Lincoln are not a focus of the greater work, however, it does add to the larger picture. The Nautilus I drove was equipped with an optional hybrid drivetrain made possible through a turbocharged 2.0-liter engine and an electric motor that, combined, puts out 310 horsepower. Additionally, it's equipped with a continuously variable transmission. 

All of those parts working together produce a very smooth driving experience. You will not feel any gear changes, simply progress forward when you depress the gas pedal. Lincoln says the hybrid will net you 31 miles per gallon. In the typical, spirited way in which I drive, I found mid-20s to be a little more accurate.

The real draw of the Nautilus is the interior. I haven't seen anything quite like it before in all of the luxury cars I've driven. The Cadillac Escalade is a private jet, with leather everywhere and huge captain's chairs. The BMW X6 is more of an art installation you can hang out in, and the Infiniti QX60 is a little more traditional in how it treats luxury. The Nautilus, on the other hand, looks like something out of a particularly flashy Star Trek spin-off, than any luxury car you might be used to.

Alex Hevesy/SlashGear

The huge screen across the entirety of the dashboard, right under the windshield, is almost the focus of the entire driving position. It's a full four-feet wide and gives you everything from weather, your music choice, to turn-by-turn navigation. Honestly, I was ready to hate the screen, but I actually found it pretty useful. Knowing the weather forecast and having a live map in front of you at all times is rather handy. Over the course of the week, it became less ostentatious, and kind of melted into the periphery of my vision.

Sitting inside the Lincoln was an overall very pleasant time for my passengers and I. The seats are incredibly plush and soothing, no matter how long the ride, and it's a nice little oasis whether driving longer trips or just going around town. I took a few friends to go see a movie late one very cold night, and the Lincoln's interior proved a welcome respite from the wind and rain. I actually looked forward to sitting in the car, and you don't really notice the tech-heavy accoutrements.

Alex Hevesy/SlashGear

That's not to say it didn't have more luxury features than a Neiman Marcus catalog. There was a scent diffuser, for crying out loud. To actually list every single thing inside the Nautilus, it would take a solid 5,000 words. As far as what you would actually use every day, the front seats are 24-way power adjustable, heated, ventilated, and massaging. The rear passengers get heat as well. The seats were adorned in "Redwood Venetian Leather" which was, dispute my best efforts to hate, really great looking.

My dad was a manager of a Best Buy and my mom was an elementary school art teacher. I'm about as far removed from a luxury lifestyle as you can be. Features like the scent diffuser and the origin of the leather are mostly completely lost on me. However, I can say that I really enjoyed being coddled by the Lincoln wherever I drove and I actually miss it a little bit, now that it's been a few weeks since it was parked outside.

Here comes the painful part, the price. It ain't cheap. The base model 2025 Lincoln Nautilus isn't the worst at $51,890. This 2025 Lincoln Nautilus, however, was a Black Label and a hybrid, which starts at $74,950. The Black Label gets you a 28-speaker Revel sound system, the aforementioned heated/ventilated/massaging 24-way power seats, the scent diffuser, Ford's BlueCruise driver assistance system, a panoramic sunroof, and a sense of superiority. 

The extras were a $2,000 paint scheme called "Chroma Caviar Dark Gray Metallic," a $3,000 "Jet Appearance Package" — which included a two-tone paint scheme — and 22-inch wheels. The hybrid drivetrain was $2,000. Add on a $1,595 destination charge, and you safely and serenely arrive at a final price of $83,545 for the privilege of driving a Nautilus.

North of $80k for a midsize crossover is a lot of money. Comparatively, however, it makes a little more sense. This price point isn't really strange at all for a Mercedes, BMW, Cadillac, or a Lexus, especially if it's a hybrid. It's still a tough pill to swallow, but it's really par for the course and I can't honestly bash the Nautilus for being competitive in price within its segment. 

The Lincoln was smooth, quiet, and pretty effortless to drive, and that can be surprisingly hard to come across in a world where every luxury car wants to jam features in your face whether you like it or not. With the Lincoln, there are obviously features-galore, but you can enjoy them at your pace. It's nice to be respected like that as a driver. That approach to luxury was really appreciated.

I can't find anything wrong with the 2025 Nautilus aside from lackluster fuel economy from the hybrid model. It's genuinely great, enjoyable to drive, and my passengers loved being in it. I wish it wasn't over $80,000, but it delivers an excellent interpretation of what a luxury car should be, and I think that's laudable.