Table 1 shows one common electrical system related problems of the 2020 Lincoln Aviator.
| Problem Category | Number of Problems |
|---|---|
| Electrical System problems |
My 2020 Lincoln Aviator grand touring plug?in hybrid has experienced multiple high?voltage powertrain failures that create an immediate safety hazard. The vehicle has twice lost propulsion while driving, displaying “powertrain malfunction / reduced power” and “service engine soon” before shutting down completely. During the first failure, the vehicle stopped in active traffic and would not restart; a police officer stopped to assist and called a tow truck because the disabled vehicle posed a roadway hazard. In addition, the digital instrument cluster has repeatedly gone completely black while the vehicle is in motion, eliminating all visibility of speed, gear position, warning indicators, and hybrid system status. During the most recent blackout, an [xxx] child was in the vehicle with me, significantly increasing the danger. These failures are accompanied by hybrid?system fault code p0a1e (starter/generator control module), a pink charging?port indicator signaling a charging fault, and irregular hybrid?battery behavior (range not updating, battery not depleting). The vehicle has been inspected four times by authorized Lincoln/Ford dealers and has been out of service more than 34 cumulative days. Although the p0a1e code and symptoms were documented, the dealers repeatedly stated they were “unable to verify” the concern and returned the vehicle unrepaired. Required high?voltage diagnostics were not completed. The problem is ongoing, intermittent, and has not been corrected. Sudden propulsion loss, dashboard blackout, and high?voltage control failures put occupants and other motorists at significant risk. I am requesting NHTSA investigate this as a potential safety defect. Information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u. S. C. 552(b)(6).
Backup camera is not working properly and the lane departure system doesn’t work.
On January 29, 2026, at approximately 4:00 pm, the vehicle experienced unintended movement while in park and powered off. The vehicle had been placed in park, the engine was turned off, and the driver exited. Shortly afterward, the vehicle rolled unexpectedly while unattended. The vehicle remained parked and was not driven due to safety concerns. Wheel blocks were placed behind the tires until the scheduled dealer appointment on February 4, 2026. The dealer inspected the vehicle and was able to replicate the condition. The failure was diagnosed as a malfunctioning parking pawl solenoid within the transmission system. The dealer confirmed the vehicle could be physically rolled after being placed in park and powered off. This condition presents a serious safety risk, including risk of injury or death if a person, child, or object were behind the vehicle. There were no prior warning messages or alerts before the incident. The vehicle is available for inspection upon request.
We purchase car on [xxx]. On [xxx] there is a significant leak in the panoramic sunroof that completely floods the trunk (unsure if this is related to the next problem). Our car is at the dealer for repairs 12/12/25 - 1/8/26 and is "fixed" as per the dealer. On [xxx] it starts running independently in the driveway when we are not home and both keys are untouched inside our locked home. We return a call from a concerned neighbor to enter our home, get the key, and turn off the car. After this incident the car is nearly undriveable because so many error messages begin to populate the screen. With the unpredictable nature of the car starting it is extremely frightening to depend on this car and know if it is going to suddenly start running (or driving!) unsupervised which could lead to all different kinds of compromised safety situations, especially since our driveway has easy access to the main street where kids often play. Information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u. S. C. 552(b)(6).
Upon starting the vehicle around 7p on Friday, 10/31/25, the following errors flooded the screen: hill start assist not available service advancetrac 4wd malfunction service required pre-collision assist not available rear sense breaking not available additionally, cruise control could not be turned on and utilized. There was no incident to trigger these. The car had been sitting parked and off for ~2 hours prior to being turned on. No issues or errors prior to this date and time of turning on the vehicle. The warnings detailed describe how our safety was put at risk. All of these safety and basic features no longer functioned and our children’s safety was put at risk due to this electronic issue causing major functionality breaks/discontinuation of functions. Reproduced and confirmed by capital Mazda of cary (nc). Quoted to repair at our expense and “remove and throw out the electronic and replace with a manual. ” furthermore we’ve been informed verbally by our service associate that Ford (parent company) is aware of this safety issue. A TSB was located with a summer 2023 date. Lincoln customer service has stated this would’ve been covered under warranted “if it had come up while under warranty. ” this dealership is the only place that has reviewed the vehicle and conditions and provided the explanation and information.
The vehicle doors lock on their own. Also the keyless entry keypad on the drivers door does not respond so entry cannot be made using that method. This is very dangerous and possibly fatal if one of us were to exit the car let's say to pump gas and all the doors locked with a grandchild still in the car. I have spoken to the Lincoln service department but their response is that they do not know of any such issues. I believe this first happened once or twice last year but it now seems to happen monthly. We have changed the battery in the key fob with no improvment.
See attached document for complaint.
Axle shaft seal no warning besides loud grinding noise. Electrical issues- causing speakers to not work and the lights coming on and going off. Then it causing the crash detection to not have sound.
The inside electric push-button switch that opens the door behind the driver was intermittent and is now completely inoperative. The inoperative switch means that anyone in the seat behind the driver must either roll down the window, reach out, and push the outside door button to open the door, or must slide across the rear seat and open the rear door on the right-hand side of the vehicle. The inoperative switch could be extremely dangerous when people must exit the car quickly.
I came to a stop a light in a busy intersection. The auto start/stop feature turned off the engine. When the light turned green, the car would not start and put us in danger from traffic approaching from the rear. When trying to start the car with the push button, it made one click and nothing more. The lights and other electrical systems seemed to behave and appear as normal. No warning lights or messages about errors or failures. I turned the car completely off, opened and closed the door to "reset" the car and still would not start. I tried this four times. I then opened the hood, got out of the car (all while at this busy intersection of multiple lanes of traffic, now working their way around me) and checked the battery connection just to be sure. Both positive and negative leads checked solidly connected. I then got back in the car and was able to start the car and move out of the way of traffic. I have not yet had it repeat and have not taken it to a service center yet. Very concerning to be stuck at that busy light with what appears to be a fully functioning car that would not restart after the auto start/stop feature activated.
The contact owns a 2020 Lincoln Aviator. The contact stated while pulling out of a driveway at 5 mph, the vehicle lost power steering functionality, the tires locked up, and the vehicle veered to the right into rocks and bushes, causing damages to the front passenger's side axle. The message "steering assist fault" was displayed. The contact stated that the forward collision avoidance and other unknown warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was towed to the residence, where a mobile independent mechanic replaced the front passenger's side axle. Additionally, the mechanic informed the contact that the battery had experienced an electrical shortage, and the battery was replaced. The vehicle was then towed to dealer, where it was diagnosed that the steering harness and knuckle had failed. The vehicle was not repaired due to the cost. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and referred the contact to the NHTSA hotline for the VIN to be added in Ford campaign number: 20s69. The failure mileage was approximately 96,000.
Most current recall has not been fixed. Vehicles displayed screen goes black with no warning, leaving no access to front or rear parking cameras, also leaving no access to gps while in use. I have several videos of this incident occurring and have sent to dealer, brought to dealer while occurring and they deny any problems even though their employees, and the owner have seen this occur after they claim the recall was repaired. Lincoln corporate will not get involved. Dealer claims it is my cell phone, even though it occurs with any cell phone connected.
Driving car on side street - going about 30 mph and car lost all power. Stopped completely in middle of road. No power - would not restart. No flashers. Since Aviator has "piano keys", the car would not go into neutral and once we figured how to manually put car in neutral, we could not get the driver's door to close and latch. Car was placed on flatbed wrecker and driver had to tape the door shut for transportation. Luckily this happened during daylight hours and sherriff's office sent a car to park behind us. Had this happened on my commute to office (at 0500) when it was dark outside, it could have horrible - no flashers.
Unsure what component failed specifically, has been inspected by dealer multiple times. This randomly occurs while driving. It disables a number of safety features such a collision assist and traction control as well as several driving modes until the car is fully powered off and restarted. There are multiple reports of this occurring frequently in online groups. No warnings prior to the failure but multiple warnings when it fails. This can occur daily, even multiple times a day during normal driving. Dealer has tried replacing multiple modules and sensors but problem persists.
Driving down the road and all of a sudden multiple warnings come on the dash. They include : service avancetrac, pre collision assist not available, 4wd fault service required, and hill start assist not available. These warning all clear upon restart but will come back at random times. I joined a forum for this vehicle and a lot of owners are reporting this issue.
The exit switches on both rear doors on my wife's 2020 Lincoln Aviator all of the sudden stopped working today. For whatever reason, Lincoln decided to make the exit handles electronic instead of a traditional pull-style exit handle. This is a huge safety concern as the passengers in the rear of the vehicle are now trapped inside. I am a professional fire fighter and I take this problem very seriously. After doing some research for the last two hours online, I've found that dozens of people have experienced the exact same malfunction on their 2020 Lincoln Aviators. I've checked the recalls for the 2020 Aviator on your website and to my disbelief, this is not a recall! prior to both door exit switches failing, there were no warning lamps, messages, or any other notification. They simply just failed without notice.
Rear camera blue screen. Screen intermittently blacks out.
When I am inside the car, the button to open the door from the inside (drivers side) is not working. As of right now there is no way to exit the vehicle from the drivers side. When we called galpin Lincoln to make an urgent appointment since this is a safety issue - they said there was nothing they could do and we go online and make an appointment for a month++ out. My safety is currently at risk as there is no way for me to safely get out of my car since the door does not open from the inside.
I would like to express my concerns about the Lincoln Aviator (2020) I used to own and to why I traded it in. I spoke with Ford and even took my case to bbb and lost. I was asking for my money back to buy my Ford explorer. The case was about all my electrical problems I was having and due to the fact, I did not take mv car into the dealer enough I lost. The dealership had advised me to make a list of problems instead of taking the car in each time because of travel distance that was a big mistake on my part as I felt they knew the car had problems and they were putting the problem back on me. They also had mentioned I did not drive very much and I tried explaining I was driving it more. One example was I drove it 50 miles one way and when I got to my destination I could not open back lift gate until I used button inside even though it was fine when I used it to load up the car before I left the house. Another time I came back from going to the coast, a good 3-hour drive, and I couldn't get in until I used key fob. You never knew how the car was going to act electrical. One morning I got up to go to store and the car was completely dead. Tow truck came and driver jumped the car and I backed it out of garage and put the car in park and it shut the car down. I remembered the little latch and was able to get out and the tow truck driver jumped it again and left the charger on the car to load the car up on the tow truck. I see now there is a recall for audible seat belt warning that has not been fixed yet. The biggest issue I addressed with Ford was since there is only one way out how were the passengers suppose to get out and they told me they had to climb over everything to go out the driver's door. Then I asked what if the person is large and has disabilities they are stuck, also what if there is an accident and they hit the driver door then there is no way out. I also said what if the car is going to catch fire, then what? you can't get out. I mentioned we have a 2006 corvette and we have 3 ways to get out of t.
To whom it may concern, please see attached formal notice regarding recurring defects, safety-related recall issues, certified pre-owned representations, and financing concerns associated with my 2020 Lincoln Aviator reserve VIN [xxx] . This matter involves: • recurring suspension and electrical concerns; • safety-related rearview camera/sync recall issues; • repeated dealership repair activity; • diminished reliability and value; • certified pre-owned reliance; • and unresolved manufacturer-level concerns despite extensive servicing history. Please escalate this matter immediately to executive customer relations and manufacturer review. I am requesting: • a formal manufacturer investigation, • preservation of all records associated with this VIN, • and review for buyback, goodwill compensation, warranty relief, or other global resolution options. Please confirm receipt and provide a case number immediately. Sincerely, [xxx] [xxx] [xxx] information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u. S. C. 552(b)(6).
The contact owns a 2020 Lincoln Aviator. The contact stated while driving 80 mph, the vehicle shifted from drive to neutral. The contact pulled over and restarted the vehicle. The vehicle failed to shift to park. The battery was drained, and the vehicle had to be jumpstarted. There were no warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer, where it was diagnosed that the wiring harness needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired, but the failure recurred. The manufacturer was contacted, but no additional assistance was provided. The contact stated the failure was related to NHTSA campaign number: 21v534000 (visibility, electrical system). The failure mileage was approximately 144,000.
Awd, adaptive cruise control, infotrac, and collisiom assistance lights continue going off while on freeways. Have brought in several times in less than a year and I can’t imagine that the abs module is the issue as they reinstalled and it didn’t work along with replacement of numerous sensors. Please look into this.
Awd sensors repeatedly are going off then disappearing after car is turned on and off. Happens in city mostly but has triggered while driving on the highway. Caused all ability to use cruise control to deactivate. It also shows the down hill assist fault error.
I am filing a safety complaint regarding a 2020 Lincoln Aviator reserve VIN [xxx] involving recurring safety-related electrical and visibility concerns. The vehicle has experienced repeated service-related issues involving suspension systems, electrical inspections, camera/display concerns, and manufacturer customer satisfaction programs. Most significantly, the vehicle is subject to an active manufacturer safety recall involving the sync/rearview camera display system. The recall states that the rearview camera image and display may become inverted or flipped, impairing rear visibility and increasing crash risk. This defect directly impacts driver visibility and safe vehicle operation while reversing. The vehicle has undergone repeated dealership servicing and diagnostic evaluations, yet the broader operational and safety concerns remain unresolved. The vehicle was also sold as a Lincoln certified pre-owned vehicle, creating reasonable reliance that the vehicle met enhanced inspection and safety standards. I believe the recurring nature of these defects, combined with the active recall and repeated repair activity, demonstrates a broader safety-related defect pattern warranting regulatory review and investigation. Information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u. S. C. 552(b)(6).
This was the most recent issue I experienced with my Aviator, the first being electrical after 2 months of owning it. I was driving and the car completely shut off (engine, power steering, breaking) the electrical components went crazy, but I thankfully was not on a highway as I had to guide the truck until it stopped from moving 25mph+. I went into oncoming traffic but no one was there. Then I had to turn the truck back on. The dealership towed it as it is a safety issue and with the amount of times it has been in the shop, the problems increasing are worrisome.
The vehicle main screen locks up and does not auto dim. It has been in the shop 6 times for this problem. No repairs are fixing the problem. Extremely distracting when driving.
I was driving and an alert to pull over came on. The car would not accelerate and I was in the middle of a parkway where speeds were 55 mph. It almost seemed like the car couldn't figure out to go to gas mode when the battery depleted the range. The car is a hybrid.
There have been two recalls on this vehicle. One was a battery cable issue, the other is a backup camera issue. The battery cable was fixed. The backup camera has been worked on 6 times and has not been fixed. I have notified Lincoln they told me to visit another dealer. After two dealerships and 6 trips, the backup camera still flashes or goes blue. The dealer cannot fix. Also, the entire main screen in the vehicle has issues with 1. Locking up (inoperable until shutting car down) 2. Screen does not automatically dim at night. Both of these issues are a huge distraction and causes us to look away from the road, or even pull over in bad areas to attempt to reset. This is also why the vehicle has been in 6 times for this issue. I believe the backup camera and screen are inter-related. Lincoln concierge has been notified. They are aware and are not fixing the issue. The vehicle is dangerous. I have videos and photos.
The contact owns a 2020 Lincoln Aviator. The contact stated while driving at 45 mph on an entrance ramp onto the highway, the accelerator pedal was depressed but the vehicle failed to respond. The warning message "stop safely now" and "full accessory power mode" were displayed. The contact veered to the side of the road for a moment. The contact then continued to drive. The contact stated that the failure reoccurred while driving. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer where it was diagnosed that no issues were found; however, the failure reoccurred. The vehicle was taken back to the local dealer where it was diagnosed that no issues were found. The contact's husband later received a warning message in his app stating, "high voltage battery". The vehicle was then taken to the dealer where unknown wires were tightened. The contact stated that the failure had been reoccurring while driving. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and a case was opened. The failure mileage was approximately 10,000.
The lights on the visor mirrors and the garage door opener located on the visor stopped working. 2 days later, all of the switches on the drivers door ( window controls and mirror adjustments) stopped working. Now the dome lights have stopped working. The dealership had the car for a week and performed a master reset and a ddm configuration and window learn procedure. None of these problems were resolved. Dealership states vehicle will have to be scheduled when a repair is made available. While most of these problems are merely an inconvenience, I feel there is a safety issue due to the fact that I have no emergency egress. The Lincoln concierge told me I can "just crawl over the console and go out one of the other windows. " I can also not adjust the mirrors after a seat adjustment, which is also a safety concern. The dealership said I will have to make a manual adjustment until a fix is made available. There have been no warning lamps, messages, or other symptoms prior to the failure which happened 4 weeks ago. The dealership is liberty Ford in canton OH. Ro number 797409. Lincoln case number 33186048-p8g5j5.
The radio screen at night will not dim/switch to night mode and it's a bright spotlight in your face while driving. This is blinding and dangerous. I believe this is a software glitch and I don’t believe Lincoln is in a hurry to fix it unless the NHTSA steps in like they did for the back up camera issue. In my photos I’m including you can see it is night with the headlights on yet the screen is in daytime mode almost washing out the camera lens due to it’s brightness. I’m also including a link to reform or discussions are picking up about this issue. As it is not just me noticing this. Https://lincolnforums. Com/forums/threads/%e2%80%9cnight%e2%80%9d-display-background-bug. 40837/#post-733751 for comparison I included one photo with green highlights to show what night mode is supposed to look like when it works.
Display screen /rear camera goes blank and displays error message intermittently part for image processor was replaced and still occurs this happens when driving and also when in reverse.
Vehicle was purchase in 12/2019 and garaged most of 2020 due to covid. Started using vehicle in late 2021 and discovered a number of electrical problems that dealt directly with the safety systems of the vehicle. False vehicle theft alarms, "pre collision assist not available" warnings continuously, "remote features disabled" notices, "hill assist warning " detected a failure, rear camera flickering, adaptive cruise control not functioning, adaptive headlights not functioning, lane keeping assist warning and corrective non functional. Myself and any passengers were put at risk because of the vehicle inoperative and failing electronics. Pedestrians and rear cross traffic were put at rick due to intermittent failures of detectors and rea camera. Vehicle was in the possession of planet Lincoln, dallas for 4 different times totaling 30 days. Vehicle was examined by a Ford engineer that was flown in from Ford headquarters at grapevine Lincoln for 5 days. Dealership or Ford motors would not provide information of the issues found because of a lemon lawsuit we had filed. The issues began on or around August 2020. The last repair attempt by the Ford engineer was performed in late December 2020. This attempt failed to correct all safety issues also.
Avatar was bought with 189 miles on it. 4th day after purchase driving car 25mph and car made a clunk noise and multiple warnings appeared drive control malfunction, pre collision assist not available, service advancetrac dealership towed car. Car came back and 2 days later I was reversing out of my driveway and breaks locked up (my surveillance video caught 2 angles. 2 days later received door fault and was not able to open the doors the dealership kept my car for a few days working with Lincoln tecs and on day 2 of having it back (22 days of owning it) again driving 25mph I heard a clunk and received hill start assist not available, service advancetrac, drive control malfunction and pre collision assist not available. Car was towed back to dealership they kept it for a few weeks and I received it back in my driveway and upon getting in and starting it the door fault warning happened again and I was locked in.
When putting the vehicle into gear (with the brake pedal pressed) it some times begins moving and the brake pedal does not engage the brakes. This forces the driver to quickly put the car back into park to stop the vehicle.
Electronic door release on the interior drivers door has failed at 2200 miles. The button does not work at all and is loose in the door. This prevents exit from inside the car without using the manual override or rolling down the window to access the outside handle.
On delivery of the vehicle (6/5/2020), there was an error message on the console indicating an issue with a door lock sensor (according to the dealer). The dealership had the car for 3 days to make the repair. On 6/26/2020, we reported to the dealership that the front passenger door lock was not working and the button to open the door was inoperable. Today, 6/29/2020, the auto is completely dead. Apparently, the electrical issue drained the battery. This is a safety issue. What are we to do if we cannot get out of the car. Inoperable door opening buttons is dangerous. Further, when the car was parked in my driveway, it suddenly and on its own began flashing lights and the mirrors retracted some 15 minutes after we used the remote to lock the car.
While driving the vehicle when backing up or pulling forward the back up camera, and the forward camera are not constant, and jitter rapidly. This can lead to an accident when a person is backing up and the camera jitters to the point where the person can not see clearly using the back up camera or the front camera during driving operations.
In reverse (both static and in motion), rearview camera flickers constantly between image and black screen making it unsafe to use car in reverse and depend on camera for visibility of obstacles. 4+ attempts to fix by Lincoln, including replacement of the rear backup camera under warranty, have not resolved this safety issue.
I purchased the auto on Aug 24, 2019. I have encountered 5 issues with the vehicle so far - 3 mechanical and 2, cosmetic. I'll focus on the mechanical. Beside the pending recall, I am experiencing the following: 1) the passenger seat in front row lacks the motor for the massage function. Lincoln has now taken over 2 months to repair due to lack of part. 2) the electrical parking brake comes on while driving occasionally. 3) the vehicle camera gets distorted when switching car on. Happened twice, last time it happened was a week ago 11/12.
I was driving home and the engine coolant display on the panel all of the sudden was at the maximum. It then would not let me throttle any more, so I had to pull over to the side and turn the vehicle off. I did and let it sit 20 minutes and the issue was still present. Vehicle was towed to dealer. It turns out to be an instrument / electrical issue and the vehicle was not actually over heating. Same thing happened again 2 weeks later after the dealer had updated the instrument panel and replaced the sensor. My car had less than 5000 miles and been in the shop almost 5 times including these 2 instances.