Lincoln Nautilus review

Bare bones, the Lincoln Nautilus starts at $50,415 and that gets you the basics: the turbocharged engine, all-wheel drive and a stack of standard features like the wacky screen, the safety and convenience features, just to name a few. Throw on $1,500 just for the hybrid powertrain and the CVT. With appearance packages and trims that mix up things like wheel options, interior colors and materials, plus exterior flourishes, the price can balloon northward of $74,250, with some leaving the lot at around $80,000.

If it were us, the hybrid would be the way to go. Throw in the equipment pack that includes the panoramic roof, heated rear seats, four years of BlueCruise and those funky scent cartridges. That gives you everything you could ask for at around $69,000.

That is to say, if we were to even want one. Big changes for sure, but alluring? That’s up to the eye of the beholder. Lincoln states the Nautilus is conquering Acura MDX buyers, though we’re not sure “conquering” is the right word here. Florida didn’t “conquer” your retired grandparents, after all.

If we’re drawing comparisons, more athletic SUVs like the MDX are a hard pass, and more apt is the Cadillac XT-5, a stately midsized ride with a touch of American luxury, though it lacks much of the vim and charm the Lincoln is able to muster. More of a challenger is the Genesis GV80, a very attractive SUV with a similar approach to luxury for around the same price.