The Safest Luxury SUV In America Is…

With news of the IIHS tightening their criteria for Top Safety Pick winners, it’s no surprise to see last year’s winners dropping off the list like flies. The Rivian R1T was the only large pick-up to earn a Top Safety Pick+ award for 2024, and large luxury cars have dwindled down to just three Genesis models. One segment that remains relatively crowded, however, is the mid-size luxury SUV.

The segment has claimed 21 Top Safety Pick awards for 2024, with eleven of those being Top Safety Pick+ awards. That means that picking the safest model in this group is easier said than done, as there are nearly a dozen candidates to choose from. But, there’s only one model that earned perfect marks in every single category, and that’s Lincoln’s luxury SUV Nautilus model, with nothing but G (Good) ratings from top to bottom.

In the writing of this article, recall data has been sourced from the NHTSA, safety information from the IIHS, and maintenance costs from RepairPal and CarEdge.

The Lincoln Nautilus’ Perfect Crash Test Score

The 2024 Lincoln Nautilus scored a perfect “Good” overall rating in every single test, with a lone mark holding it back from a 100% perfect score, which was an A for “Acceptable,” in regard to driver restraints and dummy kinematics in the small overlap front test.

In their notes for this test, the IIHS remarked that the dummy’s head “barely contacted the frontal airbag.” This left the head vulnerable to “contact with forward side structure,” which could result in limited airbag cushioning for the chest. The seatbelt was also noted to allow excessive “forward excursion” of the dummy’s upper body.

Safety Features In The Lincoln Nautilus

The Nautilus scored perfect Good ratings in every single category, on every single point, for safety features. There isn’t a single Acceptable, Marginal, or Poor rating for any of its safety features.

The IIHS remarked on good visibility for low beams in all four headlight tests, with the low beams creating some glare, but not to a problematic degree. The high beams were noted for good visibility on the right, and “fair” visibility on the left in the straightaway tests, with good curve visibility in all four tests.

Child seat anchors were noted to be easy to find, easy to use, and not too deep in the seat. Front crash prevention avoided a 37 mph collision at night with the high beams engaged, issuing a warning 2.1 seconds before the point of impact. Finally, seat belt reminders earned a green check mark in every category, which means the alerts are adequately loud and easy to hear.

Recalls And Repairs For The Lincoln Nautilus

The Lincoln Nautilus was last tested by the NHTSA for the 2023 model year, where it earned a five-star overall safety rating, with five stars in every category except rollover. For that category it earned four out of five stars, with a rollover risk of 15.50%, which is typical for an SUV in this size class. There are a few SUVs with perfect rollover ratings, but it’s almost impossible for the top-heavy segment to achieve this without being an EV model due to their heavy, low-mounted batteries being able to assist in avoiding rollovers.

The Nautilus was included in a recall on August 9, 2024 for 70,483 Nautilus and Ford Ranger models, dated 2024, for issues with the power windows. A software issue saw the windows failing to reverse after detecting an obstacle while rolling up. This means you could easily pinch your fingers while rolling the windows up.

There are three complaints on file with the NHTSA, with one driver stating that the SUV shut down on the way home from the dealer, one driver reporting that they don’t like how the brake pedal arm sticks out further than the brake pedal, and one driver reporting a grinding sound when they pressed the brake.

What Will It Cost To Keep A Lincoln Nautilus Running?

RepairPal estimates an annual maintenance cost of around $879 for the Lincoln Nautilus, while CarEdge estimates a ten-year maintenance cost of around $11,771. This makes the Nautilus cheaper than a typical luxury SUV, by a margin of $2,381 for the ten-year maintenance cost, but it’s still a luxury vehicle, so it’s naturally going to cost more to keep running than maintaining a mid-market model like a Ford Explorer or a Honda CR-V. The most expensive common fixes included a head gasket replacement, which can cost up to $3,345, and new airbag clocksprings, that can cost you up to $1,265.

Other Super-Safe Luxury SUVs

The Nautilus is the only luxury SUV to earn a perfect score with the IIHS, but there are a few models that turned up nearly perfect scores. The 2024 Genesis Electrified GV70, the 2025 BMW X5, and the 2024 Tesla Model Y all earned Good ratings in every crash test, and only came up short of a perfect score in the safety features department.

2024 Genesis Electrified GV70

The electric GV70 earned a near-perfect crash test score, with an overall Good in every category, but the small overlap front test saw an Acceptable rating for driver leg/foot injury measures, and the updated moderate overlap front test saw the same for rear passenger chest injury measures. The updated side test resulted in Acceptable ratings for driver torso and pelvis injury measures. The SUV earned an Acceptable for front crash prevention.

The electric GV70 has been involved in two recalls, one for 15,645 units with potential rollaway caused by transmission harness short circuits due to water exposure, and one for 99,055 units, including many other Genesis and Hyundai EVs, which could lose drive power as a result of a damaged charging unit.

2025 BMW X5

The 2025 BMW X5 earned an Acceptable for rear passenger restraints and dummy kinematics in the updated moderate overlap front test, but otherwise earned perfect crash test scores, top to bottom. Headlights only earned an Acceptable owing to some glare, and a few too many “fair” ratings in the high beam tests.

Your biggest concern in an X5 is going to be the maintenance costs. BMWs can be reliable if you take care of them, but they demand specialized servicing, driving the X5’s annual maintenance cost up to around $1,166.

2024 Tesla Model Y

The 2024 Tesla Model Y scored a perfect Good rating in every category and in every single test, except for rear passenger restraints and dummy kinematics in the updated moderate overlap front test, where it scored an Acceptable. The Model Y earned an Acceptable for child safety restraints, owing to the lower anchors being placed too deeply in the seats. It’s worth noting that the Model Y is one of the very few SUVs on the market right now with a perfect five-star rollover rating from the NHTSA.

The 2024 Model Y has been recalled twice, once for software that may fail to detect an unlatched hood in 1,849,638 Teslas, and one for hard-to-read warning lights in 2,193,869 Teslas, owing to a tiny font size.