It can be quite a sobering experience when searching for a brand-new luxury SUV in 2026, since most range-topping examples will demand at least $100,000 from your bank account. That’s well out of the budgets of most Americans, given the average new car price sits at around $50k. Luckily, thanks to depreciation, one of the very poshest machines can be found for well under that.
As a package, you’ll be wondering why you didn’t look into it before.
The Navigator L Black Label Is Full Of Luxury
Lincoln Navigator LLincoln
The SUV in the spotlight is the 2021 Lincoln Navigator L Black Label, the range-topping version of the Ford-owned brand’s SUV lineup. When it was new half a decade ago, you’d have to sign off on $101,855, though in all fairness, you didn’t have to worry too much about exploring the options menu.
The Black Label came with pretty much every toy you could think of, and certainly way too many to list without sending you off to sleep. The highlights include sumptuous leather seats that are heated, cooled, and powered, while a tri-zone climate control system ensures the cabin temperature is perfectly set for all occupants.
Those seats can also provide a soothing massage. There’s a powered panoramic sunroof that comes loaded with a sunshade to help keep those damaging sun rays out when needed, and there’s adaptive cruise control to ensure you can relax a little more on those long highway drives.
The upmarket leather is complemented by premium wood trim to give the cabin a refined feel, while the adaptive independent suspension affords passengers a smooth ride over all kinds of road conditions. As the L variant, it also features an elongated cabin that provides extra legroom for rear passengers.
But all of this opulence comes at a price – a very literal one. The question is whether the Navigator L can actually back up its luxury credentials with the performance to match.
The 6,000-lb Navigator L Can Hit 60 mph Faster Than Many Sports Cars
2024 Lincoln Navigator L Front 3/4Lincoln
Of course, with all these creature comforts and additional features, the Navigator L ends up being exceptionally heavy. It tips the scales at close to 6,000 pounds, or in other words, enough to sink New York should you end up dropping it in the Atlantic. As a result, it needed a commanding engine to get it moving effortlessly.
The engine in question is a 3.5-liter V6 bolstered by a pair of turbochargers, producing 450 horsepower and 510 lb-ft of torque. Continuing the luxury theme, the engine’s power is channeled to all four wheels via a 10-speed automatic transmission, which provides fast but effortless gear changing.
This means that, despite weighing more than Pluto, the Navigator L Black Label can still sprint to 60 mph in less than 5.5 seconds. If you’ve ever wondered what it would be like to beat sports cars in a straight line while riding in the comfort of a five-star hotel, this Lincoln is the machine for you. Thanks to the adaptive suspension, it doesn’t roll as much as you’d expect through corners, though it’s not a vehicle you’ll want to push too hard through them.
A twin-turbocharged V6 with 450 horsepower in a five-star hotel on wheels – the kind of package that commands a six-figure price tag when new. So what happens to that price tag after five years?
$101k New, $46k Used: Why The Navigator L’s Depreciation Is Your Gain
2024 Lincoln Navigator L rear 3/4Lincoln
Spending well over $100k on such a vehicle is out of reach for most buyers, but the used market makes such goals far more attainable. Being a big luxury SUV, the Navigator L Black Label’s value begins to plummet from the moment it leaves the showroom. According to CarEdge, this high-end vehicle will lose nearly 60% of its initial value in just the first five years of its life, leaving it worth around $46,000.
This puts it comfortably below the average new car price of around $50k in the US, making it far more attainable for the average American family. At that budget, you can secure a Black Label with between 60,000 and 80,000 miles on the odometer, so be sure the car has been well maintained during its five years in service, since the engine requires high-quality fluids to remain in good condition over the long term.
If you don’t mind high-mileage examples, you could spend less than $40k on a 2021 Navigator L Black Label. You’ll have to accept a car with between 90,000 and 100,000 miles on the odometer, but do your research, and you can find well-maintained examples that should have plenty of life left in them.
But before you pull the trigger, it’s worth asking: if this much luxury is available for $46k, why aren’t more buyers snapping it up?
Why The Navigator’s Worst Trait New Makes It The Best Buy Used
2024 Lincoln Navigator L InteriorLincoln
The Navigator L Black Label is one of the best options for used buyers seeking a range-topping luxury SUV at crossover prices, given that two of its closest rivals lose considerably less value over a similar timeframe. The Cadillac Escalade ESV and Mercedes-Benz GLS 580 compete with the Navigator for ultra-luxury supremacy, with the Lincoln Black Label having sat roughly between the two from a pricing perspective.
According to CarEdge, the Escalade is expected to lose only 50.1% of its original value, a full 10% less than the Lincoln, while the Mercedes-Benz drops by 39.1% over a five-year period. As a result, whereas the Escalade is worth around $7k more than the Navigator,the GLS 580 commands an extra $14k at a similar age and mileage. Considering the three vehicles offer a similar level of luxury and comfort, though the Navigator produces more power than either of its rivals, it’s difficult to ignore the value it represents.
Opting for one of the latter two vehicles makes sense when buying new, but for those seeking a used bargain, the Navigator L makes the prospect of a lavish ownership experience on a standard budget a genuine reality.
The Same Engine That Powers Ford’s F-Series Has Been Known To Last 400,000 Miles
2016 Ford 3.5L Twin-turbo Gen 2 EcoBoost V6 EngineFord
With such an expensive vehicle, there’s always the concern that repairs could be costly should something go wrong. Luckily, the Navigator L Black Label has a couple of very important elements going for it. Firstly, its 3.5-liter EcoBoost engine has proven to be one of the most reliable engines on the market over the last couple of decades, with Ford confident enough to offer it in its range of durable F-Series trucks, as well as many of its sedan and SUV models. The unit is known to last more than a quarter of a million miles when looked after, and potentially even over 400,000 miles in some cases.
This is also supported by few consistent reports of serious issues, ensuring owners won’t have to spend heavily to keep the engine running.
Second, the Navigator L is built on one of the most rugged platforms in the automotive world: Ford’s T3 architecture. It has been utilized on Ford’s F-Series and Super Duty truck ranges since 2015 and 2017, respectively, and was therefore designed to be solid and durable for hundreds of thousands of miles. Given that the Navigator is unlikely to be pushed anywhere near as hard as these trucks during its lifetime, owners can be confident it will remain reliable for many years to come.
Stretching your budget for something as expensive and luxurious as the Navigator L Black Label can be daunting, but as such vehicles go, this one makes a compelling case for itself. Unless, of course, you dislike maneuvering large vehicles in tight spaces.
Sources: CarEdge, Lincoln.
