{"slug": "why-i-traded-a-lincoln-navigator-for-a-tesla-model-y", "title": "Why I traded a Lincoln Navigator for a Tesla Model Y", "summary": "A New York Post columnist traded his six-figure Lincoln Navigator Black Label Edition for a Tesla Model Y, citing the superior technology of Tesla's Full Self-Driving (supervised) system as the primary reason, not environmental or political motivations. The columnist notes that while the Navigator offered traditional luxury, the Tesla's driver-assistance capabilities on highways, city streets, and residential roads dramatically change the driving experience, especially in Southern California traffic.", "body_md": "# Why I traded a Lincoln Navigator for a Tesla Model Y\n\nSee more of our coverage in your search results.\n\n[Add The California Post on Google](https://www.google.com/preferences/source?q=nypost.com)\n\nLet me get something out of the way.\n\nI did not [buy a Tesla](https://nypost.com/2026/07/22/business/tesla-profit-disappoints-as-elon-musks-ai-spending-surge-leads-to-cash-burn/) because I suddenly became worried about my carbon footprint or decided I needed to do my part to save the planet.\n\nIf anything, the sanctimonious political culture around electric vehicles was a modest reason for me *not *to buy one.\n\nWho wants to spend that much money only to have people think you are making a statement about climate change?\n\nNor did I buy it because Elon Musk has become one of the [progressive left’s favorite villains](https://nypost.com/2023/05/16/elon-musk-compares-george-soros-to-x-men-villain-magneto/).\n\nI appreciate much of what Musk has done. And I admit there is something pretty amusing about liberals selling their Teslas just as [conservatives are starting to buy them](https://nypost.com/2025/03/11/us-news/trump-announces-hell-buy-brand-new-tesla-to-support-elon-musks-baby-following-boycotts-dropping-stock/).\n\nBut I did not spend tens of thousands of dollars to cast a political vote for Elon Musk.\n\nI bought a Tesla because the technology was better. It doesn’t hurt that I’m still driving an American-made car.\n\nBetter enough, apparently, for me to trade in a six-figure Lincoln Navigator Black Label Edition for a Model Y.\n\nAnd I loved my Navigator.\n\nIt was enormous, powerful and incredibly comfortable, with beautiful leather, huge seats and just about every luxury imaginable. It was pretty much everything Americans have traditionally thought of as a luxury automobile.\n\nAt the end of June, I traded it for a considerably smaller Tesla with an interior that can initially feel almost austere.\n\nFew buttons. No conventional instrument cluster. Almost none of what you would expect in an expensive luxury vehicle.\n\n**Download The California Post App, follow us on social, and subscribe to our newsletters **\n\n**California Post News**: [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/TheCaliforniaPost/), [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/californiapost), [TikTok](https://www.tiktok.com/@CaliforniaPost), [X](https://x.com/californiapost), [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/@thecaliforniapost), [WhatsApp](https://www.whatsapp.com/channel/0029Vb6a2IV1NCrL6q2AWq0E), [LinkedIn](http://linkedin.com/company/californiapost)**California Post Sports** [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/capostsports/), [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/capostsports/?hl=en), [TikTok](https://www.tiktok.com/@capostsports), [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/@CaliforniaPostSports), [X](https://x.com/capostsports)**California Post **[Opinion](https://x.com/californiapost) **California Post Newsletters**: [Sign up here!](https://email.nypost.com/#california-post)** California Post App**: [Download here!](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/california-post/id6751343487)** Home delivery**: [Sign up here!](https://subscribe.californiapost.com/defaultCAP)** Page Six Hollywood**: [Sign up here!](https://pagesix.com/hollywood-signup/)\n\nYou could easily climb inside and wonder what I was thinking.\n\nBut that depends on how you define luxury.\n\nThe biggest reason I bought the Tesla was Full Self-Driving, supervised. Nothing else was close.\n\nPlenty of manufacturers offer adaptive cruise control, lane centering or limited hands-free driving on selected freeways. Tesla’s system operates on highways, city streets and residential roads.\n\nThe car follows the navigation route, changes lanes, makes turns and responds to traffic.\n\nIt is not autonomous. I still have to pay attention and be ready to take over.\n\nBut if you spend much time driving in Southern California traffic, it changes the experience dramatically.\n\nThe Navigator made driving exceptionally comfortable.\n\nThe Tesla makes driving dramatically easier.\n\nThen there are all the little things.\n\nMy phone is my key. The car unlocks when I approach and locks when I walk away.\n\nI even have the lock sound set to Jarvis — Tony Stark’s AI assistant in the Marvel “Iron Man” films — saying, “Defense protocol activated, Sir!”\n\nI can cool the interior from my phone before leaving a restaurant. I park at home, plug it in and wake up ready to go.\n\nA full charge gives me more than 350 miles of estimated range, plenty for almost anything I am likely to do in a normal day.\n\nThe cameras double as a dashcam and security system. Software updates can actually improve the car after I have bought it.\n\nI already had Tesla solar and Powerwalls at home, so adding the car made the whole setup even more useful.\n\nNone of this is an environmental statement.\n\nIt is a convenience statement.\n\nAt some point, I realized that buying a car had started to resemble buying a smartphone.\n\nWe once compared phones by call quality, battery life and durability. Then the operating system became the product.\n\nTesla has done something similar with the automobile.\n\nIt isn’t just selling transportation. It is selling a technology platform that happens to get you from one place to another.\n\nAnd that, I think, explains Tesla’s success better than all the talk about saving the planet.\n\nMusk figured out what a lot of consumers wanted and gave it to them.\n\nMost of us buy things because they make our lives better, easier or more enjoyable.\n\nTesla got me to leave a six-figure luxury SUV for a smaller and considerably more modest Model Y because the technology was more valuable to me than the size, materials and traditional comforts I was giving up.\n\nI don’t miss my Navigator. Not even a little.\n\nThere is only one potential problem.\n\nI replace my iPhone every couple of years to keep up with the latest technology.\n\nI’m beginning to wonder what that means for my Tesla.\n\n*Jon Fleischman, a longtime strategist in California politics, writes at SoDoesItMatter.com*", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/why-i-traded-a-lincoln-navigator-for-a-tesla-model-y", "canonical_source": "https://nypost.com/2026/08/11/opinion/why-i-traded-a-lincoln-navigator-for-a-tesla-model-y/", "published_at": "2026-08-11 22:57:15+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-08-11 23:10:17.029376+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["autonomous-vehicles", "artificial-intelligence"], "entities": ["Lincoln Navigator", "Tesla Model Y", "Elon Musk", "Full Self-Driving", "New York Post"], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/why-i-traded-a-lincoln-navigator-for-a-tesla-model-y", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/why-i-traded-a-lincoln-navigator-for-a-tesla-model-y.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/why-i-traded-a-lincoln-navigator-for-a-tesla-model-y.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/why-i-traded-a-lincoln-navigator-for-a-tesla-model-y.jsonld"}}