10.0
really awful- Crashes / Fires:
- 1 / 0
- Injuries / Deaths:
- 2 / 0
- Average Mileage:
- 56,602 miles
About These NHTSA Complaints:
The NHTSA is the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints can be spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem. See the Back button — blue bar at the very top of the page — to explore more.
Vehicle stalled while driving. Lights stayed on as did the ac, but engine shut off.
- Moore, OK, USA
Water pump, engine. All of a sudden out of the blue with no indications, warning, leaks, stalls, rough driving, no starts, lights or smells; sent to start car and it was making a metal grinding/rattling sound and would not start. I had it towed over to the Ford dealer and 2 days later they looked at it. They stated the water pump catastrophically failed, leaked into the oil pan, overfilled the oil pan and cause coolant/water to be circulated through engine causing no compression and seizing the engine. The dealership said it would have happened pretty quick. I am now in need of a new engine because of the water pump design flaw of Ford water pump emptying into the oil pan. Ford customer service says there is no recall or complaints in the NHTSA database so it is not a problem. But I have gone online and seen this exact complaint from people in many forums, on multiple models. This catastrophic water pump failure and design flaw has been going on for 11 years and Ford refuses to do anything about or to help the customer. This is not getting reported correctly or in the right place or simply service centers dont report to this database therefore Ford closes thier eyes to problems. I am just glad this did not happen to my wife on her trip to Michigan at night on the weekend with kids in the car. It must be an issue if I can find class action lawsuits on thei exact issue. Hold Ford responsible, they are going to kill someone or their families.
- Chesapeake, VA, USA
We are seeing alot in the new media about Ford Explorer and exhaust issues. About a year ago we experienced similar issues with our Flex. My husband has a 30-35 minute highway commute to work, was arriving at work and coming home feeling ill to the point where he would need to sit or lay down, it would eventually pass. We noticed a strong rotten egg smell in the vehicle. Ford dealer had the car for 2 weeks, was able to duplicate the odor - related to running A/C at highway speed - unable to figure out what was causing it. After doing some research - we learned the rotten egg odor was sulphide based - likely hydrogen sulfide. Similar symptoms as carbon monoxide, but carbon monoxide is odorless. Also hydrogen sulfide, as exposure continues, numbs the smell sense so that one thinks the odor is gone, while toxicity levels are increasing. This is exactly what happened in our case. This car was toxic, it was literally making my husband sick, and we did not feel it was safe to drive. The vehicle was traded in to belmont Ford (nc) - they were completely aware of everything in this statement. The Flex was built on the same platform as the Explorer in 2011.
- Charlotte, NC, USA
10/15 eaps failure can't steer car no fix several repeat problems 4/15 cold air when using heater on passenger side fixed but since then water on passenger side when using air conditioning several service calls no fix 4/15 oilk leak for AWD system several tries then service finallyt replaced complete AWD unit
- Tiffin, OH, USA
We were driving around 25mph and suddenly everything was unresponsive. Wheel couldn't be controlled and brakes had no effect. We spun out of control until 2 parked cars stopped us.
- Hastings On Hudson, NY, USA
I had just finished vacuuming the inside of my 2011 Ford Flex. The rear automatic liftgate was up and I was leaning into the back of the Flex reinstalling my cargo net when the hydraulics failed and the liftgate came slamming down on my back. I sustained bruising and muscle injury. If it was my arm or leg it might have resulted in an amputation. If it was my head / neck it could have resulted in a fatality. If it was my child he could have been paralyzed. Why are there no safety features that prevents the liftgate from slamming shut if the hydraulics fail?
- Moraga, CA, USA
The rear window just spontaneously exploded outward.
- Canal Fulton , OH, USA
Two out of four of our window up/down control buttons are not working. The two that are not working are also the two that are used the least amount. I believe it to be a manufacturers defect.
- Nicolaus, CA, USA
My wife was driving down the interstate yesterday, when the rear passenger door window shattered into pieces for apparently no reason. Thankfully no one was injured. Based on information found on the internet, this has happened with other Ford models and years as well. I have seen where NHTSA has investigated this similar issue with 2010-2011 Ford escape and Mercury mariner, but have not been able to find the results of the investigation. Carcomplaints.com shows 3 complaints about the same issue with the Ford Flex.
- Hendersonville, TN, USA
- Fredericksburg, VA, USA