2009 Ford Flex

No clear pattern

11.1% of complaints about the 2009 Ford Flex arrived in its first year of service. That is an unusual figure for a 2009 vehicle, but with only 271 complaints on record the sample is too small to call it a pattern — the margin of error covers the range where ordinary vehicles sit. The figures below are reported without a verdict. The most-reported system is engine (36 complaints), typically at 7.8 yr or about 100,000 miles.

Complaints: 271
Median age at failure: 5.7 yr
Median mileage: 55,000 n=225
Crash / fire / tow: 10.3% of reports
Safety recalls: 1

When each system is reported — middle 50% of complaints

System

0y2y4y6y8y10y12y14y

Engine

36 reports · 100,000 mi

7.8 yr

2.8%

Electrical system

32 reports · 25,000 mi

5.0 yr

6.2%

Power train

22 reports · 78,000 mi

7.7 yr

9.1%

Steering

18 reports · 67,000 mi

7.1 yr

5.6%

Engine cooling

17 reports · 23,126 mi

2.3 yr

11.8%

Other

17 reports · 97,000 mi

9.1 yr

5.9%

Service brakes, hydraulic

16 reports · 25,577 mi

2.3 yr

Fuel / propulsion

15 reports · 92,000 mi

6.5 yr

Safety recalls — NHTSA campaigns

16V247000 2016-04-26

Air bags:frontal

Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain model year 2009-2012 Ford Flex, 2008 and 2010-2012 Ford Taurus, 2008-2009 Ford Taurus X, 2008 Mercury Sable, 2009 and 2011 Lincoln MKS vehicles. The driver frontal air bag may improperly inflate during second-stage deployment in the event of a high speed crash. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) number 208, "Occupant Crash Protection."

An improperly inflated air bag increases the risk of injury in the event of a crash.

In owners’ own words

Service brakes, hydraulic 7,500 mi 1.6 yr in service

BRAKE GRINDING AND SHUDDERS FROM FRONT DISC BRAKES AND SOMETIMES REAR DISK BRAKES. FORD HAS A LONG ONGOING PROBLEM WITH THE DISK BRAKES ON FORD FLEX'S. SEVERAL TSB'S HAVE BEEN ISSUED. HOWEVER IT SEEMS LIKE NO PARTS ARE BEING SENT TO DEALERSHIPS TO TAKE CARE OF THIS PROBLEM. *TR

Service brakes, hydraulic 41,000 mi 2.1 yr in service

I HAVE A 2009 FORD FLEX WITH 41,000 MILES. THE REAR BRAKES COMPLETELY WORE OUT WITH OVER 50% LIFE LEFT ON THE FRONT. THIS IS IMPOSSIBLE UNLESS THERE WAS A PROBLEM WITH THE BRAKES HANGING UP WHEN SOLD. THE SERVICE CHARGE WAS $511.34. THE BRAKES WERE REPAIRED. FORTUNATELY THE FAILURE OF THE REAR BRAKES DID NOT RESULT IN ANY CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGE. *TR

Service brakes, hydraulic 33,000 mi 2.3 yr in service

HAD GRINDING NOISE IN FRONT BRAKES, JUST LIKE A STONE HAD GOT JAMMED BETWEEN THE BRAKE PAD AND ROTOR. RIGHT FRONT WHEEL LOCKED UP MOMENTARILY ONE TIME. HAD IT BACK TO DEALER TWICE BUT THEY COULD NOT SEE A PROBLEM. FINALLY AFTER THE FRONT WHEEL LOCKED UP THEY REPLACED THE FRONT BRAKE ROTORS AND BRACKETS BUT I HAD TO PAY 139.00 FOR THE NEW PADS HAD APPROX. 33000K ON VEHICLE, THEY DID FIND A SERVICE NOTICE THIS LAST TIME. *LN

Engine cooling 60 mi 7 mo in service

TL*THE CONTACT OWNS A 2009 FORD FLEX. WHILE MAKING A RIGHT TURN IN AN INTERSECTION THE VEHICLE UNEXPECTEDLY STALLED AND THE ENGINE SHUT OFF. THE DRIVER WAS ABLE TO RESTART THE VEHICLE; HOWEVER, SURPRISED THAT A NEW VEHICLE EXPERIENCED A FAILURE. THERE WAS NO MENTION OF WARNING LIGHTS BEING ILLUMINATED. THE VIN IS NOT AVAILABLE. THE CURRENT AND FAILURE MILEAGES WERE 60.

Other Flex model years

How to read this

This is what owners reported, not a reliability rating. People file with NHTSA about alarming failures, not routine ones, and complaint volume tracks how many cars were sold.
Failure ages come from the incident date on each complaint, populated on about 83% of records. Mileage is shown where reported — NHTSA’s 2021 system change cut mileage capture to roughly 15%, so it thins out sharply after MY2020.
Every rank compares this vehicle only against others of the same model year. A 2025 car has not had time to accumulate five-year failures, so comparing early-failure share across years is meaningless.
Fourteen make-months distorted by media storms and mass recalls — Toyota in February 2010 ran 11× normal volume across 33 models — are excluded.
Recalls are manufacturer actions and authoritative; complaints are not. A recall listed here may already have been performed on any individual car. Check a specific VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls.