2010 Ford Flex

Typical pattern

10.5% of complaints about the 2010 Ford Flex came in the first year, which is unremarkable for a 2010 vehicle — around the middle of the 203 model-years on record. The median complaint arrives at 6.7 yr in service. The most-reported system is steering (32 complaints), typically at 7.7 yr or about 93,428 miles.

Complaints: 181
Median age at failure: 6.7 yr
Median mileage: 70,000 n=148
Crash / fire / tow: 9.4% of reports
Safety recalls: 1

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

Engine 23,500 mi 2.7 yr in service

VEHICLE BOGS DOWN DURING ACCELERATION. NO TROUBLE CODES SHOWN. NOT SPEED SPECIFIC. MPG HAS DROPPED SIGNIFICANTLY, FROM 24 HIGHWAY MPG, TO 14 HIGHWAY MPG. JUST HAD TRANSFER CASE REPLACED. FEELS AS IF THE VEHICLE IS FIGHTING ITSELF AGAIN. *JS

Engine 13,000 mi 1.7 yr in service

2010 FORD FLEX ECOBOOST WE HAD SEVERAL INCIDENTS WHERE THERE WAS A LOSS OF POWER AND SHAKING UPON ACCELERATION. THE DEALERSHIPS WERE UNABLE TO REPLICATE OR DETERMINE ANY PROBLEMS. THE MOST SIGNIFICANT INCIDENT OCCURRED WHEN ACCELERATING FROM A TOLL BOOTH. THE CAR ENGINE LOST SIGNIFICANT POWER AND DIED SEVERAL TIMES. THE RESULT AFTER THIS INCIDENT WAS A DEAD ENGINE THAT NEEDED TO BE COMPLETELY REPLACED. *TR

Engine 4,000 mi 8 mo in service

V6 ECOBOOST ENGINE, HAS SAME ACCELERATION / STALLING SYMPTOMS AS THE F150 ECOBOOST HAPPENS SEVERAL TIME A WEEK, DEALER WAS UNABLE TO HELP WHEN IT WAS UNDER WARRANTY. STARTED WITHIN MONTHS OF PURCHASE (NEW) IN 2010. HTTP://WWW.LATIMES.COM/NEWS/LA-FI-HY-FORD-F150-ECOBOOST-INVESTIGATION-20130526,0,2968753.STORY. *TR

Steering 26,000 mi 2.7 yr in service

WHILE DRIVING 30 MPH THE CAR SIMPLY DIES. ALL LIGHTS COME ON AND THE CAR JUST SHUTS OFF. LEFT WITH NO BRAKES, STEERING, OR CONTROL. DEALER BROUGHT IN ENGINEER, AFTER A WEEK WITH THE CAR DEALER CANNOT REPLICATE PROBLEM. FORD MOTOR COMPANY DECIDES NOTHING IS WRONG AND FORCE ME TO TAKE DANGEROUS CAR BACK. INCIDENT OCCURRED TWICE IN THE MONTH OF APRIL/MAY. *TT

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.

2010 Ford Flex

When each system is reported — middle 50% of complaints

Safety recalls — NHTSA campaigns

In owners’ own words

Other Flex model years

How to read this