2018 Ford Flex problems
Owners have filed 91 complaints with NHTSA about the 2018 Ford Flex. Body & structure is the most reported problem area, at 21% of complaints. Next are backover prevention (16%) and electrical system (13%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 91 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Body & structure 21% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 12 and 0
- Injuries and deaths
- 1 and 0
- Typical mileage
- 62,000 miles 38 complaints with mileage
Source: NHTSA owner complaints
Where the complaints are
Share of this model year's complaints by the part of the car involved. One complaint can name more than one part, so the shares can add up to more than 100%.
When problems show up
View the numbers
| Mileage | Complaints |
|---|---|
| 0k to 20k miles | 5 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 4 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 8 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 11 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 1 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 4 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 1 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 4 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 0 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 0 |
| 200k+ miles | 0 |
What the data shows
Of the 38 complaints that include odometer readings, half describe a problem before roughly 62,000 miles. For body & structure specifically, the median reported mileage is about 68,000 miles (13 complaints with mileage).
Safety-related details: 12 complaints mention a crash; 1 injury reported.
Looking only at complaints filed within five years of the model year (so older and newer years are comparable), the 2018 ranks 10th most-complained-about out of 11 model years of the Ford Flex with enough data (27 complaints in that window). It is also covered by 3 safety recall campaigns.
What owners wrote
A few complaints as filed, shortened and with personal details removed. The first ones are among the most serious reports for this model year; the rest are typical.
I have a 2018 ford flex with 900 miles on it . I took my first road trip in 8-4-2018 and while accelerating hard to get onto the interstate I noticed exhaust fumes were coming into the cabin at an alarming rate , I had to slow down and roll the windows down it got so bad,my eyes were burning ,felt sick and my chest felt funny. I tried it several more time with the same results. It seems like it happens worse when I have max air on. Normal city driving I don't notice it.
Tl* the contact owns a 2018 ford flex. The contact stated that while driving at 45 MPH, the vehicle rear-ended the vehicle in front. The air bags did not deploy. Additionally, the contact had a front seat passenger and a rear passenger. A police report was filed. There were no injuries reported on the scene and the spouse drove the contact and the front passenger to the hospital afterwards for a check up. The vehicle was damaged but was not totaled. The vehicle was towed to a collision center.
The cars rear toe link broke while driving. It cause the vehicle to go out of control and wreck I to the guard rail. Another motorist hit the car as it was wrecking. The local Ford dealership confirmed that the rear toe link failed and replaced them with redesigned ones that are safer. I had to pay for this repair, the tow charges and my insurance is fixing the other car that hit me.
Steering assist failure. Bought the car new in nov. 2018 it had about 60miles on it and was the last flex on the lot. Ever since I got it occasionally when I go to start it it says steering assist failure and will not start but after a few tries will start up fine. I tried taking it to the dealer a few months ago and they said they could not replicate the issue and could not find anything wrong. Yesterday it did the same thing leaving the house but started up and I left to the store.
The contact owns a 2018 Ford Flex. The contact stated that the driver's side exterior B-Pillar trim had previously detached and was replaced by the dealer. The contact later received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 25V732000 (Structure). The dealer was contacted for reimbursement and informed that reimbursement would be provided when the recall remedy became available.