2009 Ford Flex problems, complaints & recalls
Most-reported problem areas: Engine (22) · Service Brakes, Hydraulic (14) · Electrical System (14)
🧭 Reliability snapshot
Compared against other Ford Flex model years — complaint volume vs the model's median year, recalls and severity. How we score →
🛣️ Complaints by mileage
150 NHTSA complaints that reported an odometer reading.
Safety recalls (1)
Air Bags:frontal 2016-04-26 · campaign 16V247000 · 695 vehicles
Defect: 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."
Risk: An improperly inflated air bag increases the risk of injury in the event of a crash.
Fix: Ford will notify owners, and dealers will inspect and replace the driver's frontal air bag module, as necessary, free of charge. The recall is expected to begin on June 13, 2016. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 16C06.
Service bulletins (24)
Technical service bulletins are repair instructions manufacturers send dealers for known issues. Unlike recalls, the fix is not automatically free — but naming the bulletin at the service desk can save diagnosis time and support goodwill repairs.
Unknown Or Other 2026-02-24 · SSM 54601 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
ford and lincoln vehicles equipped with wired keyless entry keypad systems and accessory wireless keyless entry keypad systems may or may not come with a wallet card containing the master code. unlike the integrated wired keypad, the accessory wireless keypad master code cannot be retrieved from the
Equipment 2024-04-24 · SSM 52476 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
all accessory stick-on keyless entry keypads come with a wallet card containing the master code. if the accessory keypad was factory installed, this card will be placed in the glove box and should be handed to the vehicle s owner during initial delivery. unlike the integrated (wired) factory keypad,
Structure 2023-04-04 · SSM 51536 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
for 2000-2024 ford and lincoln vehicles, swapping a module from a vehicle for diagnosis purposes is likely to cause errors and is not recommended. it is also not recommended to order a replacement module using a vehicle identification number (vin) from a different vehicle. most modules on these affe
Suspension 2021-03-17 · RFI20210317_810- · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
this sku is a control arm. the customer communication requested return of unsold inventory to inspect the bushing orientation. if the bushing orientation is incorrect, it will prevent installation of the product. if the problem is not corrected, the product will be unusable.
Equipment:appliance:air Conditioner 2019-07-02 · SSM 48070 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
some 2009-2017 expedition/navigator, 2009-2014 f-150/mustang, 2008-2009 sable, 2008-2019 taurus/flex/mkt, 2013-2019 police interceptor sedan/utility, and 2011-2019 explorer vehicles may exhibit inoperative or intermittent hvac blower motor function at various fan speed settings. this may be due to a
Equipment:appliance:air Conditioner 2019-02-07 · SSM 47797 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
some 2009-2017 expedition/navigator, 2009-2014 f-150/mustang, 2008-2009 sable, 2008-2019 taurus/flex/mkt, 2013-2019 police interceptor sedan/utility, and 2011-2019 explorer vehicles may exhibit inoperative or intermittent hvac blower motor function at various fan speed settings. this may be due to a
Showing the 6 most recent of 24 bulletins. Search all of them free at nhtsa.gov.
What owners report
2026-07-17 · Wheels“on february 26, 2026, i purchased a used 2009 ford flex vin from header’s auto sales. at time of delivery, the vehicle was equipped with tires that did not meet the manufacturer’s required load rating for this vehicle. a licensed mechanic provided a safety assessment confirming the tires were improperly load-rated and unsafe to carry the vehicle l…”
2025-12-09 · Unknown Or Other“you can be driving down the road, and all your gauges will stop working, and all the warning lights on the dash will light up. the first time this happened my wife got stuck at a gas station all the warning lights were on and the car would not start, people tried to jump it and it would not affected at all. i looked on the internet and found were s…”
2025-03-09 · Unknown Or Other“rear subframe rusted at bolt mount. vehicle could have experienced catastrophic failure wihle driving. independent service center diagnosed and documented rusted area and potential for failure. noise would happen during acceleration/deceleration but not in wet weather conditions. until diagnosed as unsafe to drive, vehicle drove with rear passenger…”
2023-05-27 · Unknown Or Other“the door ajar sensor malfunctions and is crazy expensive to fix. there are numerous posts and videos online of workarounds bcz it’s so common but they don’t seem safe since that’s a safety feature and the workarounds are simply a way to trick or bypass the warning sensors since the doors are actually closed in most cases. ford needs to take owners…”
2023-04-22 · Steering“was driving and the steering wheel became stiff. i received no warnings indications or lights on the dash. i had to give it a hard turn to get it to a parking lot and have it towed to a dealership. …”
2022-06-16 · Engine“about 5 miles from home with no warning.the car went from regular temp to hot then stopped.water mixed with the oil.the tech said the water pump just failed.i did not have any problems with it running hot or anything.…”
2022-03-25 · Suspension“while driving around february 20th, 2022 we started swerving uncontrollably and almost ran into the curb and flipped while going about 40 mph. my husband put on breaks but it felt like we were sliding on ice....without any ice on the road. we almost flipped and were very shaken, and lucky. we got vehicle to firestone and they said our left rear …”
2021-07-19 · Service Brakes, Hydraulic · 160,000 mi“the contact owns a 2009 ford flex. the contact stated that after refueling the vehicle, the odor of fuel was present coming from the vehicle. after parking inside the garage, there was fuel leaking from the seam of the fuel tank on the passenger’s side. the cause of the failure was not yet determined. also, while attempting to stop the vehicle, the…”
2021-05-19 · Vehicle Speed Control“my flex has repeatedly lost power while driving. i can feel the car lose power, and the yellow wrench light comes on. after reading up on it, i learned that you have to turn the vehicle off, wherever you are, and restart it after a few minutes. the wrench light turns off, and the car runs as normal, with no records of codes. this is talked about ov…”
2021-03-24 · Engine · 138,000 mi“last night, i went to back the car out of the garage and while in reverse, the engine started revving up uncontrollably and even though i had my foot on the brakes, it kept moving in reverse. i quickly put it in neutral and the revving came down. shut down the car, restarted it and this time, i put it in drive and the same thing happen again …”
Excerpts of consumer complaints filed with NHTSA, lightly truncated. They are owner statements, not verified findings.