2010 Ford Flex problems, complaints & recalls
Most-reported problem areas: Steering (30) · Engine (22) · Power Train (12)
🧭 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
113 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 (37)
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
Engine And Engine Cooling 2020-09-25 · SSM 49210 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
some 2009-2020 ford and lincoln vehicles equipped with turbochargers may exhibit an oil leak from the turbocharger oil supply or return tubes, o-rings or 6.7l pedestal gasket. although oil may collect on the turbocharger, it is very rare for a turbocharger to leak oil. to isolate the source of the l
Visibility:glass, Side/Rear 2019-08-09 · SSM 48130 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
some 2010-2020 vehicles may exhibit distorted glass with a subtle orange peel pattern or streaking etched into the surface. this is caused by hydrofluoric acid which is used in some car wash solutions as a cleaning agent. hydrofluoric acid can attack the glass and cause visual distortion and/or disc
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
Showing the 6 most recent of 37 bulletins. Search all of them free at nhtsa.gov.
What owners report
2025-09-20 · Steering“leaving home to go to the grocery store and as i exited my street a dash warning came on stating "power steering assist" fault steering wheel locked up making it impossible for me to steer. fortunately this happened in a spot where there was no other traffic and i was able to just turn off the car and restart and the message was gone and my st…”
2025-06-22 · Steering“on the road and power steering went out and was super hard to turn …”
2024-12-13 · Structure:body“water ingress into rear side door latch - froze - door opened while car was in motion…”
2024-07-11 · Steering:rack And Pinion · 119,000 mi“the contact owns a 2010 ford flex. the contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, there was a metal clicking and scraping sound coming from underneath the vehicle. in addition, the contact stated that the wheels felt loose. the contact stated that a nearby driver informed her that sparks were coming from underneath the vehicle. the cont…”
2024-04-11 · Suspension · 💥 crash“while traveling at highway speeds 75+ a loud bang and then control of vehicle was hard to keep on road, swerved left then right, left rear quarter panel hit guard rail and caused car to spin around and went sideways and backwards down a 30 ft embankment. fortunately did not roll. left side tires came off of rims and damage to driver side door was…”
2024-03-22 · Steering“vehicle loses power steering intermittently upon vehicle startup as well as in motion. vehicle is then extremely hard to control without power steering. message " power steering assist fault" prints to the instrument cluster above the steering wheel. turning the vehicle off and back on may resolve problem but it returns within a couple key cycles.…”
2024-03-18 · Service Brakes, Hydraulic · 102,000 mi“the contact owns a 2010 ford flex. the contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the brakes seized. there was no warning light illuminated. the contact was unable to pull to the side of the road. the contact stated that the vehicle responded as needed after waiting for a while. the vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, wher…”
2023-10-31 · Engine And Engine Cooling · 148,000 mi“the contact owns a 2010 ford flex. the contact stated while driving 50 mph, the steering wheel became firm, and the vehicle lost motive power. the contact pulled over to the side of the road and was able to restart the vehicle after 3 attempts. no warning light was illuminated. the vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic to be diagnosed. the c…”
2023-03-20 · Power Train“while driving car suddenly losses power and the wrench light comes on. loss of power with the car transmission wont move the car at all. have to pull over and turn off car about 5min then start it back up and now everything works with no codes. happened 3 times.very dangerous becuase car losses power and cars behind you almost hits you. …”
2023-03-19 · Engine“while driving at 65mph, vehicle started to accelerate funny and cel came on. was getting on the freeway and the vehicle overheated and cel light came on. i was able to safely pull over before the vehicle died. got vehicle towed to my home and when engine oil was checked, it was discovered that there was coolant in the oil. took to a local shop wher…”
Excerpts of consumer complaints filed with NHTSA, lightly truncated. They are owner statements, not verified findings.