2016 Ford Flex problems, complaints & recalls
Most-reported problem areas: Back Over Prevention (18) · Electrical System (13) · Suspension (9)
🧭 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
52 NHTSA complaints that reported an odometer reading.
Safety recalls (3)
Back Over Prevention: Sensing System: Camera 2025-10-13 · campaign 25V695000 · 1,448,655 vehicles
Defect: Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain 2015-2019 Flex, 2015 Explorer, Lincoln MKT, Lincoln MKZ, 2015-2016 C-Max, Escape, Taurus, 2016 Fusion, 2018-2019 Taurus, 2019 Lincoln MKT, Fiesta, and 2020 Mustang vehicles. The rearview camera may display a distorted, intermittent, or blank image when the vehicle is in reverse.
Risk: A rearview camera that fails to properly display an image can reduce the driver’s view behind the vehicle, increasing the risk of a crash.
Fix: Dealers will inspect and replace the rearview camera as necessary, free of charge. This will be a phased campaign, with the remedy becoming available in different phases based on model and model years. Interim letters notifying owners of the safety risk were mailed on October 25, 2025. Additional letters will be mailed once the final remedy is available on each phase. Mustang owner notification letters were mailed January 2, 2026. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford'
Suspension:rear 2020-02-10 · campaign 20V072000 · 211,207 vehicles
Defect: Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain 2013-2018 Lincoln MKT and Ford Flex and Taurus vehicles with the Police Interceptor or SHO Performance Pack. The rear suspension toe links may fracture due to stress on the rear suspension.
Risk: A fractured rear toe link will cause a sudden change in vehicle handling and increase the risk of a crash.
Fix: Ford will notify owners, and dealers will replace the rear suspension toe links, free of charge. Remedy parts are not currently available. Owners were notified about the recall on March 3, 2020. A second notice will be mailed when remedy parts become available, which is currently expected to be the end of September 2020. The recall began October 28, 2020. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332 or Lincoln customer service at 1-800-521-4140. Ford's number for this recall i
Engine And Engine Cooling:engine:gasoline:turbo/Supercharger 2016-12-22 · campaign 16V925000 · 1,163 vehicles
Defect: Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain model year 2016 Ford Taurus, 2016-2017 Ford Flex, Lincoln MKT, 2017 Ford Explorer and Ford Explorer Police Interceptor Utility vehicles equipped with 3.5L GTDI engines. Improperly brazed turbocharger oil supply tubes may leak oil on engine components.
Risk: An oil leak, in the presence of an ignition source, increases the risk of a fire.
Fix: Ford will notify owners, and dealers will inspect, and if necessary, replace the turbocharger oil supply tubes, free of charge. The recall began on January 31, 2017. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 16S46.
Service bulletins (87)
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 2026-09-30 · 25E10-S1 · Other
25e10-s1 owner letter
Unknown Or Other 2026-07-02 · 25E10-S1 · Emissions
new vehicle delivery hold - emissions recall 25e10 - supplement #1 certain 2018-2020 model year f-150 vehicles with 3.3l engines and 2016-2019 model year explorer, taurus, and flex vehicles with 3.5l engines powertrain control module (pcm) reprogramming
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
Electrical System 2025-11-26 · TSB 25-2570 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
this article supersedes tsb 24-2165 to update the tsb service procedure. some vehicles listed in the model statement above may exhibit various sync performance related concerns including but not limited to: display operation concerns navigation inoperative voice recognition concerns phone co
Power Train 2025-11-12 · SSM 54366 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
some 2015-2021 ford and lincoln vehicles may exhibit an illuminated mil with diagnostic trouble codes (dtcs) p0011, p0012, p0014, p0015, p0016, p0017, p0018, p0019, p0021, p0022, p0024 and/or p0025. pinpoint test hk in the powertrain control and emissions diagnosis (pc/ed) or in section 303-14 of th
Unknown Or Other 2024-10-10 · SSM 53040 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
while performing a transmission repair on some 2012-2024 ford and lincoln vehicles, a transmission seal kit may be on backorder due to supply chain interruptions.
Showing the 6 most recent of 87 bulletins. Search all of them free at nhtsa.gov.
What owners report
2026-10-26 · Back Over Prevention · 85,000 mi“the contact owns a 2016 ford flex. the contact received notification of nhtsa campaign number: 25v69500 (back over prevention); however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. the contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. while reversing, the rear-view camera intermittently…”
2026-10-20 · Back Over Prevention · 25,000 mi“the contact owns a 2016 ford flex. the contact received notification of nhtsa campaign number: 25v695000 (back over prevention); however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. the contact stated that occasionally, while in reverse, the rear-view camera failed to display an image. the local dealer was contacted on several occasions…”
2026-10-15 · Back Over Prevention“the contact owns a 2016 ford flex. the contact received notification of nhtsa campaign number: 25v695000 (back over prevention); however, the part to complete the recall repair was not yet available. the contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. the manufacturer was made aware of the issue.…”
2026-10-15 · Back Over Prevention · 137,000 mi“the contact owns a 2016 ford flex. the contact received a recall notification for nhtsa campaign number: 25v695000 (back over prevention); however, the parts to complete the recall repair were unavailable. the contact stated that while in reverse(r), the rear-view camera intermittently failed to display a clear image. the contact stated that the ma…”
2026-09-02 · Structure“the contact owns a 2016 ford flex. the contact received notifications of nhtsa campaign numbers: 25v695000 (back over prevention) and 25v829000 (structure); however, parts to do the recall repairs were unavailable. the contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. the contact stated that while …”
2026-08-28 · Back Over Prevention · 80,000 mi“the contact owns a 2016 ford flex. the contact received notification of nhtsa campaign number: 25v695000 (back over prevention); however, the part to perform the recall repair was not yet available. the contact stated that while in reverse (r), the rearview camera displayed an inverted image. the dealer was not notified of the failure. the vehicle …”
2026-08-19 · Fuel/Propulsion System“the car is experiencing turbo failure that lines up with the recall for the same model vehicle produced within the same 2016-2017 date. but for some reason this vin isnt included in the recall…”
2026-08-15 · Electrical System“radio making crackling noises, screen goes blank, cannot control a/c from touch screen and causes the a/c not to work on front vents. vehicle inside died while the engine was still running in traffic and was unable to start/stop vehicle from running, a/c ran hot then vehicle stop running. …”
2026-08-03 · Unknown Or Other“there is a current recall on the backup camera that has been pending since 2025. parts are still not available as of today even though ford stated parts and instructions were going to be available before end of 2nd quarter, june 30, 2026. camera has not worked since mid 2025, ford has been aware since end of 2025. …”
2026-07-20 · Back Over Prevention · 130,000 mi“the contact owns a 2016 ford flex. the contact received notification of nhtsa campaign number: 25v695000 (back over prevention). the rearview camera became intermittently inoperative. the contact stated that the intermittent failure made it difficult to safely reverse the vehicle while the rearview camera was inoperable. while reversing in a parkin…”
Excerpts of consumer complaints filed with NHTSA, lightly truncated. They are owner statements, not verified findings.