2012 Ford FLEX - Ratings, Complaints and Recalls

The 2012 Ford Flex SUV FWD has not been rated for overall safety by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). However, it is equipped with standard electronic stability control, which is a positive feature for enhancing vehicle stability in various driving conditions. This model does not have forward collision warning or lane departure warning systems for added safety alerts.

In terms of specific ratings, the Ford Flex received a 4-star rating for rollover possibility, indicating a moderate risk of rollovers. While detailed crash ratings are not available, it's important to note that the lack of ratings does not necessarily mean the vehicle is unsafe, as some factors may not have been assessed or reported.

Furthermore, there have been 56 complaints reported for this model, which is relatively high. Additionally, there have been 2 recalls, suggesting that there have been identified issues that required corrective actions. It's crucial for owners of this vehicle to stay informed about any recalls and address them promptly to ensure the safety and reliability of their Ford Flex.

auto generated summary, may be inaccurate.

Top stats at a glance

Complaint Count

56

Recall Count

2

Investigation Count

0

Safety Rating

Not Rated

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Safety Features

2012 Ford Flex SUV FWD Safety Features

Here are the safety features that come as standard on the 2012 Ford Flex SUV FWD

Electronic Stability Control (ESC)

ESC is an advanced safety feature in vehicles designed to help drivers maintain control during challenging driving conditions. By continuously monitoring various factors such as steering angle, vehicle speed, and individual wheel speeds, ESC can detect and reduce the risk of skidding or loss of control. It achieves this by automatically applying brakes to specific wheels to stabilize the vehicle.

Standard
Forward Collision Warning (FCW)

Forward Collision Warning (FCW) is a safety feature in vehicles that helps prevent frontal collisions by alerting the driver of an imminent collision with a vehicle or obstacle ahead. Using sensors such as radar or cameras, FCW monitors the distance and speed of vehicles in front, and if it detects a potential collision, it provides visual and/or auditory warnings to prompt the driver to take evasive action.

No
Lane Departure Warning (LDW)

Lane Departure Warning (LDW) is a safety feature in vehicles that alerts drivers when their vehicle unintentionally drifts out of its lane without signaling. Utilizing cameras or sensors to monitor lane markings on the road, LDW detects when the vehicle crosses these lines and triggers visual, auditory, or haptic alerts to notify the driver of potential lane departure.

No

2012 Ford Flex SUV FWD Safety Ratings

Here we have the crash and rollover ratings for the 2012 Ford Flex SUV FWD Where possible we've included the ratings for the oldest and latest models of this car so you can compare how the safety ratings have changed over time.

Frontal Crash Ratings

Combines Driver and Passenger star ratings into a single frontal rating. The frontal barrier test simulates a head-on collision between two similar vehicles, each moving at 35 mph.

Test 2009 Score 2012 Score 2019 Score
Overall Front Crash Rating Not Rated Not Rated Not Rated
Front Crash Driver Side Rating 5 Not Rated Not Rated
Front Crash Passenger Side Rating 5 Not Rated Not Rated

Side Crash Ratings

Combines Side Barrier and Side Pole Star Ratings into a single side rating.

Test 2009 Score 2012 Score 2019 Score
Overall Side Crash Rating Not Rated Not Rated Not Rated
Side Crash Drivers Side Rating 5 Not Rated Not Rated
Side Crash Passenger Side Rating 5 Not Rated Not Rated
Combined Side Barrier Pole Rating - Front Not Rated Not Rated Not Rated
Combined Side Barrier Pole Rating - Rear Not Rated Not Rated Not Rated
Overall Side Barrier Rating Not Rated Not Rated Not Rated

Rollover Ratings

The Rollover Resistance test measures the risk of rollover in a single-vehicle, loss-of-control scenario.

Test 2009 Score 2012 Score 2019 Score
Rollover Rating 4 4 4
Rollover Possibility % 0% 0% 0%
Dynamic Tip Result No Tip No Tip No Tip
Side Pole Crash Rating Not Rated Not Rated Not Rated

Complaints for the 2012 Ford FLEX

This chart show the number of complaints for each car component. A Higher number of complaints could indicate that this car might have a common fault. Something to look out for when purchasing one.

Component Complaints

Choose a component to see what complaints people have made about them.

Complaint:
"the contact owns a 2012 ford flex. the contact stated while driving 60 mph, the steering wheel stiffened while attempting to steer the vehicle to the left. the power steering failure message was displayed. the contact used excessive force to steer the vehicle to the shoulder of the highway where the vehicle remained. the contact called the dealer and was informed that the vin was not included in nhtsa campaign number: 15v340000 (steering). the contact was referred to the manufacturer who then referred the contact to the nhtsa hotline for assistance. the vehicle was not repaired. the failure mileage was unknown."
Components Involved: STEERING
Date of incident: 2024-06-07
Complaint:
"vehicle power steering will stop working while driving and notification of (power steering assist failure) will appear. vehicle becomes extremely unsafe to operate as the steering wheel is very difficult to move. i reached out to ford and was advised that the recall for this was already repaired and a second recall was opened for vehicles that still had the issue. they advised that the recall only extended the warranty to 10 years and my vehicle is a few months past the 10 year mark with exceptions only made for mileage. my vehicle only has 48,000 miles."
Components Involved: STEERING
Date of incident: 2023-10-03
Complaint:
"the contact owns a 2017 ford flex. the contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the steering wheel started to wobble back and forth then up and down. the contact stated that the steering wheel started to shift upward and downward. no warning lights were illuminated. the dealer was not notified of the failure. the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. the manufacturer was not notified of the failure. the failure mileage was approximately 110,000."
Components Involved: STEERING
Date of incident: 2024-09-04
Complaint:
"recall on power steering rack and pinion but my model didn't get covered in this recall and this the second time my service advance track came on and it's totally hard to turn my steering and i took it to ford dealership in merced ca just to see if the cam turn off my service advance traction they said no because the rack and pinion is bad. . ....."
Components Involved: STEERING
Date of incident: 2022-01-08
Complaint:
"complete loss of power steering and steering effectiveness. warning message on display said “power steering assist fault”."
Components Involved: STEERING
Date of incident: 2024-05-03
Complaint:
"i went to my local dealership on request of the campaign recall for my associated vin the vehicle has a epas steering efforts details description epas steering efforts campaign# 15n01 i was driving and lost control because the power steering went out brought it to my local ford grieco fort lauderdale and they diagnosed it as a bad power steering rack pinion which was included in the vin report recall however they stated it's 5 months over expiration which it should of never expired since it's a really bad safety issue. i called ford directly they told me to contact you in regards to adding a valid recall back onto my vin"
Components Involved: STEERING
Date of incident: 2022-07-07
Complaint:
"wife returned to her car after a day of driving to find the power steering had suddenly stopped working. she decided to drive it home and it had moments where the power steering functioned and luckily she got it home. i contacted ford but they advised me that there is no active bulletin for this particular model so we would just need to fix it."
Components Involved: STEERING
Date of incident: 2021-10-09
Complaint:
"tl* the contact owns a 2012 ford flex. the contact stated that after entering the vehicle, the steering wheel seized. the contact stated that the power steering assist warning light was illuminated. the contact was able to disengage and drive. the contact stated she continued to experience the failure. the vehicle was not drivable. the vehicle was towed to local dealer penske ford located at 8970 la mesa blvd, la mesa, ca 91942, (619) 464-7777, where it was diagnosed with needing steering gear to be replaced. the vehicle had not been repaired as of yet. the manufacturer had been informed of failure. the failure mileage was 116,062. *dt"
Components Involved: STEERING
Date of incident: 2021-07-08
Complaint:
"i've had problems with power steering faulting. i've called dealer and they said they didn't know anything about it. i would turn off car and it would work again but now it won't. there is no power steering. this happened at home when i first turn on car"
Components Involved: STEERING
Date of incident: 2021-08-04
Complaint:
"tl* the contact owns a 2012 ford flex. the contact stated the steering wheel failed. the contact was unable to turn the steering wheel. there was no warning light before during or after the failure occurred. the contact waited a few minutes for the steering wheel to unlock. the contact spoke with (airport ford dealer 8001 burlington pike, florence ky 41042, (859)371-4750 regarding the failure. the dealer advised that there was an extended warranty for the steering rack and the repair was not performed until the steering wheel had completely failed. the vehicle was not repaired. the manufacturer was not contacted. the failure mileage was 59,620."
Components Involved: STEERING
Date of incident: 2021-11-01

Recalls for the 2012 Ford FLEX

Component Recalls

Choose a component to see what recalls people have made about them.

Recall:
"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.""
Consequence:
An improperly inflated air bag increases the risk of injury in the event of a crash.
Remedy:

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.

Component(s) Involved: AIR BAGS > FRONTAL
Date of incident: 2016-04-26

FORD Overall Complaint Ranking

This table shows the ranking of car manufacturers when it comes to most complaints and recalls. The manufacturer with the most complaints is at the top. However this doesn't necassarily mean they should be avoided. Some manufacturers might just have more popular or affordable cars which a lot of people have bought. Which means there's more scope for a complaint to be made. Use the ranking table below as a part your wider research into buying a car.

FORD ranks 1 out of 44 in the complaints ranking table.

Manufacturer Complaint Count Recall Count Ranking
FORD 208,358 3,259 1
CHEVROLET 111,306 2,082 2
TOYOTA 81,019 1,852 3
HONDA 61,937 1,268 4
NISSAN 56,226 930 5
DODGE 45,756 827 6
HYUNDAI 44,150 649 7
GMC 34,441 1,410 8
KIA 29,832 501 9
CHRYSLER 27,698 254 10
TESLA 26,230 730 11
BMW 24,890 1,877 12
VOLKSWAGEN 23,125 829 13
MERCEDES-BENZ 19,066 2,925 14
SUBARU 18,513 703 15
MAZDA 10,599 364 16
PONTIAC 10,430 138 17
CADILLAC 9,434 444 18
AUDI 7,865 1,093 19
BUICK 7,851 279 20
SATURN 7,672 84 21
MERCURY 7,374 135 22
LEXUS 6,373 408 23
LINCOLN 5,897 423 24
ACURA 5,722 382 25
MINI 5,585 366 26
INFINITI 4,000 187 27
MITSUBISHI 3,912 397 28
VOLVO 3,875 727 29
PORSCHE 2,646 1,231 30
SUZUKI 2,272 123 31
FIAT 2,205 80 32
SAAB 1,536 76 33
JAGUAR 1,195 198 34
SMART 528 17 35
GENESIS 436 42 36
ISUZU 249 37 37
ALFA ROMEO 161 37 38
MASERATI 76 46 39
BENTLEY 46 159 40
POLESTAR 42 2 41
LUCID 14 6 42
CODA 4 2 43
MAYBACH 0 0 44

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