2018 Ford FLEX - Ratings, Complaints and Recalls

The 2018 Ford Flex SUV FWD does not have an overall safety rating available from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). However, it does have a 4 out of 5 rating for rollover possibility, indicating a relatively low risk of rollovers.

In terms of safety features, the Ford Flex comes standard with electronic stability control, which can help drivers maintain control in challenging driving conditions. Additionally, it offers an optional forward collision warning system, which alerts drivers of potential frontal collisions.

While the vehicle does not come with a lane departure warning system, it does have some safety features that can enhance the overall safety of the vehicle.

In regards to complaints and recalls, the Ford Flex has 20 complaints reported and 1 recall issued. It's important for owners to stay informed about any potential issues and ensure that any recalls are promptly addressed to maintain the safety of the vehicle.

Top stats at a glance

Complaint Count

20

Recall Count

1

Investigation Count

0

Safety Rating

Not Rated

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Safety Features

2018 Ford Flex SUV FWD Safety Features

Here are the safety features that come as standard on the 2018 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.

Optional
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

2018 Ford Flex SUV FWD Safety Ratings

Here we have the crash and rollover ratings for the 2018 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 2018 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 2018 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 2018 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 2018 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 2018 ford flex. the contact stated while driving 30 mph, the contact lost control of the vehicle with an unknown yellow warning light on the instrument panel. the contact's partner was called to the scene and upon inspection of the vehicle, both rear wheels were misaligned. due to the failure, the vehicle was towed to a dealer where it was diagnosed with a fractured toe link. upon investigation, the contact discovered nhtsa campaign number: 20v072000 (suspension) which was linked to the failure. the dealer and the manufacturer were notified of the recall. the contact was informed that the vin was not included in the recall and a case was filed with the manufacturer. the vehicle was not repaired and remained in the possession of the dealer. the failure mileage was approximately 83,000."
Components Involved: SUSPENSION
Date of incident: 2026-02-01

Complaint:
"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."
Components Involved: SUSPENSION
Date of incident: 2023-06-11

Complaint:
"the contact owns a 2018 ford flex. the contact stated while driving approximately 60 mph, the suspension suddenly failed causing the rear end of the vehicle to become unstable and the vehicle fishtailed. the driver was able to drive to the side of the roadway and stopped the vehicle. the vehicle was towed to the residence and upon inspection it was discovered that the rear passenger’s side toe link had fractured. the local dealer was contacted and confirmed that the vehicle was not included in nhtsa campaign number: 20v072000 (suspension). the contact indicated that the vehicle had experienced the same failure listed in the recall. the failure mileage was 57,000."
Components Involved: SUSPENSION
Date of incident: 2023-05-09

Complaint:
"the contact's wife owns a 2018 ford flex. the contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the front driver's and passenger's side wheels went left while turning left; however, the rear driver's and passenger's side wheels were going in the opposite direction. the vehicle was taken to the dealer; however, the vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired. the manufacturer was made aware of the failure and advised the contact to file a complaint with the nhtsa. the contact related the failure to nhtsa campaign number: 20v072000 (suspension) however, the vin was not included in the recall. the failure mileage was approximately 70,000."
Components Involved: SUSPENSION
Date of incident: 2024-04-05

Complaint:
"toe link snapped. driver rear.. then passenger rear a few weeks later. the driver almost lost control of vehicle."
Components Involved: SUSPENSION
Date of incident: 2021-08-10

Complaint:
"on 7-28-21, the right rear toe link broke while i was driving, the wheel was sticking out and could not be driven. i have the old broken part and loose part. on 7-30-21, i had the broken part on right rear replaced and the left rear part was loose and replaced also. as far as safety goes, it had to be towed to shop to get off the road, and could not drive. on 6-17-21, i took my car to tom holzer ford in farmington hills, mi, to be inspected, because i was hearing a clunking noise on the right back side of the vehicle. after the serviceman at tom holzer test drove the car, they informed me the steering and suspension were okay. i have the paperwork stating it was okay. i have been leasing this car for 3 years and was now going to buy the car after my lease was done. i took it in to make sure, if there was a problem, it would be taken care of under 3 year warranty. i purchased the flex on 7-19-21. and on 7-28-21, the toe link broke. i was not told that i should have taken it to a ford dealer, if something broke. but i did ask my salesman, at the time i bought the car, if they would take care of the problem, if something broke in the near future. he said to contact him, and he would see what would they could do. i had to pay $95.00, to tow it 5 miles, to white lake auto repair, which is 1 mile from my house. the total of the repair was $485.00, completed on 7-30-21. the service manager, at tom holzer, said ford will not reimburse me. he said i should have brought the car to their dealership. my husband worked for ford for 42 years. we have been a loyal ford family all these years, and have never had a problem like this. being that i had the car checked out before the 3 year warranty, and the service department said it was okay, i feel i should be reimbursed for the repair, whether i took it to them, or to a repair shop near my home, which we totally trust. also, there were no warning lights or messages that came on in the car."
Components Involved: SUSPENSION
Date of incident: 2023-04-07

Recalls for the 2018 Ford FLEX

Component Recalls

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

Recall:
"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."
Consequence:
A fractured rear toe link will cause a sudden change in vehicle handling and increase the risk of a crash.
Remedy:

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 is 20S04.

Component(s) Involved: SUSPENSION > REAR
Date of incident: 2020-02-10

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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