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2009 Ford Flex

Owner reports · Recalls · Investigations

Similar to other model years

Owner complaints for the 2009 Ford Flex do not stand out strongly from the model-year median of 139.

About this comparison →

When problems were reported

Mileage at the reported incident

150 reports with mileage · 31 unknown

NHTSA’s mileage field refers to the reported incident, not necessarily the filing date. This shows report counts, not the likelihood of a failure.

What to inspect

Issues worth paying extra attention to based on owner reports.

  • Engine. Review the 36 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →
  • Electrical System. Review the 32 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →
  • Power Train. Review the 23 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →

NHTSA owner reports · September 18, 2026 snapshot.

7 crash reports2 fire reports5 injury reports

What owners actually said

181 reports
Mileage unknown · Jul 17, 2026
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…

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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 load. We were not informed of this issue at sale. To make the vehicle safe to drive, I replaced all 4 tires at my cost. Improper load-rated tires can result in tire failure, loss of vehicle control, and crash. Dealer sold vehicle "as-is" without disclosure of this safety defect.

NHTSA ODI #11750984

Mileage unknown · Dec 9, 2025
Electrical SystemUnknown 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 inter…

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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 someone said to beat on the passenger side floorboard, I called my wife and told her to try that, and when she did the car would start. It doesn't do it all the time, you never know when it's going to happen. We have to just stomp on the passenger floor to get everything to start working again. If I had not found this information from somebody else on the internet my wife would have been stuck about a hundred miles from home. I've taken it to the Ford house and they say they've never heard of anything like this but I know it's happened before two other people that's how I knew to stomp on the floorboard on the passenger side.

NHTSA ODI #11704068

Mileage unknown · Mar 9, 2025
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…

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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 side sitting on rear spring, potentially causing spring to rust prematurely.

NHTSA ODI #11647208

Mileage unknown · May 27, 2023
Electrical SystemUnknown 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 …

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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 ownership of this and issue a recall. There’s a tire pressure sensor failure as well.

NHTSA ODI #11524140

Mileage unknown · Apr 22, 2023
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.

NHTSA ODI #11518395

Mileage unknown · Jun 16, 2022
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.

NHTSA ODI #11469695

Mileage unknown · Mar 25, 2022
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…

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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 toe link had broke. Supposedly our vehicle year is not part of the recall, I think it should be. Thank you

NHTSA ODI #11458320

160,000 miles · Jul 19, 2021
Service Brakes, Hydraulic

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 s…

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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 brake pedal would extend to the floor and the vehicle would not immediately stop. The contact determined that the brake booster was faulty and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not yet repaired. The manufacturer and an unknown dealer were notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 160,000.

NHTSA ODI #11425398

Mileage unknown · May 19, 2021
EnginePower TrainVehicle 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. Thi…

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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 over and over in online forums. The safety issue is that it has happened on the freeway several times while traveling at a high rate of speed. The car loses power, and you cannot accelerate. You have to find a way to stop immediately, put the car in park (and listen to the transmission clunk) and turn it off. This last instance put me in harms way on the freeway. The car lost power while traveling 70mph. I immediately lost speed and had to cross 3 lanes of traffic to pull over to turn the car off. All of the forums talk about the throttle body, but everyone says that’s not the issue. The OSS and TSS sensors are also discussed. The dealerships cannot find out what’s wrong because once the car is turned off and restarted, any codes are erased. The issue persists, and the car keeps losing power wherever and whenever. I am referencing the most recent incident on this form, however, this has happened at least 12 times since September, 2020. Please, please force a recall on this issue!

NHTSA ODI #11417809

138,000 miles · Mar 24, 2021
Engine

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…

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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 ONLY TO START LUNGING FORWARD EVEN WHILE BRAKING. IF I WERE IN TRAFFIC OR AT A STOP LIGHT OR SIGN, I WOULD HAVE SURELY HIT THE PERSON(S) IN FRONT OR BEHIND ME. LATER MY WIFE EXPLAINED TO ME THIS HAPPENED WHILE DRIVING ON THE INTERSTATE AND SHE HAD A HARD TIME CONTROLLING THE SPEED, DUE TO REVVING, EVEN WHILE USING THE BRAKE. SHE MANAGED TO TAKE AN EXIT RAMP INTO A LARGE PARKING LOT USING EXTREME BRAKING (FORCEFUL) AND SHUT THE CAR OFF. SHE WAS ABLE TO MAKE IT HOME SHORTLY THEREAFTER. I WAITED UNTIL AFTER 8PM TO DRIVE WHEN THERE WAS LITTLE OR NO TRAFFIC TO DRIVE TO THE CLOSEST CAR REPAIR SHOP TO DROP IT OFF AND THERE HAPPENED TO BE A MECHANIC LEAVING AS I WAS PULLING UP. I DESCRIBED THE PROBLEM AND HE MENTIONED THAT IT WAS A DEFINITELY A SAFETY ISSUE AND ADVISED NOT TO DRIVE IT UNTIL IT GOT DIAGNOSED & REPAIRED. I'VE OWNED A LOT OF CARS IN MY LIFE AND EXPERIENCING UNCONTROLLABLE REVVING WHILST THE TRANSMISSION IS ENGAGED IS A FRIGHTENING EXPERIENCE. LUCKILY WE KEPT OUR WITS AND WERE ABLE TO RECOVER. I ALSO SEE WHERE THIS HAS ALREADY BEEN REPORTED ON THIS SITE. THIS IS A REAL SAFETY ISSUE AND I'M THANKFUL NO ONE WAS INJURED LAST NIGHT, INCLUDING MY WIFE AND CHILDREN. PLEASE, PLEASE CHECK INTO THIS AS THIS IS NOT NORMAL BEHAVIOR AND A SERIOUS SAFETY CONCERN.

NHTSA ODI #11404610

Official recalls

1

16V247000 · Air Bags:frontal

Apr 26, 2016

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 & remedy

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.

Model-level recall history does not show whether a particular VIN is affected or has received a repair. Check a VIN with NHTSA ↗

NHTSA investigations

0

No exact-year investigations in this snapshot.