2013 Ford Flex
Complaints about this year name door far more often than the model's other years — 46% of them, about 8× the usual rate of 5.9%.
NHTSA opened a defect investigation into this model year.
| Complaints filed | 578 |
|---|---|
| Median for this model | 139 |
| Involving a crash | 11 |
| Involving a fire | 1 |
| Recalls | 6 |
| EPA combined | 19 mpg |
What the complaints were about
- ajar — 30.6% of this year's complaints, against 0.8% across the model's other years (37×). Owners wrote it as: ajar, door ajar, ajar warning, ajar light.
- door — 45.5% of this year's complaints, against 5.9% across the model's other years (7.7×).
- closed — 27.7% of this year's complaints, against 2.8% across the model's other years (10.1×). Owners wrote it as: closed, door closed, alarm goes, closing.
Words owners used for the same problem are counted together, so a fault written four different ways is measured once. Grouped by which complaints they appear in, not by a list anyone wrote in advance.
Also unusual this year
- door ajar — 27% of complaints, 32× usual
- doors — 24% of complaints, 28× usual
- closed — 22% of complaints, 15× usual
What owners wrote
DEFECTIVE DOOR LATCH. THE LATCH REPORTS "DOOR AJAR" WHEN DOOR IS CLOSED, UNLOCKING ALL DOORS AT ALL TIMES.
SEVERAL DOOR LATCH SENSORS MALFUNCTIONING. THEY STATE "DOOR AJAR" WHEN DOORS ARE CLOSED. PREVENTS DOORS FROM LOCKING WHILE OPERATING VEHICLE.
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint filings, with identifying details removed.
Recalls for this year
- 16V621000 FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE Fixed free of charge.
- 15V812000 FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE Fixed free of charge.
- 15V340000 STEERING Fixed free of charge.
- 14V393000 POWER TRAIN Fixed free of charge.
- 13V227000 FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE Fixed free of charge.
- 20V072000 SUSPENSION Fixed free of charge.
How this was worked out
Every year of the Ford Flex was compared against its own history rather than against other cars, which removes popularity and age from the answer — a common car draws more complaints at equal reliability, and an older one has had longer to accumulate them. A year is flagged when it drew at least 2.5× this model's median and at least 50 complaints.
This is a fault record, not a review. Nobody files a federal complaint to say the car was fine, so it shows what tends to go wrong — not whether owners liked it, and not whether it is a good car.
Source: NHTSA complaints, recalls and investigations, retrieved . Look this vehicle up directly on NHTSA's site to check anything here.
Own a 2013 Ford Flex? What happened to yours?
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