Flex - Good or Bad?
 

I just bought a 08 Expedition EL for my family of 5.

Great overall vehicle, but it had some paint issues. We were trying to do a buyback and ended up test driving a 09 Flex AWD Limited.


The Flex seemed to be exactly what our needs are, and the price was about $5,000 less than my Expy EL Limited was.



So, how are they holding up? My wife fell in love, so I'll be buying a 2010/2011 model.

Looking for real world opinions. I know Ford has issues sometimes with the 1st year

The Flex is sharing the powertrain with several other Ford models and all are doing well. Models with AWD made before a certain date were having issues with the PTO seal, this issue has since been resolved. Ford has built a winner that is far tougher than the current minivans.

They are great vehicles, I am a lot guy at the local ford dealership and we have seen none in for anything more than maintence. But I would hold out for the ecoboosted model.

thanks...and I am waiting for the Ecoboost. 260 HP V-6 is awesome...but 300+ is even better


and it helps me with a little rule I have for vehicles. "V-8's only"...but I can twist it since the 3.5 has almost as much HP as a V-8

You're getting rid of your Expy for paint issues???:eek:

no...but I am not happy with the damn thing right now. It's actually at the Dealership right now for repairs...2nd time around


but when we test drove a Flex, my wife fell in love with it. So I'm going to buy her one next year, and I'm getting the Expy as my Daily Driver.

I got a great deal on the Expy...but no way my pocketbook could handle doing a trade-in right now with me having just bought it.

We've got over 11,000 miles on our Flex and we love it! The only issue was a bad sending unit for the gas gauge. Other than that, it has been trouble free!

Go for it!

Hey Tylus - off topic, but are you sub or surface? one of my best buddies just retired out of pearl as a nuke enge on a fast attack.

On topic - wow it seems like the newer expeditions and f150's are having random issues. I've got a 1998 with over 110K on it and no major problems that wheren't fix-able in the driveway.

I think the flex is based on the fusion / milan chassis, isn't it? not that it really matters, unless you need to tow!

The flex is based off the taurus/ mks chassis.

The flex is based off the taurus/ mks chassis.

The Edge is based on the Fusion/Milan platform.

I don't think it is, because it has the 3.5L and until 2010 Fusion you couldn't get the 3.5L.

...unless you get the Sport package.

http://www.fordvehicles.com/cars/fusion/models/

We've had our going on a year, and multiple thumbs up! Highly recommended. What tipped us was the towing capcity, 4500 lbs. To be honest, I have not towed with it yet, so no real world reports on that. Rock solid, no repairs, oil changes only.

Archie

We traded our 07 Edge SEL+ for an 09 Flex Limited. The wife only has just over 3000 miles on the Flex in almost 4 months, but she has had no issues with it at all.

The biggest complaints I have about the 09 Flex is the lack of being able to select gears, only has drive and first, and no telescopic steering wheel. For 2010 they fix the telescopic steering wheel in all models and the Ecoboost model gets selectable gears via. steering wheel shift padels.

We are getting better then expected MPG. Our Edge, we traded, got 22-23 on the hiway, but the Flex is getting 24-25+ mpg. We drove from Central Iowa to Denver and got 25.4 mpg on the way out and 25.2 on the way back, and that was going 79 mph (gps).

I have towed 2000# with the Flex for about 100 miles and didn't even know it was back there. If you get the trailer tow package you get the class III hitch, 4 pin and 7 pin wiring harnesses and engine and tranny coolers. And if you do need to hook up trailer brake controler the wires are already under the dash.

The Expy will have a little more interior room, but the Flex is much easier to drive, park, and everyday live with. I also give our Flex multiple thumbs up. I wish we would have waited for the Ecoboost engine, but the natrual 3.5 does good and has enough power for 99% of the time. Plus if the Flex had more power I would be using it and would probably be getting a lot worse MPG.