NHTSA vehicle safety data

2010 Ford Flex Recalls, Ratings & Complaints

The 2010 Ford Flex has 1 NHTSA recall campaign and 139 owner complaints on file as of November 3, 2026. Recall repairs are usually free at an authorized Ford dealer.

NHTSA recall and complaint data for the 2010 Ford Flex, plus NCAP crash-test ratings. Recall data is refreshed daily from NHTSA.

Pre-purchase inspection checklist → Reliability & 5-year cost forecast →

2010 Ford Flex owner complaints

Owners have filed 139 complaints with NHTSA about the 2010 Ford Flex, describing incidents dated November 11, 2009 to September 18, 2025.

Most-cited components

Engine 38 complaints
Steering 32 complaints
Fuel/Propulsion System 16 complaints
Service Brakes 16 complaints
Electrical System 13 complaints
Power Train 12 complaints

Of the 139 complaints on file, 9 report a crash and 2 a fire; across all 139 complaints, owners report 4 injuries (owner-reported, not verified by NHTSA).

Newest complaints

ODI #11688616 · Filed September 20, 2025
Leaving home to go to the grocery store and as I exited my street a dash warning came on stating "Power Steering Assist" fault Steering wheel locked up making it impossible for me to steer. Fortunately this happened in a spot where there was no other traffic and I was able to just turn off the car…
ODI #11668438 · Filed June 22, 2025
On the road and power steering went out and was super hard to turn
ODI #11630519 · Filed December 13, 2024
Water ingress into rear side door latch - froze - door opened while car was in motion

Read all 139 complaints

Owner-reported

2010 Ford Flex mileage at failure

112 of the 139 complaints on file for the 2010 Ford Flex give the vehicle's mileage when the problem happened.

Mileage at failure by component, from owners' complaints to NHTSA
Component	Median	Middle half	Based on
Engine	Median 70,000 miles	Middle half 25,000–110,000 miles	Based on 32 complaints

A component's median is its 50th percentile, and its middle half runs from its 25th to its 75th percentile.

Owners give the mileage themselves, often as a round number, and NHTSA doesn't check it. A complaint that names several components counts under each one, and mileages that can't be right, such as 999,999, or 50 miles on a five-year-old car, are left out.

These figures describe the complaints owners filed. They don't predict when a particular vehicle will have a problem, and vehicles that never had one aren't counted.

Mileage from NHTSA's complaints file of October 31, 2026. How these figures are worked out

Air Bag Second Stage may not Inflate Properly

NHTSA #16V247000 · Air Bags — Frontal · NHTSA notice

Reported April 26, 2016 · Ford Motor Company

Potentially affected: 695 vehicles

Repair completion: 84.32% (latest rate the manufacturer reported to NHTSA; dataset updated November 3, 2026)

Ford campaign 16C06 · Owners notified June 9, 2016 · Vehicles built June 17, 2008 – October 6, 2011 (per NHTSA)

Defect description

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."

Safety consequence

An improperly inflated air bag increases the risk of injury in the event of a crash.

Manufacturer 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.

Notes

Owners may also contact the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Vehicle Safety Hotline at 1-888-327-4236 (TTY 1-800-424-9153), or go to www.safercar.gov.

2010 Ford Flex 4-DR. w/SAB

—

out of 5

Overall Safety Rating

Not Rated

Frontal Crash

Not Rated

Driver: 5, Passenger: 5

Side Crash

Not Rated

Driver: 5, Passenger: 5

Side Pole

Not Rated

Rollover

15% rollover risk

Safety Technology

Electronic Stability Control

139 owner complaints have been filed with NHTSA for the 2010 Ford Flex.

Steering

ODI #11688616

Incident: September 18, 2025 · Filed: September 20, 2025

Leaving home to go to the grocery store and as I exited my street a dash warning came on stating "Power Steering Assist" fault Steering wheel locked up making it impossible for me to steer. Fortunately this happened in a spot where there was no other traffic and I was able to just turn off the car and restart and the message was gone and my steering was restored. I am now terrified to drive my car because if this had happened in traffic there could have been a serious accident because steering capability was non existent. . In reading online this is a very common problem with my make and model and apparently there was a recall by Ford for 2011 and later cars but not 2010 even though it is a "known problem" at dealerships. For me this now seems intermittent but in calling the dealership they know of the issue. It would cost me about $2200 to fix. I am happy to provide my vehicle for inspection. Thank you so much for your help ... greatly appreciated

Steering

ODI #11668438

Incident: June 22, 2025 · Filed: June 22, 2025

On the road and power steering went out and was super hard to turn

Structure

ODI #11630519

Incident: December 13, 2024 · Filed: December 13, 2024

Water ingress into rear side door latch - froze - door opened while car was in motion

Steering

ODI #11601196

Incident: July 11, 2024 · Filed: July 11, 2024

The contact owns a 2010 Ford Flex. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, there was a metal clicking and scraping sound coming from underneath the vehicle. In addition, the contact stated that the wheels felt loose. The contact stated that a nearby driver informed her that sparks were coming from underneath the vehicle. The contact drove the vehicle to the shoulder of the road. The contact stated that a nearby driver identified that the rack and pinion had detached. In addition, the power steering fluid had leaked out onto the ground. The contact was driving on a busy highway during the failure occurred. The contact stated that her grandchildren were in the vehicle when the failure occurred. The vehicle was towed to the residence. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired by an independent mechanic or the dealer. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure but provided no assistance. The contact was advised to contact the NHTSA Hotline to report the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 119,000.

Suspension

ODI #11582315

Crash

Incident: March 31, 2024 · Filed: April 11, 2024

While traveling at highway speeds 75+ a loud bang and then control of vehicle was hard to keep on road, swerved left then right, left rear quarter panel hit guard rail and caused car to spin around and went sideways and backwards down a 30 ft embankment. Fortunately did not roll. left side tires came off of rims and damage to driver side door was done. Highway Patrol had car towed to holding lot, where I then got car towed to my mechanic. The left side Lateral stabilizer Rod had broken due to rusted part, causing left rear wheel to go out of alignment. The rubber boot on the rod was attached, rust was internal would never had known about a problem. Had both lateral rods replaced tires re-balanced and alignment done.

Steering

ODI #11578913

Incident: March 20, 2024 · Filed: March 22, 2024

Vehicle loses power steering intermittently upon vehicle startup as well as in motion. Vehicle is then extremely hard to control without power steering. Message " POWER STEERING ASSIST FAULT" prints to the instrument cluster above the steering wheel. Turning the vehicle off and back on may resolve problem but it returns within a couple key cycles.

Service Brakes, Hydraulic

ODI #11578032

Incident: March 18, 2022 · Filed: March 18, 2024

The contact owns a 2010 Ford Flex. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the brakes seized. There was no warning light illuminated. The contact was unable to pull to the side of the road. The contact stated that the vehicle responded as needed after waiting for a while. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, where the brake master cylinder, the brake booster, the vacuum pump, the brake calipers, the brake check valve, the brakes lines, and the brake pedal sensor were replaced. Additionally, the ECM was replaced and reprogrammed; however, the failure persisted. The contact stated that the failure occurred when the brake fluid was hot after driving 15-20 miles. The dealer was not notified of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact related the failure to an unknown recall. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and a case was opened. The failure mileage was approximately 102,000.

Engine and Engine Cooling

ODI #11552870

Incident: September 4, 2023 · Filed: October 31, 2023

The contact owns a 2010 Ford Flex. The contact stated while driving 50 MPH, the steering wheel became firm, and the vehicle lost motive power. The contact pulled over to the side of the road and was able to restart the vehicle after 3 attempts. No warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic to be diagnosed. The contact was informed that the failure was due to the oil mixing with the coolant. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and determined that the vehicle was not under warranty. The failure mileage was approximately 148,000.

Power Train

ODI #11512893

Incident: March 20, 2023 · Filed: March 20, 2023

While driving car suddenly losses power and the wrench light comes on. Loss of power with the car transmission wont move the car at all. have to pull over and turn off car about 5min then start it back up and now everything works with no codes. Happened 3 times.VERY DANGEROUS BECUASE CAR LOSSES POWER AND CARS BEHIND YOU ALMOST HITS YOU.

Electrical System; Visibility

ODI #11512622

Incident: March 15, 2020 · Filed: March 19, 2023

constant failure of the blend door actuator causes a clicking noise in the cabin upon starting the vehicle, or switching from vent mode to defrost mode. Also happens intermittently when activating the air conditioning. the clicking is loud enough to be heard from outside the vehicle. Unit has been replaced 4 times in 2 years. usually only lasts about a month before the unit starts to click again.

Other Ford Flex model years

Check your 2010 Ford Flex VIN

Not every recall applies to every VIN in a given year. Enter the 17-character VIN from your Ford Flex at nhtsa.gov/recalls to see whether your specific vehicle has an unrepaired recall.

Check a Ford VIN