NHTSA vehicle safety data

2018 Ford Flex Recalls, Ratings & Complaints

The 2018 Ford Flex has 3 NHTSA recall campaigns and 69 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 2018 Ford Flex, plus NCAP crash-test ratings. Recall data is refreshed daily from NHTSA.

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2018 Ford Flex owner complaints

Owners have filed 69 complaints with NHTSA about the 2018 Ford Flex, describing incidents dated November 27, 2017 to September 18, 2026.

Most-cited components

Unknown or Other 20 complaints
Structure 19 complaints
Back Over Prevention 14 complaints
Electrical System 12 complaints
Suspension 9 complaints
Air Bags 2 complaints

Of the 69 complaints on file, 7 report a crash; across all 69 complaints, owners report 1 injury (owner-reported, not verified by NHTSA).

Newest complaints

ODI #11772640 · Filed October 21, 2026
The contact owns a 2018 Ford Flex. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 25V829000 (Structure); however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The local dealer was contacted and had replaced the part on three separate occasions. The contact stated that the…
ODI #11770486 · Filed October 11, 2026
The radio/navigation system is having issues. Randomly the radio/nagvation system has a loud static crackling noise during use. It will make those sounds and then stops producing any kind of sounds of the speakers. No sound will come from the radio(fm, am, Bluetooth, aux, hands free calling or…
ODI #11766587 · Filed September 24, 2026
The driver side C pillar trim broke off while driving on the highway causing the debris to interrupt traffic.

Read all 69 complaints

NHTSA defect investigations

NHTSA's investigations file lists the 2018 Ford Flex in 1 investigation. A listed model year means only that an investigation names it; it says nothing about any particular vehicle. An open investigation is not a finding that a safety defect exists, and NHTSA can close one without a recall.

Preliminary Evaluation PE25-007: B-Pillar Trim Detachment
Closed August 5, 2026
- Recall 25V-732

Open and recently closed NHTSA defect investigations

Driver and Passenger Door Trim May Detach

NHTSA #25V732000 · Structure — Body · NHTSA notice

Reported October 24, 2025 · Ford Motor Company

Potentially affected: 92,347 vehicles

Completion not yet reported (dataset updated November 3, 2026)

Ford campaign 25SB8 · Recall influenced by NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation

Defect description

Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain 2017-2019 Flex vehicles. The driver and front passenger B-Pillar door trim may detach while driving.

Safety consequence

Door trim that detaches while driving can create a road hazard, increasing the risk of a crash.

Manufacturer remedy

Dealers will repair or replace the B-pillar trim as necessary, free of charge. Interim letters, notifying owners of the safety risk, were mailed December 17, 2025. Additional letters will be sent once the remedy is available, anticipated March 2027. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 25SB8. Vehicle Identification Numbers (VINs) involved in this recall became searchable on NHTSA.gov on October 28, 2025.

Rearview Camera Image May Not Display

NHTSA #25V695000 · Back Over Prevention — Sensing System — Camera · NHTSA notice

Reported October 13, 2025 · Ford Motor Company

Potentially affected: 1,448,655 vehicles

Repair completion: 1.33% (latest rate the manufacturer reported to NHTSA; dataset updated November 3, 2026)

Ford campaign 25SA9 · Owners notified January 2, 2026 · Recall influenced by NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation

Defect description

Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain 2015-2019 Flex, 2015 Explorer, Lincoln MKT, Lincoln MKZ, 2015-2016 C-Max, Escape, Taurus, 2016 Fusion, 2018-2019 Taurus, 2019 Lincoln MKT, Fiesta, and 2020 Mustang vehicles. The rearview camera may display a distorted, intermittent, or blank image when the vehicle is in reverse.

Safety consequence

A rearview camera that fails to properly display an image can reduce the driver’s view behind the vehicle, increasing the risk of a crash.

Manufacturer remedy

Dealers will inspect and replace the rearview camera as necessary, free of charge. This will be a phased campaign, with the remedy becoming available in different phases based on model and model years. Interim letters notifying owners of the safety risk were mailed on October 25, 2025. Additional letters will be mailed once the final remedy is available on each phase. Mustang owner notification letters were mailed January 2, 2026. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 25SA9. Vehicle Identification Numbers (VINs) involved in this recall became searchable on NHTSA.gov on October 14, 2025.

Rear Suspension Toe Links May Fracture

NHTSA #20V072000 · Suspension — Rear · NHTSA notice

Reported February 10, 2020 · Ford Motor Company

Potentially affected: 211,207 vehicles

Repair completion: 69.52% (latest rate the manufacturer reported to NHTSA; dataset updated November 3, 2026)

Ford campaign 20S04 · Owners notified October 28, 2020 · Vehicles built September 12, 2011 – June 1, 2017 (per NHTSA)

Defect description

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.

Safety consequence

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

Manufacturer 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.

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.

2018 Ford Flex SUV FWD

—

out of 5

Overall Safety Rating

Not Rated

Frontal Crash

Not Rated

Driver: Not Rated, Passenger: Not Rated

Side Crash

Not Rated

Driver: Not Rated, Passenger: Not Rated

Side Pole

Not Rated

Rollover

16% rollover risk

Safety Technology

Electronic Stability Control Forward Collision Warning (Optional)

1 investigation

2018 Ford Flex SUV AWD

—

out of 5

Overall Safety Rating

Not Rated

Frontal Crash

Not Rated

Driver: Not Rated, Passenger: Not Rated

Side Crash

Not Rated

Driver: Not Rated, Passenger: Not Rated

Side Pole

Not Rated

Rollover

15% rollover risk

Safety Technology

Electronic Stability Control Forward Collision Warning (Optional)

1 investigation

69 owner complaints have been filed with NHTSA for the 2018 Ford Flex.

Structure

ODI #11772640

Incident: December 1, 2025 · Filed: October 21, 2026

The contact owns a 2018 Ford Flex. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 25V829000 (Structure); however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The local dealer was contacted and had replaced the part on three separate occasions. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The failure mileage was 70,000.

Unknown or Other

ODI #11770486

Incident: June 11, 2026 · Filed: October 11, 2026

The radio/navigation system is having issues. Randomly the radio/nagvation system has a loud static crackling noise during use. It will make those sounds and then stops producing any kind of sounds of the speakers. No sound will come from the radio(fm, am, Bluetooth, aux, hands free calling or navigation). At the times even the sounds from pushing button will not work either. This is issue will carry on for days sometimes weeks. And randomly will start working again. When the issue do the radio not producing sound, navigation sounds or hands free talking sounds it won’t let you switch from radio to any other music feature. It acts like you didn’t push anything. It will only for a period of time and then it’ll start again. This presents you from using hands free talking, and navigation.

Unknown or Other

ODI #11766587

Incident: August 28, 2026 · Filed: September 24, 2026

The driver side C pillar trim broke off while driving on the highway causing the debris to interrupt traffic.

Electrical System; Unknown or Other

ODI #11765293

Incident: September 18, 2026 · Filed: September 18, 2026

I own a 2018 Ford Flex, VIN 2FMGK5D8XJBA07166, with two open safety recalls Ford cannot repair: 25SA9 (rear view camera, NHTSA 25V695) and 25SB8 (B-pillar trim, NHTSA 25V829). My rear view camera has been completely inoperative for two years — it has not worked at all since mid-2024. On 7/12/2024 a Ford dealer verified the failure (repair order 568991), over a year before Ford issued recall 25SA9 in 10/2025. On 9/10/2026 Ford left me a voicemail stating there are no updates for 25SA9 and the 25SB8 remedy is not expected until Q1 2027 — over 15 months away. I have driven 2+ years with no functioning backup camera on a vehicle Ford knows is recalled. I request NHTSA treat this as a failure to provide a timely remedy and require Ford to provide an interim remedy or alternate vehicle and accelerate the repair timeline.

Unknown or Other

ODI #11762278

Incident: September 4, 2026 · Filed: September 4, 2026

There's been a recall for the rear backup camera since October of last year. Although there hasn't been any particular incidents, there's been some close calls because the fix is still not available. Any help would be appreciated

Back Over Prevention

ODI #11762143

Incident: October 4, 2025 · Filed: September 4, 2026

The contact owns a 2018 Ford Flex. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 26V695000 (Back Over Prevention); however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The contact stated that while reversing, the rear-view camera displayed a black image. The vehicle was taken to two dealers, but the vehicle was not repaired due to parts not being available. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The failure mileage was approximately 103,000.

Unknown or Other

ODI #11761319

Incident: August 1, 2026 · Filed: September 1, 2026

Rear passenger door fails to latch properly. The door falls open on left turn.Warnings are unclear or non-existant

Structure; Back Over Prevention

ODI #11760123

Incident: August 27, 2026 · Filed: August 27, 2026

The contact owns a 2018 Ford Flex. The contact stated that while attempting to reverse, the rearview camera became inoperable. The contact stated that the rearview camera image would appear blank and other times the camera not available warning message would display. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Numbers: 25V829000 (Structure) and 25V695000 (Back Over Prevention) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The dealer was not contacted. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 150,000

Electrical System; Unknown or Other; Lane Departure

ODI #11741171

Incident: October 13, 2025 · Filed: May 31, 2026

Recall has not been remedied, and it has been over six months.I was told it would be remedied by june or ford would be held accountable for compensating for repairs on the.Recall. #25SA9/25v695 The recall addresses the camera for backing up witch is still not functioning in a safety risk.

Suspension; Service Brakes

ODI #11740622

Incident: May 22, 2026 · Filed: May 28, 2026

Wile driving 40 mph, the right rear tire locked up and I had to counter steer aggressively to avoid spinning out and hitting oncoming traffic. The car was flat bed delivered to Ford and they recommended the following repairs. "Control Arm- Rear: rear suspension lateral links. The rear upper and lower control arms not only provide suspension travel but also secure the rear end to the vehicle." "*Tires - 4: passenger rear inner sidewall damaged."

Other Ford Flex model years

Check your 2018 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.

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