AutoUtility currently tracks 96 official NHTSA owner defect complaints for the 2016 Ford Flex. Driver Assistance & Safety Tech issues are the most frequently reported category, appearing in 31 complaints (32.3% of submitted records). Among these NHTSA complaint records, 4 filings cite a crash, 2 report one or more injuries.
- • Total NHTSA Complaints: 96 reports
- • #1 Reported Problem Area: Driver Assistance & Safety Tech (31 reports • 32.3% of submitted complaints)
- • Secondary Problem Areas: Electrical System (23), Body & Structure (11)
- • Crash-Citing Complaints: 4 filings
- • Fire-Citing Complaints: 0 filings
- • Complaints Reporting Injuries / Fatalities: 2 injury filings • 0 fatality filings
Most Reported Problems for 2016 Ford Flex
Top automotive subsystem defect categories ranked by unique owner complaint volume in federal records
Driver Assistance & Safety Tech
NHTSA records list 1 official safety recall campaign for this model year involving the same broad component area:
- Campaign #25V695000 BACK OVER PREVENTION: SENSING SYSTEM: CAMERA
Electrical System
Body & Structure
Suspension
NHTSA records list 1 official safety recall campaign for this model year involving the same broad component area:
- Campaign #20V072000 SUSPENSION:REAR
Steering System
Symptoms Mentioned in NHTSA Owner Reports for 2016 Ford Flex
Specific mechanical, electrical, and driver-assist defect symptoms identified via deterministic narrative analysis
AutoUtility uses deterministic phrase matching to identify recurring symptom descriptions within consumer-submitted NHTSA complaint narratives.
Loss of Motive Power While Driving
Recent NHTSA Owner Reports for 2016 Ford Flex
Representative defect filings submitted by owners to the NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation
"The car is experiencing turbo failure that lines up with the recall for the same model vehicle produced within the same 2016-2017 date. But for some reason this vin isnt included in the recall"
"Radio making crackling noises, screen goes blank, cannot control a/c from touch screen and causes the a/c not to work on front vents. Vehicle inside died while the engine was still running in traffic and was unable to start/stop vehicle from running, a/c ran hot then vehicle stop running."
"There is a current recall on the backup camera that has been pending since 2025. Parts are still not available as of today even though Ford stated parts and instructions were going to be available before end of 2nd quarter, June 30, 2026. Camera has not worked since mid 2025, Ford has been aware..."
"The contact owns a 2016 Ford Flex. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Numbers: 25V695000 (Back Over Prevention) and 25V829000 (Structure); however, parts for the recall repairs were unavailable. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for..."
"The contact owns a 2016 Ford Flex. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 25V695000 (Back Over Prevention). The rearview camera became intermittently inoperative. The contact stated that the intermittent failure made it difficult to safely reverse the vehicle while the rearview..."
Complaint History for Ford Flex
Reported defect complaint volume across sibling model years (2015–2019)
| Model Year | NHTSA Complaints | Crash Reports | Safety Recalls | Detailed Report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 Ford Flex | 105 | 0 | 4 | View 2015 Problems → |
| 2016 Ford Flex Current Page | 96 | 4 | 3 | Current |
| 2017 Ford Flex | 42 | 2 | 4 | View 2017 Problems → |
| 2018 Ford Flex | 62 | 7 | 3 | View 2018 Problems → |
| 2019 Ford Flex | 238 | 4 | 4 | View 2019 Problems → |
Detailed NHTSA Component Breakdown for 2016 Ford Flex
Complete distribution of consumer defect reports across all 37 granular NHTSA system and subsystem classifications
| Vehicle Component / System | Total Complaints | Crash Reports | Fire Reports | Reported Injury Entries | Reported Fatality Entries |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Back Over Prevention / Camera NHTSA category: BACK OVER PREVENTION | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Electrical System NHTSA category: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Suspension NHTSA category: SUSPENSION | 9 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Other / Uncategorized NHTSA category: UNKNOWN OR OTHER | 9 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Powertrain NHTSA category: POWER TRAIN | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,BACK OVER PREVENTION | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Steering NHTSA category: STEERING | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Doors, Latches & Locks NHTSA category: LATCHES/LOCKS/LINKAGES | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Seat Belts NHTSA category: SEAT BELTS | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Engine NHTSA category: ENGINE | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| STEERING,ELECTRONIC STABILITY CONTROL (ESC) | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Structure & Body NHTSA category: STRUCTURE | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| STRUCTURE,BACK OVER PREVENTION | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Vehicle Speed Control NHTSA category: VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| BACK OVER PREVENTION,UNKNOWN OR OTHER | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,STRUCTURE | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,STRUCTURE,BACK OVER PREVENTION | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,STRUCTURE,ENGINE | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,UNKNOWN OR OTHER | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,UNKNOWN OR OTHER,BACK OVER PREVENTION | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,VISIBILITY/WIPER,LANE DEPARTURE | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| ELECTRONIC STABILITY CONTROL (ESC) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Engine & Cooling NHTSA category: ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| ENGINE,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| ENGINE,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Lane Departure Warning NHTSA category: LANE DEPARTURE | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| POWER TRAIN,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,ENGINE | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| POWER TRAIN,ENGINE,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Service Brakes NHTSA category: SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC,VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| STEERING,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| STRUCTURE,UNKNOWN OR OTHER | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| SUSPENSION,WHEELS | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Tires NHTSA category: TIRES | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| UNKNOWN OR OTHER,ENGINE | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Visibility & Wipers NHTSA category: VISIBILITY/WIPER | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
The complaint records on this page are retrieved directly from the NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) public database.
Local Production Store Compiled: August 2026 • Deterministic Audited Dataset • Zero Dynamic External API Runtime Latency.