AutoUtility currently tracks 42 official NHTSA owner defect complaints for the 2017 Ford Flex. Suspension issues are the most frequently reported category, appearing in 13 complaints (31% of submitted records). Among these NHTSA complaint records, 2 filings cite a crash, 2 report one or more injuries.

Key Problem Findings
  • Total NHTSA Complaints: 42 reports
  • #1 Reported Problem Area: Suspension (13 reports • 31% of submitted complaints)
  • Secondary Problem Areas: Driver Assistance & Safety Tech (7), Body & Structure (4)
  • Crash-Citing Complaints: 2 filings
  • Fire-Citing Complaints: 0 filings
  • Complaints Reporting Injuries / Fatalities: 2 injury filings • 0 fatality filings
Reporting Methodology: Statistics describe unverified consumer submissions voluntarily filed with NHTSA. Complaint volume is not normalized for vehicle sales volume or miles driven. Multiple components can be cited within a single owner complaint submission.
Total Complaints
42
Submitted to NHTSA ODI
Crash-Citing Complaints
2
Filings citing a collision
Fire-Citing Complaints
0
Filings citing smoke or fire
Complaints Reporting Injuries
2
Filings citing one or more injuries
Complaints Reporting Fatalities
0
Consumer filings citing fatalities

Most Reported Problems for 2017 Ford Flex

Top automotive subsystem defect categories ranked by unique owner complaint volume in federal records

#1 Problem Area 31% of complaints

Suspension

13 owner complaints submitted to NHTSA ODI
⚠️ NHTSA Recall Context

NHTSA records list 1 official safety recall campaign for this model year involving the same broad component area:

*Component overlap means an official recall exists for the same broad vehicle system. It does not establish that an individual owner complaint was caused by, covered by, or resolved through that recall.
⚠️ 1 crash report 🩹 1 injury report entry
#2 Problem Area 16.7% of complaints

Driver Assistance & Safety Tech

7 owner complaints submitted to NHTSA ODI
⚠️ NHTSA Recall Context

NHTSA records list 1 official safety recall campaign for this model year involving the same broad component area:

*Component overlap means an official recall exists for the same broad vehicle system. It does not establish that an individual owner complaint was caused by, covered by, or resolved through that recall.
✓ 0 crashes or fires cited
#3 Problem Area 9.5% of complaints

Body & Structure

4 owner complaints submitted to NHTSA ODI
⚠️ NHTSA Recall Context

NHTSA records list 1 official safety recall campaign for this model year involving the same broad component area:

*Component overlap means an official recall exists for the same broad vehicle system. It does not establish that an individual owner complaint was caused by, covered by, or resolved through that recall.
✓ 0 crashes or fires cited
#4 Problem Area 9.5% of complaints

Visibility, Wipers & Glass

4 owner complaints submitted to NHTSA ODI
✓ 0 crashes or fires cited
#5 Problem Area 9.5% of complaints

Air Bags & Restraints

4 owner complaints submitted to NHTSA ODI
⚠️ 2 crash reports 🩹 2 injury report entries
Domain Share Note: Share percentage represents the proportion of unique complaint filings referencing each vehicle system. Because single complaints may cite multiple systems (such as engine and electrical simultaneously), domain percentages represent individual category incidence and may sum to over 100%.

Symptoms Mentioned in NHTSA Owner Reports for 2017 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.

Visibility, Wipers & Glass 7.1% of complaints

Rearview Camera / Screen Display Blackout

3 complaint narratives describe this symptom
Symptom Identification Method: A complaint may describe more than one symptom, so percentages may sum to more than 100%. Symptom identification reflects text contained in consumer-submitted complaint records and does not establish a confirmed mechanical diagnosis.

Recent NHTSA Owner Reports for 2017 Ford Flex

Representative defect filings submitted by owners to the NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation

Driver Assistance & Safety Tech NHTSA ODI ID: #11752577
Filed: 07/24/2026

"The contact owns a 2017 Ford Flex. The contact received notifications of NHTSA Campaign Numbers: 25V829000 (Structure) and 25V695000 (Back Over Prevention); however, the parts to do the recall repairs were not yet available. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount..."

Incident Date: 12/01/2025 • Raw NHTSA Component: STRUCTURE,BACK OVER PREVENTION
Driver Assistance & Safety Tech NHTSA ODI ID: #11752005
Filed: 07/22/2026

"The contact owns a 2017 Ford Flex. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 25V695000 (Back Over Prevention); however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The contact stated that while reversing, the rearview camera displayed a distorted image. No warning..."

Incident Date: 11/22/2024 • Raw NHTSA Component: BACK OVER PREVENTION
Driver Assistance & Safety Tech NHTSA ODI ID: #11745001
Filed: 06/18/2026

"The contact owns a 2017 Ford Flex. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 25V695000 (Back Over Prevention); however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The local dealer was contacted; however, the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The contact stated..."

Incident Date: 05/27/2026 • Raw NHTSA Component: BACK OVER PREVENTION
Body & Structure NHTSA ODI ID: #11739237
Filed: 05/21/2026

"The contact owns a 2017 Ford Flex. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the driver's side B-Pillar Applique Trim detached and flew off. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired by an independent mechanic or dealer. The dealer was made aware of the failure, and the contact was..."

Incident Date: 02/18/2026 • Raw NHTSA Component: STRUCTURE
Engine & Cooling NHTSA ODI ID: #11731995
Filed: 04/17/2026

"I am submitting this complaint to report a serious and potentially dangerous safety defect involving the internal water pump design in the 3.5L Duratec V6 engine used in my 2017 Ford Flex. The water pump in this engine is mounted internally behind the timing chain cover. When the pump fails,..."

Incident Date: 03/10/2026 • Raw NHTSA Component: ENGINE
Consumer Narrative Notice: Excerpts are sanitized text descriptions submitted by vehicle owners to the federal ODI database. They reflect the reporting consumer's observations at the time of filing and have not been independently confirmed by vehicle manufacturers or government investigators.

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 96 4 3 View 2016 Problems →
2017 Ford Flex Current Page 42 2 4 Current
2018 Ford Flex 62 7 3 View 2018 Problems →
2019 Ford Flex 238 4 4 View 2019 Problems →
Comparative Disclaimer: Complaint totals are unadjusted historical counts and are not normalized for vehicles sold, active fleet size, or total road mileage. Newer model years naturally have had less calendar exposure time to accumulate owner filings.

Detailed NHTSA Component Breakdown for 2017 Ford Flex

Complete distribution of consumer defect reports across all 20 granular NHTSA system and subsystem classifications

Vehicle Component / System Total Complaints Crash Reports Fire Reports Reported Injury Entries Reported Fatality Entries
Suspension NHTSA category: SUSPENSION 9 0 0 0 0
Other / Uncategorized NHTSA category: UNKNOWN OR OTHER 9 0 0 0 0
Back Over Prevention / Camera NHTSA category: BACK OVER PREVENTION 4 0 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,UNKNOWN OR OTHER,VISIBILITY/WIPER 2 0 0 0 0
Seat Belts NHTSA category: SEAT BELTS 2 0 0 0 0
STRUCTURE,BACK OVER PREVENTION 2 0 0 0 0
Air Bags NHTSA category: AIR BAGS 1 1 0 1 0
Electrical System NHTSA category: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 1 0 0 0 0
Engine NHTSA category: ENGINE 1 0 0 0 0
Doors, Latches & Locks NHTSA category: LATCHES/LOCKS/LINKAGES 1 0 0 0 0
Powertrain NHTSA category: POWER TRAIN 1 0 0 0 0
Steering NHTSA category: STEERING 1 0 0 0 0
STEERING,SUSPENSION 1 0 0 0 0
STEERING,SUSPENSION,POWER TRAIN 1 0 0 0 0
Structure & Body NHTSA category: STRUCTURE 1 0 0 0 0
SUSPENSION,AIR BAGS 1 1 0 1 0
SUSPENSION,WHEELS,UNKNOWN OR OTHER 1 0 0 0 0
UNKNOWN OR OTHER,VISIBILITY/WIPER,BACK OVER PREVENTION 1 0 0 0 0
Visibility & Wipers NHTSA category: VISIBILITY/WIPER 1 0 0 0 0
Wheels & Hubs NHTSA category: WHEELS 1 0 0 0 0
Data Attribution & Reporting Methodology: Complaints are unverified voluntary submissions to the NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation (ODI). Because multiple vehicle components can be cited within a single owner complaint submission, component-level rollups may sum to more than the unique complaint count (42). Injury and fatality entries in the detailed table reflect raw values entered by reporting consumers across individual submissions; they are not deduplicated casualty statistics and may include duplicate or unverified entries. Complaint volume is not normalized for sales volume or vehicle mileage and does not represent an audited component failure rate.

Official NHTSA Defect Investigations (1)

1 CLOSED

Formal safety defect inquiries and engineering analyses opened by the NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation (ODI)

Official Federal Inquiries: NHTSA opens a defect investigation when safety screening or consumer defect trends indicate a potential unreasonable safety risk. An open investigation is a formal inquiry and does not by itself confirm a defect or result in a mandatory recall.
CLOSED Preliminary Evaluation (PE) ODI Action #PE25007
Opened: 2025-08-07 • Closed: 2026-08-05

B-Pillar Trim Detachment

Affected Component: STRUCTURE:BODY:ROOF AND PILLARS

On August 7, 2025, the Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened PE25007 to investigate instances of B-pillar trim detachment in model year (MY) 2019 Ford Flex vehicles manufactured by Ford Motor Company. During the investigation, MY 2011-2018 Ford Flex vehicles were analyzed as peer vehicles, and subsequently incorporated into the subject population because they use B-pillar trim pieces that are substantially similar to those used on the MY 2...

✓ Resulted in Safety Recall Campaign: 25V732 Official NHTSA File →
Official US Government Data Provenance

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.