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.
Factual proportion of owner complaints categorized by automotive subsystem in NHTSA records
31 owner complaints submitted to NHTSA ODI for this subsystem.
23 owner complaints submitted to NHTSA ODI for this subsystem.
11 owner complaints submitted to NHTSA ODI for this subsystem.
10 owner complaints submitted to NHTSA ODI for this subsystem.
Specific mechanical, electrical, and driver-assist defect symptoms identified via deterministic narrative analysis
5 complaint narratives describe this symptom.
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..."
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 → |
Complete distribution of consumer defect reports across all 37 granular NHTSA system and subsystem classifications
| Vehicle Component / System | Total Complaints | Crash Reports | Fire Reports | Injury Entries | 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 |
Cross-reference safety recalls, crash test safety ratings, and EPA fuel economy for this model year
Key performance indicators, EPA fuel economy specs, powertrain variants, and summary ratings.
Official recall campaigns, safety defect descriptions, and manufacturer free remedy instructions.
NHTSA 5-Star NCAP crash test results, driver assistance systems, and rollover resistance ratings.
EPA fuel economy ratings, electric range, and annual energy cost benchmarks.
Direct, deterministic answers synthesized from verified United States government databases for the 2016 Ford Flex
In official NHTSA consumer records, the most frequently cited issue area for the 2016 Ford Flex is Driver Assistance & Safety Tech, appearing in 31 records (32.3% of submitted filings).
Secondary reported categories include Electrical System (23) and Body & Structure (11).
AutoUtility does not issue subjective reliability scores or commercial ratings. In official United States government records, NHTSA tracks 96 consumer defect complaints and 3 safety recall campaigns for the 2016 Ford Flex.
Reviewing documented component complaint distributions, recall remedy notices, and active federal investigations provides an objective, evidence-based view of the vehicle's historical safety and defect record.
Among consumer complaint records on file with NHTSA for the 2016 Ford Flex, 4 filings cite a crash, 0 cite smoke or fire, and 2 report one or more injuries.
Incident entries represent consumer descriptions at the time of submission to federal authorities and do not establish mechanical causation or legal liability.
The complaint records on this page are retrieved directly from the NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) public database under 49 CFR Part 576.
Local Production Store Compiled: August 2026 • Deterministic Audited Dataset • Zero Dynamic External API Runtime Latency.