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2009 Ford Flex Recalls & Complaints

1

open safety recall on record

Serious

272 owner complaints filed · Severity Index 0.40 · updated 2026-08-07

The recalls

Serious16V247000

Air Bags:Frontal

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

Remedy & full details

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.

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."

Complaint volume

272 this model-year 10 median, same year

Volume alone is not a fault rate — popular vehicles attract more reports. Read it next to the severity mix below.

What owners reported happened

18Crashes
3Fires
16Injuries
0Deaths

Across 272 complaints. Severity Index 0.40.

Severity Index weights each complaint's reported outcome (death ×10, injury ×4, fire ×3, crash ×2) and divides by total complaints. It measures how severe reports are, not how often faults occur.

What owners report most

Engine36 · 13%Electrical System30 · 11%Power Train19 · 7%Unknown Or Other17 · 6%Steering17 · 6%Service Brakes, Hydraulic15 · 6%Fuel/Propulsion System15 · 6%Service Brakes14 · 5%
  1. Engine — 36 reports
  2. Electrical System — 30 reports
  3. Power Train — 19 reports
  4. Unknown Or Other — 17 reports
  5. Steering — 17 reports
  6. Service Brakes, Hydraulic — 15 reports
  7. Fuel/Propulsion System — 15 reports
  8. Service Brakes — 14 reports
  9. Engine And Engine Cooling — 13 reports
  10. Electronic Stability Control (Esc) — 10 reports

What to do

  1. Find your 17-character VIN on the driver's door jamb or the base of the windscreen.
  2. Check it against NHTSA's official lookup at nhtsa.gov/recalls — the authoritative record for your exact car.
  3. Book the repair with any franchised dealer. Safety recall work is free, with no time limit and regardless of who owns the car now.

Other model years

2009 · 2010 (1) · 2011 (2) · 2012 (2) · 2013 (6) · 2014 (4) · 2015 (4) · 2016 (3) · 2017 (4) · 2018 (3) · 2019 (4)

Numbers in brackets are open recall campaigns for that year.

Questions

Does an open recall mean the car is unsafe to drive?

Not usually. NHTSA issues a "do not drive" or "park outside" advisory when a defect is dangerous enough to keep you out of the car — those are flagged Critical above. Everything else should be repaired promptly but is not an immediate stop-driving order.

Do I pay for recall repairs?

No. Federal law requires the manufacturer to fix a safety recall free of charge, including parts and labour, whether or not you are the original owner.

Why are there complaints but no recalls?

Complaints are unverified reports filed by owners. They can prompt an investigation, but many never become recalls — either the fault isn't safety-related or it isn't widespread.

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