Tell me about the Ford Flex...

With the addition of mini-me to our flock last month, we're now looking for a larger vehicle, but want to stay away from the full-size SUVs (Suburban, Navigator, etc) and (yawn) mini-vans. Likewise, the smaller SUVs may not have enough room for us. I've got a 2007 Jeep Patriot and while it has done an admiral job in the past, we'd like more room and now at 90,000 miles the CVT transmission sounds like it's about to self-destruct. I'd like to unload it before it goes boom, and stay away from any other Chrysler product.

I also like that the Flex is a bit unique and not so common as the Explorer or Tahoe, etc. So, it seems like a used Flex would be a good fit for us... but other than sleuthing the Intrawebz, I don't know much else about it. Was curious to know if any Inmates own one or have any experience with them?

I rented one in Maui last year, we freekin loved the thing: It swallowed 4 people and their week's worth of Costco food (half of which was booze ), all our luggage from San Diego (inc. a guitar, fins, Mrs. Desmo's endless cases...you get the picture), and was still as roomy as a leather sofa.

We took it up the crazy windy road to Haleakala crater (google the road if you are not familiar), and it handled almost as good as my Porsche: flat, stuck like glue, and plenty of power with the stock V6. There is a "platinum" turbo model which would be a fantastic wagon express (320ish HP).

It's very comfy but great handling as it's not a dumbass "crossover" compromise, lots of nav and convenience toys, huge inside, triple row seats with some flipping, very quiet, and seems to be made with good quality, Oh yeah, it did about 24 MPG city hauling all of us around. I'd buy one in heartbeat when the Escape dies (now on 240K).

No, I do not work for Ford

Friend has one and it is a very nice car. I think they seem to be the station wagon of old.

eco boost and very reliable

I've talked to two people that have one.. and they both love them...

One guy is not a car guys at all.. he loves the AWD, easy step in height and low tailgate for loading (its his wife's car)...and it gets better mileage than the Explorer it replaced...

The other guy is a car guys (domestic muscle car version) and he got the one with the turbo... He said it is a pretty nice sleeper and very comfortable...

It looks like a great road-warrior vehicle if you spend a lot of time in car and have to haul a bunch of stuff around with you... sales rep, skilled service provider etc....

:waco

We've rented a few of them. Quite liked the space, drivability and interior. One niggle is the low door swing height. Watch your feet when opening from the outside, or your foot may get hit by the lower door edge and trapped between the lower edge of the door and the sidewalk.

Thanks, all. This is good stuff, and confirming what I'm finding out about them online. CycleWife isn't really that hot on the look of them (says they look like a BBQ Grill or Toaster) but they're growing on her. Frankly, I like the design... always have been drawn to blocky, square shapes than the swoopy, bubbly curves.

In our price range, they're all carrying about 50k miles but they do seem to be fairly reliable.

I like the looks of them for that large flat rectangular roof. I have visions of loading my kayak on top with rods, paddles and other implements.

Do not mention this attraction to your wife - she will interpret it the wrong way, trust me.

The EcoBoost variant will be my next car, no doubt. I had thought we might have accelerated that plan last week when some lady t-boned my lexus, but apparently she couldn't even eff up my car properly enough to get it totaled, so now I'm car-less, wishing for a flex and riding bikes and motorcycles instead.

Looks-wise, it's kind of a tough call between the flying refrigerator (flex) vs. the baleen whale (Lincoln MkT). But if you're expecting to have tall passengers, the boxyness of the flex really helps.

I like the looks of the 6-person setup w/ the flying center console. will probably end up going for the 7-person arrangement though.

I love them. I also think they kid of look Range Roverish in a good way.

I have a 2009. Best car for a family for sure. Handles like a car, not a mini-van or SUV. Second row seat are like riding in a limo (although they have child seats right now). There's enough room where the 4 year old can't kick the back of my seat.

Drove for an hour and a half with all seats full of family. My brother in-law who is 6.5 300+lbs sat in the 3rd row all the way. He was fine! :eek1 Also went on a 3 day road trip last summer. It was a fun trip and the kids loved the video system in the back. It's also very quiet to drive.

I have the standard V6 282hp? All wheel drive, which is great in the winter. But the Ecoboost is 355hp I think!

All in all it's been reliable and a great car. I'd buy one again for sure.

I'd love an Escape but they're in the same size-range as my Jeep Patriot, which now is too small. We've got to move up in size a bit and out of all the larger "crossover" SUV's the Edge just seems to fit. Kinda like a station wagon of old on steriods without the stigma of a huge SUV or soccer-mom mini-van.

I do appreciate your "other side of the coin" opinion.

I got the official "I actually like them... Let's do it!" from the wife last night. Looks like we'll be selling her Volvo C30 (anyone interested ha!) and trading in my Patriot in January, and going down to one main vehicle with the Flex. We've done the one-car thing before and can handle it. Plus with my old Mustang, the motorcycle, 5 bicycles, and living along a main bus line straight to work, I think we'll make it work until we can unload some debt.

I test drove one a couple of years ago. The thing was awesome!

I'm piling on the EcoBoost bandwagon
I have one in my truck and it's freaking fantastic. Fairly good MPG and goes like a bat out of hell when you step on it. 365 hp and 420 tq out of a 3.5l is crazy.
The Flex with the 365hp motor used in the SHO would be a gas to drive.

If I have anything to say about it (and I will) my wife's next car will have some variant of the EcoBoost in it.

Update!

We spent last week doing some research and found a 2012 Flex SEL in white with "light stone" interior. We test drove it, as well as an Edge, because my wife liked the look of the Edge better. But after both of us driving the Edge, we didn't like it much. It was fine, I guess. While it was bigger than my Patriot, the rear cargo room wasn't. Plus, it just felt cheaper. So a big "no" there.

Then we drove the Flex. My wife got in, her eyes widened and she looked at me and said: "I REALLY like this!" She also loved driving it, as she will be driving it 80% of the time. I was pretty much sold before I walked into the dealer. But the test drive cemented it.

So we sold this on Craigslist for $6500 cash. Sold in about 8 hours:


And we traded this in at the dealer. They basically just paid off the loan for us, which was fine, I suppose:



And this is what we drove away in. A 2012 Ford Flex SEL with about 24k on the clock. Stone leather interior, a lot of bells and whistles, and tons of room to grow into. Rather unfortunate, but it isn't the EcoBoost. They're hard to find, and the dealer told us they're having a problem buying them because they're typically going for MORE than they're worth at auction. They can't get a good profit margin out of 'em.



It drives incredibly well, and even with the non-EcoBoost engine, the 3.5 V6 does pretty well. My wife now loves it.

We've gone to being a one (one being used loosely) car family. Being only 6-miles from work, on a main bus line, with plenty of bicycles, motorcycles, and my 65 Mustang, I won't have any problems commuting.

Cool! What seating arrangement do you guys get w/ that, the 3-across or the double-bucket?

Didn't have any choice, being used. But front is two buckets. Second row is a split-folding bench. Which is good as we can put Max's car seat smack in the middle.