2009 Ford Flex: Sunroof Shade Drama Part II

"You would never see that kind of low standard in the interior of a Audi for instance"

Now you are just egging them on!

I have never seen a sunroof shade like that before in any other vehicle, so I don't blame him for nitpicking this.

Anyone who answers that will get flamed.

Scott, as a friend I have an advice for you;
Don't piss off the fanbois. Else, you might expect to see the Audi grill in your bed & you screaming like a little girl (seen Godfather?)

"Man, some of you people are dense."

Certainly not the professionalism I'd expect from someone titled "Editor in Chief".

I'll agree with brn on that particular comment...

I understand where you're coming from, but if it doesn't rattle, let light through, and feel "loose" when you slide it, personally I would have no problem with it.

I'd rather have a gap in my sunroof cover than a key I can't extract from the dashboard without learning it's foibles (if were going to insist on comparing with Audi).

No, but you won't see the Ford's radio crap out, armrest peel, dash fall apart, glove box door fail, and need total replacement of everything electronic in two years either, and the Ford will likely last without needing major repairs past the manufacturer's warranty!

"Every other car company seems to be able to do it the right way. You would never see that kind of low standard in the interior of a Audi for instance, at any price point.

Why is that?"

Because, at Ford, quality is Job 1 (thousand).

I agree this is a nit-picky thing, but he is an automotive journalist and it is his job to bring these things to light. I would be more disappointed if he didn't to be totally honest.

Secondly, to your comment about Audi. I agree their fit and finish is beyond reproach, but there recent offerings are highly disappointing in their quality of materials. The plastics in the new A4 and Q5 are offensively cheap in my opinion (I have never driven an A5/S5 so I cannot comment). As much grief as my old A6 gave me, there was never a question in my mind that the interior would hold up well. I would worry about things breaking driving off the lot in new Audis.

"You would never see that kind of low standard in the interior of a Audi for instance, at any price point."
Nope you just see steering problems...no big deal

Yet another post that proves IL is infected with unprofessional employees who harbor bias opinions. I loved this site when it didn't remind me of consumer reports on a daily basis...now...not so much =/

You're right, my '05 A4 doesn't have gaps like that.

Instead, it's got the worst cupholders, armrest and center console known to man.

You must have been really bored to stare up at that thing, and then start sliding your phone through it. Maybe I'll go outside and look at the gap in my S-type...*gone*...tight, but it sure is easy to pry down with a finger tip. Something I would have noticed in 2003?? Nahh. Something I care about now? Not really. Get over yourself. Please.

@ mercedesfan: "he is an automotive journalist and it is his job to bring these things to light. I would be more disappointed if he didn't to be totally honest."

Ah, but it's the journalists' duty to bring our attention to what matters and ignore what doesn't. Or at least not cast a non-issue as if it's a dealbreaker.

Maybe it's the engineer in me, but I'm still blind to why this is a negative at all. It's clearly not functional, it's not a control surface/feature, and you rarely even look at it.

There's hypersensitivity about because Ford has really turned the ship around with its latest products, but this comes off as unfairly dismissing a vehicle over a trivial nitpick.

Then again, I'm not the guy who's in and out of hundreds of cars/year (I was when I was a tire monkey circa 2000), and maybe this represents a glaring shortcoming. I'd still rather have a Flex than a CX9.

@Mad_Science-

I see your point, I agree that he is making too bid a deal about it, but I still feel as if he should have brought it up.

I also happen to be an engineer and because of that this panel gap would drive me nuts. As engineers we know how simple it is to design a different mechanism that would perform the job better with no impact on cost. When you see how well the rest of the Flex was executed that makes this all the more glaring.

You know, on my car when you open the sunroof to the vent position with the shade closed, you get very little air flow because the shade fits tightly against the headliner. The fix is to open the shade. If its really sunny, there's only so much you can open it up without having the sun beat down on you. I bet this design would fix that.

That, and it gives you a handy spot to stow that blackberry. ;-)

I really don't care that he points out the gap. What amazes me is that he considers it a deal breaker in the purchase of a vehicle. That demonstrates a set of priorities that I just can't relate to.

I have a 2010 Fusion with a moonroof and after the initial post I went and checked it out. The cover on the moonroof looks exactly like the picture above. I'm not sure why it was designed this way, but it definitely appears to be a design decision and not an issue of build quality since the cover doesn't rattle and the sliding action has a nice weight to it. Maybe they didn't want the fabric of the cover to rub against the fabric of the headliner. I'll have to check some other time if the cover gets pushed down at all by the moonroof when using the "auto open" function. At any rate, I didn't notice this in my own car until the post about it today and it certainly doesn't make me regret the decision to purchase my car.

brn, agreed. A deal breaker might be the lack of telescoping steering wheel on the Flex, or its large intrusive headrests. This, by comparison, is a ridiculous and subjective nitpick.

One could argue that this spacing gives the Flex a greater illusion of space. It's certainly a design that would work well with ambient lighting; imagine a "halo" of soft light emanating from the edges.

someguy - It might be there, as you say, to provide air flow when the sunroof is in the vent position without having to open the shade, but is having to open the shade really that big a deal?

drrain - I'd say it's about as big a deal as having to turn back on the cruise and reset it because you don't have a cancel button.

It's like that in our 2006 Fusion, whereas the 07 G35 and 09 FX have a shade that fit's essentially flush with the headliner. Obviously this is by design, and not a build quality issue. My car has 50K on it, and I've never had issues with rattles, the sun doesn't peak through and when it's fully closed is muffles noise.

I guess if one is that nit picky, this could be bothersome but really in 3 years of ownership I haven't paid much attention to it.

Oh and you're right you wouldn't see this type of 'build quality' in an Audi, instead you end up with an odd steering wheel vibration that no one can prescribe a fix for. If it were my 42K, I'd chance it on the barely noticeable gap.

Haha Scott, I hope this is just a stab, cause its a good one. Touche, sir.

What you will get from Audi is an enormous cost of ownership bill, one that you won't get from most recent Ford offerings. Ford uses the same sunroof on the base Flex, if so optioned, which is around $30k. Anything comparable from Audi, BMW, etc. starts at around twenty grand more than that. Comparing the two is stupid.

For my 42k I agree with you...I'd like EVERYTHING to be perfect. In that case, I guess I'll just never buy a car again.

For my $42k, I would buy two of my wife's '05 camry se or nearly 3 of my '04 corolla that have sunshades that settle snugly into the opening.

as for the fordfanguy on the previous post suggesting that the vista roof option would solve this issue, i thought the flex was equipped with the vista roof (seagull photos) and such a decision would ensure an issue with gaps.

however, does the sunroof on the CX-9 look like that? afterall, it is a ford division and could fall victim to the same design like the F150 and fusion.

ultimately, you don't need to have a luxury brand vehicle to have a gapless sunroof trim.

Creeper: That analogy has been one of the worst around here. Why not compare Toyota's current offerings? Oh wait, the last thing you'd have to worry about (build quality/material wise) in a current Corolla or Camry is the sunshade.

Scott - does the gap let in extra road noise or cause any issue whatsoever? If not, I'd say it's not really a big deal and pretty nitpicky.

Scott seems to have taken it upon himself to rile the domestic boys. Can't say I'm not enjoying it.

Interesting. If it were $24k and not $42k it might not bother me if it is by design. However, if I were planning on spending that much money this would raise an eyebrow.

I don't think it's nitpicky if person is going to pay close to a grand a month over four years (if he/she chooses to) for this rig. Some quick calculations including a 5% interest rate came out to 800-something a month. At that rate I'd better be damn happy with everything about the car.

Yeah this is outrageous. Next thing you know interior components will be coming off in your hand like in the 7 series. I agree- major design flaw and this automatically makes ANY Audi superior to the Flex. We all know material/build quality and durability are one in the same and thus Audis are the most reliably cars on the road. You people are dense!

I see no problem. The gap is to keep the fabric on the shade from rubbing against the roof when opening/closing. On the sunroofs I've seen with no gap, go back and look 5 years later, the fabric is balled up/worn and looks bad. This is a good idea...I agree with others...nitpick item that nobody will ever notice...

$42K Ford Flex with an inconsequential design concern, unacceptable.

$55K Audi Q7 with reliability issues, acceptable.

Again, priorities I can't relate to.

ace47: "Scott seems to have taken it upon himself to rile the domestic boys"

You might be right. I kind of wonder if they sit around and try to come up ways to rile readers.

What vehicle comparable to the Flex does Audi sell for 42K? Take your time, I'll wait.

FYI the Audi Q7 they had was 62K.

I never commented on the topic personally, but that intro was pretty harsh. Not cool.

Creeper, Ford sold it's stake in Mazda, so it's not "...a Ford division".

Oh.....My.....GAWD! My 2009 Explorer has the same DAMN gap!!!! Should have just ponied up the extra $20,000 for a Q7, bet that thing doesent have that entirely non-annoying gap!

Another thing about the flex - that gray color on the sunroof shade is just too gray for me. I don't think I could even consider this vehicle for a test ride. Sorry its always bothered me, I just had to say. BMW uses better shades of gray in their roof colors.

And what's with the grooves in the shade? Using the size of the sunroof as a scale, I estimate that they are about 1/4 inch apart. If this were a BMW, they'd be no more than 1/8 inch apart. What a piece of junk.

Actually, Ford still has a 13% share of Mazda, so...

Ford had a minority stake in Mazda and now it has a smaller minority stake.

If the shade does not rattle I dont see the issue. What normal person would even notice that?

Cheap.

'Man, some of you people are dense.'

Insulting and arguing with your readers on an internet forum.

Not exactly the kind of conduct I expect out of someone with the title "Editor-in-chief."

Tell me, did you take a course in petty behavior in college, did you pick it up on the job, or did you come by it naturally?

"If the shade does not rattle I dont see the issue. What normal person would even notice that?"

I agree. Its only noticed here because I assume editors are 'trained' or just 'used to' looking for issues like this? Looking at the picture, I don't see a problem. I didn't notice a problem when I was in the Flex either.

Scott shows us his professionalism once again. What are the credentials for that job? The editor in chief of Edmunds.com behaves the same way. Must be the lack of rain in SoCal...

I still don't see why this is an issue. The S5 has steering wheel vibes and worn down tires from improper factory chassis set-up but this is an issue? GT-R needs a brand new tranmission but this is an issue? The A4 has terrible ride quality and a virtually useless cargo hold and this is an issue?

How about Edmunds/IL do a better job of editing their road tests? There are spurious details in just about every single article which is just careless. How about you focus some energy on reporting facts instead of inserting a blackberry into a tight crevice?

Fords are engineered by accountants, Audi's by engineers....

JUST KIDDING

Ford is doing alot right these days but some small details like this are getting through the cracks.

If I needed a large vehicle like this, I would lease a flex. I think that it's a solid choic.