2009 Ford Flex: A Rare Bird in So Cal

i was about to say... the Ford Flex is everywhere! (in So Cal) not to mention entry level luxury cars and SUV's.

BMW 3 series everywhere in socal. They are invisible pack fodder. They meld in with the endless Civics, Accords and Camrys.

Toyota Prius are really popular of course.

If I see one more beige or white Lexus ES sedan, I just might jump out in front of one!!! But seriously here in S Florida, they are everywhere.

In Chapel Hill, NC it's all about the Subaru (wagons, mostly), the Prius (ad nauseum), and the ubiquitous BMW 3-series.

Oh, we got a lot of old rich folks here, and they all drive a Lexus, far too many many with the "gold" package.

Kinda sick, huh?

In Austin it's all about Mini's, Priuses, Mazda3s, 3 series, and trucks, generally.

I had a rental grey Mazda3 about two years ago and over that week lost it in the parking lot more times than I'd like to remember. It was bad.

It seems like every other house in our area has a Lexus ES or Subaru outback.

As much as I'd like to say one vehicle is dominant where I live or work, I can't. We have a variety of everything. '04-'06 GTO seems a lot more popular now than it was three years ago. What gets me is that I've seen more '10 Insights on the road than I have '10 Mustangs. Seriously, what up with that.

Bimmer 3er, Lexus IS, Infiniti G and MB C-class are EVERYWHERE here in So Cal. For some reason I think I can spot more of those than Camry and Accord in my daily commute...

Went to Boston and New Hampshire for 2 days last weekend and didn't spot a single Lexus IS there... Felt weird.

2.5S Nissan Altima's are EVERYWHERE in my southern Florida town.

Rather affluent area, so:

3-series, LS, ES, S, E, 5-series, Camry, Accord. Maybe Civic too.

Roughly in that order too.

90% of all cars in my neighborhood are consist of ALL models of Lexus, Infiniti, BMW and Benz. The other 10% are entry level exotic....Bentley Continental, Aston Martin Vantage, ALL models of Porsches are everywhere.

I did saw a few Flex over the weekend, they are more rare then the Bentleys though.

Prius are the new Corolla, there were 3 in a row parked in front of starbucks yesterday.

Saab's, Subaru's volvo's, camys and civics, in that order.

@lazyhater: where do you live??

Maryland:
Toyota Camry

Baltimore County:
Chevrolet Tahoe/Suburban

Hunt Valley:
Mercedes E-Class

Hillsyde Court:
Mercedes S-Class
BMW X5 (Tied)

Here in Yorba Linda (north Orange County, CA) most of the moms in the school drop-off line drive Expeditions, Navigators, etc. - even a few Hummers. A couple of Flexes have creeped in lately.

Outside of school, we see a lot of lifted trucks and BMWs, Lexi, and Mercedeses.

Brooklyn, NY

Infiniti FX35
Infiniti G35/G37 Sedan
Honda Accord
Honda CR-V
Nissan Altima
Mercedes E-Class
BMW 3-Series
Nissan Murano
Nissan Rouge
Lexus IS250 AWD
Lexus RX330/RX350

That's funny that you mention this. The Flex is indeed rare in my area (San Diego), but yesterday I saw FOUR in one short trip! That tripped me out. They deserve to sell well, though!

P.S. - Ford, please make a clean diesel Flex! I will love you forever. :)

"you don't see them around."

Terrible reason to buy a car.
Usually a great reason to avoid a car.

Here in bunny hugger central, Evanston, IL. We have boat loads of Subaru Foresters (including mine, although I'd rather shoot and eat the bunny than hug it) and Outbacks. We also have many many Mazda3 wagons.

Liberal population aside, there are a Subaru dealer and Mazda/VW dealer in town (a block apart), which I'm sure explains part of why we have so many Subies in town.

"Here in bunny hugger central, Evanston, IL. We have boat loads of Subaru Foresters"

**Dont forget lesbians. For some reason, Lesbian's LOVE Foresters.

Pontiacs Pontiacs Pontiacs, grand ams, grand pres, and g6's EVERYWHERE. There are a lot of Mustangs as well.

Nissan Altima's EVERYWHERE on Long Island. As well as Civics. Oh, and everyone (including myself) still seems to have a 2nd gen Jeep Grand Cherokee, they're also everywhere, more common than the current model.

bkochuk....... I live in Del Mar, California. Being next to La Jolla and Rancho Santa Fe also is a big factor. Cars here are very high end. I see RR Phantom once or twice a week. Saw a very young guy (late 20s, early 30s) driving a Carrera GT last month. Lexus IS and ES are pretty much the cheapest cars around. Corolla Camry and Civic are REALLY rare.

robs - YES! And somehow there are a lot of the original GCs still running around, too. I NEVER see the new one, though...

bkochuk, in general, all residential communities in coastal Southern California are filled with expensive cars. Since it is one of the most expensive place to live in the USA.

Colorado--
Subarus
Ford F150
Jeep Wrangler and Grand Cherokee

Douglas County--
BMW 328xi

Highlands Ranch--
Toyota SUV

Silver Accords and Camrys on the "rich" end of town. Blue Civics and silver Corollas in my neighborhood.

In the Kansas City area, Camrys, from late 90s to current, are everywhere. Same for the Accord. I service them more than any other vehicles at where I work. There are tons of Chevy Tahoes as well.

@starbird
I want to know where you live that the most popular cars are Saabs Subarus and Volvos. Sweden perhaps?

In my little corner of Pitt Meadows, BC. Just on my side of the block there are 5 Toyota Echo Hatchbacks. One house has a thing for small cars, they own a Scion xB, Mini Cooper S Convertible, Echo hatchback and a Smart fortwo.

Downtown Vancouver is mostly 3 series.

lazyhater, logic would dictate that if you lived in one of the most expensive places, you'd ease up on the car payment a bit...

of course, I know it doesn't work like that.

just out of curiosity, what do YOU drive?

bkochuk,

One would think that's logical, but with that kind of money it just stops being an issue, I observed... When I was in Pasadena two years back for a summer, I'd drive through the PCH and see these decrepit looking shack beach homes that had Ferraris, Lamborghinis, Porsche Carrera GT's, and even a Veyron lined up in front of them. Just astounding. I rented an Elise for a weekend and felt absolutely impoverished while cruising through Beverly Hills. Rodeo Drive blew me away. My girlfriend at the time was in love with all of the stores, I stared for about ten minutes on the street staring at not one, but TWO Diablo SV's parallel parked end to end with each other.

That said, I'm also curious what lazyhater drives.

Out in the east county of San Diego, ie Santee, I see lots of high school and college girls driving Saturn Ions.

The wifes usually have an SUV, either a Chevy Tahoe/Suburban or Ford Expedition.

For a lot of men working construction, the prevailing vehicle is an F250 or F350.

Of course, as is required in the east county, everyone has an RV and trailer for quads and bikes :)

I've seen two flexes on the road in San Diego. I see the Z8 more often!

carfreak--Yeah, for some reason, '02-present Nissan Altimas are very popular in Florida.

Not many brand new flashy cars like Audis, Porsches, or anything like that.

In the suburbs of Kansas City I see a lot of Ford F-series (mostly 1 and 250's), 2000-2004 Honda CRV's, '90's BMW's 128-325 (I think), a handful of 87-92 Mercedes S-class mostly 400-500 with one possible 560 and one 350SDL (my fathers). Other wise if its under about 55-65K depending on where in town you are you'll see everything.

Dayton, OH...Honda Odysseys EVERYWHERE! I counted 45 in a parking lot once

I think I've seen more Flexes of late than I have the Honda Pilot. I always tend to check for the barcode (tell-tale sign that it's a rental), and most of the time it appears to be someone's personal vehicle. On top of that the ones that I have seen have been Limited models. All of this and I live in the Irvine/Newport Beach area home to......

- 3 Series
- IS
- G35/37
- C Class
- E Class
- 5 Series

"Colorado-
Subarus
Ford F150
Jeep Wrangler and Grand Cherokee

Douglas County--
BMW 328xi

Highlands Ranch--
Toyota SUV"

Where in DougCO do you live? In Parker(Stonegate, specifically) where my parents live the most popular vehicles around are BMWs, as well as the Honda Odyssey. Also popular are Grand Cherokees(most of them Limited models), Lexus RX's and older model Acura MDX's.

Top ten...
1)BMW 328XI
2)Honda Odyssey
3)Honda Pilot
4)BMW 5-series
5)Lexus RX
6)Acura MDX
7)Jeep Grand Cherokee
8)Chevy Tahoe
9)Ford F150
10)Toyota Sienna

Top ten in Fort Collins, where I live (largely a college town):
1)Honda Civic
2)Subaru Forester
3)Subaru Impreza (wagon, WRX, etc.)
4)Subaru Outback
5)Toyota Corolla
6)Toyota 4Runner
7)Mazda 3
8)Jeep Wrangler
9)Chevy Cobalt
10)BMW 3 Series

There are a ton of Civics, Corollas, and Mazda3s in Fort Collins. Many college kids also drive around in modified Jeep Wranglers, and I see a lot of BMWs like I do in Parker. I've also seen more last gen Mazda 6's in Fort Collins than anywhere else. I always see at least 6 to 7 per day in FoCo.

Around here (east San Gabriel Valley), I see seemingly nothing but Camrys, Accords, Lexus IS, BMW 3's, and Honda Odysseys. It's a treat to see something British or American (that's not a Tahoe or Expedition, btw).

Lotsa Mazda 3's.....so many of them...

I'm surprised that these two cars were so rarely mentioned:

-Ford Tauras
-Chevy Silverado or GMC 1500/2500

On a side note I see a Flex everyday. But, I own one. That might be the problem.

Living in central Illinois I have seen several of them, mostly driven by white older persons (which I find odd considering the styling). But, I will say that I have not seen many Limited Flexes and certainly not ONE exactly like ours (silver roof/suede limited).

bkochuk, slickersdrip, everything is relative and proportional. Normal family houses in Coastal Southern California average $1M~$2M, roughtly 10 times as much as houses in the midwest. So people spend 10X as much on cars, midwest is $10k~$20k for a Camry, Corolla, So Cal is $100k~$200k for a Bentley Continental or Aston Martin Vantage. Guys with Lexus are the poor ones that is trying to save money. I am probably the poorest guy in the neighborhood, I currently owns a 05' Lexus LS430, a 06' Lexus SC430 and a 04' WRX STI.

not too shabby...

Seattle: Subaru Outbacks and Foresters; Toyota Priuses and Corollas; and Honda Accords. Excluding pickup trucks and SUVs, I hardly ever see any one particular American car model here with any frequency.

lazyhater,
My parent's neighbor recently bought his house for a bank owned and foreclosed $350,000. He also just bought himself an M6. My parent's house will easily sell for $700k, but they have a 2007 Civic (for the sister), a 2009 Forester XT Limited (mom's car), a 2003 Mazda6 (cause it is too good to sell :) and, most recently, my dad's new Caddy CTS. None of these cars were over $45k, while the neighbor's M6 was north of $100,000. House price does not necessarily influence car price.

bkochuk, everything is relative. The cars I owns, it is very fancy to some people, but is very crappy for some people. All relative.

zoomzoom22, I meant in general, there are exception to everything. I knew a lady who owns and lives in a $15 million dollars house, she drive a 10 years old Chevy Caprice that worth $5k. And I know people who lives in rented apartment that drive $100k car. All personal preferences. But in general, people living in $2M house drive $100k car, people living in $200k house drive $10k car.

If you live in the Pacific Northwest, it's almost required that you drive a Subaru with a cargo box on top.

I live in small town texas and there are TONS of suburbans/tahoes/expeditions. Basically any example of a large SUV can be found in this town. Also lots of midsize cars such as altima, accord, malibu. It's a really odd mix.

Tempe, AZ-- White Acura TLs are everywhere though, perhaps tellingly, hardly any of the new body style. There are also a lot of Lexus GXs.

in S. Texas
there are trucks.

small trucks,
lowered trucks
lifted trucks,
blue trucks
red trucks
new trucks
old trucks
four door trucks
two door trucks
imported trucks
domestic trucks
Tahoe trucks
Expedition trucks
trucks towing boats
shrimp gumpo
pan fried shrimp
deep fried shrimp
pepper shrimp
shrimp sandwich

oh wait, off topic...

I live in Atlantic Canada.

Honda Civics, Toyota Corollas, Hyundai Elantras (ew), and Mitsubishi Lancers are definitely the most popular cars.

I have a civic, my father has a civic si, my mother a civic lxg, my sister, a protégé.

I work at a gas station, as I'm a student, and it revolts me to see people pay upward of $120 to fill the tank of their pickup truck, when they use it as one would use a normal car.