Let the sun shine in? Not if I can help it.
I'm a sucker for good lighting. I keep a string of lights in a backyard tree year round, and I even have purses whose interiors light up (strange but true). So it's easy to be seduced by the pretty azure lights encircling the Ford Flex cupholders, or the soft aqua glow of the gauges - though the color reminds me strongly of those metal school lockers from the '50s and '60s.
Mood lighting aside, the Flex has plenty of highly functional lighting to make driving a better experience. Dusk-sensing xenon headlights help navigate the road with confidence, and a strong bulb clearly illuminates the blind zone behind the car at night when using the rear-view camera.
But there is one kind of light I'd rather not see. And I'm not talking about the red and blue ones behind me.
No, it's the sun streaming into my eyes. Although it's been noted that the Flex has a massive visor, it's insufficient when the sun blazes through the driver's side window. A visor extender would fix that, but the Flex, with all its fancy-pants trappings, doesn't have one.
Visors without extenders are a pet peeve of mine, as I'm often driving at times when the sun is at just the right angle to make seeing difficult or to fry my left arm and half my face (not an attractive tan). Drivers in the desert or other warm climates know that the heat blazes right through the window, special coatings notwithstanding.
A little research offered two possible reasons why extenders aren't included in more vehicles. A writer claiming to be a former sunvisor engineer suggested that first, visor extenders don't work well with rollover curtain airbags: If the airbag inflates when the visor is down, you'll get bashed in the head.
The other reason, of course, is money:
"The primary reason those blade extenders aren't more common? Tooling costs. Tooling for the plastic clamshell that makes up the visor is typically about $300,000 US and a real pain to tool and develop, whereas if you do foam or cardboard it's alot cheaper. Trouble is, your choices for inclusion of features is more limited with the cheaper ones. Hard to make a business case for smaller vehicle runs."
So there you have it. At least now, when I'm blinking and maneuvering to avoid the sun, I know why.
Joanne Helperin, Senior Features Editor @ 39,014 miles
carguy622 says:
12:21 PM, 11/19/09
The sunvisor engineer has it right. I remember that my 2004 Accord V6 did not have the plastic extension piece on the sunvisor, while the cheaper models did. The owner's manual said that it was to avoid injury from the side curtain airbags (something the cheaper Accords lacked in 2004). However, on the Accord without the plastic piece, the whole visor slid back. Perhaps, the Flex's does as well?
dderosa says:
12:46 PM, 11/19/09
Because that driver window is so tall, I notice at night I get a glare at the top of the window. When driving South on the 405 past the airport -- you know how the planes come in very low -- I always think there is a plane coming out of the corner of my eye. I think it's the blue interior light glowing on that window. -- Donna
prndlol says:
02:48 PM, 11/19/09
No need to worry about an unwelcome tan. Automotive glass blocks all UVB (tanning) rays. However, virtually all UVA rays still penetrate, and those are the variety that destroy the deeper layer of the epidermis and make us look old. It should be noted the even on completely overcast days your skin is still being damaged by both UVB and UVA.
hybris says:
07:46 PM, 11/19/09
If this is all that you have against the Flex then why post?
Over the years how many cars from all makes and price ranges have had this problem?
zsh says:
04:52 AM, 11/20/09
The Flex does have a sort of sun visor extender. Instead of a piece of plastic coming out of the end the whole shade moves to adjust to the sun. I don't believe the shade is extended in the photo provided.
The visor extends on the arm that it pivots on making it very convenient to use (and possibly safer?).
BTW, we have about 30000 miles on our Flex so we've spent a similar amount of time as the editors here.
baggs32 says:
09:34 AM, 12/ 1/09
That's correct carguy622. I tried it today in our '09 Flex Ltd. and it slides on the rod to cover the entire top third (maybe quarter) of the driver's side window. The editor's complaint has no merit because SHE DIDN'T READ THE MANUAL or bother to figure out how the visor actually works!!! You would think someone who drives so many vehicles would know to try extending the visor itself rather than look for a cheap plastic extension.