Last week I showed you the wear and tear on our M3's seatback bolsters. At the time the car had less than 15,000 miles. Certainly the seat in our Flex doesn't have a big bolster to rub every time you get in or out, but the fact that it shows very little wear is impressive at 44,500 or so miles.
More examples after the jump.
This is what the bumper guard and rear hatch area -- places where cargo is drug in and out of the vehicle -- look like after being cleaned up this morning. There's genuinely nothing to whine about here. There are a few nicks on the plastic panels inside but nothing major.
Even here, on the door sill, there are few scuffs. Ford has endowed the Flex with durable interior materials and it shows.
Josh Jacquot, Senior road test editor
jeepsrt says:
06:45 PM, 01/11/10
True that the leather does not show the wear of the M3, but the leather also looks like plastic.
ddark13 says:
06:52 PM, 01/11/10
+1 about the leather. i think it was insideline that once described the leather as looking like apart of a garbage bag. that issue notwithstanding, it looks like ford is finally making a quality product
joliveira says:
07:05 PM, 01/11/10
Impressive for these days where everithing looks to be used once and then throw it away
hybris says:
07:11 PM, 01/11/10
I'm impressed at just how well the Flex is holding up... like the Focus only bigger.
cr_driver says:
07:24 PM, 01/11/10
What would the bimmer look like with 3 times the mileage? LOL
This one is holding up pretty well, good, good.
bc1960 says:
07:25 PM, 01/11/10
I'm not a fan of leather upholstery in automobiles, but a photograph isn't a useful method of judging relative quality. With a few exceptions, you need to move pretty far up the price scale (farther than the Flex and M3) to get truly nice leather. The rest is at least durable, and a means for the beef and dairy industries to create an income stream from something they would otherwise have to pay to landfill. Yet, based on a reputation established years ago when it was genuinely scarcer, people will pay a premium price for it.
toye says:
07:27 PM, 01/11/10
Didn't one of Edmunds drivers commented earlier this year that the padding on the bottom of drivers seat was breaking down and not as supportive when it was brand new.
charlesb says:
09:33 PM, 01/11/10
So that seat looked that bad when you took deliver? Absolutely hideous but I'll take your word on its durability
bimmerjay says:
11:18 PM, 01/11/10
In all fairness that photo of the seat is not flattering - the lighting is very harsh.
rick8365 says:
05:20 AM, 01/12/10
"With a few exceptions, you need to move pretty far up the price scale (farther than the Flex and M3) to get truly nice leather."
@ bc1960 - I was in an Audi dealership over the weekend and was very impressed with the leather on their seats - including the lower end A4. It is certainly not Bentley/Rolls leather by any means but still really very nice.
audisport says:
06:53 AM, 01/12/10
Audi leather is pretty nice, for the price. BMW leather seems to wear quickly, from examples that I've seen. Any car with thick side bolsters is going to wear pretty darn quickly though. Just happens...
@ jeepsrt- How are your seats holding up? A friend of mine with an SRT Charger has a good amount of wear on his driver's seat bolster. Not BMW bad, but not great either...
jeepsrt says:
07:31 AM, 01/12/10
@audisport-It's not bad for wear, just creased more than normal, I try to be careful getting in and out to not scratch it. I have 20k miles and keep it treated with Lexol every couple of months.
mzbamf says:
09:05 AM, 01/12/10
Just looks like a bad leather seat. No support and awkward looking leather. Looks like a trash bag.. or maybe vinyl
cwmoo740 says:
10:48 AM, 01/12/10
Actually, I just sat in one two days ago at the Silicon Valley Auto Show. The leather did feel kind of cheap and plasticky, but that did nothing to detract from the comfort of the seat. It was comparable in comfort to the LS460 I sat in, and it had adjustable pedals and a telescoping wheel. It would have been great for long periods behind the wheel, and probably fairly awful for anything involving lateral Gs, considering the lack of side support and the non-grippy leather. Still, I bet this is more durable and more stain-resistant than other leather, and it's very comfortable to sit in, even if it doesn't feel that great to touch with your hands.
phybenz says:
11:33 AM, 01/12/10
You're kidding about the seat, right? First off the leather looks like the cheapest pair of non-leather shoes you could buy at KMart. Second look how loose it is, It's lost all tightness. THat's terrible.
carguy622 says:
11:54 AM, 01/12/10
@phybenz: I will admit that the leather quality does not look high, but the Flex's seat are designed that way. They don't have a tight leather look.
gdmstrb says:
12:57 PM, 01/12/10
For comparison sake I took a look at a Flex on eBay with little mileage on it in the same color, and it looks nothing like a plastic garbage bag. Having had one of these as a service loaner while my Fusion was in for repair, and I found the leather adequate and passable for a vehicle this size and purchase price. If you want better leather/trim, you have to pay for it. This is where the MKT, Q7 and GL come into play.....but you're going to have to pay for it.
audisport says:
01:10 PM, 01/12/10
The most durable leather that I've ever seen is in my friends MB CLK500. It's probably 5 years old now and it really looks almsot new. It's still tight and firm, and not much wear.
firstwagon says:
02:12 PM, 01/12/10
I can never understand why people buy cheap leather seats over cloth seats. Cloth does everything better and saves you $1K to $2K on the price.
fordfan16 says:
04:13 PM, 01/12/10
/\/\/\ It does everything better, except that it stains, and leather doesn't. I would always upgrade for leather especially if I had kids.
pontiaksolsice says:
04:22 PM, 01/12/10
I like the diamond design that these seats sport. And it probably isn't the best quality leather but it's also a family oriented vehicle. Durability is key in vehicles like these - how can Ford be faulted for that? And perhaps Ford should teach Dodge a thing or two about rear bumpers, see Grand Caravan for details.
firstwagon says:
04:36 PM, 01/12/10
"except that it stains, and leather doesn't"
Both my Jeep and my Subaru have cloth seats and I have 2 kids (7 and 9). The cars are older then the kids and no stains. I don't do anything special to keep them clean, it's just never been a problem.
And I don't freeze my butt in the winter, sweat in the summer or slide around in the corners. And unlike the Flex, no one will ever say "I didn't know you could still get vinyl seats in cars these days".
Unless you're going really high end, don't waste your money.
majin_ssj_eric says:
06:50 AM, 01/13/10
THat seat looks horrible. Actually, I think the Flex's seats look cheap even brand new...
milt721 says:
09:15 AM, 01/13/10
+ 1 million for firstwagon's leather vs. cloth comments. Couldn't agree more.
bodyblue says:
09:25 AM, 01/13/10
Looks cheap or not, it is wearing and performing better than any car at any price in the current IL fleet......It also has been praised over and over and over again for comfort....even on the longest road trips.
zsh says:
06:00 PM, 01/13/10
For those that don't know... we have a Flex with 35k ish miles. While the leather isn't the most luxurious or rich feeling it certainly has held up well and is still very comfortable. I swore by cloth until we bought this car and I see several positives in owning leather (mainly it smells nice). While driving an M3 or another high-end sports car for the first 300 miles might be alright anything after that would most likely become a real pain in the arse quickly. At least in the Flex you can move around and stretch out (unless you're an NBA star).