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We're finally getting around to wrapping up our long-term Ford Flex. It served us well. It's been everywhere and was enjoyed by all.
Read the wrap-up of our 2009 Ford Flex on Inside Line. The photo gallery is particularly interesting, a visual history of this functional and funky vehicle.
Donna DeRosa, Managing Editor
As described in an earlier post, we knew that having 72,000 miles on a two-year-old Ford Flex Limited could be a problem. But as I explained in the ads, if a buyer didn't drive a lot of miles, then in a few years it would be at a normal level. I don't know if my little tutorial helped or not but I got several responses to my Craigslist ad.
Friday afternoon I got a voice mail message from a woman named Angela to say she was coming to see the Flex and bringing a cashier's check. I wondered if the check was for the full asking price. Earlier we had contemplated listing it for $18,500 but, partially based on reader comments, I boosted the asking price to $19,500. After all, we were basically trying to improve the offer we got from CarMax for $14,000.
By now you all know our 2009 Ford Flex is headed out of the long-term fleet to make room for something fresher. I, for one, will miss having it around.
A sudden business trip popped up in San Diego, so I decided to take the Flex for one last jaunt before the "for sale" process gets well and truly underway. OK, San Diego isn't that far away, but this round trip still amounted to another 200 miles.
In short, our 2009 Ford Flex drives like it always has. Steering, brakes, ride comfort -- it's all pretty solid, much like it was the first time a drove it back in September 2008. The interior still looks great, too, especially after Phil Reed had it detailed in preparation for sale.
The new owner will have about a year of rubber left -- the tires are getting down there but they're not far gone enough to toss them out just yet. The windshield star crack at the a-pillar was repaired and stabilized, but it's still visible. And the wonky center storage box latch still lacks the spring it lost over a year ago. We could fix this kind of stuff, I guess, but I've found it's not a bad policy to have something minor to point out as a car's biggest flaw. Besides, we'd pay more to fix that latch than we'd receive in incremental value.
Fare-thee-well, Flex. I'd like to take you back to my driveway, but I don't want a car payment just now. My family will miss you. You've made the twice-annual trip to Oregon quite pleasant on more than one occasion.
Which brings up a relevant question: which long-term car do we take this year?
Dan Edmunds, Director of Vehicle Testing @ 72,487 miles
If you're going to try to sell a two-year-old car with 72,000 miles on it, you better make sure it looks sharp. We took our 2009 Ford Flex Limited to the car wash and had them detail the interior for $100. Two guys crawled all over it for an hour, vacuumed it, shampooed the carpets, cleaned all the surfaces and got the finger prints off the glass. I wouldn't have thought it would make such a difference but it did. Before the detail there was a generally worn look to the interior with scuff marks around all the doors where people had kicked the plastic getting in and out of the car. Afterwards, all the surfaces gleamed with not-too-much ArmorAll-type protectant.
Thanks to oldchap for this week's favorite caption.
Here are the others that made us hoot:
Our 2009 Ford Flex is for sale. Let's give it a fond farewell in its last caption contest.
Picture provided by Vehicle Testing Manager Mike Schmidt.
We'll post our favorite this afternoon. And remember, we have prizes.
Donna DeRosa, Managing Editor
I was reminded of something as I loaded our 2010 Volkswagen GTI full of donations for the Salvation Army the other day. Hatchbacks rule. In the case of our GTI, just remove the cargo cover, lower the rear seats and stuff it in there. Why would you want a car with a trunk?
I flipped through some blog photos I'd taken but never posted for supporting evidence.
As you've probably read in this blog, we considered running the Flex's mileage up to 100,000 miles to show that it could go the distance. But then we decided we've proved our point without going all the way to the century mark. Now we're left with a 2009 Ford Flex with a whopping 72,000 miles on it that we have to sell.
Pricing for this car for sale was tricky since it was, basically, an outlier. True Market Value (TMV) was a good guide but it didn't give the full picture. We had to factor in the psychological effect of shoppers seeing the 72,000 miles, their jaws dropping and stammering, "How -- How many miles...?" So to get another view of the market value we took our Flex to used car giant CarMax and had them appraise it. Their offer was pretty disappointing.
I am so dizzy with gasoline fumes right now. I've got the windows down and the fan up but I can't flush the stank of gas out of our 2009 Ford Flex.
The fuel was going in really slow at my local 76 station. Reaaaaly slow. After more than 7 minutes, I was still standing there, watching the pump's readout tick reluctantly past 15 gallons. It holds a couple more than that, and I had run it really empty, so I thought nothing much of it.
A few moments later I started to hear the distinctive splatter of liquid on concrete as a pool of gas began spreading on the ground. There had been no click at the pump handle, no kick through the hose; gas had simply begun to overflow and run out as if it were supposed to do that.
I'm not sure why it happened. I guess the back-pressure buildup that's supposed to kick off the handle didn't occur properly at this particular pump's meager flow rate. I don't think the capless Easy Fuel system had much to do with it, though the system does seem intolerant of any fuel added after the first click. Trouble is, here that first click never happened.
*shrug*
Dan Edmunds, Director of Vehicle Testing @ 71,924 miles
I kept the cargo area of our long-term 2009 Ford Flex very busy this weekend. As usual the Flex handled every situation I could throw at it.
Go the next page for more pictures of cargo hauling fun.
In the next month or so the Ford Flex will be getting some stiff competion from...Ford. That's right the blue oval bunch will be selling the new three-row Ford Explorer alongside its three-row Ford Flex. Hmmmmm, which would you choose?
Me? Well, I think I'm on Team Flex.
Scott Oldham, Editor in Chief
It has been more than two years since we bought our black on black on black on black long-term 2009 Ford Flex, but it has been almost six years since we've seen the controversially styled Flex. Remember, the shape debuted at the 2005 Detroit Auto Show as the Fairlane Concept (dig those rear suicide doors).
And six years in car styling can be several lifetimes.
After the drained battery that Scott Jacobs experienced this past weekend, I thought that the Flex would need a jump-start. Luckily, the battery had just enough juice left in it to start up one last time. I took the car to Santa Monica Ford for service, and since the "oil change required" warning had been on since last month, I asked them to take care of that as well.
I got into the Flex, turned the key and there was a noticeable slow turnover. It gave me pause for thought. Didn't matter, I drove home thinking if the battery was low, I'd be able to charge it with an hour long commute in Friday traffic.
Once I got home, I searched to make sure no lights were switched on in the cargo area I wasn't aware of or some other kind of battery draw was happening. Didn't find a think amiss. Hopefully the long time in traffic was enough to bring the battery to life.
We were headed out to the movies a little later that night, still the same slow turnover, but nowhere near as rough as the first. Maybe the drive home helped? After the movie the same thing. Ok, something is definitely not right, the morning might be interesting.
Saturday morning, I turned the key and nothing. Stone cold battery is stone cold dead. I thought this would happen. We had to run errands so we took her car. When we got back home mid afternoon, I tried again and it almost started. A little sun driven warmth helped, but It was time to hook this sucker up.
We jumped it, ran it at a high idle for some time, then drove to the office to hook up to a charger. Hopefully that'll bring some life to it, but after 71k miles of hard use, it might need a new battery or something wrong with the alternator. We'll let you know happens.
Scott Jacobs, Senior Photographer
Another day, another crew sign.
Welcome to L.A.
Kelly Toepke, News Editor
I'm sure there are other people like me, sitting in the Venn-diagram intersection of NPR adherents and Howard Stern listeners. But I'm not a bona fide Stern fan. When he ascended from terrestrial radio to Sirius Satellite in 2006, I wasn't willing to pay $13 a month to follow him. I missed the show, but I got over it. Or so I thought, until last night.
Two EZ-Ups. Two large tables. Seven chairs. Three coolers, cups, plates, multiple jugs of juice, tea and water. One doomed, burro-shaped pinata. And this was before several foil pans of hot food went in. Just another rager at the park for the Kid's birthday with all her five-year-old pals.
I was skeptical that the Flex could haul it all, but it did. At 83 cubic feet, the Flex's cargo hold approaches the volume of an Odyssey with just its third row folded flat (91 cubes). The Flex also felt confidently composed at speed with that load (and nope, I didn't leave the wooden folding table floating up there on the window).
So are the rumors of the Flex's death greatly exaggerated?
I don't know what we're going to do once our 2009 Ford Flex goes away. It helps us with our moves, makes our family road trips so comfortable and is the popular subject of many a caption contest.
And when I had to transport my brand-new 42-inch TV home, our long-term fleet didn't offer many options as desirable as the Flex. That gaping maw of a rear cargo area with its power liftgate and fold-flat seats. Pfew! I just sat in the back with the TV to steady it during the drive while another editor took the wheel.
BTW, premature Black Friday sales FTW!
Caroline Pardilla, Deputy Managing Editor
Our longterm 2009 Ford Flex is trying to tell us something... but I'm not sure what.
Recently got some miles in the Flex. Wanted to see how it matched up on the Odyssey, as the Wife has been lobbying for something of the Odyssey/Pilot genus. I'm ambivalent. The Odyssey is great and all, no question. It'll haul the kids, the grandfolk, bikes and boards, tents and stoves. And at the end of its shelf life, when the kids are embarrassed by it, I can pull the seats and press it into service as a crusty beach wagon.
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