Ford's Flex Limited: The Cooler Alternative to a Minivan

What's New About the Flex Limited:

Since Ford has walked away from the minivan business, they’ve found a better way to transport large groups, with its all-new kid friendly crossover - the Ford Flex. Both the interior and exterior incorporates a modern design. The Flex’s exterior design slightly resembles a Land Rover, which Ford owned prior to selling it to Tata Motors in 2008. Like in most minivans and crossovers, we found the all-new Flex to be a smooth riding vehicle in the city or on out of town road trips. Depending on the seating package outfitted in the Flex, the vehicle is capable of occupying up to seven folks and the second and third-row seats fold flat for additional storage.

Must Have Goodies:

If you plan on making a lot of road trips, its worth opting for the second-row center console with the refrigerator and the dual second-row DVD entertainment system. Moreover, like in the Flex Limited we reviewed, we recommend adding the rear back up camera, which is integrated into the voice activated navigational system; the power heated second-row flip seats, which allows easier access to the third-row seats; the four-panel vent sky roofs, which provides sunlight, but eliminates the chrome roof rails; the two-tone leather power heated seats in our Limited; memory driver’s seat; and the Sony 12-speaker AM/FM/CD/satellite audio system; and.Ford’s exclusive Sync activated system, which allows for hands free driving with the voice system - letting you integrate email and other functions from your pc to the Flex.

What Rocked:

The cool boxy design and utility of the Flex, with the optional two-tone colored roof rocked coupled with the standard tinted privacy glass. It’s amazing how Ford and other automakers have been able to disguise station wagons as crossovers – making them cool and acceptable in the 21st century. When we took a road trip to President Jimmy Carter’s hometown, which is located in about three hours outside of Atlanta, our rear occupants found the second-row seats to be both comfortable and provide plenty of legroom.

Furthermore, the refrigerated console was a welcome feature, with the ability to cool when the vehicle was on or off. Lastly, you no longer have to worry about losing the gas cap, when fueling. The Flex offers Ford’s cap-less fuel system, which allows the gas nozzle to release fuel into the fuel tank without removing a cap. Just wondering: how do you keep thieves from siphoning gas out the vehicle, when gas prices return to record level again?

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What We Hated:

The 3.5-liter 6-cylinder engine seemed underpowered and a little noisy for the Flex. For the 2010 model year, Ford is adding its industry exclusive Ecoboost technology, which allows more horses underneath the hood, while maintaining fuel efficiency. Also the third-row seats are great for kids on long trips, but a tight fit for most adults. Unfortunately, when all the seats are in use, it severely limits the rear cargo space like with most vehicles, offering three rows of seating. We also wished Ford offered some of the safety technology available on the upcoming 2010 Taurus such as, a Blind Spot Monitoring System, which alerts the driver before changing lanes of vehicles in its blind spot.

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Any Juice:

The current engine only provides 265 horses. Next year’s Ecoboost technology in the Flex will put out over 355 horses. This should make up for this year’s underpowered 6-cylinder.

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Verdict:

While the step-in height isn’t as low as a station wagon and not as high as most of today’s crossovers, this boxy-looking vehicle is the perfect cool alternative to the minivan. The Flex is available in five trim packages, with an all-wheel drive or front-wheel drive system. Pricing starts at $28,550 and can easily climb to $44,000, when fully optioned. The Flex can also be outfitted with a number of accessories to help personalize the vehicle unlike most of its competitors. If you're in the market for a Flex, expect Ford dealers to work out a great deal for you.

Competition:

Chevy’s Traverse, Buick’s Enclave, GMC’s Acadia, Saturn’s Outlook, Mazda’s CX-9 and Toyota’s Highlander