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Ford Flex drive

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Just came back from it.
And I’m not supposed to talk about it, yet… At least about the way it drives.

But I can talk about how it looks.
And I think it does look really good. Much better than any minivan out there that’s for sure.
Also more civilized and original than an SUV.

The “giant Mini Cooper” look is pretty obvious, and many people seem to notice it.
I love the Mini, so this is a good thing. This help the Flex with younger buyers.

The interior is not as interesting.
But is is well put together and many of the textures and material used are actually really original.

It is pretty big in person. But anything that seats 6 or 7 people usually is.

I think any big wagon that doesn’t look like an SUV or a minivan is great.
And that’s pretty much what the Flex is: the new 21st century American wagon.

More on the drive later….

Conversation 11 comments

  1. I dont like the color of this interior, but it looks more sophisticated than ford’s old products. The buttons on the center console and dash look very original and not from the parts bin. Steering wheel buttons really dont match the rest of the interior, overall however it looks like they did a decent job. I did notice one shared part with lincoln mks…and you wont notice it in these pictures, but the speed odometer is almost identical.

  2. I share your sentiments about the interior. It is pretty bland, especially when you compare it to the Flex’s direct competition, the Lambda quadruplets. The Acadia, Envoy, Outlook, and even the Traverse have vastly superior interiors in regards to design. I actually miss the plywood interior of the concept…

    The large CUV wars are gonna get interesting now. The Flex with 262HP (340 in the future) against Lambda, Lambda, lambda (and lambda) with 288HP (upgraded for 2009) The Lambda’s are reportedly going to get better fuel economy too. The new engine upgrades are expected to increase mileage to 27mpg.

  4. Why do you keep comparing it to a minivan? It looks like an SUV (at least from the pictures). Is should be compared to the likes of Honda Pilot etc. IMO, minivans have sliding doors. Is it the ‘sliding doors’ look that pushed consumers away from the vans?

    I think you should challenge the Ford PR guys if they were the ones pushing the comparison to the minivans.

  5. How big is this thing, Vince? In the same size as the Buick Enclave, the new Highlander? Chevy Suburban??

  6. Too bad this thing is about a half-notch above the competition in price. AWD is not avalible on the base, which means one looking for an all-weather vehicle in a snowy climate must spend into the mid-to-high 30’s to find something suitable. As nice as it is, sadly, I’ll be taking the CX-9/Outlook/Veracruz/Highlander for a test-drive.

  7. I think this is a pretty cool alternative to a minivan. I wish that they would make a lower priced version, kind of like the Honda Element with a rinse out interior for families that have real children. I look at the photo with the off white interior and imagine how it would look after 2 weeks with my kids. My other criteria for buying this is, would a 4’x8′ sheet of plywood fit in the back? I have an old Ford Aerostar, and if it ever dies, I would look at the Flex.

  8. I think the exterior of the Flex is fantastic. I’ll leave it at that. But the interior isn’t as interesting, in spite of all the hype that the designers were inspired by high-fashion labels. Uh, where? Fake wood… check! Parts bin steering wheel… check! Mandatory chrome trim… check! Matte silver painted plastic… check! While it appears to be of very high quality, it’s far too conventional when compared to the rest of the vehicle. I’m not saying that it’s a flop, but I don’t think it would take much to make the interior much more interesting.

  10. I predict another dissapointment. Took to long to deliver to the market and hype is dead. One of those cars everyone likes but nobody buys. If Ford thinks retro minivans are the way to turnaround the company they are digging themselves a very big hole.

    a major problem i think for ford is all these mismatched vehicles. none of them have any significant connection to each other which means ford doesnt represent anything intrun leading to poor sales. e.g toyota+quality, merceds=consistent luxury ford= a mismatch of retro, poor quality and blandness

  11. Very cool looking outside. The inside is unfortunately from the “parts bin” Guess they have to save money somewhere. 100K, I would bet they will do that number, although I would have said 75K then when it did 100K raved about how it was a huge hit.

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