A Flexy for Sexy Rexy - 2013 Ford Flex EcoBoost

[CaptainHenreh]

A year ago I was pretty chill driving a Prius, just me and my almost 2 year old.

Then last month I found myself with not only an almost 3 year old still in a carseat, but an 8 year old and a beautiful wife. We barely fit in the Prius. Something had to give.

We didn't want a Minivan, but felt we needed a third row after taking my stepdaughter and her friend to the waterpark, and realizing that if we'd had Nanners that day we'd have been shit out of luck. So what do you buy when you need a third row, but don't want sliding doors?

We examined the following:
X5
MDX
Flex

Wife's uncle has a Flex and wife had already driven and ridden in it multiple times. Liked the idea. Thought it was well suited for us. I knew that I could get one with 365hp and all wheel drive, so I was game. Putting some feelers out, I got a call from a local dealer who had a "loaded Flex" with "everything" that I could just take for a few days, see how I liked it. I took it home, loaded the girls in it, helped the wife move the last of her stuff out of her old house, and thought "Damn. This thing is a DOG. Why is it so slow?" I pop the hood and apparently "loaded" with "everything" means "still has the boat anchor 286hp NA 3.5 V6." This isn't a BAD motor per se, but the car is quite large, and loaded up with boxes and white girl bullshit (Why is there a SADDLE in my house?) it definitely had trouble getting out of it's own way.

I return the car, tell the guy "Turbo is a requirement, find me one with a power panoramic roof for $fairprice and I'll buy it." He hemmed and hawed and said "Well you're asking for a car that was 50 grand new, how am I supposed to make any money selling you one for $totallyfairprice even if I find it and I looked all over!"

You making money is your job. Me saving money is mine. You can't find me a car, we can't do business. Simple as that.

In my searchings, I find a car in OHIO of all places. Off-Lease, CPO, for less than edmunds TMV. Gotta be a piece of shit, right? Email sales manager, he sends me pictures of anything I ask while I'm on the phone with him. Leased, serviced, and now sold all at the same dealer. Shit, I'll take it. So I drove my wife's 1/4million mile Maxima to buttfuq, Ohio yesterday to buy this:


A 2013 Ford Flex Limited Ecoboost. I get there and it's cherry. I can find precisely nothing wrong with the car. No wear on the seats, it's clean as a whistle, even has the rear cargo net still in the bag. I do not bother negotiating, the price is fair, I have driven deep into enemy territory for this thing. Give me the car. He tosses the keys at me and I head home. Real talk: Nothing will tell you if you like a car like spending 5 and a half hours in it right off the bat but I think it's damn near perfect for my family. Loads of space, very comfortable and for the sheer size of the car, almost absurdly rowdy. Excellent road manners driving "normally" but if you need to GO, you just press the skinny pedal and the car says "Oh, you want speed? OK YOU SON OF A BITCH LET'S PARTY" and she scoots.

OG window sticker:


This isn't "everything" you could get in a Flex. It has pushbutton start and the panoramic roof, which were requirements, but you could also get adaptive cruise, cooled seats, parking assist and a power folding rear seat. Hell, you could get a refrigerated center console if you wanted but I'm kind of glad I didn't. I feel like this is a good balance between "stuff that is cool AF" and "stuff that is going to be impossible to fix when it breaks in 5 years." Besides, they didnt' sell that many Ecoboost Flexes (Aka: SHOFlex) in the first place. This one has everything I want and a nice bonus in the tow package.

Anyway, hate away.

[Jake]

You didn't get the air-conditioned seats? Plebe.

I'm probably going to be one of very few fans of this, but I dig it. Now take it to FlimFlam and have him crank up da boost.

[Mike]

I like.

[SlimKlim]

You know what you need to do.

http://www.amazon.com/SAMPLE-3M-DI-NOC-M...B9HDZXW5SA

[CaptainHenreh]

You know what you need to do.

http://www.amazon.com/SAMPLE-3M-DI-NOC-M...B9HDZXW5SA

It's got wood grain on the steering wheel and door cards. Actually kind of nice.

And I totally wood, but I don't think the wife would let me, and let's be honest: She's right.

[JPolen01]

I hate this thing so much. I'm glad you made it to Ohio in your POS maxima and found a vehicle good for your need though.

[rherold9]

When's the tune coming?

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

[WRXtranceformed]

My God I can't believe someone originally paid over $50k OTD for that. Not that I'm saying that it's a bad car but that just screams absurd to me. Almost (almost) like when I checked out the sticker on a new Land Cruiser.

I like it dude, it definitely suits you and there's no better feeling than finding a car that suits your needs and that you still enjoy driving. Are you keeping the Prius or is that gonna go now? Let's see some interior shots!

If it was me I would resist the temptation to crank up the boost, just because I've heard of so many issues with that engine. I'd just keep up with the regular maintenance and let the CPO warranty do its thing if anything happens.

[rherold9]

If it was me I would resist the temptation to crank up the boost, just because I've heard of so many issues with that engine. I'd just keep up with the regular maintenance and let the CPO warranty do its thing if anything happens.

You must be fun at parties. Tune it.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

[CaptainHenreh]

My God I can't believe someone originally paid over $50k OTD for that. Not that I'm saying that it's a bad car but that just screams absurd to me. Almost (almost) like when I checked out the sticker on a new Land Cruiser.

I like it dude, it definitely suits you and there's no better feeling than finding a car that suits your needs and that you still enjoy driving. Are you keeping the Prius or is that gonna go now? Let's see some interior shots!

If it was me I would resist the temptation to crank up the boost, just because I've heard of so many issues with that engine. I'd just keep up with the regular maintenance and let the CPO warranty do its thing if anything happens.

It is an outrageous amount of money, I will not argue. You get a lot for it, but...it's a lot of money. Prius is staying, as wife drives to C-ville every day in it. Old Maxima is gone baby gone.

It seems like most of the issues with the 3.5EB have been ironed out at this point. There was some teething problems in 08-10 which seemed to plague a lot of stuff, and I'm definitely doing a catchcan (like everyone with a DI engine should) but it also seems like Ford has put a lot of eggs into the 3.5(and 2.7)EB basket...I'd have a difficult time believing the engine itself was some kind of ticking time bomb.

Tune, well, we'll see. I know there's gobs and gobs of power to be had, as a certain flammyflimming individual said, and I quote, "Call me when you've got an hour and want +30whp and +100ft-lbs." But I am definitely not doing anything (except maybe aforementioned catchcan) until the 12/12000 warranty is complete. The "lubricated parts" warranty doesn't actually cover all that much, but what it does cover is expensive, and I definitely don't want to have to fight Ford over it.

[rherold9]

The boost will take you back to your speed3 days. It can't be resisted :evil:

[WRXtranceformed]

It is an outrageous amount of money, I will not argue. You get a lot for it, but...it's a lot of money. Prius is staying, as wife drives to C-ville every day in it. Old Maxima is gone baby gone.

It seems like most of the issues with the 3.5EB have been ironed out at this point. There was some teething problems in 08-10 which seemed to plague a lot of stuff, and I'm definitely doing a catchcan (like everyone with a DI engine should) but it also seems like Ford has put a lot of eggs into the 3.5(and 2.7)EB basket...I'd have a difficult time believing the engine itself was some kind of ticking time bomb.

Tune, well, we'll see. I know there's gobs and gobs of power to be had, as a certain flammyflimming individual said, and I quote, "Call me when you've got an hour and want +30whp and +100ft-lbs." But I am definitely not doing anything (except maybe aforementioned catchcan) until the 12/12000 warranty is complete. The "lubricated parts" warranty doesn't actually cover all that much, but what it does cover is expensive, and I definitely don't want to have to fight Ford over it.

Great call on the catch can. Some of the "after" shots from the Twins community are pretty frightening, in terms of seeing how much oil it catches in a very short amount of time. I highly recommend the Elite Engineering catch can. It looks like they have Ford products on their site but I don't see a bracket for the Flex. It would be worth a call to them (Steve is awesome) to see if they have fabbed up one or if the standard bracket would work since it's a fairly common engine across that platform

[ScottyB]

literally the ultimate roadtrip car. you done good Rex, i hope you hang onto it for a long time.

looking forward to the inevitable Kill Stories and the hilarity that is guaranteed from driving a turbocharged guest house that does 14's.

[Jewels]

You know I approve, cause I already told you. But seriously, this is the perfect vehicle for your family. And it checks off some fun boxes for you too!

[davej]

No hate, I fully approve, even though sliding doors that open from the fob are awesome with kids.

(Why is there a SADDLE in my house?)

[CaptainHenreh]

No hate, I fully approve, even though sliding doors that open from the fob are awesome with kids.

(Why is there a SADDLE in my house?)

Yeah, but she can post. :thumbup:

[CaptainHenreh]

Mikey will like this:

So it's got power memory seats...and mirrors...and pedals. A little 1/2 button on the side saves the settings for the pedalbox, seat orientation, and mirror config.

WEEEEEEEEEELL not only that, but you can program it to your key, so when my key unlocks the car, the car goes "Oh shit, Rex is gonna drive, better set all the shit the way he likes it or he'll feed me premium again."

Sidenote: on the way back from Ohio (which included the I-79 through WV and 68 through western MD) I got a flat 20mpg. Can't complain about that at all.

[SlimKlim]

More cars need adjustable pedals, it really does the trick to get you comfortable if you're awkwardly proportioned like me, my arms are always a little further away from the wheel than I'd prefer to keep my legs comfortable.

[Senor_Taylor]

More cars need adjustable pedals, it really does the trick to get you comfortable if you're awkwardly proportioned like me, my arms are always a little further away from the wheel than I'd prefer to keep my legs comfortable.

I agree. I finally found a position today that lets me shift into 5th gear without stretching a mile in the E46. Us long legged people need adjustable pedals.


I know I hated on the Flex a lot, but I'll try to contain it. Nice pick up!

[D_Eclipse9916]

Mikey will like this:

So it's got power memory seats...and mirrors...and pedals. A little 1/2 button on the side saves the settings for the pedalbox, seat orientation, and mirror config.

WEEEEEEEEEELL not only that, but you can program it to your key, so when my key unlocks the car, the car goes "Oh shit, Rex is gonna drive, better set all the shit the way he likes it or he'll feed me premium again."

Sidenote: on the way back from Ohio (which included the I-79 through WV and 68 through western MD) I got a flat 20mpg. Can't complain about that at all.

Had this on my yukon denali, truck and z06. Combined with easy exit/entry (it puts seats all the way back when you unlock the car from the fob). Problem is when you borrow your wife/girlfriend's key and it slides back for entry, then you put the key in the ignition.......

The seat starts sliding forward...okay...then more..uhh this is closer than I remember..then more...OMG I am being crushed by my CAR!!!! :lol:

I literally thought I was going to lose my legs. That was the day I turned off "easy entry", I don't need the stress level of my car scaring that its going to crush me the next time I switch keys.