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The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has opened an investigation into why B-pillar trim pieces fall off Ford Flex SUVs.
Nearly 36,000 model year 2019 Ford Flex vehicles are the primary focus of the investigation, but NHTSA says complaints have been filed about B-pillar trim also detaching from 2016-2018 Flex SUVs.
Safety regulators say those 2016-2018 Ford Flex B-pillar complaints will also be investigated to determine any similarities or differences in B-pillar trim detachments in the 2019 models.
According to complaints filed by Flex owners, the B-pillar trim pieces fell off the vehicles without warning while driving highway speeds. This can cause problems for any vehicles behind the Flex vehicles, something that has occurred at least once when the detached trim struck a vehicle behind the Flex.
The 2019 Ford Flex SUVs have received the greatest number of complaints about detached B-pillar trim.
According to a complaint filed by a 2019 Ford Flex owner:
“The keyless entry keypad – driver sides B-Pillar front door’s trim panel came loose while driving on I-95 today (approximately 70 mph). It was not apparently loose before this event. It dislodged and hit the rear passenger window. This is a safety issue because, were the window down, it would have hit a child passenger. Additionally, with the force that was exerted on the window, breaking the glass was definitely a possibility. Lastly, it was very startling to the driver. The dealership did confirm this issue. They provided a TSB – TSB 20-2427. There was no warning that this would occur.”
Safety regulators will study the problem and determine how serious it is and all the ways it affects safety. Investigators could close this initial probe without further action, or NHTSA could upgrade the investigation to an engineering analysis.
It’s also possible safety regulators may advise Ford that a Ford Flex recall should be issued.
CarComplaints.com will update our website with results of the Ford Flex detached B-pillar trim investigation.