Automotive technology never seems to stop advancing. Today, we have panoramic sunroofs, automatic multi-zone climate control, heated second-row seating, personal infotainment systems for multiple passengers, and more.
Of course, my nearly 15-year-old 2010 Ford Flex (Flexasaurus Rex as I like to call it) has all of that too. It’s been long out of production though and the world needs a modern interpretation. That might just end up being the latest Hyundai Santa Fe, but it’ll need to add a little more Ford Flex to the recipe if it’s going to succeed.
Side by side, the Flex and Santa Fe look surprisingly similar but I wouldn’t have known that without Matt showing me a photo of this one photoshopped to have a two-tone paint scheme with a silvery/bronze roof. Did Hyundai borrow some inspiration from the boxy tall wagon from Ford? Maybe.
The white roof and squared-off styling certainly feel similar enough. Sure, people were quick to compare the Santa Fe to a Land Rover but it would be better off trying to follow in Flex footsteps.
First, let’s chat about what makes the Flex so great. Its main job is to move people in comfort and it does this remarkably well. Mine is a Limited trim so it has a leather interior, seating for six, a widescreen infotainment system, rear-seat entertainment systems for each of the second-row passengers, satellite radio, and is the rare car with four separate ceiling-mounted windows (one less than the Nissan Quest).
There’s a conventional sunroof for the front row, individual fixed roofs for each of the second-row passengers, and a single fixed moonroof for the third row. On top of that (and one of the most important factors in my book) is that it sits on a modified Taurus platform.
That means that it handles far more like a car than a typical three-row SUV. Now, I should admit that it’s not Mazda CX-9 sharp, but no factory CX-9 in history has ever come with a twin-turbocharged V6 like my Flex has. In stock form, it made 355 horsepower and 350 lb-ft of torque when new. It also has a traditional six-speed automatic and paddle shifters that aren’t totally unsatisfying to use.
Even compared to modern three-row SUVs it’s fast, handles well, is comfortable, has tons of great luxury features, and, in my opinion, still looks great. Oh, and the rear seats all fold down perfectly flat (83 cubic feet of storage!) and it tows up to 5,000 pounds on top of it all. It’s kind of perfect in just about every way.
Here’s How The Hyundai Can Be As Great
Before we go too far, kudos are due to Hyundai for thinking outside of the box and being bold with the styling of the Santa Fe. It also deserves credit for a killer warranty and a lot of value for money when compared to several other new cars in the market.
Several of the features I love in my Flex are available in the Santa Fe including heated rear seats, 20-inch wheels, an upgraded sound system, and parking sensors. It’s even available with things I don’t have like ventilated front seats, wireless chargers, and driver safety aids.
At the same time, I have some suggestions on how it can fill a Flex-sized hole in the market. First, it needs a lowering kit. Let’s face it, this SUV is better suited for pavement anyway. Dropping the center of gravity is probably going to make it better to drive and frankly, that’s better for everyone, including the people around the Santa Fe in traffic.
Second, and perhaps most importantly, Hyundai needs another engine option for it. Right now, it comes with a 2.5-liter four-cylinder that makes 277 horsepower and 311 lb-ft of torque. Numbers for the hybrid and PHEV versions are also similar.
In reality, it’s actually pretty quick for what it is. Our own Thomas Hundal says that it rips. Car and Driver managed a 6.3-second run from 0-60 which is only 0.1 slower than my 14-year-old Ford. This is 2024 though and we shouldn’t be settling for SUVs that are marginally slower than stuff from the 2010s (even if they’re also considerably more fuel-efficient.) Just think of what a Hyundai Santa Fe N-Line could be!
What engine could Hyundai use? What about that of the Genesis GV80? It, too, has a twin-turbocharged 375-horsepower V6 and while the two don’t share the same platform, it would make the Santa Fe a mega three-row SUV. It already handles pretty well and has more sound insulation than the Flex. Adding a more powerful engine, lowering it, and tuning the suspension would unequivocally make it one of the fastest and most engaging to drive in the entire segment.
Finally, maybe the Santa Fe should end up on the GV80 platform. If there’s one thing I’d change about my Flex, it’s the fact that it’s a front-wheel-drive-biased system. No matter how hard I try, it won’t rip Flexy donuts even in the snow. The Genesis M3 platform is decidedly RWD-biased and could put the Santa Fe into halo car cult status. It could even convince me to give up my Ford. Maybe…
After first-hand experience with the Kia/Hyundai imploding engines and the company’s response I cannot consider anything they offer. My vehicle was not on the recall list at the time but they replaced the engine “as a courtesy.”
The lack of key transponder in order to save a few bucks reinforced my feelings. I would see stolen and then wrecked cars several times a week in my city. Kia/Hyundai denied there was an issue for a while.
Flexes are great. It’s a lower Volvo XC90 with a boxier design and American comfort and propulsion instead of Swedish. Lots to love, even with the every-100K water pump and timing bits job (not much different than a Honda V6 timing belt, really).
However.
It should have been called the Edge, and the Edge should have been called the Flex. Yes, the Flex is more “flexible” for cargo and passengers, but it’s a wonderful BOX. Boxes have edges. The Edge (and by extension the MKX and Nautilus) are nicely curvy (and an excellent size for a 2-row crossover, but I digress). If you flex something, it curves. So, therefore, Flex should have been Edge, Edge should have been Flex.
Add in that “Edge” was originally a trim and graphics package on the Ranger, which had the ride height of the 4WD model on the 2WD vehicle (though it could be had with 4WD) with some other nice cosmetics and available features. They didn’t even bother to change the font when they launched the crossover (which I don’t mind because it looks great). So it was sort of appropriate for a crossover in that was costumed as a bit of an off-roader (but never really advertised as such like the Escape and Explorer) but it was really just a tall car (especially given the Sport and later ST trims).
Thank you for coming to my geometrically-focused TED talk.
The Flex – the car Ford designed by stretching a Honda Element.
*1st Gen Scion xB has entered the chat*
I wanted a Flex so badly, but couldn’t find a used one with the trim I wanted without either a billion miles or a lack of a water pump replacement. I had to go get an Explorer instead, which is the lifted version of the Flex, which is a wagon version of the Taurus. Doesn’t handle nearly as well though. My partner doesn’t like the look…not swoopy enough. But I would have still gone for it if I could. Not jealous at all… /sarcasm.
Of course, I got a Sport trim, with the twin turbo
EcoBustEcoBoost 3.5L (I joke, but sub 6 second 0-60MPH is no joke in a relatively large vehicle). I had a 2012 Volvo XC60 T6 and thought THAT was overpowered…the Explorer same fuel tank, not requiring premium, and I’m able to eek out about 20MPG when not snaking through traffic. Because I’m a family man, I actually appreciate the FWD basis, although, of course, AWD on demand.One other issue with the Flex…as I get older, doing a squat thrust to get into a car is becoming…less endearing. I’m pretty sure that’s one of the main reasons why “crossovers” are ruling the roads…old people who can actually afford them don’t want to “get down” into a car. Then they trade them in, so…MOAR SUV…
I think right now Hyundai is starting to make great products… But they have the same shitty dealer network that makes me shudder even having to think about dealing with them.
Everyone I know who’s owned a Flex loves/loved them. Truly a great car that did many things well. I want one, so that I can put a sticker that says “Weird Flex, but Okay!” on it
I’d consider the Santa Fe if it were a bit bigger. I know that is the Palisade in the lineup, but that is 18 mpg V-6 only.
Guess it is back to waiting on Toyota to start shipping Grand Highlanders again.
FWIW, a lightly used 2019 Flex demands pretty strong money. And having researched the possibility of buying an Explorer or Lincoln Aviator, I don’t have a lot of confidence in Ford’s reliability to spend $27k on a 6 year old Flex.
I got a 5 year unlimited warranty when I bought my Explorer for EXACTLY this reason. I’m trying to get things to break..the dealership is gonna REGRET that “unlimited” mileage thing, though…I put 30K miles on my vehicles per year…
2015 Flex was my daily driver from 15-23. My daughter and I still flex at Flex drivers when we see one! Seriously the roomiest interior ever.
“…kudos are due to Hyundai for thinking outside of the box…”
Uh – they literally designed a vehicle with more squares, rectangles and straight lines than the boxy Flex, which itself was designed to look like the boxy Land Rover.
So in actuality – Hyundai thought inside the box and made it boxier.
Flex-Fe | Ottomadiq on Instagram
I always loved the Flex, but around the time I would have been in the market for one, I was living and working around the city, and couldn’t justify the spectre of 16-18mpg. Ironically our Forester didn’t do that much better, but the intentions were there.
I suspect I was far from the only admirer of the vehicle who loved the concept, but couldn’t quite make the compromises work. I couldn’t justify full-size truck MPG for a vehicle that still needed roof racks or a trailer for a sheet of plywood.
I think many others appreciated the styling and anti-SUV image (Subaru, Volvo wagon buyers) but would have been fine with something a bit smaller, and less powerful.
Performance buyers (The 3.5 EcoBoost was, and still is, a monster for that sort of vehicle) would have preferred RWD.
As it stands, I think the Flex mostly appealed to wealthier buyers who wanted a stylish minivan replacement, and didn’t need to think too seriously about any of the above compromises.
Anecdotal of course, but my family bought one in large part due to an obese family member who found the seats to be comfortable and wide enough.
Twas just a 2010 base model non-turbo and it had its faults. When it died in 2018 we replaced it with a 2014 Toyota Sienna with similar horsepower, more space, and better fuel economy. Better in every way except looks, depending on your perspective.
Do the people who like that much glass in the roof live in constantly cloudy places? I’ve had cars with sunroofs/moonroofs only because the things came bundled with other features I wanted. I think they create too much glare and heat, so the shade was closed 95% of the time. Oh well, I won’t be buying a car like that, so others can go ahead and enjoy them for whatever reason.
Amen. I’m in Houston and I prefer cars without sunroofs when I can find them. My Grand Cherokee has way too much glass on the roof for our summers.
For me, yes. Canadian winters are dark enough by themselves, it’s nice to get some more ambient light in the car. And summer usually doesn’t get too hot so sun shade stays open 24/7 unless the sun is directly in my eyes from above and getting past my sunglasses
Canadian winters are also cold (I spent two of them in central Saskatchewan) so I would think you’d also like more insulation than glass can provide.
The first two vehicles I ever drove were my parents’ 2010 Ford Flex and a 2005 Ford Focus ZXW (wagon).
The Flex was base trim, non-turbo engine. (Still powerful, even if I never really pushed it. “See this thing? It’s a tachometer. You want to keep it low. Think of it like…your fuel consumption at a given moment.”)
It was really a mixed bag. I do applaud its styling (and even the name…I mean, come on. I will continuing to defend Ford as having the best vehicle names on average). We actually got it because a close family member was obese at the time and could fit in the seats comfortably.
I think it needed a new transmission while under warranty, or something equally wild/expensive that luckily didn’t cost us.
But the two worst flaws we experienced were as follows…
First: never get a Flex with a second row 60/40 bench seat. The 60 sides are known to wear through the latch that allows them to fold down, and then a second pull lets them flip forward for rear row access. We had that latch break once under warranty, again right after warranty was up and cost us $700 at the dealership to replace, and then we didn’t bother getting it fixed once it happened again. You lose the decent storage capacity once that latch is broken.
Second: I am told the Duratec V6s have an issue coming from their design. Long story short, it died in 2018 at 180,000 miles because coolant got into the engine, despite regular oil changes and such.
For all of that–the 2014 Sienna we got as a replacement still had a brisk 250 horsepower, and got better fuel economy while having more space. So…was the Flex okay? It depends. But definitely I wouldn’t consider any with the 60/40 bench seats. The ones with a 40/20/40 (either a gap or a rear console) are fine.
Years ago a friend rented a Flex for a family vacation. He raved about the car and almost bought one. Now he’s seriously considering a Santa Fe. He laughs at himself and says that he’s trying to make up for not buying a Flex. I agree about lowering it just a little.
needs air suspension so it could keep what little offroad chops it has but drive slammed on the street.
It was *so easy* to get this thing stuck. Sucked in winter weather or on mildly wet grass.
The Flex had more interior space than the Explorer at the time (and in my opinion handled better), but it died because people thought it was a wagon whilst everyone wanted the more ‘rugged’* look of the Explorer. That being said, there was a small contingent of my customer base who was royally pissed when Ford pulled the plug.
*It wasn’t.
I don’t think they really want to lean into the Flex vibe. Fact is that it was a failure, the only reason Ford kept it around as long as they did was because it had a high conquest rate in SoCal and hoped some of that would rub off on other models.
I do say that as a big fan of the Flex. We did consider getting one but by that time the kids were getting old enough that we wouldn’t really need a 3 row kid hauler for that much longer. So instead we kept what we had and got the wife a more economical daily driver.
It failed because Ford never promoted it. The Flex was never advertised, even in the “whole lineup of vehicles” ads. And initially, they were overpriced at the higher trim levels.
I don’t know around my area they advertised it a fair amount, at least initially and there are a number of ads on youtube. https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=ford+flex+ad
I recently test drove the new hybrid Santa Fe in the second highest trim (Limited I believe?) and was extremely impressed, particularly with the interior. They’ve clearly taken some cues from modern BMW when it comes to material and design choices…and pretty much every surface you interact with is soft touch. The rear seats have plenty of space and you can even cram an adult in the third row in a real pinch…although I assume most owners will put them down and leave them there.
These also don’t ride THAT high and give off a bit of a wagon vibe in real life…which brings me to my next point-the Santa Fe looks WAY better in person. Some colors definitely suit it more than others…and I have no idea why so many of the press photos have been in brown, burnt orange, and rose gold because they make the design look too busy. But darker colors really pop and tone down some of the design’s eccentricities. There’s an olive drab green that’s just fantastic and as much as I hate gray cars it does look good in gray.
On top of all this you’re probably paying about 10% less than a comparatively equipped Japanese hauler. Whether or not that’s worth it is up to you to determine. IMHO depreciation more or less kills that advantage over time but ownership costs on the Korean cars are pretty damn low, especially with the massive powertrain warranty and full 3 years of free maintenance.
All in all I think these are fuckin great and that Hyundai has yet another big hit on their hands. I’m trying to convince my wife she should get one as her next car but she’s still insisting on a Highlander hybrid as of now.
They are already all over the place in Tampa Bay. A friend has that green, and it indeed looks terrific. This is a great design, although way too big for my use case.
My wife and I just welcomed our first kid last week, are planning on trying for 2, and have a doggo. It’s a pretty perfect size for us and it checks a lot of boxes between the cheater third row, luxury-adjacent appointments, all wheel drive, hybrid powertrain, etc.
While I’ve lamented the depreciation, other than that my Hyundai ownership experience has been trouble free and I have a good relationship with a dealership that’s near us. I’d love to go with a Santa Fe because of how much I like the design and interior…in a class of completely anonymous transportation pods it really stands out. But like I said, my wife is going to be hard to convince because she wants a Highlander Hybrid.
The CX90 PHEV was also on our radar but dear god have the initial batch of them been bad. Pretty much everyone that got one as a long term tester has had a litany of issues and the forums are an infinite chasm of despair. I haven’t completely thrown it off the list because there’s a chance some of the issues will be resolved by the time we’re shopping but the first round of them has been BAD…
Congrats! Our 2nd was born around 6 weeks ago. I’ve got one going into high school, and an infant…wtf is wrong with me. If our Q7 ever starts burning massive quantities of oil I’d definitely take a hard look at the Santa Fe. I absolutely love the styling. It’s so funky. I don’t think I’d be able to convince my wife, though.
Congratulations on your newborn!
Congratulations! Hope Lil Nsane is doing well!
I’ve only seen one so far in TB, it was green. I wonder if these things are selling at MSRP?
Around me in DC most are selling at slightly under, even the hybrids. There are a lot of them on lots. If you want a pure ICE one you can definitely get a deal and that turbo 2.5 is a pretty nice engine for what it is…however I don’t see the purpose in doing anything other than a hybrid in a mid sized, road going SUV.
There are also going to be PHEVs, although the only ones on lots near me are the last generation ones. I think I’d probably prefer a traditional hybrid in a family hauler and a PHEV in a commuter, but it just depends on what your use case is. Whatever we get will be doing a lot of road trips so the PHEV benefits won’t always be present.
I Love the Flex, and dislike the Santa Fe.
The Santa Fe looks best with the gray plastic cladding, and absolutely terrible with the High gloss body match cladding. The plastic is so thin that it isn’t flat, and you can see all the mold lines from the back through the front. For this reason, even if lowered (The Flex should also be lowered as it is based on a Volvo chassis) the Santa Fe still can’t pull off the vibe of the Flex.
I always got Isuzu Axiom vibes from the Santa Fe also, but I can see some of the Flex in it
I had a 2010 EcoBoost SEL Flex for ten years or so and LOVED it. I now have a 2023 Hyundai Santa Cruz with the same 2.5 liter turbo engine as the new Santa Fe. It’s a solid engine, but sounds awful. Around town and out of the loud pedal, it’s fine. But at full roar, it’s like an angry tractor, not in a good way.
But I gotta say that 4,200 pound trucklet of mine moves really well. The 8-speed DCT is solid and yeah, it’s FWD biased, but will dig into all four if needed. I showed my wife this article and she said to go buy a Santa Fe as well, which is fine with me.
I will wait with crossed fingers for more powerful engine choices in the next year or two. And then I’ll probably grab one. If I do get one, for a few hundred bucks, I can have some vinyl put on the top and side trim to make it even more Flex-like.
It’s also worth noting that I tried mightily to drift my Flex during a Winter driving course on pavement that had been wetted with soapy water. As did the instructor. And that thing had stability control that was set to kick in at the absolute wrong moment, and could not be disabled without pulling fuses. It was annoying because I know how to control a slide, and just when it started, the Flex’s nannies would reduce power in bad ways and cause a nasty spin instead. It actually made it worse for someone who knew how to power through.
Love the Santa Cruz.
I looked at the Flex when I was in the market for a minivan years ago. The third row seats didn’t have enough leg room. It definitely looked cool to me, but my wife hated it. Towing was’t a consideration for me back then, but 5,000 lbs is impressive.
As for the Hyundai, every crossover would be better if it were lowered. They used to call vehicles like that “station wagons.”
Yeah, the third row is definitively “shorter people and children only”.
Or, “teenager who wants to play on his laptop” can sit there with the laptop sitting on the folded-down middle seats and have an adequate area for it and a mousepad, if you ignore the risk of the laptop becoming a projectile in a collision…
“Thinking outside of the box” hmmmm….
I so desperately wish to build a post facelifted Flex but with the drivetrain of the last GT500, 4 corner coilovers (setup for soft) some subtle fender flares to allow for the necessary wider wheels and tires, larger brakes, 4 Recaro specialist seats, valved exhaust to go from very quiet and mellow to the absolute batshit mode, 18” Detroit steel wheels with performance tires that have sidewall to fill out those flares. Black paint with the white roof and hardcoat anodized aluminum to replace the plasti-chrome trim inside and outside.
Not my cup of tea but I’d subscribe to your channel to watch the build 🙂
Maybe you could rub some Flexall on the Santa Fe and bring it up to speed.
My only complaint about the Flex is a minor one – of all of Ford’s vehicles, it seemed an odd choice for this one to have its name spelled out across the hood.
Why not just F O R D, as a nice nod to the past, and why not most Fords then?
The Flex really was a great rig. I owned 2 (first was totalled out by a 16 year old who rear ended me). Had the best NVH of any Ford (especially the Limited with the dual pane glass), and even the base V6 was good (the Ecoboost a beast). If they would have kept making them i may have bought a 3rd.
Wild! We liked aspects of ours but it definitely gave us trouble and died unceremoniously (coolant got into the engine at only 180,000 miles). (See my top level comment for breakdown)
Ah yes – the dreaded coolant pump failure. Such a shame as the design took out many o’ motors with plenty of life left in them.