2019 Ford Flex Investigation Launched Over Rear Camera Failure

In recent years, Ford has certainly faced its fair share of problems with malfunctioning or non-working rearview cameras. Back in 2020, the automaker issued a recall covering 700,000 vehicles with camera woes, in fact, which later prompted the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to open an investigation into the matter. That same problem spawned a lawsuit shortly thereafter, and impacts a broad array of models. That list didn’t include the Ford Flex, but now, the NHTSA is investigating rear camera failures in that discontinued model, too.

The NHTSA’s Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) unit has thus far received 23 reports from 2019 Ford Flex owners, specifically, via its Vehicle Owner Questionnaires (VOQ) pertaining to this matter, which is what prompted it to open an investigation. Those owners report that their vehicles’ rear-view camera image can sometimes be distorted, inverted, or completely blank when the vehicle is in reverse, which is precisely what prompted the aforementioned recall on some other Blue Oval models.

As one might imagine, this problem can lead to an increase in the risk of a crash, given the fact that the driver may not be able to see what’s going on behind them, or they may receive false information in the event that the camera image is inverted or upside down. For now, ODI plans to use its investigation to determine the scope and severity of this problem, assess the potential safety implications, and potentially take further action to ensure that it’s rectified.

This investigation covers a total of 35,950 Ford Flex models from the 2019 model year, but that crossover certainly isn’t alone. Rather, that list also includes 2020 Ford Explorer, Ford F-150, Ford Mustang, Ford Transit, Ford Super Duty, Ford Expedition, Ford Escape, Lincoln Corsair, Ford Ranger, Ford Edge, Lincoln MKX, and Lincoln Nautilus models, as well as 2020-2023 Explorer, Aviator, and Corsair crossovers.