Ford Keeps Upping the Cash on Leftover Flexes

Matt Posky
by Matt Posky

Back before we had standards and practices barring tainted food from store shelves, there was a colossal stretch of history when you could buy discounted meat that was well past its best-buy date. The older the cheaper.

These days, those kinds of discounts really only apply to inedible items — like cars. But you don’t have to suffer any of the ramifications of eating thrice-cooked, spoiled meats when you get a car that the manufacturer decides is no longer fit for human consumption.

The Ford Flex is a model most of the folks who write for this site don’t hate. A rare breed. However, this month marks the beginning of the model’s long dirt nap. As usual, that means it’s time for heavy discounts; Ford has already been going ham trying to clear out old-stock Flexes. The deal continues to be sweetened.

For November, Ford says it’s willing to lop off as much as $6,000 — a grand more than the company offered last month. There are catches, however. While you can probably find a sweet deal anywhere in the country, the biggest discounts only apply to customers making purchases of Limited models ($40,530 MSRP) in and around the following areas: New York City, Detroit, Miami and Los Angeles.

It’s also not universal between them, with the hottest deals residing in the Motor City. Some of the incentives similarly specify that you buy a Ford Flex with all-wheel drive. There’s plenty of fine print but, if you can take advantage of any of it (and actually wanted a versatile, retro-inspired family hauler), there’s money waiting for you on the table.

According to Ford Authority, delivery must be assumed from an authorized Ford dealer’s stock by January 2nd or else the deal is no longer valid.

[Images: Ford Motor Co.]

Matt Posky
Matt Posky

A staunch consumer advocate tracking industry trends and regulation. Before joining TTAC, Matt spent a decade working for marketing and research firms based in NYC. Clients included several of the world’s largest automakers, global tire brands, and aftermarket part suppliers. Dissatisfied with the corporate world and resentful of having to wear suits everyday, he pivoted to writing about cars. Since then, that man has become an ardent supporter of the right-to-repair movement, been interviewed on the auto industry by national radio broadcasts, driven more rental cars than anyone ever should, participated in amateur rallying events, and received the requisite minimum training as sanctioned by the SCCA. Handy with a wrench, Matt grew up surrounded by Detroit auto workers and managed to get a pizza delivery job before he was legally eligible. He later found himself driving box trucks through Manhattan, guaranteeing future sympathy for actual truckers. He continues to conduct research pertaining to the automotive sector as an independent contractor and has since moved back to his native Michigan, closer to where the cars are born. A contrarian, Matt claims to prefer understeer — stating that front and all-wheel drive vehicles cater best to his driving style.

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  • Mjg82 Mjg82 on Nov 19, 2019

    I haven't seen the deals up here in Canada yet, been watching. I needed production to last one more year so I could comfortably buy one new. Been running the numbers now that inventory is thinning out and can't quite justify it. I'd go used but most of them seem to be former rentals.

    • See 2 previous
    • Mjg82 Mjg82 on Nov 22, 2019

      @MoDo The Durango is definitely on my radar, but honestly I'd probably go Pacifica before Durango. Pacifica and Flex have been my top two contenders for a while now. Whatever I get it's replacing an Optima Turbo and Roadmaster Estate, and for me the Flex tugs at the heartstrings in a way the Roadmaster does.

  • Vulpine Vulpine on Nov 20, 2019

    The problem with the Flex all along has been its high price, NOT its appearance. I've liked it from the beginning but was never willing to pay anywhere near the asking price. Even taking its size into account, it should have been priced at least $7k below listed MSRP.

    • See 1 previous
    • JimZ JimZ on Nov 21, 2019

      @MiataReallyIsTheAnswer "I agree, a twin turbo decently equipped version at 30-35 Grand would be rather compelling." this, from the same crowd which relentlessly whines when car companies exit unprofitable segments. "Look how many 1990 LS400s got sold due to a great value proposition………." yes, and it's very well known that Toyota bought their way into that market segment.

  • SCE to AUX "we had an unprecedented number of visits to the online configurator"Nobody paid attention when the name was "Milano", because it was expected. Mission accomplished!
  • Parkave231 Should have changed it to the Polonia!
  • Analoggrotto Junior Soprano lol
  • GrumpyOldMan The "Junior" name was good enough for the German DKW in 1959-1963:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DKW_Junior
  • Philip I love seeing these stories regarding concepts that I have vague memories of from collector magazines, books, etc (usually by the esteemed Richard Langworth who I credit for most of my car history knowledge!!!). On a tangent here, I remember reading Lee Iacocca's autobiography in the late 1980s, and being impressed, though on a second reading, my older and self realized why Henry Ford II must have found him irritating. He took credit for and boasted about everything successful being his alone, and sidestepped anything that was unsuccessful. Although a very interesting about some of the history of the US car industry from the 1950s through the 1980s, one needs to remind oneself of the subjective recounting in this book. Iacocca mentioned Henry II's motto "Never complain; never explain" which is basically the M.O. of the Royal Family, so few heard his side of the story. I first began to question Iacocca's rationale when he calls himself "The Father of the Mustang". He even said how so many people have taken credit for the Mustang that he would hate to be seen in public with the mother. To me, much of the Mustang's success needs to be credited to the DESIGNER Joe Oros. If the car did not have that iconic appearance, it wouldn't have become an icon. Of course accounting (making it affordable), marketing (identifying and understanding the car's market) and engineering (building a car from a Falcon base to meet the cost and marketing goals) were also instrumental, as well as Iacocca's leadership....but truth be told, I don't give him much credit at all. If he did it all, it would have looked as dowdy as a 1980s K-car. He simply did not grasp car style and design like a Bill Mitchell or John Delorean at GM. Hell, in the same book he claims credit for the Brougham era four-door Thunderbird with landau bars (ugh) and putting a "Rolls-Royce grille" on the Continental Mark III. Interesting ideas, but made the cars look chintzy, old-fashioned and pretentious. Dean Martin found them cool as "Matt Helm" in the late 1960s, but he was already well into middle age by then. It's hard not to laugh at these cartoon vehicles.
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