Ford Flex vs Hyundai Palisade: which is more reliable?
The Ford Flex and the Hyundai Palisade are level on the federal record — 67/100 against 68/100 across the years we score. Which one to buy is decided by the model year, not the badge.
The record, side by side
Ford Flex
- 9 model years scored
- 1,582 owner complaints on record
- about 19 complaints per year on the road
- 32 recall campaigns, 12 safety-critical
- best year 2017 (91/100) · worst 2013 (34/100)
Hyundai Palisade
- 4 model years scored
- 1,579 owner complaints on record
- about 151 complaints per year on the road
- 19 recall campaigns, 11 safety-critical
- best year 2020 (78/100) · worst 2025 (58/100)
Mean score is the average across model years from 2013 on, where both records are comparable. How the score works.
Year by year: Flex against Palisade
The comparison that decides the purchase. A nameplate is not one car — a redesign can move the record sixty points inside two years, and the two nameplates rarely move together.
What owners actually complain about
Ford Flex
- Electrical System — 348 complaints
- Steering — 315 complaints
- Unknown Or Other — 220 complaints
Hyundai Palisade
- Service Brakes — 316 complaints
- Seat Belts — 263 complaints
- Unknown Or Other — 237 complaints
They do not fail the same way: the Flex's complaints concentrate in Electrical System, the Palisade's in Service Brakes. That difference matters more to a buyer than the score gap, because it says which repair bill you are taking on.
Years to avoid on each
Ford Flex — avoid: 2013, 2019.
Hyundai Palisade: no model year scores below 45; the strongest are 2020, 2021.
A year scores below 45 on complaints per year of exposure and recall campaigns. Every car’s years to avoid.
What each costs today
A recent used Ford Flex prices at about $37,500 and a Hyundai Palisade at about $63,100 — the Ford Flex is roughly $25,600 less, and they return 18.0 against 21.0 MPG combined.
Class-level estimates re-priced to your country, not a valuation of one car. Method.
FAQ
Is the Ford Flex or the Hyundai Palisade more reliable?
On the NHTSA record the Hyundai Palisade scores 68/100 against the Ford Flex's 67/100, averaged across every model year we hold. The gap is small enough that the model year matters more than the badge.
Which Ford Flex and Hyundai Palisade years should I avoid?
Ford Flex: 2013, 2019. Hyundai Palisade: no year scores below 45. Each of those scores under 45 out of 100 on complaints per year of exposure and recall campaigns.
What goes wrong on the Ford Flex and the Hyundai Palisade?
The largest complaint group on the Ford Flex is Electrical System (348 complaints); on the Hyundai Palisade it is Service Brakes (316).
Is the Ford Flex or the Hyundai Palisade cheaper to own?
A recent used Ford Flex prices at about $37,500 and a Hyundai Palisade at about $63,100, before insurance and the maintenance band. Both pages carry the five-year running-cost figure.