Ended up using startpage.com - it might be a tad worst for privacy but a lot better for usability IMHO. If anyone is aware of a better alternative, I'd love to know about it.
Setting up your own instance is as simple as mirroring the Git repository. Mine is running in the default 8080 port.
Here's more info on how to do it: https://asciimoo.github.io/searx/admin/installation.html
I want to host my personal instance. But doing so doesn't make any sense since if I'm alone using it. So I'm better off using Google directly, unless someone can search whatever he wants via a service I'm hosting :/
So as with many things it is swings and roundabouts and is determined on what you want to do. I wouldn't call the model flawed, it just seems that the benefits of it aren't what you want. Which is fine.
The whole point of searx is not to mix your google research with other people google research, hence making it harder to track you?
AFAIK being alone in using a searx instance is useless, as google will still track you via this searx instance.