This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.
So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.
When my car starts in the morning I receive a warning that the power steering is not working. I cannot turn the wheel and am at the point where I have to stop and start my car until the power steering comes back on. I am very concerned that this will happen while driving and I will be in a serious accident. I do not want to drive the car on the highway. I took this to Ford in Feb 2022 because Firestone informed me that there was a recall for this issue. Ford said the warning had been cleared after taking my car for about 3 days. This keeps happening so I called Ford twice in September 2022 and they told me the recall was expired. I took this to Lorentz this week and they confirmed the power steering issue and recall.
Power steering suddenly failed. Power steering assist light would come on spontaneously, but go off again after vehicle was restarted. Took vehicle to a local shop and was informed about the recall. Ford refuses to make repair claiming mileage has exceeded. Vehicle was not included in original recall, and we have received no paper work informing us about this recall
The contact owns a 2012 Ford Explorer. The contact stated while starting the vehicle, the power steering warning light illuminated. The contact turned off and restarted the vehicle and the warning light disappeared. The contact stated that on another occasion, after restarting the vehicle the warning light remained illuminated. The vehicle was towed to the dealer and the contact was informed that the steering rack assembly needed to be replaced. The manufacturer was contacted and stated that the VIN was not included in NHTSA Campaign Number: 14V286000 (Steering) and referred the contact to the NHTSA Hotline to file a complaint. The failure mileage was 120,000.
The vehicle loses steering ability at highway speeds. I have taken it to my local mechanic and been told it is a programming issue from ford. It was reprogrammed by ford several times under the previous steering recall.
Power steering failed while driving the car. Car displays warnings of Power Steering Assist failure, Service AdvanceTrac, and Terrain Management System failure. I took the car to my dealer, who advised that the issue is tied to Ford recall 15N01 and my vehicle would need a new steering rack, however, Ford denied the warranty coverage as outside the 10-year time period. When I contacted Ford to note that the May 17, 2019 letter posted on the NHTSA website to dealers and service centers appears to waive the 10-year time and 150,000 mile limitation for warranty coverage, Ford refused to pay for the repair and stated that the NHTSA notice was not an official Ford document.
- Concord, NC, USA
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The contact's wife owns a 2012 Ford Explorer. The contact stated while his wife was driving 30-35 MPH, the steering wheel seized and the message "Power Steering Assist Fault" was displayed. The contact was able to veer to the side of the roadway. The contact stated that upon turning off and restarting the vehicle several times, the steering wheel regained power steering functionality. The contact's wife was able to drive to the residence; however, the failure reoccurred the next day. The dealer was notified of the failure and informed the contact's wife that she had to pay a repair fee as the vehicle had previously received the one-time free repair under NHTSA Campaign Number: 14V286000 (Steering). The manufacturer was notified of the failure but provided no assistance. The failure mileage was approximately 105,000. The contact stated that they paid out of pocket to have their vehicle repaired.
The contact owns a 2012 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the power steering assist warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed that the power steering assist needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and advised the contact to file a complaint with the NHTSA. The failure mileage was 125,394.
Power steering locks while driving on highways forcing me to stop on side of road to restart vehicle. Vehicle pier steering no longer working. Took to mechanic and they advised it was a recall issue 13S14 - called Ford and was told the recall was already performed on the vehicle. Either not properly performed or this vehicle is a defect.
The contact owns a 2012 Ford Explorer. The contact stated while driving at 10 MPH, the power steering EAS warning light was illuminated. The contact continued driving to her residence. However, the steering wheel became difficult to steer. The contact towed the vehicle to a local dealer, where it was diagnosed that the steering column needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. Upon investigation, the contact associated the failure with NHTSA Campaign Number: 14V286000 (Steering), however, the VIN was not included. The manufacturer had been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 100,000.
This last weekend, while my daughter and her boyfriend were driving over a very treacherous mountain pass on their way to Aspen, Independence Pass, the power steering system suddenly went out in her car. It-??s NO EXAGGERATION to say that had my daughter-??s boyfriend not been driving the vehicle, they likely would not be alive today. The vehicle is nearly impossible to maneuver safely with no power-steering, particularly on a winding mountain pass, and my daughter-??s boyfriend, who is a very strong athlete, had difficulty driving them to safety. They ended up sleeping in their car near Aspen, because they could not drive safely to their intended destination. We were told that the power steering assist system failure was similar to a recall, but falls instead under a "customer satisfaction program" and Ford was willing to repair it free of charge for ten years only. Even though the car has under 150k miles, we were 8 months beyond the ten year period to have it fixed at no cost and are now told it will cost thousands to repair out of pocket. There is a ten year free repair coverage period and even though it-??s a 2012 (and now 2022) because the vehicle was originally purchased in 2011, we have -??missed-?? the coverage period by just a few months to have the part fixed at no cost and this will now cost us thousands of dollars to fix, which we don-??t have. When purchasing, were shown the Carfax report, told everything looked fine, and signed as casually instructed. Obviously, from the layman-??s perspective, the words -??Customer Satisfaction Program-?? on the Carfax report did not raise any red flags with us, nor was it pointed out as something to look into or be aware of. We just bought this Explorer less than 2 years ago from a dealership for nearly 10K and are 500 dollars shy of paying it off. This defective part nearly cost my daughter and her boyfriend their lives. This should be a safety recall, not labeled "customer satisfaction program." Gravely misleading.
The contact owns a 2012 Ford Explorer. The contact stated while driving approximately 10 MPH and attempting to make a turn, the vehicle was difficult to turn. The power steering assist warning light was illuminated. The contact bought power steering fluid; however, she then became aware that the power steering was an electronic power steering, not a hydraulic power steering. The vehicle remained at the location of the failure and had a friend take her to the local dealer. The dealer diagnosed the failure as an electronic power steering assist failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was unknown.
My wife was travelling on a state highway when she came to a curve and began slowing for the curve. She then started into the curve to the right when her power steering system had a failure. She could not steer the vehicle and the vehicle went straight into the oncoming lane which had a dump truck travelling in it. They both were able to come to a stop before a collision. My wife then shut her vehicle of and restarted the vehicle and the problem went away. She took a picture of the instrument cluster that had a message of "Power Steering Assist Fault". The vehicle has made the same fault message two more times since this first incident. This is a dangerous safety issue.
The contact owns a 2012 Ford Explorer. The contact stated while driving approximately 20 MPH and slowing for a traffic sign, the power steering failed while turning to the right. The contact stated that several unknown warning lights were illuminated. The contact was able to safely stop the vehicle. The contact drove the vehicle to her residence without a power steering assist. The contact drove the vehicle to a dealer to be diagnosed. The mechanic determined that the steering gear and rear bushings needed to be replaced. The rear bushings were replaced; however, the steering gear was not repaired. The failure persisted. Additionally, the vehicle now constantly would steer to the right and the contact had to compensate to keep moving in a straight line by counter-steering to the left. The contact researched and found that the steering failure was related to NHTSA Campaign Number: 14V286000 (Steering). The manufacturer had been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 168,000.
Service AdvanceTrac Warning light illuminated, power steering fail...second time this happened around the same time last year. Also, right and left turn signals do not stay on while turning.
The contact owns a 2012 Ford Explorer. The contact stated while driving 40 MPH, the vehicle lost power steering functionality. The contact stated there was no warning light illuminated. The vehicle was towed to the dealer but was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 151,000.
The contact owns a 2012 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that while her son was driving 70 MPH, the steering wheel became difficult to turn. The contact stated that the service power steering warning light was illuminated. The driver was able to drive at a slower speed to his destination. The contact towed the vehicle to the local dealer, where it was diagnosed with needing the electronic power steering module and the steering gear to be replaced. The contact called the manufacturer and was informed that NHTSA Campaign Number: 14V286000 (Steering) was completed by the previous owner. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 134,980.
The contact owns a 2012 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle experienced a loss of electric power steering assist. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic who related the failure to NHTSA Campaign Number: 14V286000 (Steering) however, the VIN was not included in the recall. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and directed the contact to file a complaint with the NHTSA. The failure mileage was 133,837.
The contact owns a 2012 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle lost power steering assist. The vehicle was towed to the dealer and diagnosed that an unknown steering wheel part needed to be replaced. The dealer informed the contact that there was a previous recall for the steering associated with the VIN however, the recall had expired in September 2021. The vehicle was not repaired and remained at the dealer. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and referred the contact to the NHTSA for assistance. The failure mileage was approximately 76,000.
The contact owns a 2012 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the steering wheel seized. The vehicle was towed to the dealer and diagnosed with electric power-assisted steering (EPAS) failure. The contact was informed that the EPAS needed to be replaced. The dealer referred the contact to the manufacturer. The vehicle was not repaired and remained at the dealer. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure but declined the EPAS replacement. The failure mileage was approximately 139,000.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Flower Mound, TX, USA