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CarComplaints.com Notes: Power steering problems started rearing their ugly head in the 2010 Fusion, so you'd think Ford had plenty of time to make sure those problems didn't creep into the 2012. But here we are.

The Electronic Power Assist Steering (EPAS) is a mess. It fails at an alarming rate. Don’t believe us? Take a look at NHTSA’s data on the subject.

And much like the power steering, we’re still seeing the same throttle body failures that started in 2010 continue in 2012.

10.0

really awful
Crashes / Fires:
44 / 2
Injuries / Deaths:
13 / 1
Average Mileage:
71,102 miles

About These NHTSA Complaints:

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.

2012 Ford Fusion steering problems

steering problem

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2012 Ford Fusion Owner Comments (Page 2 of 65)

« Read the previous 20 complaints

problem #1275

Apr 192024

Fusion

  • 44,529 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

The contact owns a 2012 Ford Fusion. The contact stated that while driving from the driveway, the steering wheel was difficult to turn. The message "Power Steering Assist Fault-?? was displayed. The vehicle was towed to the dealer, where it was diagnosed that the electric power steering assist had failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and a case was opened. The failure mileage was 44,529. The VIN was not available.

- Ojai, CA, USA

problem #1274

Jan 012023

Fusion

  • 81,000 miles
The contact owns a 2012 Ford Fusion. The contact stated while depressing the brake pedal, the "Power Steering default" message was displayed, and the steering wheel became stiff and difficult to turn. The contact stated that the vehicle was restarted and was operating normally; however, the failure recurred intermittently. The vehicle was taken to the dealer but was not repaired. The contact discovered an unknown NHTSA Campaign; however, the VIN was not included. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 81,000.

- Albuquerque, NM, USA

problem #1273

Apr 072024

Fusion

  • miles
While pregnant wife was driving the vehicle, the steering completely stopped working. When she reached safety, wife pulled over and turned car off. After letting car set for a couple of minutes and turning back on, steering still wouldn't work. When taken to the dealership, Ford said that car didn't meet the customer satisfaction program warranty of 10 years or 150,000 miles.

- Aurora, CO, USA

problem #1272

Mar 122024

Fusion

  • miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

Power steering went out. The steering rack has now gone bad in this vehicle twice. The first time it was covered under a recall, 15S18, and then there were further issues, so they issued a customer satisfaction recall with the number 15N01. 2012 ford fusion with 110,000 miles, two steering racks, but because the customer service recall is expired, they won-??t replace my second bad steering rack, and it is going to cost me 3,000 dollars, more than half the worth of the car according to KBB. I find this to be incredibly unfair that Ford can put a crappy part that costs 2000 dollars in a vehicle, and then say because the customer service recall is expired, it-??s my job and responsibility to spend 3,000 dollars fixing their crappy part.

- Chepachet, RI, USA

problem #1271

Mar 082024

Fusion

  • 132,000 miles
The contact owns a 2012 Ford Fusion. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the steering wheel seized. The power steering service now and advanced track system warning lights are illuminated. The vehicle was undrivable. The contact was able to safely pull the vehicle to the shoulder of the roadway. The vehicle was towed to the residence. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed determined there was no communication between the steering wheel and the power steering. The steering wheel sensor needed to be replaced and possibly the control module and the rack and pinion. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and a case was filed. The failure mileage was approximately 132,000.

- Boise, ID, USA

problem #1270

Mar 092024

Fusion

  • miles
I was driving along, going about 55mph, and all of a sudden the service advancedtrac pops up on my dash. A few minutes later service power steering now came across the screen. I noticed a difference in the steering. It was getting harder but it was manageable. I had to make a stop and turned the car off. When I crunk the car back up and started to drive the steering was very stiff. It took all I had just to pull out of a parking space. Ford really needs to extend the recall for this issue to other years.

- Pinewood, SC, USA

problem #1269

Mar 042024

Fusion

  • miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

Power steering went out and couldn't turn wheel. It is available for inspection. Tried to turn right at intersection and power steering was just gone. I had my wife and granddaughter in the car. We were lucky no vehicle was coming thru the intersection at that moment. Got it off the road and back to my house since I had only went about a quarter mile.The vehicle has not been inspected since its undriveable. There was first a power steering assist fault and then changed to Advancetrak Fault. It showed power steering fault about 3 weeks ago but I turned off car and restarted it, and it drove fine until [XXX]. We were headed to lowes and had just left our house when we pulled out at a red-light to go right and it locked up. Went to Ford dealership. They said extended warranty was 10 years from date or 150000 miles. They basically said it wasn't there problem. So now we have an excellent condition car that we can't drive. Thank You for your time. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

- Venice , FL, USA

problem #1268

Feb 152024

Fusion

  • miles
1.My daughter was driving her Fusion in Los Angeles, California when the power steering gave out. 2. Fortunately she maintained control of the car but had it towed to the shop. 3. The car is impossible to drive safely with the steering so defective. 4. The repairs are prohibitively expensive [$2754.33]. 5. Ford has not placed this defect as a recall but has acknowledged this dangerous condition under its "Customer Satisfaction Program campaign # [XXX]. 6. Ford refuses to pay for the repair as it claims some sort of time limit has expired. 7. [My daughter may supplement this report to give finer details, as I am not sure on the dates or exactly how the incident happened.] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

- Yarmouth Port, MA, USA

problem #1267

Jan 132024

Fusion

  • miles
On January 13 went a school function. When leaving the function the power steering assist light went on and the power steering cease to function making it hard to control. I was able to to control the vehicle and prevent it from getting in any type of accident. Some of the vehicles have been recalled because of faulty power steering. Ford will not pay the cost of the repair.

- Pittsburgh, PA, USA

problem #1266

Jan 292024

Fusion

  • 162,250 miles
The contact owns a 2012 Ford Fusion. The contact stated that while her son was driving at an undisclosed speed, the power steering feature was inoperable. The contact stated that the failure had occurred two weeks ago. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed with a failed power steering assist. The contact was informed that the power steering assist needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure but provided no assistance. The failure mileage was approximately 162,250.

- Saint Louis, MO, USA

problem #1265

Jan 282024

Fusion

  • miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

Power steering has completely quit working and no error codes are coming up when checked. This is putting my family and everyone on the road at risk as it is very hard to steer the vehicle and near impossible to drive defensively. This has been inspected by a repair shop. No codes are found. No warning before this happened. Power steering failed and a notice in the car came up on the screen at the same time to have it fixed.

- Yadkinville, NC, USA

problem #1264

Dec 032023

Fusion

  • miles
I was driving, the power steering failed and caused me to start to lose control of my vehicle while turning on the freeway, which caused me to slightly crash into the side wall and almost go over the highway into the water. I also hit my head on the driver side window and felt very dizzy for a while afterwards. Because I was so in shock and scared, I wasn-??t able to drive the car home for hours, so I pulled onto the side of the road and called my family to let them know what happened. When I purchased the vehicle I wasn-??t informed of any issues with the model. Both this model and several others were included as part of a recall, and the car was taken into the shop and -??repaired-?? by past owners, yet the power steering failed again. There is no active unrepaired recall because the car was brought in before and worked on by Ford mechanics who then cleared the recall after fixing the car because they deemed the issue to be addressed. However, the issue is still ongoing. It is not fixed at all. I purchased this car last year, and if I would-??ve known this would happen or that the car had so many issues I never would-??ve bought it. I-??ve taken the car to several dealerships that have said the problem is a complete failure of the steering gear, yet when I take it in to ford dealerships they state that the -??extended warranty is expired-?? and that they can-??t do anything about the vehicle needing a recall. I almost lost my life, I have a car that I cannot drive and have not been able to drive ever since the incident occurred. Why am I being punished because my car has been refused to be repaired, and because Ford has refused to provide me any reimbursement for the problem? To whoever reads this, thank you so much for taking the time to read and help me with this problem, as my vehicle is how I-??m able to ensure survival and I-??ve been struggling to survive without any type of vehicle.

- Milwaukee, WI, USA

problem #1263

Jan 292024

Fusion

  • 111,000 miles
The contact owns a 2012 Ford Fusion. The contact stated while driving approximately 40 MPH, the message "Service Electronic Power Steering" displayed, and the steering wheel became difficult to turn in either direction. The vehicle was driven to the local dealer who diagnosed that the steering gear had failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not yet repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure, but no assistance was offered. The contact stated that the vehicle was previously serviced under the NHTSA Campaign Number: 15V340000 (Steering) in 2019. The contact stated that the vehicle had experienced the failure listed in the recall. The failure mileage was 111,000.

- Ashland, OH, USA

problem #1262

Jan 132024

Fusion

  • miles
Power steering

- Pittsburgh, PA, USA

problem #1261

Jan 062024

Fusion

  • miles
on 1/6/2024 my car steering went. There was a recall on certain cars that the 2012 Ford Fusion has a recall for this but the dealer is saying there is not for my car. This seems to be an extensive problem with his car and a expensive repair. Electric steering rack failed

- Burlington, MA, USA

problem #1260

Dec 122023

Fusion

  • miles
At about 98500 miles, power steering stopped working. 2 alternating dash warning lights kept flashing; Service Advance Trac, Power Steering Assist Fault. This sounded like it related to a known recall for electronic steering problem for my year and model but, Ford said my Vin was not included. I brought it to the dealer, with white knuckles, as it was very hard to turn the wheel and if I had to make a quick steering move to avoid an accident, I don't think I would've been able to. The dealer (Balise Ford, Hyannis MA) performed an expensive repair as follows: They said steering angle sensor signal invalid and PSCM internal failure. They replaced steering rack, tie rods and jam nuts. They performed PMI and configured PCSM. Aligned vehicle. I still think my service should have been performed with compensation from Ford but, they did not.

- North Truro, MA, USA

problem #1259

Dec 152023

Fusion

  • 162,067 miles
The contact owns a 2012 Ford Fusion. The contact stated that while pulling out of a parking lot and attempting to merge into traffic, the steering wheel became extremely difficult to steer the vehicle. The contact attempted to reset the power steering however, the functionality failed to return. The contact continued to drive without power steering assist. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed that the power steering module had failed and needed to be replaced. The mechanic informed the contact that the failure was related to NHTSA Campaign Number: 15V340000 (Steering) and referred the contact to the dealer for the repair. The vehicle had not been repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure, and it was confirmed that the VIN was not included in NHTSA Campaign Number: 15V340000 (Steering). The failure mileage was 162,067.

- Detroit, MI, USA

problem #1258

Nov 202023

Fusion

  • 55,000 miles
The contact owns a 2012 Ford Fusion. The contact stated that while starting the vehicle, the Power Steering Assist Fault message was intermittently displayed, causing the steering wheel to become firm. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, who retrieved DTC Code: U3000-49 and determined that the power steering control module needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The contact related the failure to NHTSA Campaign Number: 15V250000 (Steering) however, the VIN was not included in the recall. The failure mileage was approximately 55,000.

- Foster City, CA, USA

problem #1257

Dec 112023

Fusion

  • miles
Power steering assist stopped working, it is available for inspection upon request. Risk of injury or death from potential crash. As driving lost power steering on highway as following a left curve at 58 mph, heard beeping and light came on that power steering assist fault came on, then I was shot across the highway into oncoming traffic lane and left tires hit the gravel and dirt, I was able to correct the vehicle but still no power steering working. No confirmation from dealer or service center yet. No inspections yet. First appeared on 12/09/23, power assist fault warning came on, shut car off let sit 5 min, then worked fine until 12/11/23 where incident above happened. Has not worked since then.

- Rochester , MN, USA

problem #1256

Dec 112023

Fusion

  • miles
The contact owns a 2012 Ford Fusion. The contact stated that while the husband was driving approximately 40 MPH the electric power steering suddenly malfunctioned and the steering wheel became difficult to turn in either direction. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer who informed that the steering gear needed to be replaced and the steering control module needed to be reprogrammed. The vehicle was not yet repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure but no assistance was offered. The failure mileage was 103,103

- Bonne Terre, MO, USA

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