The car basically shuts off and you lose power steering. No warn lights just cuts off immediately. We brought the car to the dealership and they ran a diagnostic and told us the issue was with the power steering sensor and that it would cost $2,000 to fix. I took to the internet and searched the issue to find out that there have been a number of owners that have had the same problem. I called Ford customer service and they opened a case for us. They came back with $1,000 in financial assistance but it will still cost us $1,000 for soemthing I feel is not a part that "wears out". it is a very dangerous issue and I think that Ford should take care of replacing the part before someone really gets hurt.

- Mantua, NJ, USA

We purchased our 2011 Ford Explorer in January of 2011 and have been the exclusive users of the car ever since. Our vehicle has experienced three total losses of power steering ability since July 8, 2013. When an event occurs, the "power steering failure" light comes on and the vehicle immediately becomes difficult to steer. Two of the occurrences have taken place while traveling at high speed on the highway. In one instance, my wife was driving the car with our young son and struggled to control the vehicle after the failure. Ford attempted to address the problem by installing two separate new steering columns into the vehicle, yet the problem persists and seems to have had collateral effects on other electrical and mechanical components of the car. I have advised Ford customer service of the problem but as of 11/20/2013 I have not had any kind of affirmative response.

- Dallas, TX, USA

I was driving to work going about 55mph give or take 5mph when the steering went stiff and made it hard to steer through the turns. It was worse when I had to make slow turns. If I had to avoid an accident quickly I don't think I would be able to avoid it. When I got to work shut the car off turned it back on and I guess it reset because the steering came back. When I T happened again I called the brewster Ford and said to turn the car off and on and that would fix the problem I rough the car to the dealer after if happened a few time but they said they wont be able to find anything since there are no errors when I brought it in it happened a few more times brought it back again the check it said they found nothing and then charged me almost $200 if finally completely went this all happened over a 1yr time period put a call into brewster Ford and corporate still waiting to here from either one that was almost 2weeks ago.

- Brewster, NY, USA

Traveling at freeway speed the warning message appeared on the instrument panel before the power steering quit. When I restarted the car it appeared to have corrected the problem. On September 10th, the same warning came on the instrument panel before the power steering quit. I was traveling at 35mph. I restarted the car and it appeared to correct the problem again. When I previously took it into the dealership they said there was nothing wrong and reset the system.

- Kirkland, WA, USA

The contact owns a 2011 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that the vehicle failed to start with the illumination of the key not detected warning message. The vehicle was towed to the contact's home where she received directions from the dealer over the phone in how to restart the vehicle. The manufacturer was not notified. The VIN was not available. The approximate failure mileage was 20,000. The consumer stated the vehicle was installed with a no mechanical key start system. The ia key failed, which left the consumer stranded. The no key detected alert appeared on the dashboard. The key was fixed. However, the error message remained on the dashboard. Also, the engine overheated.

- Walnut Creek , CA, USA

I was traveling at 40 mph on a busy city street when all of the sudden I heard a warning bing sound and saw the power steering fault and all terrain management failure warnings on my instrument panel. Lost total ability to steer the vehicle and had to put on emergency lights, stop on side of the road, turn the vehicle off and on (hoping that it would reset and resolve the issue) and doing this cleared the warnings and I was able to steer again. However, two days later the problem happened again after starting the vehicle in a parking lot and before starting to back out of the parking space. Once again turning the vehicle off and on again reset the warning and regained steering ability again.

- Madison Heights, MI, USA

Vehicle has had problems from month 3 of purchase. Cooling fans blew, sunroof rattles, but the worst was a few months ago when backing out of parking space and heard a pop. The steering wheel bolt had broke. Took to dealership and they had it for 2 days to fix it. Contacted Ford Motor Corporate and never received call or email back from them. Then I noticed the steering wheel never seemed straight. It always turned to the left. It went back in the shop on 06/12/2013 to be fixed. They stated it needed a front end alignment but fact is it was never fixed correctly as they never saw this problem before. Then on 06/15/2013 drivng vehicle and all of a sudden steering wheel locked up and all the lights started flashing. Could not steer the vehicle. I managed to get it pulled over after being in a total panic as I was 1/2 mile from a major highway and would have been driving at a faster speed. My daughter was with me and she was completely in panic as she drives the vehicle and says what if it happened when she is driving it. She will not drive it anymore as she is scared to death. Car is at dealership at the present time. We will see what the "reasoning" is this time.

- Dallas, PA, USA

While driving my 2011 Ford Explorer the power steering suddenly went out. The vehicle gave me a warning, but only after the steering failed. The vehicle became almost impossible to steer. My only option was to try and get out of the flow of traffic in order to stop the car. Turning the car off, then back on appears to reset the issue. The first time it happened I was pulling out onto a road. Because the change was so unexpected the car couldn't be turned in time to merge into traffic. I had to turn off my car, then turn it back on while blocking two lanes of frontage road because it became next to impossible to control the car without power steering. Two incidents. The first occurred as I was pulling out of a driveway onto a frontage road (05/03/13). The second was driving down a residential neighborhood going about ~25mph (05/27/13). I can't imagine what would happen if I were going 50, 60, 65 on an interstate when this happened. I can't reasonably expect my family to travel in a car this unpredictable and unsafe. I'm not sure what the best remedy might be, but others need to be warned before purchasing this car.

- Dallas, TX, USA

2011 Ford Explorer. Consumer writes in regards to sync malfunction in vehicle. The consumer stated when the system failed, the screen went black and the radio and temperature control stopped working, as well as other components. The sync has been worked on by the dealership 13 times.

- Stewartstown, PA, USA

(my wife as on her way to our daughter's one month doctor's appointment. She had just began moving from a traffic light when a bunch of lights on the dash came on and the vehicle became very hard to steer (found to be stabili-trac errors and faulty electric power steering). She managed to get the vehicle onto the shoulder without harm. After reading in the owners manual, she found that with this issue, turning the vehicle off and then back on may "clear" the issue. It did take care of the steering issue and she was able to drive again. It happened again on the way home from the doctors. Ford looked at the vehicle and has ordered another steering assembly. The same fault has happened an additional four times since the first day. That is a total of six times. The local dealership has only been able to tell us that the part is on back-order because Ford engineers are working on a revised part to correct the issue. The last time this happened to my wife she had both children in the car and was attempting to merge onto the highway. Thankfully she was able to stay in an extended shoulder after the merge lane ended. Turning the vehicle has corrected the issue every time so far.

- Walkersville, MD, USA

Intermittently, while driving, the advanctrak and terrain management system warning light illuminated, and the "service advanctrak" warning appeared. At the same time, the power steering failed to work, and the "power steering fault" warning appeared. The turn signals also stopped working during these episodes. This has happened 5 times since September 9, 2012, all while driving the vehicle, including yesterday. In all cases, I had to take the truck off the road and completely shut down the vehicle - upon restarting, the warnings disappeared and the power steering was restored. I have had the vehicle to the dealer twice now, with no issues found. I have a 3rd appointment with the dealer today.

- Staten Island, NY, USA

I was driving my parents and my toddler daughter back from visting a sibling (approx. 5 hour drive) when we stopped briefly to take a break about 2 1/2 hours away from home. When I started the car up again, I received warnings related to a power steering failure and advance trac failure. The car had no power steering and there appeared to be something wrong with the blinkers as well. On Tuesday, following labor day) I took the vehicle to the dealership where I had purchased it for repair. More than a week later, I was informed that the part was on backorder with Ford until October 1st and that there was a waiting list to get the part and there were almost 1000 people on the wait list ahead of me. I'm greatful that I had an extended warranty, however, even under the warranty they only have to provide a rental car for 10 days. I'm hopeful that the dealership will do the right thing and keep me in a car until sometime in hopefully October or November when they can repair the vehicle. I believe this to be a manufacturing defect which should be covered under the original warranty regardless of mileage. This appears to be happening to a number of people and is both a safety hazard as well as possibly a deceptive trade practice.

- Conroe, TX, USA

Power steering failed.

- Travelers Rest, SC, USA

The car's power steering went out while driving around 10 mph pulling out of a gas station. The screen said it was a power steering failure. Turned car off and turned back on and it went away, however it happened once more later around 5 mph.

- Fortson, GA, USA

The management terrain and power assist warning lights came on. Then I had no power steering. It became very difficult to steer and control car. This has happened at low speed 3 times and at a dead stop 3 times. I have been able to reset by turning the car off and re-starting.

- Highland Park, NJ, USA

Ford "myfordtouch" system has failed on numerous occasions. It has frozen, locked up, and continuously rebooted. When this occurs, you lose all functionality and ability to change radio stations, adjust climate control, use navigation, hands free functions, etc. While there is some manual controls for basic operations, it does not allow full control of tall systems. For instance, when the mft system fails, you have no ability to turn on or adjust the rear climate controls for rear passengers. Dealer has tried upgrading software, resetting software, reinstalling software, and replacing hardware. While the problem is not as bad as it has been, it continues with no resolve.

- Anaheim, CA, USA

The steering failed while driving the vehicle on 4 occasions in my brand new XLT. The first three times it happened I returned it to the dealer to check it out and fix the problem. Each time (three total) the Ford dealer service department returned it to me and told me it was fixed. While driving the vehicle in normal driving conditions the steering would suddenly stop working, warning chimes and lights on the dashboard "service advance trac", "power steering assist fault", "terrain management system fault" and traction control failure and traction control off lights glowing while in motion. Almost crashed the vehicle each time it happened. The vehicle would also slow down even though my gas pedal position never changed. When it happened the 4th time, I almost was in a fatal accident with a tractor trailer and realized Ford Motor Corporation is not interested in fixing this problem or addressing this life safety issue all late model Explorer owners are faced with. Ford claimed they know nothing but same issue all over internet. They claimed the fix was they replaced an angle sensor in the steering column, another time it was the computer needed to be refreshed and another said there was no record in the onboard computer, nothing to fix. As I am not an expert, it seems like the computer is faulty because the sync and navigation never worked properly. Was there a crash" was there an injury or fatality" I believe if it has not happened yet, it will. The head of customer service operations manager told me I had two options "call the better business bureau", or "call an attorney". I will be doing both. I will never buy another Ford because of their inability and unwillingness to help me in this. Ford customer service from the dealer level through the toll free corporate hotline was absolutely horrifying. Search online for others unreported here.

- Burlington, MA, USA

Power steering failure on 2011 Ford Explorer while traveling in neighborhood. Started the vehicle with remote start to cool vehicle in hot, humid houston, Texas about 3 to 4 minutes before entering it. We drove 1.2 miles to an acquaintance's residence to co-sign a check for non-profit payment. Left vehicle running for +/- 3 minutes in his driveway. Backed out of his driveway and drove 1/2 mile when lost power steering and noticed two messages on the dash. One showed "power steering assist fault" and other "service auto tracking". stopped on the street, shut off engine, and restarted the car. No message. Drove 1/4 and the event recurred as described. Returned home and parked car at our personal residence. Called russell & smith Ford service department at 5:03pm and left message. Suspect it is after hours and will not hear from them until morning of July 26, 2012. The message is not in owner's manual. Searched the internet and noticed NHTSA investigation and chose to contribute and provide contact information.

- Houston, TX, USA

While driving my vehicle it lost power steering assist system showed "power steering assist failure" as well as "service traction control". this was the scariest feeling I have ever had. This has happen to my husband several times.. I immediately called my local Ford dealership spoke with service advisor. I was told to turn my vehicle off and restart it. I advised my service advisor that I had taken my vehicle in for service on April 30, 2012 (40197 miles) and I mention this same problem for repair. What is it going to take for Ford to realize that this is a serious, serious problem. I am afraid for my family to be in this car, we travel alot and I am refusing to drive it. I was afraid of purchasing an american car but loved the new Ford Explorer look and body. However, I don't think I'll ever purchase another Ford vehicle and I will trade this car asap........

- Snellville, GA, USA

While in operation vehicle lost power steering assist. Steering became extremely difficult. Warning message "power steering assist failure" followed by "service traction control " light are displayed. Shutting off vehicle and restart temporarily cleared the failure. Failed more than once.

- West Lafayette, IN, USA