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.
Steering assist failed with no Warning (message came on when it happened). There had been no warnings at all prior and the day before I had transported my granddaughter to her riding lesson via freeway and side roads with no problems. This day I backed out of my driveway for quick trip to the store and when I went to pull forward and straighten the car into my lane, steering became very, very stiff, requiring all my strength to pull into position. In researching this problem we found that this is an ongoing problem with Fords design. I had my car towed to my mechanic who scanned the codes, inspected the electronic steering gear, fuse. They had to remove and replace the complete steering gear. Total cost was $2,028.81 My main complaint is that even though Ford maintains we have the ability to continue to steer the car, it is very difficult and I feel should this happen under the right conditions a driver and the passengers could end up seriously injured or worse. Again NO WARNING prior to loosing the power assist. Had I lost my steering in freeway traffic I don't know that I would have been able to get to a safe spot to get off the road.
Our 2015 Ford Escape stearing has locked up on two occasions, around July 7, 2021. Milage is about 65,000 miles. We were just leaving the house and it was while we were in the driveway. The stearing released soon after it locked up, but we are unsure of the cars safety at this time.
Suddenly while driving and making a right turn the steering locked up, the car jerked to the left into oncoming traffic. The "steering assist needs service" indicator light on the dash came on and then went off. As I looked for a safe place to pull over the car continually jerked from right to left and I had to keep pulling on the wheel to keep it straight. I phoned Gary Yeoman Ford in Daytona Beach Fl to check for recalls and was told there were none. I called Ford Motor Company in Dearborn Michigan, customer complaints and spoke to a representative and was told there was nothing they could do. I then asked to speak to a supervisor and spoke to "Supervisor Angel" and was told the same. This car has less than 40,000 miles on it and this should not be happening. This is very dangerous and could have caused a very serious accident. There have been other recalls for this same problem, but not for the year 2015. I looked online and there are other complaints involving the same power steering problem on these Ford Escapes. It is now in the shop for repairs at my expense! Est $1400
The contact owns a 2015 Ford Escape. The contact stated while driving approximately 25-35 mph and making a left turn, the steering wheel was very difficult to turn. The contact stated that the steering assist fault warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was towed to byerly Ford Inc (4041 dixie hwy, louisville, ky 40216, (502) 448-1661) to be diagnosed. The contact was informed that the electronic steering gear needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not yet repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure however, no further assistance was provided. The failure mileage was 85,398. The consumer stated the vehicle abruptly loses power without warning. The car repairs amounted to $2150 and had to be towed to byerly 2 additional times for the same issue.
Steering assist service required light came up on the way home from doctors appointment, steering wheel got hard went off road for a little bit but got back on the road. Steering gets hard after I hit gas only works fine when I'm not hitting the gas or in neutral
- Sulphur, LA, USA
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After driving the car for about 1.5 hours, we stopped at a convenience store. When we restarted the car, an error message appeared on the drivers information screen that said: "steering assist fault service required" (please see attached photos) and the vehicle had lost power steering. This made the vehicle extremely difficult to drive but we were fortunately very close to our destination. This was the second time this error had occurred, the first time was on a much longer drive but after sitting for 10 minutes or so (vehicle off) the error went away when the vehicle was restarted. This time, even after letting it sit overnight, the error has not gone away and there is still no steering assist. I have found many posts about this very issue with the Ford Escape vehicle (and other Ford vehicles) and am very surprised that there is not a recall for this very serious problem. If the loss of power steering had gone out while driving at highway speeds (as has happened to others), the result could have been fatal. Please take this issue very seriously. Thank you.
I parked my car to get curve-side pickup for pizza. The engine was still on. When attempted to back out of the parking space, the steering wheel refused to turn. I tried turning off the car, making sure everything was off (emergency break, radio, etc). When I started the car again, I put the car in reverse, and the steering wheel was stuck as if it was a bee stuck in mollasses. I slowly backed the car up to see if it would loosen and it didnt. Stranded at the pizza place with hot pizza in the back seat, I decided to call the dealer. I called my dealership and as they were getting the address of the pizza place so they could tow the car, I kept playing with the steering wheel which eventually allowed me to turn it as if nothing ever happened. I avoided the highway and slowly drove home with the hazard lights on afraid it may happen while driving.
Vehicle in park, in parking lot, started, notification came up on screen " steering assist fault service required" locked up so tight I couldn't move my wheels at all. If my car were to do this on the highway and a high speed I would end up crashing. The cost to fix this issue is around $2,400
When I start up my truck it says steel wheel default and it will not turn..it does it every other day im scared that it will lock up on me why I am driving
Within a week of replacing inner & outer tie rods, a steering fault, service now message appeared on the information display on September 25, 2020. At time vehicle was being driven within 35 mph speed limit on a four lane Norfolk, Virginia city street. The vehicle was driven about a mile further to a safe parking spot. After stopping and checking the manual, vehicle was restarted according to manual instructions. The message changed to steering loss, stop safely. We conferred with the carmasters service center that performed the tie rod replacement. After turning the ignition on again, the steering loss, stop safely message remained. The vehicle was then towed to carmasters, upon their advice, for diagnosis. The diagnosis was a binding of the steering rack and pinion. Diagnostic test fault code C 102D was reported. Inspection to confirm damage was also reported. Recommended repair was replacement of power assist steering rack and pinion, followed by front end alignment. Cost estimate was $3,200 for Ford dealer supplied replacement rack & pinion electric power assist assembly installation. Fortunately no personal injury resulted. Vehicle is drivable with great effort without power assist. Ford customer service was called on September 29 to confirm increasing frequency of such assisted steering failure, as noted in NHTSA posting and general internet postings. Appears to be a significant safety failure on a vehicle of 45,744 miles with regular maintenance. We have no knowledge of any incident that would have damaged the rack and pinion in the over 2 years we have owned the vehicle, during which we drove about 30,000 miles. Ford customer service advised we would be unlikely to get assistance with the repair, unless the repair was performed by a Ford authorized service center and the NHTSA ruled the rack and pinion power assist was faulty.
On 09/05/2020, I encountered the "steering assist fault - service required" error message, resulting in loss of power assist to the steering mechanism. This is the same issue attributed to safety recall# 19S26 pertaining to similar vehicles (Ford edge, etc) of this model year. The issue generates from inadequate wax coating on the bolts attaching the steering gear motor, causing it to detach from the housing. This results in loss of power steering capabilities, creating a potential crash hazard if occurring while operating the vehicle on the road. My vehicle has 37142 miles (very low for the model year) and has always been well maintained as well as driven with great care and attention to prolonging its overall lifespan and general condition. The issue came to pass while the vehicle was stationary, the error message and loss of power steering occurring while parked and starting up said vehicle. There are many other online complaints of this exact incident relating to this model year and specific vehicle, yet no recall has been issued by the manufacturer. In most instances it appears the consumer is expected to absorb the repair costs, which can run upwards of $2000 - 3000 or more - up to and including rebuilding the entire steering system. This is suspect behavior given the lack of ownership of the root cause from the manufacturer and leads one to believe dealerships may be unfairly profiting from needless repairs given the serious nature of the fault in question.
Power steering issues began randomingly around 70,000 miles. It locks up while driving leaving you with no power steering. This occurs randomly and while the car is in motion. It generally occurs for a few miles and then goes back to "normal" power steering. It's happened 3 times now with no warning or dash lights lighting up. The last time it happened to me, I was in heavy traffic while going around a sharp curve, which is extremely dangerous. We were told that older models of Ford Escapes were recalled for this same issue, but not the 2015. Cost to replace the power steering sensor was about $4,000.
On 7/14/2020 the steering became almost impossible to turn. I pulled forward getting out of the street into the drive way. I turned the car back off and on again. The information screen displayed power steering assist fault.
I went to make a turn into a parking lot I lost steering and a light appeared on dash that said driver assist.I wrestled to get vehicle home after waiting to next day to have someone follow to dealer steering cane back but when I arrived to turn into dealer steering went out again which is dangerous.I talked to dealer who showed me a lot of people with this style vehicle have had same problem but no recall and quoted $2400 to repair which I could not afford.the vehicle is 5yrs old with 4100 miles
My 2015 Ford Escape lost power steering in the middle of driving. I had my family, including my 2 year old in the car with me. I was unable to steer and almost drove off the road. I contacted Ford and they were of no help. This is a known issue and they refuse to address it.
Randomly loose power steering while driving or making a quick, or sharp, left turn, like turning into my driveway at low speed. This has happened up to 3 times in a week. Does not register as a fault on the car computer chip. I took it to a dealer and they could not find a problem, then it temporarily failed the next day while driving on the highway, then reset about 10 minutes later after pulling over and shutting off the car, wait, then restart.
The contact owns a 2015 Ford Escape. The contact stated that when the vehicle was started, the steering assist fault warning light illuminated. In addition, the reverse camera also failed to operate. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic and was diagnosed that the rack and pinion and the power steering control module needed to be replaced. The failure of the backup camera was not disclosed by the technician. The vehicle was not taken to a dealer and was not repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 68,000.
The steering will randomly die, making it very hard to drive. It's incredibly worrying and could cause a serious accident, as it almost happened to me. Sometimes in park, occasionally while driving at low speeds, but at the moment it is not being driven for obvious safety concerns
While I was driving up I95 in New Jersey I pulled into a rest stop for gas. Turned the car off to get gas. When I turned the car back on, I no longer had power steering. After attempting to reconnect by turning the car off and on nothing helped. I then had to drive the final hour to my house with no power steering which was very difficult and obviously dangerous. I could hold a straight line and make turns when necessary but to make any type of swerve to avoid something would have been impossible so luckily this happened late at night with no one on the road. When I brought the car into the Ford dealership they said this problem was not covered under my warranty because the car is now over 4 years old and has 63,000 miles on it. (warranty expired at 60,000). They ended up having to completely replace the power steering rack and all wheel drive system costing $3,400 out of pocket. I found this lack of owning up to an obvious flaw in the design of the car completely irresponsible. On top of that, Ford cars such as the 2011-2013 Fusion have been recalled for this exact same issue. That being said I request you look into this issue for my 2015 Ford Escape model because I am learning I am not the first person to experience this issue. This is an extremely dangerous design flaw and Ford is not owning up to the issue. Passing this massive financial burden on me as a customer is also unacceptable. Attached please find the work order from the Ford dealership. Thanks for any help you can provide!
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Gig Harbor, WA, USA