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.
The contact owns a 2013 Ford Flex. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle experienced a loss of power steering assist with the Power Steering Assist Fault message displayed. The vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired by an independent mechanic or dealer. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The contact related the failure to NHTSA Campaign Number: 15V340000 (Steering) however, the VIN was not included in the recall. The failure mileage was 116,211.
Power steering completely went out as we were driving jerking the wheel out of our hands, and almost causing an accident. An indicator on the dashboard says -€œpower steering assist failure-€. Shortly after that the traction control light/abs light came on as well. There were no warnings lamps, messages, or symptoms before this occurred and the power steering has been out ever since. This seems to be a Ford Flex recall problem and somehow ford doesnt want to cover the cost to repair/fix it because my VIN is not included in the recall.
The contact owns a 2013 Ford Flex. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the steering wheel was shuddering. An unknown warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where the front ball joints, front control arms, and front struts were replaced; however, the failure persisted. The contact stated while driving to the dealer, the steering wheel seized inadvertently and would not turn to the right. The steering could be turned to the left, almost causing a crash. The contact turned off and restarted the vehicle and was able to continue driving; however, the failure recurred the same day. The vehicle was towed to the dealer where it was diagnosed that the rack and pinion and the electronic gear box needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and informed the contact that they could not assist as the VIN was not included in NHTSA Campaign Number: 15V340000 (Steering). A case was opened. The failure mileage was approximately 142,000.
The contact owns a 2013 Ford Flex. The contact stated that while starting the vehicle, the vehicle experienced a loss of power steering assist. The vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired by an independent mechanic or dealer. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and informed the contact that there was no recall associated with the VIN. The failure mileage was approximately 129,000.
While driving, just as I turned my steering wheel; it got very stiff to turn. If I was not able to turn, I easily could have drove into someone's house, pedestrians or hit other vehicles both parked and driving on the road. Especially if I were going very much faster and didn't have as much strength as I do. A week before this happened, I got a quick flash of a message twice that read "AdvanceTrack needs service". But after that ine trip a week ago, it never popped back up and still hasn't. Other than that, no warning lights or codes xan be found. I made it home (less than a half mile away). After having it checked by 2 different mechanics, both said it was the electric steering and told me to check the recalls for my 2013 Ford Flex SEL. I found that my particular VIN did NOT have the 2 recalls that affected numerous Ford vehicles with Electric Steering, including THE SAME YEAR, MAKE AND MODEL of my Ford Flex. The recall is for the power steering. I've also seen numerous other posts on fordflex.net where this has affected many Ford Flex vehicles from 2009 to 2018 with electric steering. The other issue I had is a known recall for other Ford Flex vehicles, but not my VIN, just like the previous. I was driving on the highway when my dash starts beeping and flashing at me wiyh an overheating issue. I had to do my best to get off the highway. Thankfully I was stopped when this happened and not far from the turn I needed to get me and my car to safety. Turned out to be the internal water pump. It cost me around $2,000 to get it fixed.
- Evansville, IN, USA
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The contact owns a 2013 Ford Flex. The contact stated while driving approximately 35 MPH, the power steering assist fault and service advance track warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer and diagnosed with power steering failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 182,000.
Ever since I purchased this vehicle, the power steering would stop working, warning lights: power train and another one would appear after it happens. I would shut my vehicle off and restart it, which would clear the issue and I would have no problems. This has happened several times, sometimes 2-3 times a week. However, two weeks ago, the power steering stopped altogether working and will not clear, even with restarting the vehicle.
The power steering assist stopped working while I was driving. It caused me to get into an accident. If other cars were around me I could have killed someone. I was driving just fine and then -€œPOWER STEERING ASSIST FAULT-€ showed up on my cluster and the steering wheel locked up. It now won-€™t work. This came without warning.
The contact owns a 2013 Ford Flex. The contact stated while driving approximately 30 MPH, the steering wheel became difficult to turn. The contact stated that the power steering fault message was displayed on the instrument panel. The vehicle was not taken to a local dealer. The manufacturer was not informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 183,000.
The contact owns a 2013 Ford Flex. The contact stated while driving 35 MPH, the steering wheel became difficult to turn. The contact stated that the power steering assists warning light was illuminated. The contact was able to park on the side of the road and waited 30 minutes before restarting the vehicle and driving to her destination. The contact took the vehicle to the local dealer, where it was diagnosed with needing the steering gear module to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact stated she had experienced the failure two additional times. The contact towed the vehicle to two different independent mechanics and was informed that the steering gear module needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. Upon investigation, the contact associated the failure with NHTSA Campaign Number: 15V340000 (Steering) however, the VIN was not included. The manufacturer had been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 101,000.
On 10/17/21 I was driving near my home and during a turn, the steering locked up and the dash read "power steering assist failure". I pulled over, called a tow truck. When they got there, they started it and the steering was working fine. They said to check the power steering fluid. I drove it home, and found it does not have power steering fluid. Ford told me it is not under any recall. It is now operating just fine. Not sure what happened.
The contact owns a 2013 Ford Flex. The contact stated while coming out of a complete stop, the steering wheel became difficult to turn. The contact stated that the power steering assists warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was not taken to a local dealer to be inspected. Upon investigation, the contact associated the failure with NHTSA Campaign Number: 15V340000 (Steering) however, the VIN was not included. The manufacturer was informed of the failure and informed the contact that the VIN was not included in a recall. The failure mileage was 88,396
While driving the steering wheel will fight you when taking turns. This is a know issue with the Ford Flex. Makes driving sketchy. I will not let my wife drive especially with the kids in the Flex.
The contact owns a 2013 Ford Flex. The contact stated while driving approximately 35 MPH, the steering wheel became difficult to turn. The contact stated that the traction control warning light was illuminated. Upon investigation, the contact associated the failure with NHTSA Campaign Number: 15V340000 (Steering) however, the VIN was not included. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 235,000.
The contact owns a 2013 Ford Flex. The contact stated while driving at various speeds, the power steering assist failed intermittently, and the steering wheel became difficult to steer. The vehicle was taken to the dealer and diagnosed with an electric power steering assist failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The contact related the failure to NHTSA campaign number: 15V340000 (Steering). The failure mileage was approximately 125,000.
The contact owns a 2013 Ford Flex. The contact stated while making a right turn, the steering wheel malfunctioned and momentarily seized and could not be turned. Moments later the steering wheel would turn however, the steering wheel would shake and vibrate abnormally. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer who replaced the entire suspension system, but the failure persisted. The dealer later diagnosed that the steering gear was faulty and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and the contact was informed that the vehicle was not included in the NHTSA campaign number: 15V340000 (Steering). The contact indicated that the vehicle experienced the same failure listed in the recall. The failure mileage was 130,000.
Sudden loss of electronic steering assist without warning numerous times on my vehicle. Nearly caused me to get into an accident the other day. Contacting dealer this week. Ford needs to fix this problem.
I was driving down I-285 (Atlanta) with my two daughters in the car and both the -€œService Power Steering-€ and -€œService AdvanceTrac-€ lights came on. About 10-15 min into the drive, it became really hard to turn my steering wheel. We were still about 30 min from our house so I had no choice but to drive very slowly until we could get somewhere safe. While trying to turn off the interstate, my steering wheel completely locked up on me!!! Now my car is at my mother-€™s house because I couldn-€™t drive any further in fear of an accident. My mechanic put this car on a computer and no codes showed up. From my understanding there was a recall for this particular issue. The dealer I purchased the car from stated they were not aware of this issue and the car showed no signs that the power steering was about to go out.
While taking a sharp right turn onto a freeway onramp from a stop at an intersection, the vehicle made a "ding" notification sound from the dashboard and powerfully flung my steering wheel against the way I was steering. If there was an adjacent lane where I was driving, the vehicle absolutely would have veered into the oncoming lane. I was able to overpower the steering wheel and force the vehicle to the shoulder, where I noticed "power steering fault" displayed on the dash. I powered off the car, waited a few seconds, and powered it back on, and it worked after that.
The electric power steering stops working randomly allowing no assist until vehicle is shut off and restarted. Ford does have a recall for this same issue Ford slightly older vehicles with the electric power steering. When the power steering failure happens, vehicle is in motion and trying to turn, low speeds only so far.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Alvin, TX, USA