While driving, the steering wheel would shimmy as if a wheel was out of alignment. The steering wheel locked up and was extremely difficult to turn. I pull off into a service road and turned the car off. I started the car back up after about 5 minutes and I was able to steer again. It happens repeatedly when after the car has been parked and I start the car up, the steering freezes. I'll restart the car 3 or 4 times before the steering unfreezes.

- Greenbelt, MD, USA

The steering wheel locked in position and the vehicle could not be turn in any direction. This was a potentially deadly situation. The driver had no way of knowing when it might occur.

- Macomb, MI, USA

The contact owns a 2008 Ford Escape. The contact stated while driving approximately 40 mph, the steering wheel became very difficult to turn without warning. The vehicle was driven onto the emergency lane; however, the contact continued to drive the vehicle as the failure occurred. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, who indicated that the power steering module needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 90,000.

- Oshkosh, WI, USA

The contact owns a 2008 Ford Escape. The contact stated that while traveling various speeds, steering became extremely difficult. The contact also mentioned that the vehicle vibrated excessively. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was contacted about the failure. The failure mileage was 84,000.

- Long Branch, NH, USA

While driving the vehicle in a parking lot the powersteering cut out. I was able to stop the vehicle and after shutting the car off and turning it back on power steering was restored. When the vehicle is stopped the steering wheel has started to ratchet back and forth. After looking at a few forum I found that the steering wheel position sensor fails and causes these problems regularly.

- Oakhurst, NJ, USA

The contact owns a 2008 Ford Escape. The contact stated that while driving 35 mph, the steering wheel started to shake and vibrate. The vehicle was shut off and restarted however, the failure recurred sporadically. The vehicle was not taken to a dealer for a diagnostic. The vehicle was not repaired and the manufacturer was notified. The approximate failure and current mileage was 84,000.

- Columbia , MO, USA

While in motion, the steering wheel was a like a dead weight dropped on it and was very hard to steer and drive the vehicle. Making it very unsafe to operate. I researched my issue and found other complains regarding the same model and year.

- Ashland, MA, USA

I turned my car on and started driving straight forward. Shortly after I realized I had no power steering. The only way I could turn was to muscle the wheel. Backed up and parked the car for the night. Next morning started it and had no issues. The week before I had noticed some knocking and ticking in the wheel. So figured I'd get it checked out after loosing it completely. Stopped to get gas and as I was pulling out onto the busy highway lost it again had to muscle the wheel to avoid being T-boned. Immediately took it to the dealership. They knew the problem immediately and gave me high estimates which was a red flag for me that it might be a common issue if the receptionist can diagnose it. Did some research to check other options like fluid or belts. Saw 1000's of similar complaints online and 100's here. Something needs to be done to make Ford recall this before someone dies.even if someone dies it probably won't get fixed because they aren't around to tell that they lost steering. Plus the problem fixes itself after being turned off so it may not show in investigations of a fatality. Also the issue seems to happen after the car reaches 100,000 miles. So complaints and incidents will only go up as more cars hit that 100K mile mark. Now it the time to attack the problem.

- Holden, MA, USA

My wife was driving my 9 year old daughter to her karate class when there was suddenly a lot of vibration in the wheel.the steering wheel suddenly locked up causing my wife to lose power steering on a small turn. My wife was able to get our car off the road as there was a dirt pulloff to the side. We took it to a garage and they said this is a common problem. After doing research I found other car manufacturers will honor a recall for this same problem. Ford is not honoring any recalls and is making money off of this dangerous defect. It is sad to see a car manufacturer who is willing to put families lives at risk to make extra cash. After talking around my mother also had the same problem with her Escape of the same year. I had always been a fan of Ford products, however I will never buy another Ford product again.

- Warren, PA, USA

I was going to drive home from work, upon going to back out of my parking space I realized I had no power steering. I had no choice but to drive the vehicle home, 25minutes on the freeway. After getting home and going to take the vehicle to the mechanic the steering was fine. Mechanic said it was electronic and had to be repaired at the dealer. While researching the part this evening I found hundreds to thousands of the same complaint. Just emailed Ford from their website, will also try calling on Monday. This part failure is going to cause serious injury, accident or death and needs to be investigated and recalled.

- Lincoln Park, MI, USA

Power steering stopped working pulled over stopped engine restarted steering working again google problem when I returned home found many angry people with same problem. Seems to be a problem that is not an easy fix and common to the steering of the 2008 Ford Escapes.

- Saint Clair Shores, MI, USA

No power steering upon vehicle start up. Power steering returns after turning off and restarting vehicle 1-4 times.

- New Berlin, WI, USA

Power steering quit while driving down the road. Could not get the vehicle off the road fast enough for on coming traffic. I see that there had been quite a few complaints with the same problem. Not sure why a recall has not been made.

- Dandridge, TN, USA

Our Ford Escape lost power steering right as were going into a curve in the road. There was not warning that this was going to happen. Lucky I was able to get the vehicle stopped. Once I turned the car off and back on again the steering started to work. This problem started to happen more often which prompted me to research what the problem was. I was surprised to discover that many Ford Escape owners have experienced the same problem. Everything I have read states the steering column is faulty and needs replaced. This is a serious safety concern since this is my wife's daily driver.

- Ephrata, WA, USA

Power steering works intermittently steering wheel has a slight twitch most definitely a safety hazard when it just randomly stops seems to be a common issue among Ford Escapes.

- Barry , IL, USA

At first it was hard to start unless I pushed the key in while starting then the power steering just went out totally. The steering wheel also vibrated when sitting and idling prior to the steering going out.

- Carlyle, IL, USA

TL - the contact owns a 2008 Ford Escape. The contact stated while driving 35 mph the steering wheel started to shake and vibrate, it then became hard to maneuver the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where the technician diagnosed that the steering shaft position sensor malfunctioned and needed to be replaced. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure and current mileage was 84,000.

- Dayton, OH, USA

Steering wheel stopped working, no power steering at all. Now when you sit still the steering wheel jitters and a klicking sound from where steering goes thru firewall. Power steering working again but still nervous about it. Car is now setting at auto mechanic.

- Independence, MO, USA

Sometimes when the vehicle is started the power steering doesn't work, and when it does the steering wheel shakes when the vehicle is idling as well as when it's driving.

- Twin Lake, MI, USA

Teenage daughter driving to school when electric power steering failed without warning. Obviously it is the power portion only that fails, but sudden loss of power assist in a vehicle the size of a Ford Escape for a young driver is rather traumatic. Had it been at highway speed on a corner (like 5 minutes earlier) instead of a parking lot the results could have been horrible. Researching the NHTSA website I see this is an extremely common complaint for such a relatively new vehicle.

- Littleton, CO, USA