The contact owns a 2008 Ford Escape. The contact stated that while driving 30 mph the power steering failed. As a result, she was unable to maneuver the vehicle. The contact attempted to inspect the vehicle but was unable to find where the power steering fluid was located. The vehicle was restarted and the steering was operating normally. The vehicle was taken to a dealer who diagnosed that the steering column needed to be replaced. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure who did not offer any assistance. The failure and current mileages was 127,000.

- Sioux City, IA, USA

Steering was very loose causing vehicle to weave back and forth on roadway..took vehicle to repair shop and lower steering arm was replaced correcting problem.

- Claypool, IN, USA

The steering wheel pops when turning. When the weather is cold the brakes won't push down. Battery goes dead if not driven daily. Radio wont play after replace battery that was dead.

- Albany, GA, USA

The power steering faltered going around a corner and I had to manually steer the car. The power steering came back without intervention but it was quite difficult to control the vehicle manually in the turn. I brought the car to the dealer right away. I am still awaiting the dealers diagnosis.

- Santa Rosa, CA, USA

Power steering failed intermittently while driving on I40 in Tennessee. Car vibrated and steering shook whenever car was steered straight. Driver had to weave the car within the lane to minimize driving in the straight position. Power steering failed completely when car was started the next morning, making it difficult to steer manually while driving a mile to the dealership. Ford dealer service (crossroads Ford, cary, nc) found that the electric steering components required replacement, including the steering column, at a cost of $1400. I have requested that the dealer provide me with the old parts after the repair. This same problem is reported on the internet for the 2008 Escape and other Ford vehicles with electric steering, although Ford reportedly denies that it is serious issue. For example, see this is a serious safety problem and a consumer ripoff, and I ask that the NHTSA investigate. Ford should perform root cause analysis and recall for correction, instead of denying problem. High-speed steering failure in a vehicle with only 75,000 miles shows poor design or manufacture. My wife and daughter only avoided death or injury through luck. Had driving conditions been different, they could have died.

- Tijeras, NM, USA

The contact owns a 2008 Ford Escape. The contact stated that while driving 35 mph, the electronic power steering failed. The failure occurred when the vehicle was operated for more than ten minutes. The dealer was notified and stated that there were no recalls or warranties addressing the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified and also stated that the failure was not covered by warranty or recall. No furhter assistance was offered. The failure mileage was 85,000.

- Indianapolis, IN, USA

On several occasions my power steering has failed. On each occasion the anti-skid warning light has come on at the same time. The vehicle is still able to be steered as long as you have enough strength. The power steering will reset as soon as you shut the car off and restart. 3 times this happened in the exact same spot while driving on the 408 at about 60 mph in orlando, fl. The 408 is a toll road equipped with electronic recording of toll usage (E pass). This happened while passing one of the electronic recorders. On other occasions it tends to happen on warm afternoons, and then shutting the vehicle off and restarting will only reset it for a short time before it happens again. This is a very dangerous situation and from researching the problem although not wide spread, is certainly not unique with Ford Escapes of that year, yet Ford claims to have little or no knowledge of the problem. No mechanic, Ford or otherwise has a clue as to what to do with this. I don't have the money to take this in to the Ford garage for them to blindly replace parts and pieces at hundreds or thousands of dollars per visit. I sincerely hope someone can help before people begin dying on our roads due to this problem. To: Ford motor, please remember Toyota's experience of the past years before blindly dismissing this problem.

- Winter Park, FL, USA

My daughter was on her way to school when entering a curve in the road her steering locked up she then went off the road an struck a culvert went airborne and when coming down started rolling she was thrown out of the car even though she had her seatbelt on as the police report stated she spent 5 days in the icu with her back broken in 3 places she just turned 17 she has aleast 2 months before maybe she will be back to normal we will have to home school her for the rest of the year. I will be contacting a lawyer and Ford Motor Company and as I have read Ford is at fault whether they admit it or not.

- Clay, KY, USA

The contact owns a 2008 Ford Escape. The contact was driving 40 mph when the electronic power steering assist failed and caused the steering wheel to seize. The contact was unable to control the vehicle and crashed into a tree. The airbags did not deploy and the contact sustained neck and lower back injuries. The police were contacted and a police report was filed of the incident. The contact's insurance company inspected the vehicle and deemed the vehicle as destroyed. The manufacturer was contacted and did not acknowledge the failure to the power steering component. The failure and the current mileage was 113,000.

- Bladenton, PA, USA

Power steering would go out without notice. At first it would resume after turning off the vehicle and restarting, however it then began jerking the steering wheel during operation of the vehicle. We live in an area with extreme winter road conditions so this was a very dangerous problem. Finally we had it repaired at an authorized Ford dealer at a cost of $1500. This dealer seemed to think that the failure is common. Afterwards, looking online, we find that many have experienced this occurrence. This is an extreme safety issue and should have resulted in a recall of this product. This model has electric power steering which clearly wasn't perfected before being put into production.

- Alpine, WY, USA

While driving my 2008 Ford Escape going about 40 miles an hour, the steering column completely lock up making is impossible to steer. I was able to navigate the vehicle to the side of the road. We brought it in to have it looked at and were told it is an electronic censor that is imbalanced vs. Having power steering fluid it runs electronically. The way it is built, you have to replace the entire drive shaft vs. Just the censor. Hundreds of complaints online about this very issue with this make, year and model. It is a definitely safety concern. We called both the dealership and Ford Motor Company and neither is willing to take ownership or assist.

- Saint Michael, MN, USA

While entering into traffic onto a busy street the steering failed. Was able (with great effort) to straighten the vehicle in the lane and then safely pull to side(fortunately, my wife was not driving as she would not have had the strength to carry this out and probably would have crashed). Turned ignition off and looked under hood to see if belt had broken, etc. Could not find traditional power steering pump. Turned ignition on and steering worked! and has worked since. Discovered this vehicle has an electric power steering pump. And they are frequently failing. Called dealer-roughly 3 week backlog for part-which is the entire steering column-pump not able to be replace separately. How could a car designer or the government allow this type of steering pump to be put on a vehicle(probably just to squeeze out an extra mpg)? it is not only plain dangerous, but impractical. If I had known that this was how the steering was on this car I would not have bought it! the NHTSA should require (Ford at least) to issue a recall and stop this type of power steering being offered on new vehicles. I have had pumps and belt snap on vehicle in the past while driving, but never with this amount of steering loss.

- Pittsburgh, PA, USA

The contact owns a 2008 Ford Escape. While driving approximately 45 mph, the steering wheel became difficult to maneuver. The contact stopped the vehicle on the side of the road and shut off the engine. After restarting the vehicle, the steering resumed normal function. The failure recurred twice. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer for diagnostics or repairs. The approximate failure mileage was 55,000.

- St. Petersburg, FL, USA

My power steering did not work when I backed out of a parking space. If I turned the car off, and then started it again, the power steering would work. This started happening daily, then many times a day and now, sometimes I have no power steering at all, and sometime it will work for a short time, but it goes out while I'm driving which is very dangerous. The repairs will be about $1200, we are waiting for the parts to arrive to get this fixed.

- Orion, MI, USA

Like many others the eps (electronic power steering) system gave out on my 2008 Escape (106,000 mi.). it started with the steering wheel occasionally clunking and shaking both when driving and when the car was idle (as long as it was started). As soon as the wheel was turned to the left or right the power steering would engage and it would be fine. The problem quickly got worse to the point where the clunking/shaking was happening at all times until the power steering just flat out failed while driving. Luckily I was in a position to react and manually steer without incident but I was definitely worried as it could have been much worse. With the electronic power steering there is no fix without swapping out the entire steering column. $1250 parts+labor+tax. I called Ford directly and they just tossed me around saying that they will look into it and see if they can fix it as manufacturer defect. After finding this website I realized that there are several others experiencing the exact same problem. Also, the part is on back order everywhere in the country which leads me to believe that the problem is much bigger than indicated on this forum. I am frustrated in trying to hold Ford accountable. Ford explained that recalls are justified by crash data and there is no way to get one started prior. This is crazy, so not only is someone going to need to crash, but several people are going to need to crash in order for anything to get done.

- Grand Prairie, TX, USA

Steering locks up periodically while driving at variable speeds, and situations, there is a grinding when you turn steering wheel both directions even while parked. I have seen many complaints online about this same problem with many owners of the same make & model.

- San Antonio, TX, USA

My steering wheel keeps shaking while driving for the last week. It freeze upon initial start-up and I have to turn the car off and turn it on again for the steering function to be restored. The freezing occurred sporadically over the past few months but now it happens every time I start my car. Haven't taken my car into the dealership yet but will do so soon before this problem progresses any further and causes an accident because after reading the complaints with the exact problem I fear that is what to come. Who has to die for the Ford company to conduct a recall? I submitted this information to my local news station and maybe they will be able to shed some light on the matter.

- Tulare, CA, USA

I was driving with two family members when power steering failed on a freeway off ramp. Steering failed whereas I narrowly avoided a major collision. Vehicle extremely difficult to turn with electric steering failure.

- Cincinnati, OH, USA

Like many others the eps (electronic power steering) system gave out on my 2008 Escape (75,000 mi.). it started with the steering wheel occasionally clunking and shaking both when driving and when the car was idle (as long as it was started). As soon as the wheel was turned to the left or right the power steering would engage and it would be fine. The problem quickly got worse to the point where the clunking/shaking was happening at all times until the power steering just flat out failed while driving. Luckily I was in a position to react and manually steer without incident but I was definitely worried as it could have been much worse. The place I bought it won't honor my warranty as this isn't covered under the power train(understandable, but still very frustrating) and with the electronic power steering there is no fix without swapping out the entire steering column. $1250 parts+labor+tax. I called Ford directly and they just tossed me around saying that they will look into it and see if they can fix it as manufacturer defect. They said I could expect a call back in a few days, 1 week tops. 3 weeks later and no phone call. After finding this website I realized that there are several others experiencing the exact same problem. Also, the part is on back order everywhere in the country which leads me to believe that the problem is much bigger than indicated on this forum. I am frustrated in trying to hold Ford accountable. The lady at Ford explained that recalls are justified by crash data and there is no way to get one started prior. This is crazy, so not only is someone going to need to crash, but several people are going to need to crash in order for anything to get done.

- Las Cruces, NM, USA

My steering wheel locked I have to pull over, turn off the car once I turned it back on it was really hard to steer, very dangerous and now I have to pay $1100 to get this replaced which is too much for a 2008, they should recall this since so many people have the same problem.

- Hesperia , CA, USA