When coming to a stop, the steering wheel began shaking a bit. The next day while driving, the power steering assist went out entirely. I brought to a local shop of a trusted mechanic, who stated it looked like the steering column. He thought perhaps it just needed to be reset, and suggested I go to the dealership first because he didn't have the codes yet for the reset. I brought it to the dealership, and they stated it needed a new power steering actuator and would cost over $1600 in parts and labor. They also stated they had never seen the problem before, despite various near-identical complaints on this, and other forums on the internet. I sincerely hope that this gets investigated before someone is seriously injured, as the dealership has no interest in fixing it for anything less than their $1620. 2008 was the first year that Ford tested this electric power steering system on the Escape, and it clearly still has flaws.

- Tucson, AZ, USA

I have a 2008 Ford Escape. The power steering goes out intermittently when driving causing the steering wheel to shake and be disable. The vehicle was taken to the dealer who stated the steering column needed to be replaced at a cost of $1100. I can't believe there are so many complaints on the internet and this has not become a recall this is a very dangers problem especially when you are driving on a highway and have to make a quick movement and your steering wheel is hard to handle. My car as to sit for months now because I don't have that type of money in order for it to get repaired. And also my car is only 3 years and a half I would understand if I beat on it or if it was extremely old but its not.

- Hillsborough, NJ, USA

The contact owns a 2008 Ford Escape. The power steering continued to fail intermittently while driving 35 mph causing the steering wheel to be disabled. The vehicle was taken to the dealer who stated that the steering column needed to be replaced at a cost of $1100. The manufacturer was not notified. The failure mileage was 45,000.

- Frederick, MD, USA

The power steering goes out as I am trying to make a turn. If I put the vehicle in park, turn it off and restart it, it will be just fine. This is a serious safety issue, crossing a highway, or turning out into a lane of traffic if the steering fails you do not have the time to put the vehicle in park and restart. Extremely difficult to regain control of the wheel, requires great deal of strength to wrestle the vehicle out of harms way,

- Shelbyville, TN, USA

I have a 2008 Ford Escape and when your driving down the road the steering wheel randomly jerks you all over the road.

- Englwood, TN, USA

Steering columns has a clicking and popping sound as I'm parking my car.

- Burlington, KY, USA

My 2008 Ford Escape loses it's power steering while driving. It happens at random times. The last time it happened I almost crashed into a brick wall. The dealership service dept. Has tried to fix it twice and it continues to fail. I am afraid of loosing control of the vehicle. When I searched the problem on line I found it has happened to several people throughout the country. One woman said she crashed while exiting the highway and was seriously injured. In her instance the airbags did not deploy which did not surprise me. My airbag and traction control problem lights appear everytime the steering fails.

- Hanson, MA, USA

I have a 2008 Ford Escape. This car is having issues where the power steering will go out in the middle of driving and turning. This has been going on for a couple of months. I took it to a Ford dealer and they said they have never heard of this problem before. Although you can go on Ford Escape customer forums and see countless instances where this has happened to other people some resulting in accidents. I have asked Ford several times to help me with this issue and they say that we need to replace the whole steering column $1700 charge. This is happening with most of the postings I saw and with my own vehicle at relatively low mileage. It seems that this would not be a normal wear and tear on the vehicle with low mileage. Continuously people I have seen and also for myself have gotten the answer from Ford that they haven't heard of this issue before. I am not happy because I have to expend the money to fix this but more so I want to have this issue corrected before someone really gets hurt. If an elderly person were driving this vehicle with that problem they would wreck because of not having the strength to keep the wheel in motion correctly. Same may be with a younger driver. Please please take a look at this problem for me.

- Elizabeth, CO, USA

My 2008 Escape has been to dealer for repair for major issues. 1) I had a problem with the steering wheel 2) I had a problem with the gas pedal getting stuck, 3) I had a problem with the leak of transmission fluid I thank god that the this happen to the car while its under warranty, so the dealer replace the parts for free. I just cant understand with so many complaints with all the same problems the government has not done anything about it. So many unhappy customers has to spend extra money in hard times to get there car repair. I called Ford and they just told me that they will noted in my account. What will that do for me nothing!

- Bushkill, PA, USA

Tccf transmission cooler condenser failure- July 16,2008 repaired; -leaking -slipping on shifting-had very little transmission oil on dip stick when repaired at dealership under the 36,000 limited warranty--after 4 days July 20, 2008 wife was rear ended by a dwi traveling at estimated more than 75 to 80 mph(my wife traveling on a state highway at normal regulated speed of 50 mph) -damages of over $13,500 to our car-all shop and repairs done by Ford dealership, our only shop and service place for this Escape 2008. On February 9, 2010(at 21,000 miles later the 2nd tccf-leaking fluid seen in snow-dealership after contact with Ford.com replaced and repaired under good will customer plan of the dealership. They also replaced on our complaint of a "clacking" type noise, a steering right front assembly at no cost to us) there evidently a tsb on it. In addition we have a heating-cooling flow of air from our heat and air vents problem-temperatures not as we regulate them.. the dealership had replaced a actuator in behind dash(have record of that along with all service dates on Ford ownership home page-believe it about on previous service for oil change) on completion of recent repairs and our vehicle returned to us on February 18, 2010 we advised the service manager of the continuing air-heat regulator problem-advised they would reexamine it on next service or at our convenience. The dealership has stood behind the Ford, we must admit that-but our inconvenience and the so many that have seen by others on the internet seem to warrant a recall as to all three related problems--some of which seem to be related to the same tcc problems.

- Mayslanding, NJ, USA

The contact owns a 2008 Ford Escape. She stated that the power steering would lock intermittently while driving at various speeds. The vehicle was taken to the dealer who stated that the torque sensor failed and needed to be reprogrammed. There were no recalls for the failure and no repairs were made to date. The failure and current mileages were under 78,000. Updated 3/16/10 updated 06/17/10

- Little Canada , MN, USA

On Monday, 15 Sep 2008, on my way to work (about 7am) my steering wheel locked up. I was not able to turn the wheel no matter how much I tried. I was able to stop the vehicle and shut it off. After a few minutes, I restarted the car and everything seemed fine. On Tuesday, the same thing happened three different times. I called the dealer first thing Wednesday morning to schedule the vehicle for service. I was told to bring the vehicle in on Thursday. On my way home from work on Wednesday, I was going to drop it off at the dealer so they could start right away. After exiting the highway, the steering wheel locked again and this time I could not stop before driving off the road and into a rock wall. The side airbags deployed, but I still hit my head on the steering wheel and was knocked unconscious. The dealer said he has never heard of that happening. I was going about 30 miles per hour.

- Merrimack, NH, USA

When backing up in reverse, when you turn the steering wheel left or right, there is a loud clunking noise in the steering.

- Baltimore, MD, USA