After driving for about 2 miles on my way to take my daughter to school I got a "steering assist fault" and it was extremely difficult to turn the steering wheel. Fortunately there aren't a lot of turns and we were less than a mile from our destination. Was able to get the car back to my house safely. Awaiting a call from the dealership. Initial investigation doesn't show a recall for 2013, but there was for 2008 - 2011. Found several sites and forums of people making the same complaint.

- Stephens City, VA, USA

Veh: 2013 Ford Escape, sel 1.6 liter engine, front wheel drive. I intermittently have no power steering when starting the vehicle. Vehicle is stationary at the times I've experienced the problem. If this happens during driving I would be unable to steer the vehicle. Diagnostic code: U3000-49.

- Arlington, VA, USA

I started my 2013 Ford Escape and a light came on stating steering wheel malfunction. The vehicle was in the garage and was stationary. I tried backing the Escape out of the garage but the steering wheel would not move left or right.. had I been driving the Escape on a road and this happened in would have been a unsafe condition by not being able to steer the vehicle safely. This could have cause a accident or even death by not being able to steer Escape to a safe place. It was taken to a local repair shop and the tech scanned the power steering module and found a failure code for the steering gear. The tech installed new steering gear. He recommended it should not be driven and was left there for repair. The tech had also stated he has seen this happen alot before to Ford vehicles and was surprised it has not been recalled. With this happening to others, a recall of the steering module and gear needs to checked out for the safety of everyone on the road as well as Ford drivers.

- Sealy, TX, USA

Car is in park, but displays shows the car as being in neutral. Unable to reverse or drive without manually unlocking gear shift. Power steering not working correctly. Which Ford had a recall on power steering and excluded my vehicle. VIN#[xxx] now Ford is excluding my car from the recall for 18S20. I feel that is unfair for Ford to exclude my vehicle based on an early manufacturing date and the car was built in the same facility for the indicated recall 18S20. Information redacted pursuant to the Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).

- Mintola, NJ, USA

2013 Ford Escape 1.6 AWD. The car presented a "whiring" type of sound for a few days when turning the steering wheel left or right and the steering fault message appeared on the dash. I parked the car and left it alone for a few days until I needed to move it. Upon attempting to move the vehicle the steering gear was completely locked up. I had the vehicle towed to the dealership and was just notified the steering gear was completely locked and replacing it would be just under $2300. This is my 18 year old daughters vehicle and I could not imagine what would have happened if she was driving when this occurred. Luckily it failed completely while it was in my driveway but as a daily driver vehicle for my daughter this could have been a deadly problem.

- Jackson, MI, USA

While driving car, ABS/traction control warning lights and error message appeared, city driving, but not affecting drivability. After 20 miles car was parked, and when restarted days later same warnings appear but with additional loss of power steering, making car undrivable. Will be towing it to local Ford dealership.

- Galax, VA, USA

Power steering asist fault: (1) the power steering stops working while driving at different speeds. (2) no power steering when I first start my car. If I turn it off and restart it sometimes works again. I have read that this is costing the consumer $2000 to repair through an authorized Ford service repair shop. I believe this is a serious safety concern to myself, passengers and other drivers I am on the road with. Please help and thank you in advance for your attention to yhis matter. [xxx] information redacted pursuant to the Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).

- Pioneer, CA, USA

While I was leaving work, in my parking lot, I got an alert tone and on the display it said "steering assist fault", I had never got that before, my car has about 64K miles, I proceeded to drive backwards and turning my wheel and the steering was very heavy and would barely move, I drove the car forward back into the parking spot, turned off the engine waited a minute and the problem. I went online and I found other people having the same problem, but their problem happened on the road in traffic, I haven't been to the dealer yet, but I'm sure I will. A recall needs to created asap before someone gets hurt.

- La Grange Park, IL, USA

Turned my car on, put it in drive and went to turn my wheel and had no steering. I checked under my vehicle and there was nothing. I have never had this problem before. My husband ran a systems check and the results said - steering assist failure- service required. My husband turned the vehicle off and back on and the steering worked. Ran another systems check and nothing showed up. Another complaint about the same exact problem has been filed the complaint number: 11292425. Upon research there has been numerous amounts of complaints made to Ford and Ford's dealerships. They are aware of this issue but still refuses to address or fix this issue.

- Clermont, GA, USA

My was leaving the house for work on Friday July 24, 2020. When driving down the block at about 25mph, she was making a left turn and her steering became very hard and the steering assist fault light came on and she couldn't steer it anymore. She called me and I went to assist her but I couldn't steer it neither, totally too difficult. I had the vehicle towed to local auto service center and they an estimate to repair after contacting a Ford dealership in a nearby city and they stated that the entire steering system has to be replaced at a total price of $2100, I have checked around and notice that is a major problem with this vehicle and a lot of owners has had this problem and this is very dangerous, I am glad that my wife had not already gotten on tthe interstate. I really need someone to address this issue.

- Copperas Cove, TX, USA

The contact owns a 2013 Ford Escape. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the power steering assist warning light illuminated and the vehicle loss power steering functionality. The failure also occurred while the vehicle was stopped. The vehicle was turned off and restarted and started and regained normal operation. The vehicle was taken to an unknow Ford dealer for a diagnostic test that located the failure code at the steering gear box. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not contacted. The VIN was not available. The failure mileage was 145,303.

- New Haven, CT, USA

I have a 2013 Escape, the steering assist default message came on but went back off when I started my car the other morning. Luckily I can still steer my car but haven't been driving it, scared to. I had appointment at the Ford dealership today, it's still there. They called and didn't find a code. If they don't find anything scared I have to drive it till something happens. Hopefully nothing like an accident, since this is something that has been happening with Escapes since 2008 models but only recalled 2008-2011 and Explorer 2008-2013.

- Palm Coast, FL, USA

The vehicle makes loud clunking noises when driving over bumps or turning it is coming from the front end and it also seems to swerve from side to side like the steering is loose

- Holly Springs, NC, USA

While driving car the steering became hard to manage and then it showed following code on dash screen: Steering assist fault service required.

- Palmview, TX, USA

There was an electronic power steering assist fault that made the vehicle very difficult steer. Thankfully the car was in my driveway and was towed to the nearest dealership. I have an older Escape that had the same problem and it was recalled. This model year was not included on the recall and the repair estimate is $2200.

- Alpharetta, GA, USA

Steering fault light came and was unable to steer car while on freeway nearly causing a collision. Spoke to mechanic and said my car has electric power steering and has been known to fail when overheats. Has happened twice in last two weeks

- Mesa, AZ, USA

Vehicle displayed "steering assist fault" message when started before driving to work in the morning. Dealer quoted repair exceeded $1200. Ten minutes of internet searching revealed that this was a known issue with the previous generation of Escapes (2008-2011) as well as the same generation of Explorer (2011-2013). Both of those vehicles were recalled but not this one. This could have been deadly if it had occurred while I was on the highway in rush hour traffic at 70+ mph just a few minutes later.

- Elm City, NC, USA

2013 Ford Escape steering stops working, both sitting still on start-up and sometimes when moving in traffic. The display presents "power steering assist failure" the vehicle is steerable for me, 70 Y/O man with good upper body strength, but impossible for my daughter, the owner of the car. Ford tells me it is a faulty electric power steering assist and for about $2000 they will replace the steering rack! it seems this should be a recall event given the danger involved with high speed driving. The vehicle has 87000 miles on it.

- Grundy Center, IA, USA

On Wednesday 2/12/2020, while driving home, I detected subtle signs of steering control irregularities and attributed it to icy road conditions. The following morning, 2/13/2020, on my drive into work, the steering condition began to appear again and intensified. I was fortunate to have made it to my place of employment and promptly scheduled a service appointment the following day, Friday 2/14/2020. When I left work that day, I discovered a complete loss of steering assist to the degree that it would be impossible to safely control the car. The effort to steer to any normal safe degree was compromised and required that I abandon any attempt to drive the vehicle. If the severe intensity manifested itself while driving, the most probable outcome would have been a collison. I had the vehicle towed to my local dealership Saturday, 2/15/2020, requested they diagnose the problem, and expressed my anger at a design flaw that is likely to result in someone's death. They called me back later that day and gave me an estimate of near $2,500 to replace the complete steering rack. I discovered through internet searches, active recalls of prior Escape body types for a similar failure but none on my year. I also discovered numerous cases in my internet search of the same failure on my year Escape. My work commute was primary city driving.

- Cleveland, OH, USA

Steering assist fault- no steering control, will not turn left or right vehicle was stationary after parking, start car no steering -steering assist fault

- Tullahoma, TN, USA