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

While driving on a county road, my wife experienced a sudden loss of power steering. The instrument panel behind the steering wheel displayed a power steering assist failure notification. When she restarted the vehicle, the notification went away and the power steering returned. We took the vehicle to greg darnell Ford in midwest city, ok for diagnostics and were told a gear assembly in the steering column had gone bad (part no. Hv6Z-3504-cd). The repair cost is $2129 after a 10% military discount. The problem is very similar to NHTSA campaign 14V284000 for the 2008-2011 Escape, but the recall has not been extended to cover more recent model years. Fortunately, my wife was able to brake and safely exit the road, shaken but without incident. However, had she been traveling at highway speed, the sudden loss of power steering could easily have resulted in loss of control and a potentially deadly accident. Several others have reported the same issue with 2013 Escapes on carcomplaints.com. When I contacted Ford customer service, they dismissed my concern and told me there was nothing they could do.

- Midwest City, OK, USA

Upon driving the vehicle without notice the steering assist fault light came on and the power steering went out and almost hit another vehicle.

- Salisbury, MD, USA

The contact owns a 2013 Ford Escape. The contact stated that while the vehicle was parked, the power steering became inoperable. The loss of power steering assist warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to fairview Ford sales Inc located at 292 N G St, san bernardino, ca 92410, where the steering column was replaced. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and the contact was informed that the vehicle was not subjected to a recall. The failure mileage was approximately 84,000.

- Colton, CA, USA

Steering assist fault service required light and steering wheel locks up. This has always happened when I first start my car and go to back up. This has happened multiple times to me and I have read that this is a common problem with this car. Other years have had a recall, this is a safety issue and needs to be looked into.

- Nortonville, KS, USA

2013 Ford Escape with less than 90000 miles, went to crank car and steering assist fault came up on dash cut car off and recranked and was fine next day was driving it on a rural road and lost power steering same fault came up now no power steering at all if wife had been driving she would have probably wrecked because of hard steering, looked online and see it has been a problem with this model and no recall has been issued

- Greensboro, NC, USA

I am constantly adding coolant to my Escape. It has broken down / shut off on me twice as a result of overheating caused by lack of coolant. Ford claimed the coolant loss was caused by a sensor. Something along the lines of a faulty sensor tricking the engine into thinking it was overheating and the coolant was being dispersed to cool the engine. I explained to the dealership that I purchased the car in 2017 with 52,000 miles and that by September of 2017 I was adding coolant. This continue until October 2019 when I finally got fed up after the vehicle powered off on me going down hill as a result of 'overheating' needing more coolant. I tried sharing this information with my dealership to no avail and mentioned previous recalls on 2013 1.6L Escape engines that my vehicle was not included in but many of the recalls involved coolant leaks! I allowed Ford to convince me the $4,000 sensor would solve all my problems. Unfortunately on December 3, 2019 less than two months after the sensor was repaired I got a maintenance notification to add coolant and another on January 20, 2020. In addition, I want to comment on the power steering defaulting. This happened to me as well in May 2019 on I 85. My power steering completely went out and never returned. Previously in April a brief power steering default notification appeared and after restarting my car, the notification went away and power steering was fine. In my opinion, power steering should not be going out on a vehicle after barely 6 years. Might I add when I purchased the vehicle in 2017 it only had 52,000 miles on it. The power steering went out a little over 2 years after I purchased the vehicle.

- Sandy Springs, GA, USA

When started, vehicle displays 'power steering assist failure-requires service' warning and power steering is lost. This has happened three times over the course of two days. It does not happen every time the car is started, it just randomly happens. I drove home last night from work with no power steering, and along with this issue my usb ports would not charge my phone. My phone recognized that it was plugged in, but not enough power was being supplied to actually charge it. I'm nit sure if that is linked with the power steering module, but I've never had that issue before all of this mess.

- Minot, ND, USA

My wife was leaving for work and her 2013 Ford Escape had a steering assist failure light come on on the dash board. The steering was very difficult to drive. She parked it and used my vehicle to get to work. I looked this up and there are no recalls on this except for 2008 -2011 Ford Escapes. But the problem is continuing through to 2017 from what I read online mileage ranges from 700 and up. Ford has no fix for this, they tell you they need to flash the computer and that fixes the issue. But it does not I have read many reports that this wont fix issue and that most people have had to replace the entire rack/pinion gear assembly and the computer portion of it only to have the problem come back again shortly after having new parts installed. I am old enough to remember driving vehicles with out power steering not to big a deal for me, but some people say there steering locks up completely and cant turn wheel. This can be very dangerous on the road and should not be allowed, I do not want to lose my wife in an accident because Ford is not fixing the issue. They need a fix for this that will not return in the future. I have tried to duplicate what happened this morning and have been unsuccessful, if I cant then Ford cant and there for no fix for the problem. This needs to be resolved before some one looses a loved one.

- La Mesa, CA, USA

When I start my 2013 Ford Escape light will display says steering problem and will no move into reverse. I have to turn it off and start it again then it will shift into gear. This has happened several times. Engine light will come on for about a few days and will not come on for about several weeks. I purchase this vehicle in 2019. I also noticed this vehicle has 15 recalls. Just a little concerned about that.

- Dover, DE, USA

I was just slowly driving my car into a parking space when all of a sudden I had no steering and could not turn my wheel fortunately I was just about in the space and coasted to a stop in the middle of two spaces. I don't know what would've happened had this happened while I was in traffic making a turn at a crossroads.

- N Ft Myers, FL, USA

Steering locks up when started

- Snohomish, WA, USA

While backing out of driveway, I was unable to turn the steering wheel. Power steering was not engaged. Could not drive the vehicle in this condition. I had the vehicle towed to Ford dealer. Diagnosed as a faulty power steering rack - electronic - cost to replace the rack was $2000. Ford has already issued a recall for the 2013 Explorer but not the 2013 Escape.

- Bethlehem, PA, USA

Steering assist failures... hi, I own a 2013 Ford Escape. And several times I have had a 'steering assist failure', and my steering is almost impossible to turn. I am concerned it will cause an accident and it happens randomly, sometimes moving and sometimes when I start the car. There are hundreds of complaints about this on the nthsa site and other sites and it is a very expense fix, up to $2000.. is there any chance of a recall on this safety incident. I understand the 2011 Escapes and 2013 Explorer had a recall on the exact same safety issue. Someone is going to get hurt or killed unless Ford steps up and does the right thing.

- Winchester, KY, USA

Steering assist failure. Anyone reading this knows that this should be a recall!!! you recall 08-11 Escape and 11-13 Explorer. But not the '13 Escape. Honest, hard working people are on the hook for the better part of $2,000!!! this is a widespread issue. We bought this car new. It has been very, very well cared for. Recall this power steering issue!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

- Rogers, AR, USA

This incident occurred while the car was in motion. I was driving on a sunny day on the highway going 70 mph on a long curve. Without warning my steering wheel completely locked up. I was so scarred because people were going the same speed or above what I was. I thought quick enough to put on my hazards, I couldnt direct the car to go to the curve, so I figured I would slow to a stop and go from there. A couple minutes later when I was down to about 10 mph and people honking and flying past me the power steering assist. Failure light came on and all of a sudden my wheel jerked to the right a little and I was able to slightly start going to the shoulder. It took both hands and all the strength I had to move the wheel but I managed. I called my husband to come pick me up, while waiting I turned the car on to make sure it was the power steering light that came on, when I turned the car on the steering was back to normal, my husband followed me home while I drove slowly. The next day the car was still fine, until I was driving back from the store on a country road that is hilly and winding going 30 moh the light came on and then the steering was really hard to turn or move in any direction. I managed to get home and that is where my car has sat since, I'm too scared to drive it again. This is beyond dangerous.

- Spicewood, TX, USA