The steering failed while driving the vehicle on 4 occasions in my brand new XLT. The first three times it happened I returned it to the dealer to check it out and fix the problem. Each time (three total) the Ford dealer service department returned it to me and told me it was fixed. While driving the vehicle in normal driving conditions the steering would suddenly stop working, warning chimes and lights on the dashboard "service advance trac", "power steering assist fault", "terrain management system fault" and traction control failure and traction control off lights glowing while in motion. Almost crashed the vehicle each time it happened. The vehicle would also slow down even though my gas pedal position never changed. When it happened the 4th time, I almost was in a fatal accident with a tractor trailer and realized Ford Motor Corporation is not interested in fixing this problem or addressing this life safety issue all late model Explorer owners are faced with. Ford claimed they know nothing but same issue all over internet. They claimed the fix was they replaced an angle sensor in the steering column, another time it was the computer needed to be refreshed and another said there was no record in the onboard computer, nothing to fix. As I am not an expert, it seems like the computer is faulty because the sync and navigation never worked properly. Was there a crash" was there an injury or fatality" I believe if it has not happened yet, it will. The head of customer service operations manager told me I had two options "call the better business bureau", or "call an attorney". I will be doing both. I will never buy another Ford because of their inability and unwillingness to help me in this. Ford customer service from the dealer level through the toll free corporate hotline was absolutely horrifying. Search online for others unreported here.

- Burlington, MA, USA

Power steering failure on 2011 Ford Explorer while traveling in neighborhood. Started the vehicle with remote start to cool vehicle in hot, humid houston, Texas about 3 to 4 minutes before entering it. We drove 1.2 miles to an acquaintance's residence to co-sign a check for non-profit payment. Left vehicle running for +/- 3 minutes in his driveway. Backed out of his driveway and drove 1/2 mile when lost power steering and noticed two messages on the dash. One showed "power steering assist fault" and other "service auto tracking". stopped on the street, shut off engine, and restarted the car. No message. Drove 1/4 and the event recurred as described. Returned home and parked car at our personal residence. Called russell & smith Ford service department at 5:03pm and left message. Suspect it is after hours and will not hear from them until morning of July 26, 2012. The message is not in owner's manual. Searched the internet and noticed NHTSA investigation and chose to contribute and provide contact information.

- Houston, TX, USA

While driving my vehicle it lost power steering assist system showed "power steering assist failure" as well as "service traction control". this was the scariest feeling I have ever had. This has happen to my husband several times.. I immediately called my local Ford dealership spoke with service advisor. I was told to turn my vehicle off and restart it. I advised my service advisor that I had taken my vehicle in for service on April 30, 2012 (40197 miles) and I mention this same problem for repair. What is it going to take for Ford to realize that this is a serious, serious problem. I am afraid for my family to be in this car, we travel alot and I am refusing to drive it. I was afraid of purchasing an american car but loved the new Ford Explorer look and body. However, I don't think I'll ever purchase another Ford vehicle and I will trade this car asap........

- Snellville, GA, USA

While in operation vehicle lost power steering assist. Steering became extremely difficult. Warning message "power steering assist failure" followed by "service traction control " light are displayed. Shutting off vehicle and restart temporarily cleared the failure. Failed more than once.

- West Lafayette, IN, USA

The contact owns a 2011 Ford Explorer. While driving approximately 45 mph, the steering wheel became difficult to maneuver and the brakes would not respond when depressed. The gauges on the instrument panel also stopped functioning. The vehicle did not stall. The contact stopped the vehicle on the shoulder of the road and regained steering and brake power after restarting. The vehicle was taken to the dealer for diagnostics where the technician was unable to diagnose the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 22,000.

- West Islip, NY, USA

The Ford sync system decided to do an upgrade and disabled all related features for about 30 minutes. This included audio, cell phone link, radio, heater and the rear view camera! it has occurred again and appears to always happen immediately after starting the car, which is when the rear view camera is very likely to be needed.

- Los Alamos, NM, USA

More like adaptive 'curse' control. My 2011 Explorer limited 4X4 with the adaptive cruise always catches the rear of semi trucks in other lanes, causing it to apply full brakes and people behind me almost crash into me. My 2011 limited is totally factory original, no tow bars. Here in California the semi truck speed is 55 while autos can go 65-70mph (and in most cases everyone goes 80+). so when I'm going along at 65-70 with no vehicles head of me in my lane and the thing goes 100% brakes I almost crash. I also get the cruise control totally disabled because of an error in the sync modules. The sync computer modules control the adaptive cruise, stability control, back up detection system, auto wipers, auto parking system, traction control, 4X4 system, etc, etc. I fear that the SRS is also tied into these same sync computer modules. Ford claims the sync system automatically resets/reboots itself every 24 hours while the vehicle is off to avoid system outages. What happens most of the time is the system will run (even though the screen is off) for about a week until, while driving, the sync computer crashes just like home computers & cell phones do if left on continuously. While this crash is taking place the touch screen freezes, music playing will stop, or change volume, or change track, or change source; wipers will stop working, cruise control will shut off, backup camera system goes down or screen freezes while backing up, 4X4 is disabled, center displays will go blank. My 2011 Explorer has been in the Ford service dept for sync module replacement and reprogramming 4 times now since Jan 2011. Still no fix.

- French Camp, CA, USA