April 23 - backing out of a parking space a power steering fault message flashed on the screen, there was no change in the steering of the vehicle at the time. April 26 - same message appears while driving down the interstate, when backing into a parking spot the steering completely locked up, two other messages appeared on the screen at this time. Pictures are included. Vehicle was taken to the dealership the following morning. They concluded that the steering control module needed to be replaced, and that the issue was resolved. Picked the vehicle up on May 2. June 2 - the same power steering fault message showed up again while driving on a neighborhood street. The same messages as before plus one more (terrain management failure) appeared on the screen when turning left on a rural road and the steering locked completely again. Vehicle was returned to the dealership the following morning. The vehicle has been at the dealership for 9 business days at this time. No progress has been made. They say the problem can not be duplicated, even though the vehicle diagnostic and photos of the messages were provided. The diagnostic stated, "urgent service required." The Ford hotline is unwilling to make any repairs unless the problem can be duplicated while in the dealerships possession. Meanwhile I am currently making payments on this vehicle. The vehicle has been in my possession for 9 months and has 10,300 miles on it. I was told I have a rental for 1 week, regardless of whether the problem is resolved or not.

- Concord, NC, USA

There is a popping noise when turning the vehicle's steering wheel from left to right while parked or maneuvering to make adjustments. Also, while driving and turning left, the vehicle's steering locks and I have to snatch the steering wheel to the right in order to get the vehicle to go straight. This has happened on several occasions and I took it to the dealer on May 17th and they're in the process of replacing the steering gear or what the service advisor told me was known as the rack and pinion. My vehicle has less than 30,000 miles and I haven't run into anything or over anything to cause this problem. According to the service advisor the manufacturer's warranty covers the replacement, however, I'm stuck with having to drive a rental at my expense because of a defect from the manufacturer. I noticed there were other owners who had problems with the steering and they experienced failure that led to their wheel assembly coming off while driving. This is concerning because according to Ford, I have no recalls specific to my VIN number, but this problem seems to be more widespread and Ford Motor Co. Should be proactive in addressing this issue before someone gets killed.

- Columbus, GA, USA

While driving 35 mph on straight on major arterial street lost power steering control. Steering wheel immediately became extremely stiff and I struggled to pull to right hand lane and was barely able to pull over onto side road. Three warning messages showed up on dash board, "service advance trac", "steering assist fault service required" & car icon with trac swirls trailing car and "off". photos attached. Turned car off, restarted and same dash board images appeared. Took to dealership for repair. Dealership tested and said could not duplicate response. Documentation attached. Dealership gave rvc # and dealership contacted Ford hotline assist. No repair made. Advised to return if problem occurs again.

- Brush Prairie, WA, USA

On two separate occasions, one on surface street 35mph - 3/2/16 and one on freeway 65mph - 4/6/16 my power steering has stopped working completely.

- Wilmington, CA, USA

Upon starting vehicle steering system was unresponsive and a warning notice "service advance track" appeared on dash. Dealer had vehicle for several days and could not duplicate malfunction. Returned without repair. Fault recurred after approximately one week and dealer again could not duplicate fault. Replaced one element of electronic steering system and returned vehicle as repaired. Fault recurred a third time and a different dealer service department replaced a second element of the electronic steering system and claimed issue was resolved. Fault continues to recur without notice and vehicle is unreliable. Problem has been reported to Ford customer relationship center on several occasions but response has been very limited.

- Hilton Head Island, SC, USA

I was driving the vehicle when I experienced a sudden loss of power steering. The power steering loss was permanent and did not recover. Drove vehicle to dealership for repair.

- Ann Arbor, MI, USA

Lost all power steering and vehicle was almost impossible to steer. Ford dealer replaced electronic power steering rack.

- Lima, OH, USA

Ford Motor Co. And worthington Ford of long beach, ca are selling vehicles with damaged/defective steering and refusing to fix the defect(s). 1/25/2015 purchased Ford Explorer (8 miles on vehicle); day after purchase, 1/26/2015, noticed problem with steering, parked vehicle, would not drive or let wife drive. Returned vehicle immediately to dealer via armstrong towing (flatbed) for repairs/evaluation. Worthington Ford of long beach: [xxx] all accused me of causing the damage; said it isn't under warranty service and wanted to charge me $600 to fix the damaged steering. They all refused, including [xxx], service mgr., to give me a written work order/invoice when vehicle was picked up 1/30/2015. Vehicle is remains in an unsafe condition. Do not know full extent of damage caused by Ford Motor Co. Information redacted pursuant to the Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).

- Los Alamitos, CA, USA