Let’s start with the fact that we’ve had steering issues from the start with this vehicle. We paid $700 to fix or bandaid the problem last month. So, when it came time for our summer vacation we actually considered renting a car because we still didn’t think it was right. Rent a vehicle when we have an almost brand new vehicle in the garage with a $500 a month car payment?!?!

Against our better judgment, we took it from PA to FL, well almost. Along I-95 in South Carolina at about 11pm the steering seized with our family in the car. We had to get a hotel room, rent a car and leave the POS in SC to continue our vacation. It’s now almost 3 weeks in and it’s still in SC.

We’ve always been foreign car people. We had a Honda Pilot for 12 years, never a problem with it. If there was a problem, it was covered by the awesome warranty or it was a recall. Lots of recalls, manufacturer and Honda. Which, up till now I thought was a pain in the ass! Now, I get that at least they have enough integrity to have recalls! Ford motor Company has the worst warranty and 0 integrity!

We loved the look and feel of this vehicle. Looks definitely aren’t everything...lesson learned. We will take the loss on trading it in and going back to Honda, Toyota or Nissan to keep our family safe. I guess Ford is waiting for a fatality?!?!

My 2.5 year old vehicle with 60,000 miles on it left my son and i in a parking lot with no steering! We had taken a 2 hour trip to visit my daughter at college and were on our way home when we stopped for a bite to eat. Got back in the car and my dashboard was lit up with all kinds of messages - hill start assist not available, steering assist fault service required, terrain management system fault, service advancetrac - no matter what I tried, I could not steer the vehicle.

What if that happened while I was driving? What if it happened on a city street? What if that happened in the parking garage? It left on a rollback and was taken to the dealer where I bought the vehicle. The entire steering rack needed to be replaced and it needed an alignment. I asked if Ford would cover it since the vehicle is only 2.5 years old and was told "no, things break".

I got a call from the garage the next day with my service representative giggling saying how he had a hard time moving it around in the parking lot! Cost me $2004 not covered by Ford and in addition to that cost I needed to rent a vehicle for another $237! No warning that the steering was going. No indication there might be a problem. No compassion from the garage. No acknowledgement from Ford admitting there is a problem. I bought a new vehicle so I could feel safe and not worry about being stranded - hah, not so with this one! Stay away from this vehicle!

I went into Ford Dealership because of OTHER Recalls on the vehicle and asked them to look at the power steering as it was getting "loud". I was then told that the power steering "gear" was bad ~ and it would cost near $1,900 to fix! It is NOT covered under warranty and I have only 54,000 miles on my car. When I asked if it was ok to drive it - yes it was safe.

As time as continued, it now shimmy's like crazy and on occassion will freeze or stick. I can move the wheel eventually but it is scary. I am afraid that it will ruin the front tires if this vibration is out in the wheels as well.

In for regular service and oil change, and upon receipt of the car- funny noise from the steering. Then definitely a reversion to manual steering (because the power steering went out), like driving a car on rails. Frightening. Dropped off at dealer, need to replace entire steering "gear" -- I assume this is the same problem that other owners have had, at around the same mileage. Unfortunately the worst side effect of this EXPENSIVE problem is now my other half refuses to ever buy a domestic car again, and I had my heart set on a Mustang. Thanks Ford.

Love,

A lifelong fan no longer.

My wife was driving our 2016 Ford Explorer limited (61,200 miles- but less than 2 yrs old) near home at approx. 25mph, slowed down, and attempted to make a turn onto our street & the vehicle locked in the turn. She had to slam on the breaks to avoid crashing into the ditch & then was able to straighten the wheel. We called the dealership where we bought it right away who wasn't able to take it in (another complaint against them) so we called another and then had it towed to them. They were able to duplicate the issue with the power steering, and said it was the steering gear assembly. We had the dealership complain to Ford for us since it was a safety issue & after researching we found that other people have experienced this same issue- but Ford declined to help.

I can't imagine what this would have been like had we been on the freeway. This is a serious failure that could have hurt or killed people. How is this not a recall?

On a recent 100 mile trip, I stopped for coffee and when I returned to the vehicle and started the engine, we immediately got a "Power Assist Malfunction" warning light. After clearing that message we got a "Lane Keeping System Failure" warning light. Essentially this meant that we had no power steering assist.

I got the vehicle to a dealer about 40 miles away. The next day I learned that the problem was an internal PSCM failure also know as the electronic power steering gear assembly. Was given repair validation code to replace unit from Ford which is RVC#RPLF3RP4T872Q. Electronic power steering assembly part #FB5Z-3504-K has been ordered emergency car down however, part is on a nation wide back order with no eta.

So now..... 4 weeks later, still no part for repair, still no ETA for part, and our Explorer is still down, stored outside in the weather at the dealer !! No answers even from the Ford regional rep who took 3 weeks to make contact with us.

Update from Jun 23, 2016: Update... It's been (6) weeks and still no power steering part for the warranty repair. Now Ford says that will not pay for all of our rental car expense. The part is supposed to be in transit, but that has been the case for over (2) weeks now. Ford customer service rep, Susan Miller has been absolutely no help in expiditing our warranty repair or making sure we have transportation. Basically they don't care.....and reminded us that technically according to Ford's warranty they are not responsible for our transportation expenses.

Six weeks without warranty repairs !! I wonder if this is the start of another Ford Explorer power steering recall ???