Steer wheel assist shuts off at car engine start while parked in residence parking. Multiple restart at same location would not make the issue disappear. Car cannot be operated as lack of steering power is an obvious safety hazard on the road. Car has 36000 miles.

- Miami, FL, USA

I was driving back from the gym on 9/15/16 when I got an error on the dashboard saying "steering assist malfunction." At that time my Focus was in motion on a city street at approximately 45 mph and approaching a turn that I needed to take. This was highly dangerous and impaired most of my ability to steer and almost caused an accident as I was trying to steer the turn. This is highly dangerous, and from hundreds of reviews online many 2012 Ford Focus owners are having the exact same issue. This is something that not only needs to be investigated, but need to be recalled for the safety of all Ford Focus drivers.

- Wichita, KS, USA

The electronic power assisted steering (dpas) system on my 2012 Ford Focus has failed. The vehicle is un-drivable absent extreme force. Emergency maneuvers are out of the question. The vehicle is utterly unsafe to operate. Restarting the vehicle and resetting the ECU have no effect. The failure occurred when starting the vehicle (stationary). Luckily it didn't fail while driving.

- San Antonio, TX, USA

Lurching and uncontrolled shifting occurs with the transmission. It has left me stuck in the middle of a left turn because it doesn't shift correctly. Now I ran off the road while exiting a freeway because the power steering turned off in the middle of the turn. This has now happened 6 times randomly. It gives me a power steering fault. I have come close to being the cause of 3 accidents because of these two issues.

- Winter Garden, FL, USA

The contact owns a 2012 Ford Focus. The contact stated that the vehicle experienced a loss of power steering and the power steering warning indicator illuminated. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The contact received notification of NHTSA campaign number: 16V643000 (latches/locks/linkages); however, the parts to do the repair were unavailable. The manufacturer exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 72,000. VIN tool confirms parts not available.

- Broken Arrow, OK, USA

As I was coming to a stop, the steering got really difficult and the steering assist light came on. After stopping, the steering locked up completely. I restarted the car, and it worked after that. Now I'm worried this will happen in a worse area, particularly while on the freeway. I also recently had the passenger door open while I was driving and had to tie the seat belt through the door handle and hold to make it home without the door coming open. Locking the seat belt in still made the door barely open, and the alert go off. This looks like it was just recalled, so I'm hoping I get reimbursed. It wasn't cheap to fix. Car is 114,000 miles.

- Arlington, TX, USA

The contact owns a 2012 Ford Focus. While driving, the steering became difficult to maneuver and the power steering assist malfunction warning indicator illuminated. The vehicle was taken to a dealer where it was diagnosed that the power steering assembly needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 56,633.

- Marrero, LA, USA

Our 2012 Ford Focus all of a sudden lost its power steering capabilities making the car extremely difficult to steer, turn or control. My 20 year old daughter who drives the car daily is of slight build, so her safety was at jeopardy behind the wheel. This problem occurred while she was driving near our home on 9/6/16. I drove it immediately and found it very difficult to maneuver, so I brought it to a Ford dealer that same day. On 9/7/16 I was told the rack & pinion electronic system failed and the repair costs are over $1900. I feel this is a safety issue that Ford needs to address and pay for the complete charges. The vehicle is unsafe to drive at this point until the expensive problem is resolved.

- Downers Grove, IL, USA

Recently I've had an issue with the starter. The dash stated the car battery was low, I have the car taken to a local mechanic where the battery is testing that it is good. The car will start in the mornings after resting and I don't drive as much as just to be safe while I try to figure out what's going on with this car. I've had this car fixed three times in the past year, once for the customer survey satisfaction (not a recall Ford told me) to have the transmission fixed, another to have the steering module replaced and a third time to have the clutches replaced and that was done by a dealership to stop the lurching and jerking that the car does. I'm amazed at the callousness of a company that completely ignores the pleas of people who have almost crashed in their vehicles! no regard for their consumers what so ever!! I promise this will be the first & last Ford vehicle that I ever buy.

- Plano, TX, USA

Backing up, vehicle assist warning and loss of power steering occured.

- Hernando, MS, USA

Steering error code comes on more and more frequently. Today it froze up on my girl while she was driving and she could have been seriously injured. Ford and / or NHTSA needs to do something to get these death traps recalled. What's it going to take??

- Inman, SC, USA

The contact owns a 2012 Ford Focus. While driving approximately 35 mph, the steering assist module warning indicator illuminated and the steering wheel seized. The contact had to turn the ignition switch off and on to be able to resume driving. The vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired. In addition, while exiting the driveway, the vehicle jerked and lost power. The manufacturer was made aware of the failures. The approximate failure mileage was 87,025.

- Hennessey, OK, USA

The power steering assist fault illuminated when I started my vehicle, along with no power steering when I would turn the wheel. Restarted the vehicle multiple times with the same result.

- Bagor, ME, USA

As of September 2, 2016, 3 times within past 2 weeks after starting vehicle get error message "steering assist fault" and there is no power steering. After turning off vehicle and restarting the error has been cleared. Concerned of total failure which looks to be ~$2000 to repair or failure while driving, on NHTSA webiste there are 254 steering complaints for 2012 Focus, around 50 for 2013 Focus and 50 for 2014 Focus. There were 5 complaints for 2011 Focus which is last model that did not have epas steering. Clearly there is a design problem with this epas steering system, am hoping Ford does the right thing and recall this to alleviate unhappy customers and potential safety problem.

- Lake Orion, MI, USA

Power steering failure- started with everyonce in a while id get the error notice of power steering failure so I would turn off the car start it back up and fine, it started to happen more frequently to the imbarrassing point of having to turn on and off the car 5-10 times just to have power steering, then I got a letter to update my car's software to help fix the power steering issue, I got the software update and 3 months later total failure, I now have zero power steering and now Ford wants me to pay $2200 to fix it, when it failed I almost crashed into another car with my kids in my car on the freeway, needless to say we are greatful to be alive, sad thing is all other models from 2011-2012 with the same exact power steering system get a recall why not the Focus? I wish I would have known before I would have never bought the car, Ford is a scam and doesnt back up its product, the power steering is broke because of their defective product

- Bakersfield, CA, USA

On August 17, 2016, I was driving my Focus and while turning a corner, my steering seemed to lock up. I couldn't turn the wheel. I braked hard because I was headed into parked cars. I was able to reverse and park good enough until tow truck arrived. I had it towed to Ford dealer in santa monica, ca. The service agent told me that my battery was low and caused my steering issue. I informed him the battery was only one year old. He replied that it had a bad cell. He told me if I put a new battery, it will fix issue. I authorized replacement and picked up my car the next day. On August 26, 2016, I was in my car and a warning popped on my dash, "battery low, check manual." I drove it straight to Ford. The service agent checked my battery and alternator and said they both were good. He first told me that warning always comes on when you turn key on but don't start engine. I told him it had never popped on before in the four years I've had the car. He insisted I just hadn't noticed it before. I told him I'm sure that it never happened. So when he test drove it, he switched up his opinion that the warning was referring to the key remote. I asked how because it showed a symbol of the car battery. I told him I hope you're correct and it is just the remote because I was worried that the steering would lock again after he previously said that it went out because of low battery. So I proceeded to drive back to where I was staying and when I turned into a driveway to turn around, my power steering went out. I was not strong enough to steer it well, but was able to reverse as close to curb as possible and again waited to be towed back to Ford. End result: They had it for four days, drove it for 72 miles and hooked it up to a diagnostic machine. They could find nothing wrong. I'm afraid to drive my Focus. I feel like the steering could go out or lock up at any given moment.

- Lemoore, CA, USA

Power steering failure. Happened 4-5 times when I start the car. Power steering will not work and I get a message that "steering assist service" needed. Turning the car off, restarting usually fixes the problem but I worry what might happen if it fails at 70 mph in traffic. I see many complaints of the same issue on the web. I am surprised Ford has not addressed this very common problem.

- Mcfarland, WI, USA

When I am in park starting the car, . the steering wont work. A message comes up saying the power steering asst system is out. Does not steer at all. I turned the car off and on about 3 times then it went away there is an electric motor no pump..I called to complain and Ford says there is not recall. They do however recall other models with the same problem. If..this is not a safety issue I don't know what is" the steering motor goes out" what if it happens when I am on the road. They already told me they wont fix it. It is clearly a recall issue and they wont fix the lesser models

- Summerfield, FL, USA

My car's steering wheel got stuck with a notice saying "power steering assist fault". the first time the problem occurred the car was backing up, and the problem went away when I parked and restarted the car. The second time the problem stayed... the cost to fix the problem was estimated at about $2000 (parts and labor) at the dealership. The mileage was around 60,000 at the time. Last week (08/12/2016, at about 72,000 miles), a warning came on about a door being open while I was parking. It was the one at the back on the driver's side. The door would not lock, so I tied it with a seatbelt to keep driving. Since then the car goes into panic mode now and then when I leave it locked, probably because the door moves and it feels like someone mechanically forced the latch open. I somehow feel lucky that none of the problems occurred while driving in traffic, but I am now concerned about something else failing (like a door flying open) in worse conditions.

- Denton, TX, USA

The contact owns a 2012 Ford Focus. The contact stated that the vehicle experienced a loss of power steering and the power steering assist failure warning indicator illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, but the diagnostic results were not provided.the manufacturer was notified of the failure. The contact referenced NHTSA campaign number: 14V284000 (steering). The failure mileage was approximately 35,000.

- Lambert, MS, USA