While traveling home on the interstate with my spouse and child, the car warning system suddenly flashed "power steering failure" and "auto traction failure" and I lost power steering in the vehicle. In this frightening moment, the car was difficult to drive as we slowed to a safe speed and returned to our home. On October 1, 2014 my wife attempted to drive the car but was physically unable to back the vehicle out of the drive as the power steering failed. I contacted our dealer and was told that it could be a very expensive part (the rack) costing $1800 as another Fusion was at the dealership at that time with 73,000 miles having that part replace. I was astounded. On October 2nd, I carefully with great difficulty navigated the car to the dealership, here it was determined that the power steering rack would have to be replaced. In conversation with the service manager I was informed that I had done nothing wrong and that there was no preventative maintenance that could have been performed, but that the part simply failed. It is my contention that the part was not made properly and that it is a safety hazard. I have called Ford twice on 10/02 and 10/10 and have received absolutely no help or satisfaction. I have called the Ford dealership and have not received satisfaction to this point. This is a dangerous situation with a defective part that Ford has produced, but is unwilling to replace. I respectfully request that the NHTSA intervene immediately and issue a recall for this dangerous situation before life is lost.

- Lincoln, IL, USA

Two failures reset by turning car off and on. One, permanent, still not working. Worst failure was the second one while on the freeway.

- Fremont, CA, USA

As I was pulling out of the church parking lot after Sunday services, the power steering suddenly failed and I saw an error message on the dash readout indicating a power steering "fault." I was able to drive the six miles home with extreme difficulty steering the car. After parking the car at home for a few hours, I restarted the car and the power steering then worked ok. I took car next day to Ford dealer who replaced the power steering module under warranty. Power steering has worked ok since then.

- Boiling Springs , PA, USA

Failure of power steering assist, warning light appeared, restarted car and problem resolved. Reoccurred a couple of days later and will not resolve itself. Ford dealer says it will cost $1800 to fix(steering gear replacement). Car has less than 60000 miles and should be under warranty"?"

- Benton City, WA, USA

I saw on news that you were investigating power steering issues on the Ford Fusion 2012. This is a problem I have been having with my Fusion 2012 almost from the beginning. The vehicle was purchased with less than 10 miles on it and the issue started happening around the second month. I hear a ding and then the power steering goes out, the brakes paddle requires a lot of pressure to engage, and the accelerator paddle is not as responsive. Two error messages appear on the display, "power steering assist fault" and "service advancetrac." I mentioned it to the service department at the Ford dealer and he ask me to take a picture of the messages next time it happens and bring them in. I took pictures and brought them in, I'm then told that I have to bring the vehicle in while the error messages are showing in order for the mechanic to diagnose the problem. This will be almost impossible to do because after a restart the errors go away. I'm glad to see that this issue is finally being investigated.

- Woodbridge, VA, USA

This has happened to my 2012 Ford Fusion twice. I just got my car back from the Ford dealership repair center and a week later the power steering goes out while I am driving. The rod and pinion was replaced the first time my 2012 Ford Fusion was put in the shop. The service power steering light came on, and the advance track light came on both times.

- Grove City, PA, USA

2012 Ford Fusion. Consumer writes in regards to power steering failure, with low mileage. The electronic steering gear was replaced

- Clifton, NJ, USA

When my wife started the car and began to back straight out of the garage she noticed a warning that the power steering had failed and was not working and did find that it was not working. She drove the car back into the garage and parked it. Later, when I started the car the problem had cleared. No fault codes were present in the obd II monitor.

- Fredericksburg, VA, USA

Ford Fusion 2012 electronic power steering failure at low speed. The power steering of the Fusion just completely failed while bringing the car to a stop. There was no accident or impact. The car could still be steered manually with difficulty in making turns. Took car to the dealer and received an estimate of 1800 to repair a major part (complete electronic power steering assembly) on a 2 year old car that should not fail on it's own. I have reported the issue to Ford customer service and it escalated quickly within the company. I'm currently waiting for a regional manager to get back to me regarding the issue in the next business day. There are no recalls but this issue seems to be well documented on the web as a problem with the Fusion between the years 2010 and 2012. This car is in excellent shape and the dealer indicated that this is just a part failure(?) - a very expensive one that should not be defective after only a couple of years. Failure could have been disastrous at higher speeds, highways or when trying to make a turn.

- Cuyahoga Falls, OH, USA

The contact owns a 2012 Ford Fusion. The contact stated that while driving 10 mph, the power steering seized while making a left turn and excessive force was required in order to maneuver the vehicle. The problem recurred several times. The vehicle was taken to a dealer. The technician diagnosed that the computer program needed to be reset. The failure recurred and the vehicle was taken to a dealer. The technician diagnosed a service defect on the power steering. The vehicle had not been repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the issue. The approximate failure mileage was 35,786.

- Austin, TX, USA

The contact owns a 2012 Ford Fusion. The contact stated that while driving at an unknown speed, the steering wheel became difficult to turn. The contact mentioned the instrument panel warning lights illuminated and the vehicle stalled. The vehicle was not taken to a dealer. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 53,000. Updated 12/18/14 the consumer stated when she pressed the accelerated pedal, the vehicle slightly accelerated, and the vehicle would also jerk forward. At times, the vehicle would cut off while driving. Updated 01/07/15

- Durham, NC, USA

While driving the electronic power steering went out making it difficult to steer. A message indicated power steering assist fault. Stopped car and restarted and problem stopped. However it reappeared later on the drive home. I contacted dealer and was immediately scheduled in for warranty repair. The power steering was out even as I dropped it for service. Rack and pinion steering gear assembly was replaced under warranty. Had this not been a warranty repair, the bill would have been nearly $2000. The dealer was very closed lip about the issue and didn't want to go into detail on what/why or how often this happened. It seemed clear to me when I called that they were familiar with the problem. Even now I have no assurances this was replaced with parts of better quality than the original.

- Wooster, OH, USA

While driving approximately 30 mph, I heard several beeps and then I lost power steering. The warning message said "power steering assist fault" and then "service advancetrac". I drove the rest of the way to work (approximately a 10 minute drive) without power steering. When I started the car again several hours later, I had power steering again, but drove the car straight to my local Ford dealership. It was determined that there is a faulty sensor causing the power steering issue. This would be covered by the 3 year/36,000 mile warranty, but I was out of warranty by just 5 days. The repair was quoted as $1700. I was given a customer service number to call, and was informed by a representative that there was nothing they could do to help me. I called back to the dealership, and they gave me a new quote of $1500, saying that was the best they could do. With this being a known problem in 2010-2012 Fusion, Ford should issue a recall and assist all their owners! they need to stand behind their work, and correct the issue.

- Gilbert, AZ, USA

Bought a 2012 Ford Fusion brand new from a dealership. First incident occurred within first 2 yrs of ownership while driving 45 mph down an incline - sudden loss of power. It felt as if it lost power steering and thought engine shut off. Dash alarms rang and briefly saw 'power steering fault' light up. Took all my power to pull car off road and to a safe complete stop.turned off ignition. After a few minutes restarted ignition and drove directly to a dealership without further incident. Dealership stated water pump was defective and sent a signal to the engine to shut down. Pump was replaced second incident occurred months later while at a complete stop at a traffic light. Steering wheel suddenly locked, and felt engine power reduce. Dash warning sounded and saw 'power steering fault, service powertrac' light up. Turned ignition off and back on and was able to drive to dealership without further incident. Was told a chip replacement was issued. Replaced chip and was told that would extend the warranty and resolve issue. Continue to have additional incidents (4 to date ) both while moving and at a stand still where the dash warning sounded and felt a reduction or loss of power, each time having to shut off ignition and restart to clear the fault. Dealership continues to attempt to service with no resolve as yet.

- Hayes, VA, USA

Occurred 3 times where the trouble indicator lamp came on and power steering went out. I was able to shut the car off and restart then it was ok the first time and second time. Third time the steering went out completely with no warning while I was driving. Trouble light did not come on. Lost all power steering. If my wife was driving she would not have been able to man handle the steering wheel to pull off the road. Had the vehicle towed to the dealer and they wanted me to pay $1,300 for a new power steering rack and pinion. I argued the car was just out of warranty and this was a safety issue and refused to pay. The fse called and Ford motor paid a portion of the bill. This was a very unsafe issue and I should not have had to pay for this repair but I needed to get my car back so I settled with them.

- Sterling Heights, MI, USA

I was driving normally and turned a corner and the power steering quit working and I was forced to manually turn the car and find a safe place to stop. I restarted the car and it drove fine for a couple of weeks. I was driving again when the power steering quit again and I coasted into a turn lane and managed to restart the car again. I drove then to my Ford dealer and told the service manager what had happened, he told me that I probably had hit a bump in the road and had caused the computer to malfunction.the next time this happened I was in my driveway backing up so I just restarted the car and it was fine.this was a lease car that I would be turning in Feb. 2014 so when I did I told the man who inspected it about the power steering problem and he said he would note it and I then got a new car and forgot about this until I show a report on the news and I decided to report my problem.

- Livonia, MI, USA

On 10/5/14 my steer wheel was making a noise when I started turning it and figured I get it checked when I went to get oil change next day. The next day I was driving to dealership and half way there the power steering failed and light came on. Luckily I was driving with two hands.

- Davenport, FL, USA

This has happened 6 times. I will be driving and the power steering will fail. An alarm will sound and the display will read "service advancetrak, power steering failure". power steering will completely fail and it is extremely difficult to steer. It happens with no warning. Ford dealership wanted $116 to possibly diagnose the problem. With no guarantee that they could and that price did not include any actual fix. Restarting the car will fix it, but it has happened 5 more times. I ran the on board diagnostic but they said that wouldn't be accurate. So glad I read the article today and know it's not just my car. This is such an unsafe problem to have.

- Waldorf, MD, USA

The contact owns a 2012 Ford Fusion. While attempting to reverse out of the driveway, the eps indicator illuminated. The contact turned off and restarted the vehicle, but the steering failed. The dealer stated that the power steering failed and the entire steering rack needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was notified. The approximate failure mileage was 40,000.

- Union, NJ, USA

Traveling along and accelerator pedal did not respond to pressing and steering was hard to steer. Car was still running. Loss of power steering and no gas pedal. Pulled over and turned car off and restarted. Issue went away but came back 20 miles later. I called dealer shenandoah Ford and was told this is normal and nothing to worry about and keep driving.

- Bentonville, VA, USA