Power steering assist has failed with dash indication on 3 separate occasions; the first was in May 2013, the 2nd in July 2014, and the 3rd time in Sept. 2014. The 1st and 3rd occasions were at slow speeds (>10 mph) during a turn; the 2nd occasion occurred at 60 mph on a straight (thankfully) highway. That could become a serious problem in on a curvy freeway at higher speeds. After the 1st occasion, we took it into the local Ford dealer who told us that there was absolutely no problem with our vehicle. All 3 occasions cleared after turning the vehicle off and then back on. Current mileage is 146,000.

- Grantsville, UT, USA

The power steering has "gone out" twice. The most recent time is around 8/1/14 at 69000 mi. The dealer is able to correct the problem, but can't explain the cause or remedy adequately. They've pointed to possible tire pressure issues, but the tire pressure have been close to if not at the recommended level and we get the impression that the problem fixes itself during servicing. This car has had a multitude of "little" problems - e.g. air bag malfunction message w/ no apparent cause, tire pressure fault light on when tire pressure is correct (they replaced a part and it was corrected), now the air conditioning on the passenger side intermittently works and intermittently sends out very hot air instead of cool air while the vents on the driver side are blowing cold air.

- Oakland, CA, USA

On 9/20/2014 at approximately 5:30pm, while driving home at 45 miles per hour the service power steering and service advance trac alerts appear on the screen. The vehicle began to slow down and the steering wheel became difficult to operate. Now the vehicle starts, moves extremely slow, the steering wheel is very rigid and is difficult to handle. I can't operate my vehicle and I have an appointment to have it checked at the local Ford dealership for the 3rd time. Similar incidents took place in March 2013 and May 2013. I paid approximately $ 140 twice to repair the same problem at my local Ford dealership. This is a major hazard and could lead to major accident when driving at high speed. Yet, the repair that was provided was update of the software. And no permanent solution. When am supposed to know when to update the software?

- Callicoon, NY, USA

The contact owns a 2010 Ford Fusion hybrid. The contact stated that the power steering assist failed. The contact also stated that the power steering and advance trac warning light illuminated. As a result, the contact had to use excessive force to maneuver the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to a dealer where the technician diagnosed that the software needed to be updated. The vehicle was repaired but the failure recurred. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 65,109.

- Callicoon, NY, USA

Warnings to "service power steering" and to "service traction control" started blinking alternatively on the dash board while driving. After the car was shut off, all power steering was lost. Had to replace the steering track at about $1500 personal cost because vehicle is out of warranty. Within four weeks of replacement of the steering shaft the same warnings came on the dash again and the car has lost its power steering again after the cut was turned off. While supposedly this replacement shaft is under warranty (because it is only 4 weeks old), the towing and other costs are not. It appears both the original and replacement shafts are defective and dangerous and should be recalled and replaced at the cost of Ford, not the owner. (Ford already has numerous other models recalled for power steering problems.) a request for some form of follow up is pending with Ford, but no ownership of the issue has been made.

- Meredith, NH, USA

Car lost power steering both while parked and when driving. Replacement cost was $2200 including realignment.

- Chicago , IL, USA

Going slow on a side ride and the power steering completely cut out. Almost crashed into a parked car. Took a serious amount of effort to turn the wheel while moving and was quite dangerous trying to get it to the mechanic shop.

- Elkridge, MD, USA

I am out of town, and yesterday I was driving the main strip in branson and out of nowhere a light on my dash appeared saying "service power steering" and "service auto trac" I thought "that's weird" so I drove 1 1/2 miles to the very next gas station, pulled in and turned off car and googled power steering problems with Ford Fusion hybrid, to my dismay, I did not find anything on the Ford site that I could do, so I turned on the car and decided to deal with it in the morning after all it was 10pm and no where would be open. I pulled forward out of the gas station and tried to turn and then car dash prompt said "service power steering immediately" and the steering wheel locked up tight and was unmovable. I was going around 5mph when steering locked up and pulling into traffic. I stopped and called a tow truck and sent it to a Ford dealership in branson where I was at the time. Mechanic said I need a new "steering gear" I was thankful for the warning but it wasn't much on one considering it was less then 2 miles later that it was completely locked up and "service power steering immediately" light came on, thank god for a close gas station and no traffic when I pulled out and it locked up on me. But after researching this is a known problem and some people were going a whole lot faster then I was when this happened to them. This has been my only complaint with this car, but in my opinion it's pretty major. When the car that has no way to add power steering fluid and it fails and you are driving across states with your family of 5 and no warnings till the very last second and then completely locks up on you, it's very dangerous. What if I would have waited till I got to the hotel to check the car, something needs to be done to fix this problem, none of my other cars have ever done anything like this, I had no way of knowing and no way to prevent it from happening.

- Broken Arrow, OK, USA

I came home from grocery shopping and the next day around noon when I went to turn the car on it started beeping and flashing on the dashboard saying service power steering now, needles to say the car is not safe to drive in that condition I tried but its just to hard and unsafe to do so, I went online and notice there is a lot of other drivers with the same vehicle that have the same issue even while driving thank god I wasn't please look in to these cars history thanks!

- Concord, CA, USA

Power steering loss. "service advancetrac" and "service power steering" messages popped up. The light on the dash also lit up for advancetrac. Extremely difficult to turn steering wheel.

- Troy, MI, USA

I received a low tire notification on a tire that does slowly lose air. Next a 'service power steering' then ' service advanced trac' message occurred. Within minutes the power steering went out and the car was almost impossible to drive. Once the tire was re-inflated the low pressure light went off but the power steering still did not work. Dealership says power steering needs to be replaced at $2,400 which is several hundred dollars higher than cost posted by other people with this issue. I brought up the fact that hundreds of people have complained about this issue after having a low tire or flat with the same model/year. Many said that the dealership could reset the error and the power steering would work fine. I even read complaints of this happening while under warranty, the power steering being replaced 2-3 times and the problem still occurred until they changed the steering wheel angle sensor. I don't mind paying to replace the part if it is truly broken but it is too much of a coincidence that it happened at the same time as a low tire and there are hundreds of people complaining about the same thing. If it is a money grab then shame on the dealership!

- St. Louis, MO, USA

This is the 3rd incident of this same problem, first time reporting it to NHTSA. 2010 Ford Fusion hybrid was traveling at 35mph, normal conditions and abruptly lost all power to the steering system. Steering was almost impossible to influence, hence causing an extremely unsafe condition. Advanctrac also had faults on dash, and would not operate. Rumors indicate this problem is caused by low voltage, tire pressure low, or other issues. This issue could easily lead to injuries and/or death due to this malfunction. Widespread reports of this issue are on the internet, but have not been reported.

- Colchester, VT, USA

Monday, Jan. 27 - power suddenly gave out when accelerating on freeway. Service wrench had been on earlier that day but had gone off. Dixon Ford told us it was ok to drive. I was in left lane and had to cross 5 lanes to get to median. Took it in to walnut creek Ford and they "re-flashed it", saying no concern was present at the time. They gave the dangerous car back to us fri, Jan 31st 130 miles driven in 2nd lane (one from carpool lane) at 65 mph accel lightly suddenly, car's gas gave out, like before the road curved to right. Try to steer car right to follow lane as car decel noticed that steering not responding, even to strongest inputs (almost like locked, like car was off) tried to hit brakes, but pedal sank to floor no response regardless of pressure. Kept pressure but car did not slow began to drift passenger grabbed wheel also and tried to pull right. Gradually started to go right, but with extreme force applied. After force, wheel at most 5 degrees turn emergency brake to slow (not stop) steering corrections could not sufficiently turn car so car slammed into concrete median at 50 mph tightened emergency brake and continued to pull on the wheel slid along median as car screeched car finally stopped on the left side of freeway gear selector locked in drive turned off the engine while the selector was still in park. Responding chp officer K. alleman asked us to drive car to the other side of the freeway could not start car. Turned key 3 times but car refused to respond. Getting very hot in the car, just like mon, prob 95 -100 ambient temp again when ext. Temp. 58 finally able to select neutral and release parking brake. Car did not start pax&I had to pull hard to get wheel to turn at all incident report #[xxx] officer confirmed brakes, steering, and power were all gone. Details in rept. Information redacted pursuant to the Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).

- Walnut Creek, CA, USA