NHTSA Complaint #10473125 — 2011 FORD FUSION

ON 1/3/2012 I WAS DRIVING AT 40 MPH, AND MY SERVICE ADVANCE TRACK LIGHT CAME ON. I TOOK MY CAR TO THE DEALER AND THEY TOLD ME THEY COULDN'T DUPLICATE THE PROBLEM, THEY ALSO TOLD ME THE ONLY CODE THEY COULD RETRIEVE FROM THE COMPUTER ANALYSIS WAS RELATED TO THE CAR BEING STARTED WITH AN UNPROGRAMMED KEY. I QUESTIONED THEIR EXPLANATION, BUT TOOK THE CAR AND CONTINUED DRIVING IT. TODAY 8/30/2012, I WAS DRIVING ON THE HIGHWAY 65-70 MPH, A SERVICE ADVANCE TRACK AND POWER STEERING ASSIST FAULT MESSAGE CAME ON, AND MY POWER STEERING QUIT WORKING!!! I CALLED THE DEALER, TALKED TO THE SERVICE MANAGER, EXPLAINED THE PROBLEM, TOLD HIM IT WAS THE SECOND TIME I HAD HAD THE ISSUE, THAT I CONSIDERED IT A SAFETY ISSUE, AND THAT I WAS NOT GOING TO LEAVE THE DEALERSHIP WITHOUT AN APPROPRIATE RESOLUTION. HE TOLD ME HE WOULD NEED TO KEEP MY CAR AND DRIVE IT FOR SEVERAL DAYS TO SEE IF HE COULD RECREATE THE PROBLEM. HE FURTHER TOLD ME THAT IF MY CAR WAS HOOKED UP TO DIAGNOSTICS AND AGAIN FAILED TO PROVIDE HIS TECHNICIAN WITH A REPAIR CODE THAT HE WOULDN'T BE ABLE TO DO ANYTHING TO REPAIR MY CAR BECAUSE FORD WOULDN'T PAY HIM TO REPAIR IT. ONCE ON THE INTERNET I LITERALLY FOUND HUNDREDS OF THE EXACT SAME COMPLAINT, FOR 2010, 2011, 2012 FORD FUSIONS....ALL LEVELS INCLUDING HYBRIDS. I ALSO FOUND SIMILAR STORIES ABOUT DEALERS CLAIMING TO NEED TO DRIVE THE CARS TO REPLICATE THE PROBLEM, DEALERS CLAIMING NO CODE WAS PROVIDED DURING ANALYSIS, DEALERS ADMITTING THERE IS A PROBLEM, BUT NOT BEING ABLE TO FIX THE CAR BECAUSE APPARENTLY THERE IS A LARGE BACK ORDER FOR THE PART. BOTTOM LINE, THE DEALERS KNOW IT HAPPENS, AND WHAT IS CAUSING IT, WORSE FORD KNOWS THEY HAVE A PROBLEM AND WHAT IS CAUSING IT. MY YOUNG DAUGHTER IS IN MY CAR AT LEAST 80% OF THE TIME. COME ON FORD, FORD DEALERS, AND NHTSA THIS IS A NO BRAINER. GET A RECALL GOING NOW. HELLO STEERING!!! *TR