NHTSA Complaint #10496908 — 2009 FORD ESCAPE

POWER STEERING FAILED WHILE DRIVING, RESTARTING CAR TEMPORARILY FIXES PROBLEM. HAS HAPPENED MULTIPLE TIMES IN THE PAST WEEK. DOESN'T MATTER IF CAR IS COLD OR WARM, AND DOESN'T MATTER IF IT IS SHUT OFF FOR A FEW SECONDS OR LONGER FOR THE PROBLEM TO CORRECT ITSELF. EFFECT IS AS IF THERE'S NO POWER STEERING, DIFFICULT TO MANEUVER. (I UNDERSTAND THAT IT'S NOT ACTUALLY POWER STEERING, THERE'S NO FLUID, BUT I DON'T KNOW WHAT ELSE TO CALL IT.) STEERING WHEEL HAS STARTED TO RATTLE AND VIBRATE WHILE IDLING. DEALERSHIP SAID COMPUTER SENSOR WAS OUT OF CALIBRATION, RE-CALIBRATED, BUT IT DID NOT FIX THE PROBLEM. THEY SAY NEEDS WHOLE NEW STEERING COLUMN, A $1500 FIX. GOT A SECOND OPINION FROM OTHER REPAIR SHOP, SAME CONCLUSION. I KEEP UP ON ALL MAINTENANCE AND HAVE NEVER HAD A REPAIR ON THIS VEHICLE BEFORE. I'M SURPRISED THERE'S NOT A RECALL ON THIS PROBLEM AS I'VE READ NUMEROUS REPORT OF THE SAME PROBLEM ONLINE. *TR