NHTSA Complaint #10513968 — 2011 FORD EXPLORER

WHILE DRIVING MY 2011 FORD EXPLORER THE POWER STEERING SUDDENLY WENT OUT. THE VEHICLE GAVE ME A WARNING, BUT ONLY AFTER THE STEERING FAILED. THE VEHICLE BECAME ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE TO STEER. MY ONLY OPTION WAS TO TRY AND GET OUT OF THE FLOW OF TRAFFIC IN ORDER TO STOP THE CAR. TURNING THE CAR OFF, THEN BACK ON APPEARS TO RESET THE ISSUE. THE FIRST TIME IT HAPPENED I WAS PULLING OUT ONTO A ROAD. BECAUSE THE CHANGE WAS SO UNEXPECTED THE CAR COULDN'T BE TURNED IN TIME TO MERGE INTO TRAFFIC. I HAD TO TURN OFF MY CAR, THEN TURN IT BACK ON WHILE BLOCKING TWO LANES OF FRONTAGE ROAD BECAUSE IT BECAME NEXT TO IMPOSSIBLE TO CONTROL THE CAR WITHOUT POWER STEERING. TWO INCIDENTS. THE FIRST OCCURRED AS I WAS PULLING OUT OF A DRIVEWAY ONTO A FRONTAGE ROAD (05/03/13). THE SECOND WAS DRIVING DOWN A RESIDENTIAL NEIGHBORHOOD GOING ABOUT ~25MPH (05/27/13). I CAN'T IMAGINE WHAT WOULD HAPPEN IF I WERE GOING 50, 60, 65 ON AN INTERSTATE WHEN THIS HAPPENED. I CAN'T REASONABLY EXPECT MY FAMILY TO TRAVEL IN A CAR THIS UNPREDICTABLE AND UNSAFE. I'M NOT SURE WHAT THE BEST REMEDY MIGHT BE, BUT OTHERS NEED TO BE WARNED BEFORE PURCHASING THIS CAR. *TR