NHTSA Complaint #10566964 — 2008 FORD ESCAPE

I TURNED MY CAR ON AND STARTED DRIVING STRAIGHT FORWARD. SHORTLY AFTER I REALIZED I HAD NO POWER STEERING. THE ONLY WAY I COULD TURN WAS TO MUSCLE THE WHEEL. BACKED UP AND PARKED THE CAR FOR THE NIGHT. NEXT MORNING STARTED IT AND HAD NO ISSUES. THE WEEK BEFORE I HAD NOTICED SOME KNOCKING AND TICKING IN THE WHEEL. SO FIGURED I'D GET IT CHECKED OUT AFTER LOOSING IT COMPLETELY. STOPPED TO GET GAS AND AS I WAS PULLING OUT ONTO THE BUSY HIGHWAY LOST IT AGAIN HAD TO MUSCLE THE WHEEL TO AVOID BEING T-BONED. IMMEDIATELY TOOK IT TO THE DEALERSHIP. THEY KNEW THE PROBLEM IMMEDIATELY AND GAVE ME HIGH ESTIMATES WHICH WAS A RED FLAG FOR ME THAT IT MIGHT BE A COMMON ISSUE IF THE RECEPTIONIST CAN DIAGNOSE IT. DID SOME RESEARCH TO CHECK OTHER OPTIONS LIKE FLUID OR BELTS. SAW 1000'S OF SIMILAR COMPLAINTS ONLINE AND 100'S HERE. SOMETHING NEEDS TO BE DONE TO MAKE FORD RECALL THIS BEFORE SOMEONE DIES.EVEN IF SOMEONE DIES IT PROBABLY WON'T GET FIXED BECAUSE THEY AREN'T AROUND TO TELL THAT THEY LOST STEERING. PLUS THE PROBLEM FIXES ITSELF AFTER BEING TURNED OFF SO IT MAY NOT SHOW IN INVESTIGATIONS OF A FATALITY. ALSO THE ISSUE SEEMS TO HAPPEN AFTER THE CAR REACHES 100,000 MILES. SO COMPLAINTS AND INCIDENTS WILL ONLY GO UP AS MORE CARS HIT THAT 100K MILE MARK. NOW IT THE TIME TO ATTACK THE PROBLEM. *TR