NHTSA Complaint #10632263 — 2011 FORD FUSION

SUDDEN LOSS OF POWER STEERING. MESSAGES SHOW POWER STEERING ASSIST FAULT AND SERVICE ADVANCETRAC. ADVANTRAC LED IS LIT ON CONSOLE. THIS IS AN INTERMITTENT PROBLEM THAT STARTED ON 10/23/2013 AT 69,000 MILES UNTIL IT FINALLY FAILED COMPLETELY ON 7/14/2014 AT 86,700 MILES. BETWEEN OCTOBER, 2013 AND JULY, 2014, IT COULD FAIL AT ANY MOMENT AT ANY SPEED. THERE WERE APPROXIMATELY 30 INSTANCES OF POWER STEERING LOSS DURING THIS TIME. I FOUND OUT THAT THE PROBLEM WOULD GO AWAY WHEN I STOPPED THE CAR, TURNED IT OFF, AND RESTARTED. IT WOULD CLEAR THE MESSAGES AND THE POWER STEERING WOULD WORK FINE UNTIL THE NEXT INCIDENT. MY FORD DEALER STATED THAT THEY COULDN'T FIX IT UNTIL THEY GOT THE FAULT CODE. I WOULD HAVE TO BRING IN WHEN IT WAS IN THE FAILED STATE. NEEDLESS TO SAY, IT DIDN'T CONVENIENTLY FAIL WHEN I WAS NEAR MY FORD DEALER DURING BUSINESS HOURS. THIS IS A SERIOUS SAFETY ISSUE THAT MANY OTHER FORD FUSION DRIVERS HAVE EXPERIENCED. IT WAS VERY STRESSFUL DRIVING THE CAR WITHOUT POWER STEERING. THE CODE FAULT IS C200D. THE STEERING RACK (AE5Z*3504*CE) NEEDED TO BE REPLACED TO FIX THE PROBLEM. I HAD TO PAY FOR THE REPAIR. MY FORD DEALER PROVIDED SOME REIMBURSEMENT, BUT I THINK THIS SHOULD HAVE BEEN A RECALL TO COVER ALL COSTS BECAUSE IT WAS A KNOWN A SAFETY ISSUE. THERE IS A RECALL FOR SUDDEN LOSS OF POWER STEERING ON EXPLORER AND ESCAPE, BUT NOT FUSION. WHY NOT? IT'S OKAY FOR FUSION OWNERS TO DRIVE WITH AN INCREASE RISK OF CRASHING, BUT NOT EXPLORER OR ESCAPE OWNERS? THE CAR IS AWFUL TO DRIVE WITHOUT POWER STEERING ESPECIALLY AT LOW SPEEDS. *TR