NHTSA Complaint #10949640 — 2016 SUBARU IMPREZA

I TURNED MY CAR ON ONE AFTERNOON AND FOUND THE POWER STEERING WARNING LIGHT STAYED LIT ON THE DASHBOARD WHILE CAR WAS STATIONARY. WHEN I TRIED TO DRIVE, I DISCOVERED THE POWER STEERING WAS COMPLETELY GONE (I.E., VERY HARD TO TURN STEERING WHEEL). HAD CAR TOWED TO DEALER, SINCE ONLY 1 YEAR OLD. DEALER INITIALLY DIAGNOSED THE PROBLEM AS A BAD POWER STEERING CONTROL MODULE. THREE DAYS LATER, AFTER THE PART ARRIVED, THEY INSTALLED IT AND FOUND MORE ERROR CODES INDICATING A POWER SUPPLY ERROR. MORE NEW PARTS WERE ORDERED THAT TOOK ANOTHER THREE DAYS TO ARRIVE. UPON REMOVAL OF POWER STEERING RACK, TECHNICIAN FOUND RODENT DAMAGE ON WIRING TO MODULE ON RACK AND PINION UNIT. MY ONLINE RESEARCH SUGGESTS RODENTS ARE ATTRACTED TO SOY WIRE INSULATION THAT IS USED IN NEWER SUBARU VEHICLES LIKE MINE. I AM CONCERNED OTHER ELECTRICAL SYSTEMS CAN SHORT OUT IN THE CAR AT ANY TIME, SINCE I CANNOT AVOID SQUIRRELS AS MY CAR IS PARKED IN AN OPEN PARKING LOT AT HOME. MY PRIOR CAR (A 1999 SATURN SL2) WAS DRIVEN AT THE SAME INTERVALS AND PARKED AT THE SAME LOCATION FOR 5.5 YEARS WITHOUT A SIMILAR PROBLEM.