NHTSA Complaint #11014260 — 2015 FORD EXPLORER

WHILE DRIVING AT 65 MILES AN HOUR ON A BUSY HIGHWAY THE STEERING WHEEL ON MY 2015 FORD EXPLORER EXPERIENCED A COMPLETE FAILURE. THE POWER STEERING ASSIST WARNING ILLUMINATED AND MY VEHICLE WAS UNABLE TO SAFELY MOVE FROM ONE LANE TO THE NEXT. I WAS APPROACHING A CURVE IN THE ROAD AND I APPLIED MY BRAKES AND TURNED ON MY HAZARDS TO AVOID WRECKING INTO THE HIGHWAY BARRIER. I WAS NEARLY STRUCK BY A LARGE SEMI-TRACTOR TRAILER AND A FEW OTHER VEHICLES AS I ATTEMPTED TO GET TO SAFETY. I THOUGHT FOR SURE I WAS GOING TO BE STRUCK BY PASSING VEHICLES. ONCE I WAS ABLE TO GET TO SAFETY, THE MESSAGES READ "POWER STEERING ASSIST FAULT" AND THEN I SAW ANOTHER MESSAGE THAT READ A TERRAIN MANAGEMENT FUNCTION FAULT AS WELL. I IMMEDIATELY CALLED MY WIFE TO TELL HER I WAS STUCK ON THE SIDE OF RT 280 IN WEST ORANGE, NJ. JUST IN CASE SOMETHING HAPPENED TO ME. I THE CALLED AAA TO REQUEST A TOW. I TURNED OFF THE ENGINE AND THE TERRAIN MANAGEMENT FAULT WAS STILL ILLUMINATED. I ATTEMPTED TO MOVE MY VEHICLE TO A SAFER PLACE AND KEPT HEARING A WHINING NOISE AND THE STEERING WOULD GO IN AND OUT OF FAULTS. ONCE I WAS IN A SAFE PLACE I ADVISED AAA OF MY LOCATION AND AWAITED THEIR SERVICE. I WAS SURPRISED TO HEAR THAT THIS IS NOT AN UNKNOWN ISSUE TO FORD BY THE TOW TRUCK DRIVER. WE HAD THE EXPLORER TOWED TO BEYER FORD IN MORRISTOWN, NJ. I RECEIVED A CALL TODAY FROM THE FORD DEALER THAT THE POWER STEERING RACK HAS TO BE REPLACED. I LOOKED THIS ISSUE UP ON-LINE AND FOUND MANY COMPLAINTS REGARDING THE SAME ISSUE AND NOT JUST ON EXPLORERS, BUT OTHER FORD VEHICLES AND DIFFERENT YEARS. I AM EXTREMELY CONCERNED ABOUT THIS PROBLEM BECAUSE IT LITERALLY CAME OUT OF NOWHERE WHILE I WAS DRIVING AT 65 MPH. THAT POSSIBILITY THAT I COULD HAVE HAD MY FAMILY INCLUDING MY 6 YEAR OLD DAUGHTER IN THE VEHICLE AND GIVING DIFFERENT CIRCUMSTANCES, IT COULD HAVE BEEN A CATASTROPHIC EVENT. WE ALSO OWN A 2011 FORD EXPLORER.