NHTSA Complaint #11015752 — 2011 FORD ESCAPE

AFTER A 2.5 HOUR OUT OF TOWN TRIP, ONCE I CAME INTO TOWN AND SLOWED DOWN TO THE SPEED LIMIT, THE STEERING WHEEL GOT VERY HARD AND I HAD A HARD TIME CONTROLLING THE VEHICLE AT LOW SPEEDS WHILE DRIVING ON CITY STREETS. BECAUSE THE STEERING WHEEL WAS HARD, MANEUVERING THE VEHICLE FOR TURNS OR CHANGING LANES WAS VERY DIFFICULT AND REQUIRE THE USE OF EXCESSIVE FORCE. AFTER REACHING MY DESTINATION I POWERED THE VEHICLE OFF; WHEN I POWERED IT BACK ON EVERYTHING WAS BACK TO NORMAL. THERE WERE NO SERVICE ENGINE LIGHTS THAT CAME ON TO INDICATE ANY PROBLEM OTHER THAN THE STEERING WHEEL GETTING VERY HARD AT LOW SPEED. I FOUND A RECALL ONLINE FOR 2011 FORD ESCAPES INVOLVING THE ELECTRONIC POWER STEERING BUT WHEN I PROVIDED MY VIN NUMBER TO THE DEALERSHIP THEY STATED THE RECALL DID NOT APPLY TO ME. I FEEL THAT THIS SAFETY RECALL DOES IN FACT APPLY TO MY VEHICLE BUT WAS OVERLOOKED FOR SOME REASON. RECALL NUMBER IS 14S05.