NHTSA Complaint #11112086 — 2013 FORD FOCUS

AT HIGHWAY SPEED VEHICLE STEERING BECOMES UNPREDICTABLE. AT TIMES THE STEERING WILL HAVE A 'LOOSE' FEELING WHERE INPUTS ARE MADE WITH NO RESPONSE CAUSING MORE INPUT TO BE MADE THEN SUDDENLY VEHICLE WILL TURN CAUSING AN OVER CORRECTION AND INPUT NEEDING TO BE MADE TO CORRECT THE VEHICLES PATH WHICH BASICALLY MAKES DRIVER SEESAW AT STEERING WHEEL TO KEEP VEHICLE IN A STRAIGHT LINE. OTHER TIMES STEERING BECOMES HARD TO MOVE OUT OF CENTERED POSITION CAUSING EXCESSIVE EFFORT TO MOVE STEERING WHEEL. ONCE MOVED OUT OF CENTER THE ABOVE MENTIONED FIGHT TO KEEP VEHICLES PATH STRAIGHT BEGINS. WHEN TRAILING BEHIND ANOTHER VEHICLE, ESPECIALLY SEMI TRAILERS THE VEHICLE BECOMES EXTREMELY UNSTABLE CAUSING CONSTANT LEFT AND RIGHT STEERING INPUTS TO KEEP VEHICLE FROM VEERING OFF HIGHWAY. SMALL BUMPS OR ROAD RUTS WILL OCCASIONALLY CAUSE STEERING WHEEL TO SNATCH LEFT OR RIGHT. VEHICLE ALIGNMENT HAS BEEN CHECKED TWICE, TIRES WERE REPLACED, ROTATED AND INFLATION CHECKED. FORD DEALERSHIP AND INDEPENDENT TIRE SHOP HAVE VERIFIED THAT THERE ARE NO WORN PARTS. FORD DEALER STATES ELECTRIC STEERING GEAR REQUIRES REPLACEMENT. I HAVE OWNED VEHICLE SINCE IT WAS NEW (5 YEARS) AND THIS CONDITION HAS JUST STARTED WITHIN THE LAST SEVERAL MONTHS.