NHTSA Complaint #11270912 — 2012 FORD FOCUS

THE POWER STEERING RECENTLY STARTED FAILING ON OUR 2012 FORD FOCUS INTERMITTENTLY. WHEN THIS OCCURS THE CAR IS NEARLY IMPOSSIBLE TO MOVE THE STEERING WHEEL. ONLINE OTHER OWNERS REPORT FAILURES OCCURRING AT HIGHWAY SPEEDS WITHOUT ADVANCE NOTICE. THIS ISSUE WAS ALSO REPORTED IN THE NEW YORK TIMES IN 2015 (HTTPS://WWW.NYTIMES.COM/2015/12/25/AUTOMOBILES/FORD-FOCUS-STEERING-PROBLEM-PROMPTS-MANY-COMPLAINTS-BUT-NO-INQUIRY.HTML) OUR ISSUE HAS ONLY PRESENTED ITSELF TO DATE WHEN STARTING THE ENGINE, WITH THE ABILITY TO RESET AFTER TURNING OFF THE CAR AND THEN BACK ON A FEW MOMENTS LATER. THE REPAIRS INCLUDE REMOVING THE STEERING MODULE ELEMENT AT A COST OF ROUGHLY $3,000, MORE THAN HALF OF THE RESALE VALUE OF THE CAR. FORD DOES NOT HAVE A RECALL ON THIS DEVICE AS OF MY INTERACTIONS THIS WEEK.