NHTSA Complaint #11309514 — 2013 FORD ESCAPE

ON WEDNESDAY 2/12/2020, WHILE DRIVING HOME, I DETECTED SUBTLE SIGNS OF STEERING CONTROL IRREGULARITIES AND ATTRIBUTED IT TO ICY ROAD CONDITIONS. THE FOLLOWING MORNING, 2/13/2020, ON MY DRIVE INTO WORK, THE STEERING CONDITION BEGAN TO APPEAR AGAIN AND INTENSIFIED. I WAS FORTUNATE TO HAVE MADE IT TO MY PLACE OF EMPLOYMENT AND PROMPTLY SCHEDULED A SERVICE APPOINTMENT THE FOLLOWING DAY, FRIDAY 2/14/2020. WHEN I LEFT WORK THAT DAY, I DISCOVERED A COMPLETE LOSS OF STEERING ASSIST TO THE DEGREE THAT IT WOULD BE IMPOSSIBLE TO SAFELY CONTROL THE CAR. THE EFFORT TO STEER TO ANY NORMAL SAFE DEGREE WAS COMPROMISED AND REQUIRED THAT I ABANDON ANY ATTEMPT TO DRIVE THE VEHICLE. IF THE SEVERE INTENSITY MANIFESTED ITSELF WHILE DRIVING, THE MOST PROBABLE OUTCOME WOULD HAVE BEEN A COLLISON. I HAD THE VEHICLE TOWED TO MY LOCAL DEALERSHIP SATURDAY, 2/15/2020, REQUESTED THEY DIAGNOSE THE PROBLEM, AND EXPRESSED MY ANGER AT A DESIGN FLAW THAT IS LIKELY TO RESULT IN SOMEONE'S DEATH. THEY CALLED ME BACK LATER THAT DAY AND GAVE ME AN ESTIMATE OF NEAR $2,500 TO REPLACE THE COMPLETE STEERING RACK. I DISCOVERED THROUGH INTERNET SEARCHES, ACTIVE RECALLS OF PRIOR ESCAPE BODY TYPES FOR A SIMILAR FAILURE BUT NONE ON MY YEAR. I ALSO DISCOVERED NUMEROUS CASES IN MY INTERNET SEARCH OF THE SAME FAILURE ON MY YEAR ESCAPE. MY WORK COMMUTE WAS PRIMARY CITY DRIVING.