NHTSA Complaint #11425627 — 2012 FORD EXPLORER

During the pandemic I have been mandated to drive everyday to work almost everyday to keep the community safe as I am a nurse. I received two recall letters over this time. I did not have an opportunity to take the car the the garage as some were closed and or short staffed unable to see my car anytime soon. The other day as I was driving to work the power steering light came on the dash and suddenly the power steering locked up almost causing a serious collision. With all of my strength I was unable to move the steering wheel to stay on the road. The explorer was towed to Ford. I was told that I am 4,255 miles over the recall requirements and I must pay thousands of dollars to fix this. There are no exceptions for the few miles that I am over. When filing a complaint with ford about this situation, I was told that the recall for power steering was already done on this vehicle before me owning it. ( the ford dealership was unaware of this) There is no warranty on the recall replacement? This is a very dangerous situation that obviously keeps happening in fords. This is not fair that this is not covered. I complained previously about the steering issues I had at the time when it rains and the way the car handled, along with a few other complaints. I was told if the car did not show power steering issues, so they could not fix something they did not see having issues. At that time the gear shifter was replaced. I was not a fan of the service I received at FORD because I thought they were ignoring many of my issues. I don't know if I would be without a car right now if FORD would of handled this differently.