NHTSA Complaint #11428987 — 2016 FORD EDGE

I had a Ford dealer diagnose an illuminated dash warning stating “Adaptive Steering Fault” along with a steering wheel that was turned 90 degrees to the right while the vehicle was tracking straight ahead. During this time, the vehicle's steering would also exhibit momentary losses of power assist accompanied by clicking noises coming from the steering wheel. The dealer’s diagnosis returned a faulty steering wheel with complete steering wheel replacement being the remedy. This was quoted as as a $2,500 repair!! Through manufacturer goodwill, I would be on the hook for 50% of that which is still ~$1,250 on a vehicle with only ~36K miles! Further, I quickly discovered that this issue is well-known for my model to the point that Ford has issued service documents to address complaints (Customer Satisfaction Program 19B04 - Supplement #1 and TSB# 16-2066, 03 November 2016). Customer Satisfaction Program 19B04 - Supplement #1 even states “Service Action: Dealers are to replace the adaptive steering wheel assembly. This service must be performed on all affected vehicles at no charge to the vehicle owner.” I negotiated with Ford customer service to have them cover a larger part of this exorbitant repair cost but to no avail. Should a customer not expect a vehicle’s steering wheel assembly to be manufactured in a way as to last the life of the vehicle? The symptoms of this failure, momentary losses of power assist, clicking noises, steering wheel off-centered, should be considered a safety defect for which the manufacturer should be held responsible. With the cost of repairs so high, how many of these vehicles are running on our roads because the owner's don't have or want to spend that much money for repairs??