NHTSA Complaint #11441098 — 2018 LAND ROVER RANGE ROVER

In December 2020, this vehicle had been parked for approximately 30 minutes; after starting the vehicle, the "Power Steering Electronic Assist" light came on; there was no power steering available and it was almost impossible to steer the car. The car was towed to the Land Rover dealer; after 2-3 weeks, the repair was completed. They had to replace a wiring harness to the electronic power steering. We were never told why the harness failed. On November 15, 2021, the same issue occurred. The car had been parked for about an hour. Upon starting, the "Power Steering Electronic Assist" light came on again. Again, it was almost impossible to steer the car. Again, it was towed to the Land Rover dealer. Today, November 19, 2021 I was shown the problem with the wiring harness. Apparently, mice had chewed through the plastic wiring harness conduit and then into six wires of the harness itself. Since damage wasn't as bad as it was the previous year, the service department was able to splice wires back together to make the vehicle drivable again. This vehicle is parked outside in a parking lot 24*7, 365 days per year. There is no garage available. While we were lucky that the failure occurred when the vehicle was parked, we shutter to wonder what would have happened if the power steering had failed on the open highway traveling 70 MPH, or even in town at slower speeds. It is almost physically impossible to turn the wheels without power steering. I believe Land Rover should come up with a beefier wiring harness that is less subject to failure because of mice or other rodents who may chew on the wiring. I am submitting this although I am not the vehicle's owner. I am his son-in-law. He decided to sell the vehicle immediately after the second incident due to the unreliability of the vehicle.