NHTSA Complaint #11444486 — 2011 FORD FUSION

My husband is the primary driver for our 2011 Ford Fusion Hybrid. We are second-hand owners of the vehicle and have had it since 2020. Earlier this month (Dec 2021) the power steering failed and it became difficult to control the car. My husband transports our youngest daughter to daycare daily and we live in Nebraska which means we deal with icy road conditions seasonally. This failure puts my husband and our daughter at risk on the roads. Per the vehicle history, there was a safety recall regarding power steering that was repaired at a dealership July 2011. This repair included reprogramming the power steering control module. Because the power steering assembly was not fully replaced at that time, this enacted an extended warranty that was good for 10 years OR 150,000 miles starting from the original warranty date - whichever came first. When we came into ownership of this vehicle, it was over 150,000 miles already. We did have a mulit-point inspection done prior to purchase in June 2020 and the steering assembly was not noted as being an issue or an upcoming issue. Now, with this recent failure, our local Ford dealership told us the internal gears were chipped, cracked and broken (rack & pinion), so the entire steering assembly had to be replaced. Since we are beyond the extended warranty on the original power steering recall AND since the power steering control module was reprogrammed initially, Ford says that they are not able to cover any costs for this failure. We feel that Ford should have gone further in their initial recall, asking that the steering assembly be replaced rather than just reprogrammed.