NHTSA Complaint #11475233 — 2014 FORD FOCUS

When pulling into a parking space a few weeks ago all of the sudden my steering became extremely difficult, and an error code came up on the dash. I turned the car off, waited a few minutes, then turned it back on and everything was normal again. Then a week later while pulling out of my driveway it happened again. I pulled back in and shut the car off again, waited a few moments, turned it back on and it was normal again. The following Monday I took it to Crouse Ford in Taneytown, MD to have it evaluated. The service dept determined that the power steering electric rack and pinion assembly needs to be replaced. My car is a 2014 and has just under 67,000. This is not normal wear and tear, and this is definitely a safety hazard as it is extremely difficult to control the car, and there is no warning when it happens. I am very lucky the problem happened to occur while driving very slowly in a relatively safe place with no pedestrians or other vehicles in vicinity. The fact that it is a common problem in this make and model (well documented online) and has not yet been validated as a safety recall is unacceptable. This is a dangerous situation that could cause injury or death.