NHTSA Complaint #11564116 — 2011 FORD EXPLORER

I am the owner of a 2011 Ford Explorer Limited that recently developed a power steering issue. We have only owned the vehicle 6 months and there's under 95,000 miles on it. The (2) recall notices that went out in 2014 were unknown to us at the time, because we just bought the SUV in 2023. Since it a safety issue, there should not be a 10-year recall expiration date associated with either recall, as we are being told by Ford customer service. And since we didn't own the vehicle before the recall notices went out in 2024, why will Ford not stand behind the recall and honor the time period to include our vehicle? Ford Motor Company is stating that our VIN is not covered, even though it the vehicle falls within the production recall period. Additionally, Ford issued a customer satisfaction program warranty, but Ford regards this as a survey and will not take corrective measures to assist in getting our vehicle repaired under any forego mentioned recall notices. Therefore, I feel Ford should honor any recall regarding the poor design or faulty engineering of their electronic steering components regardless of the expiration date since it is a safety concern. Ford is reluctant to financially assist me even though the SUV has less than 95,000 miles on it and the recall press release dates were not issued until 2014. Instead, Ford is going by the vehicle production date and not the recall issue dates. Therefore, my SUV recall dates have since expired, and Ford will no longer honor any of its warranties on this vehicle, even though lack of power steering is a clear safety issue, which to my knowledge, do not have expiration dates. Ford customer service has acknowledged the power steering fault assist issues under the following recall campaigns: NHTSA - 14e001000 & 14v286000 and CSP 15N01. I also have a case number with the Ford Motor Company (Case #47111783) associated with this issue.