While driving locally and on a straight road at 50 miles/hr, I suddenly lost power steering ability. I was also notified via the dashboard communication system "steering loss - stop safely". I was able to muscle the car off the road and eventually back home. I called the ford dealer to be told this happens and would be an expensive repair. I also researched and see that this is a prevalent problem with ford and chevy vehicles. As far as I'm concerned, the loss of steering capability - suddenly, without warning is a serious safety issue and needs to be addressed by the manufacturer. We are talking the inability to control a 2000 pound sledgehammer when this occurs.
2015 Ford Focus steering complaints
Page 3 of 4: complaints 41 to 70 of 93, newest first, as owners wrote them.
Tl* the contact owns a 2015 ford focus. The contact stated that while driving approximately 40 MPH, the vehicle lost power steering assist. The contact stated that an unknown warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was towed to the contact's residence. A dealer was not contacted. The manufacturer was not made aware of failure. The vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 70,000.
Vehicle was in motion when steering became nearly impossible. A warning 'steering loss. Stop safely' displayed on the dash. It feels as though there is no power steering and it's nearly impossible to turn. Stopped the car, tried to restart but the warning appeared again. Very dangerous and scary while driving.
My wife drove to work, the car functioned fine. When she started the car after work the car computers notified her the steering assist system had failed. She noticed she could barely turn the wheel. She called me and I asked her to attempt to drive home and I would look into it. I discovered that I could do little but take it to the dealership for repairs.
My vehicle accelerated when I was slamming full pressure on the brake and caused me to hit a store, thank the lord I had full coverage and it only did cosmetic damage to the vehicle, I've also had times where it will say the traction control is out or it has no uphill start, my model doesn't have that. I would like a refund on my vehicle but it has issues already.
I took a 3 hour trip up to my mother's house that weekend and then drove back another 3 hours and parked it for the night. I had no problems until I started my car up the next morning. A notice came on the dashboard saying "steering assist fault service required." the steering was extremely stiff and may as well have been locked. No check engine light or anything. So that would mean this happened overnight while the car was stationary and off. I took it to the dealer after unsuccessfully trying to find a basic fix and they said I needed to replace the whole rack and pinion assembly. I figure it happening overnight had something to do with the whole system being evenly soaked with heat from the long drive and cooling very slowly overnight causing cracks in the electrical components. It was a $3000 repair job for a car that had less than 37,000 miles on it albeit a 2015 model year. Due to the warranty being out, I had to pay for this repair out of pocket. Other people I've seen experience this had it fixed under warranty so they had no issues. Unfortunately for me this was a used car and had no warranty left on it.
After driving the vehicle to work and waiting to pull into a parking spot, I noticed that there was a grind noise when the steering wheel was turning. Next I noticed that the steering wheel was becoming more difficult to turn. Shortly from noticing steering wheel difficult more difficult to turn, the steering would not move at all. Had the vehicle services at the dealership and was informed that power steering gear internally failed and needed to be replaced.
"steering assist fault, service required" came up on the information panel and made it very hard to steer as I was going down the road! Luckily it happened on a 35 MPH section of the road and there was no turning involved, it was like the power steering went completely.
At 56,000 miles, the vehicle's power steering failed. This resulted in heavy and inaccurate steering inputs which could result in an accident. Ford is quoting a repair bill in excess of $2,400. I do believe that the problem is related to the recall in 2018 affecting 1/2 million fords and the recall from 2014 affecting over 1 million fords for similar steering related issues and premature failure. I have never had steering fail and have owned many vehicles over 200k miles including my 1989 f250. The technician said upon inspection that the steering gear was full of water and dirt causing corrosion. I'm a normal commuter on everyday roads. He specifically said it's not anything that I could have done that caused the problem. He said the boots were completely in tact and he couldn't comment on how the contaminants entered the steering gear. This leads me to believe it is faulty design. If it were anything other than steering or brakes, I probably would not be voicing my concerns in this forum because this represents a huge safety concern. Ford must cast a wider net with regard to existing recalls and the 2015 focus should also be included. As of this writing there are 47 other reports to the federal safety agency for this car and problem.
At around 70,000 miles I could hear a scratching/rubbing sound when I turned, around 70,500 I could hear it outside of the vehicle. 71,000 miles the steering rack and pinion failed while driving. I was in a corner and could have died.
While driving on the highway at 50 MPH through a curve the power steering stopped working and almost caused me to hit the center divider. This is my daughter's car and if she was driving the car she would have wrecked. I'm a pretty strong guy and it took all of my strength to turn the wheel. A power steering assist warning came up on the dash. I'm taking the car in to have it looked at, but there should be a recall on this due to this being a huge safety risk.
Takata recall my car has had multiple sudden loss of power steering and a message on the cluster claiming a eclectically steering assist malfunction while I am driving at any speeds. It is extremely dangerous and now the power steering is completely out. My cars suspension is 100 factory oem parts. With no modifications.
Tl* the contact owns a 2015 ford focus. While the contact's daughter was driving at an unknown speed, the steering wheel became difficult to turn. The contact was unaware if any warning indicators were illuminated. The vehicle was unable to be driven. The contact called an unknown dealer and was informed that there were no recalls associated with the failure. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified. The failure mileage was unknown.
Power steering assist motor grinding. Steering is not as responsive but it works
Tl* the contact owns a 2015 ford focus. While driving approximately 40 MPH, the steering warning indicator illuminated. The contact arrived at his destination and turned off the vehicle. When the vehicle was restarted, the "steering fault, service immediately" warning indicator illuminated and the steering wheel seized in position. The vehicle was towed to franklin ford (located at 175 east central street, franklin, ma 02038) where it was diagnosed that the electronic steering gear needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 23,276.
Several times when starting the vehicle, I was unable to turn the streering wheel. It would flash a message saying steering assist failure. The power steering rack and pinion has to be replaced on a car that is 4 years old. It's costing me 2,000.
Tl* the contact owns a 2015 ford focus. The contact stated that while driving, the steering failed. No warning light illuminated. The independent mechanic diagnosed the vehicle and did find a failure. The dealer was not made aware. The vehicle had not been repaired. The manufacturer was made aware but refused to assist further. The failure mileage was 34,000. The consumer stated computer controls steering and forced it to shut down *bf
Steering tightened up while my daughter was driving the vehicle. She barely managed to pull into the nearest parking lot. Then this message appeared on the dash: steering loss. Stop safely. Could not steer the vehicle. Had to get it towed to the ford dealer. They noted: found steering gear binding internally. Replaced steering gear. The cost of the repair was $2,109. The car is only 4 years with 43k miles and should not require such a major repair. I believe this was a manufacturers defect in the part itself. We will not be buying any more fords in the future. I am concerned about the safety of this vehicle and future issues we are going to have with it.
Purchased 2015 ford focus in aug 2018 used, been driving fine for 8 months; car has less that 30,000 miles. On 4/10/19, I started the vehicle and the dash indicated a steering fault assist warning while stationary in a level parking ramp. No power steering all of a sudden. Called courtesy ford in davenport iowa on 4/11/19. Service department there stated they think ford should recall as he (garrett) had three focus' with same issue-one was in the shop at that moment to have the entire steering rack replaced at approximate cost of $2,500. That is one quarter of what I paid for the car. 4/11/19 & 4/12/19, called courtesy in moline illinois where I purchased the car, and no response/call back. Took car to autozone in rock island on 4/11/19 and the tech there said he has seen several of these faults and thinks a recall is coming. Did research online and noticed recall 15s18 for same issue on fords from 2011-2014 due to faulty power control module system. 4/12/19 filed complaint cas17644387 with ford directly. Internet search indicated the steering assist fault has occurred while the car was in motion-luckily, I was parked.I have a car that is unsafe to drive and think, based on the points noted, this should be investigated.
While trying to make a slight left turn from curb side parking to get on the road, the steering wheel seized without warning and since I was not able to make it turn to the right I was hit in the front by a car coming from behind. The vehicle was turned off and resetarted. In addition when the cops arrived to the scene of collision they requested to see if the car can be moved and when I shifted into drive, the instrument panel displayed reversed and the vehicle moved backwards instead of forward. The vehicle had to be towed to cooks auto rebuild lake city seattle. The officer who reported to the scene of collision issued me a moving violation ticket via mail with reason of wrong turn from park not knowing the real steering wheel mechanical failure. I paid the ticket to avoid late fees and fines.
Rack and pinion area makes a loud rubbing noise. Every turn to the left or right hard to turn when driving at low speeds 0-20 MPH
Steering wheel is loud and hard to steer. Mechanics who have looked at it said the steering rack and pinion had to be replaced and that there was no reason a car this new should have an issue with the steering rack.
My 18 yr old son was driving to college when the steering stiffened up and made him swerve, almost going into oncoming traffic, as he lost complete power steering. Had the vehicle towed and was told the power steering is all electronically controlled and this a known issue by ford. My wife called and was told by a ford rep that they are not familiar with any reported incidents. We paid for a replacement part and the error was fixed. Just yesterday 3/16/19 this happened again with my 2year old granddaughter in the backseat. I'm familiar how to drive a vehicle with no power steering but this is far worse. The dashboard showed the alert 'steering loss stop safely'. The steering was completely locked up and I was unable to turn for a few seconds. I was on the highway and starting drifting into the right lane with no steering control. There was medium traffic so I was concerned I'd hit a car. I was finally able to pull the steering wheel hard enough to steer back in my lane, however all steering was hard and made me swerve. It is impossible to keep the car straight. This is a dangerous issue. Upon doing some research online, I've uncovered many others who've experienced this issue and some have gotten into wrecks and one died. Why is this not a recall? I could have lost my son and now me and my granddaughter could have been injured or worse. Something has to be done.
Steering developed a knocking noise when going over even small bumps at any speed. Coincided with increased play in the steering wheel. Vehicle has approximately 60000 miles. Was advised that power steering rack had an interior component in danger of breaking, estimated repair cost $1800.
My vehicle has lost the use of power steering while in motion. The vehicle becomes very hard to steer manually and must be pulled over and restarted to attempt to bring the power steering back online. It has happened a couple of times on city streets and highways. Restarting the car does not always bring the power steering back online. It is extremely dangerous to lose power steering while driving down the road. The dash warning 'power steering assist fault' appears during the event that the power steering malfunctions.
Tl* the contact owns a 2015 ford focus. The contact stated that the steering wheel seized and could not be turned. The vehicle was towed to bo beuckman quality ford (15675 manchester rd, ellisville, mo 63011, (636) 227-5700) where it was diagnosed that the electrical box was malfunctioning, which affected the power steering. The manufacturer stated that there were no recalls to cover the repair costs. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 42,800. *bf
Loss of power steering warning; sudden and total loss power steering while driving on city street. It took lots of strength to move the vehicle safely to the side of the road. This would be an impossible task for an elderly person. At highway speeds this would have definitely cause and accident. Dealer said I need to replace the entire steering rack & pinion (with alignment) at a cost $2,027. Milage on car is 68,317k
Steering wheel makes a loud sound when making turns. When turning left, steering wheel locks in place and needs to be corrected by turning right. Very dangerous when making sharp left turns or even just left curves.
The ford focus recall for the fuel tank deformation is not accurate. The recall letter we received said to maintain at least 1/2 tank of fuel, but my car has shut down multiple times while driving on the highway and at turnarounds despite having a full tank. The solution to this was previously announced for december 2018 and has been postponed until the first quarter of 2019. Ford needs to be further pressured to find a solution now as this poses a major crash risk. In addition to this, I've begun noticing issues with the steering wheel making a noise. Upon taking it to a mechanic, I was told that the steering rack and pinion had to be replaced and that several other owners of the same model had complained about their steering becoming unusable. Ford should issue a recall for this as well.
On the day of 12/7/18i will go to work. When I got out of my friend's housei drove out a junction and found that my steering was difficult to turn.then I stopped at the roadside and restarted the car.when I continued driving,the system show me steering losssteering stop work.I tried to restart many times, the system still didn't alter, I was sure that my steering wheel had broken. Before that, on the day of 02/20/2018, I tried to drove out my house garage. The steering wheel broke down once, I was also on my way to work. Two times I was unable to go to work.I had to waste time call the towing and called my company a leave of absence. This car seriously affected my work and life. This is a terrible things, if I drive such a car on the high speed,I may be dead. Thank god just let me stop in a safe place.the first repair cost $880, and the second repair cost was $20504.03 (the steering cost was $1758.05).this car has major hidden dangers and also brought losses to my economy.I hope that I can save my lost.
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