There are 147 stored owner reports matching the steering leading-label group for the 2014 Ford Escape in our NHTSA-sourced dataset. These are unverified consumer reports and may not reflect confirmed defects.
This group counts stored reports whose component label starts with one of this site's matching prefixes, ignoring case. Each matching report counts once within the group. Components mentioned later in the label or only in the narrative are not searched. How component counts work
Loaded 50 of 147 matching reports. This is a limited sample of up to 50 reports, ordered by incident date when available, not the complete group. The list controls page through the loaded reports only.
Open the full vehicle complaint log (all categories)I was driving on the road when the steering started to get stuck, it got hard to move it, I got the warning on the car about a steering fault, stop safely. fortunately I was able to pull over with no risk, I had to call tow, but it could have caused an accident.
Electronic power steering has stopped working, flashes a message on the dash, and vehicle is stuck with Armstrong steering without it's electronic assist.
-Electric power steering system. Yes, it is available for inspection. -My safety is high risk with this issue. -No. -No. -Yes. A message saying "Steering Assist Fault Service Required" few time would pop up and the steering wheel couldn't move. I would turn off the vehicle and turn it back on, the message would go away.
The contact owns a 2014 Ford Escape. The contact stated that while operating the vehicle, there was an electrical buzzing sound coming from the steering column while turning the steering wheel in either direction. The contact stated that later while driving approximately 10 MPH, the message "Power Steering Off" was displayed and the steering wheel became difficult to turn, causing the vehicle to drive into the opposite lane while oncoming traffic was approaching. The vehicle was later examined by an independent mechanic who diagnosed that the steering rack was faulty and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not yet repaired. The local dealer was notified of the failure. The manufacturer was contacted regarding the failure. The failure mileage was 154,000.
The contact owns a 2014 Ford Escape. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the steering wheel became very difficult to turn in either direction. The contact stated that the message "Service Vehicle" was displayed. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer who diagnosed that the steering rack was faulty and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not yet repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure, but no assistance was provided. The failure mileage was 79,000.
The contact owns a 2014 Ford Escape. The contact stated while driving 25 MPH, the vehicle lost power steering functionality inadvertently. The contact was able to drive to the nearby residence. The contact stated that upon restarting the vehicle, a message indicating a power steering assist failure was displayed. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired by an independent mechanic or dealer. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and a case was opened. The failure mileage was approximately 143,000.
The contact's daughter owns a 2014 Ford Escape. The contact stated that the battery was drained. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, who determined that the battery needed to be replaced. The battery was replaced. The contact stated that while her daughter was driving at 35 MPH, the power steering became inoperable. The driver pulled over, turned the steering wheel to the right, and turned on the flasher. The power steering and engine warning lights became illuminated. The vehicle was towed to the local dealer, where it was diagnosed that the steering gear assembly needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was contacted and informed the contact that there was no recall coverage for the vehicle and referred the contact to the NHTSA Hotline. The failure mileage was approximately 87,000.
Complete steering failure vehicle undriveable .
Power steering stopped working instantaneously while exiting the interstate. Narrowly avoided leaving the road thru maximum braking, which nearly resulted in being hit from behind. Vehicle displayed a message saying “Steering Assist Fault Service Required”.
Steering assist fault. Power steering freezes when car starts. Steering wheel is locked so you are stuck wherever you parked your car. Cannot turn wheels. Very finnicky youtube tutorials to get it “fixed” after 30+ minutes of restarting the vehicle. This is the second time this has happened to me in this car.
The contact owns a 2014 Ford Escape. The contact stated while driving 25 MPH, the vehicle lost power steering functionality, and the steering wheel seized. There was no warning light illuminated. The contact veered to the side of the road. The vehicle was towed an independent mechanic, where it was diagnosed that the steering rack and pinion had failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The dealer was notified of the failure and informed the contact that the VIN was not included in a recall. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and referred the contact to the NHTSA Hotline for assistance. The failure mileage was unknown.
The contact owns a 2014 Ford Escape. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the steering wheel became abnormally stiff, and the vehicle became difficult to maneuver. The contact was not aware of any warning lights being illuminated. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic, where it was diagnosed with steering mechanism failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact was relating the failure to an unknown recall. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and advised the contact to call the NHTSA Hotline to report the failure. The failure mileage was unknown.
The power steering assist has begun to randomly stop working. It has happened 3 times. The first time it happened was as soon as I started the car to move it. I turned the car off and turned it back on and it worked. 5 starts later the same problem occurred and I was able to restart the car and it worked. Approximately 7 starts after that the power steering assist stopped working again, but this time it was not as soon as the vehicle was started. This time it went out mid turn as I began turning onto the road. Each time the warning came up on the dash after the steering became difficult. The power steering assist randomly going out while driving puts the safety of myself, my passengers, and other cars at risk for a crash from the sudden change in ability to steer the vehicle. At this time the vehicle has not been taken into a service center because it is not a consistent problem and if they don't find the problem on the first try they will charge a diagnostic fee to tell me that "everything is fine" or "we can't find the problem" and I am not willing to pay them money for no work. Once was a fluke, twice was a coincidence, three times is a problem that makes this vehicle unsafe to drive. Ford has had a recall on previous model years for this same issue.
2014 Ford Escape Power Steering failure while on the interstate in fast moving and heavy traffic. Almost caused a pile up and barely got out of the way of a semi truck going 70 or more mph to the safety of the edge of interstate. The power steering had been working fine. Until a couple days prior to the incident, I cranked it up and it seemed like it was in manual steering mode. I cut it off re cranked it and it was fine. So i thought just a randon glitch when starting it. Always loved and relied and trusted ford vehicles until the incident on the interstate. I got it off the interstate cut it off and started it again, it was no longer power steering and felt it was in manual steering mode all the way on the back roads getting it home. I contacted Ford and told them of the problem, they instantly said they had repared vehicles and also numerous complaints on this problem and that there was not a recall on it, only on vehicles up to 2012. Then after further research I found tons of folks who were experiencing the same problem and some in the process of lawsuits or in process of filing one against Ford for the problem. I ask on line and researched others complaints about their experience, for some it was just the battery, so I replaced it with a new battery, it was not the problem and soon after had someone put a scanner on it and it shows the electric steering rack as the error. the dealership when called about the part stated that Ford had several problems with the steering part, that the system had a faulty boot which would allow water to get into the electric steering component and basically fry the board. The solution Ford has for it is not to do anything about it in numerous vehicles having the same faulty parts is to sell you a corrected part and charge you around $4000/labor? Really? You are getting sued and you are telling others to repair it with another probably faulty part again? Should I sue for the repairs? Can they be forced to recall?
My power steering locks up on Frozen mornings and will not turn this has happened numerous times since 2023 and it is now January 21st 2024 and is becoming more frequent
The electronic power steering system failed while driving. We were unable to steer the vehicle and barely avoided a collision. The vehicle is undriveable. We contacted Ford and they have refused to help with repairs even though Ford has issued recalls for other vehicles about the same problem.
The contact owns a 2014 Ford Escape. The contact stated that on several occasions while driving at various speeds, the transmission shifted hard from third and fourth gear, and the vehicle jerked abnormally. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed and determined that the transmission needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. On another occasion, the contact stated that while pulling out of a gas station, the steering wheel became stiff. The vehicle was shifted into reverse and steered out of the spot by a gentleman passing by. He steering wheel was adjusted and placed in the vehicle was shifted into drive(D). The contact also stated that the "Steering Assist Fault - Service Required" message was displayed. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 148,000.
1) Steering went out without having issues prior. It reads "steering assist fault service required" on the dash 2) Lost all steering capabilities without warning. The car did not lose all power, it was still running and driving just zero steering. I drive daily with my children in the vehicle most of the time. This time, thankfully, I was alone and not in traffic to harm other drivers. Steering does not work at all, it's not just hard to turn, there's no movement in the wheel no matter how hard you try. 3) It has been checked out by our mechanic and he states "the code reader brings up nothing, no loose wires, tried resetting the battery, it doesn't have power steering fluid that could even be low, but there are cars recalled 2011-2013 with the exact same issue but this is a 2014" 4) It has not been checked by the dealer or manufacturer yet. 5) There were zero warnings. After the incident, a light came on the dash reading "steering assist fault service required"
Power assist steering wheel failure. My power steering stop working suddenly and I was not able to move my car. There is a recall for power steering problems from 2008/2013 for the same issues as my SUV. My SUV only has 33,000 miles on it. I think Ford didn't stop using faulty parts in their 2014 models. I spend over $3200 for repairs. I would like to see if I have any recourse as I believe my Ford Should had been included in the recall.
The steering wheels started to get hard. The car warned me to stop safely. It was to hard that I couldn't do much to turn the steering wheels.
Showing 1-20 of 50 loaded complaints
Complaints are unverified consumer reports submitted to NHTSA. A high complaint count may reflect vehicle popularity, not defect severity. Data sourced from NHTSA public records.
NHTSA source checks for this vehicle year
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Vehicle import recorded: Apr 29, 2026. This is the stored import date, not confirmation that every source was successfully refreshed.