Steering Is Tight problems of the 2009 Toyota Matrix

My car would not start after I had stopped to get a hair cut. I cleaned the battery terminals and was able to get it to start. When I tried to turn the steering wheel it was very hard to turn the wheel. I managed to drive it a half block to a napa dealer so I could replace the battery and I was going to buy some power steering fluid. I was surprised I could not even find the power steering reservoir. After I replaced the battery the steering returned to normal. Really scary now after I researched and found out than many others have had the steering go out when they were driving at high speeds. Not sure why there is no recall on this.

The contact owns a 2009 Toyota Matrix. The contact stated that the power steering failed without warning immediately after the vehicle was started. The steering light illuminated and the steering wheel was very hard to turn to the left or right. The contact was able to drive the vehicle to the dealer; however, when he made a left or right turn, it was very difficult. The contact had to use the outer lane to safely make a turn. The dealer told the contact that the computerized power steering unit failed. The failure and current mileage was 18,040. Updated 05/05/lj.