CarComplaints.com Notes: The Cobalt was introduced to replace two of Chevy’s smaller cars, the Cavalier and Prizm. But the compact’s fresh start that Chevy was hoping for was riddled with issues, most notably widespread power steering failure.
This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.
So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.
The contact owns 2005 Chevrolet Cobalt. The steering failed it switched from electric to manual which made it difficult to turn. The vehicle was taken to the dealer. The technician located the failure as the steering column. The estimated cost for repair was $600 to $2,000. The manufacturer stated there is not a recall on the vehicle for the failure therefore they will not assist with the repair. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 54,000 and the current mileage is 79,000.
The contact owns a 2005 Chevrolet Cobalt. While driving approximately 20 mph, the driver noticed that the power steering light illuminated on the dashboard and that the vehicle had suddenly lost power steering. The failure occurred intermittently. The current and failure mileages were 50000.
I have a 2005 Chevrolet Cobalt. The power steering cuts out intermittently causing the car to become hard to handle. The car only has 36,000 miles and the service rep at the Chevy dealership told me that the is a common problem with this type vehicle. I think this is a safety problem that should be recalled.
I bought a 2005 Chevy Cobalt ls as new in 2005. The car has 55,000 miles on it and has been well taken care of. I am a hypermiler and do what I can to baby the car down the road. Around a week ago, I was driving the car and out of nowhere the power steering goes away and a message is displayed on the led display near the tachometer, it reads "power steering". I stop somewhere and turn off the car and then back on, the power steering immediately works okay again. Each time I drive the car, this happens at some random point. It is always fixable by turning off the ignition and re-starting the car. I did research online and discovered there are a ton of people reporting this exact same problem with atleast the 2005 and 2006 models, and maybe more. I feel that this is a potentially life threatening problem as a sudden loss of power steering can be the cause of a serious or fatal accident. From what I can see, General Motors has not issued a recall. I find this alarming considering this is a known manufacturer's defect and is a widespread problem.
Today is Aug 16 2009 and I have been having problems with my 2005 Chevrolet Cobalt for a while. Since the last year my steering wheel has been shaking every time I put on the brakes, and starting the last 3 weeks the power steering illuminates and the steering wheel just locks and I would have to pull the vehicle on to the shoulder and shut off the engine and restart it and then it works again.this normally happens 2 or 3 times a day. I have not taken it to the dealer yet although I did speak to a service advisor about the situation and he thinks it might be the power steering pump and that it would probably run me about $1200 to fix it. I really cannot afford that kind of money due to me being unemployed. The last date that this incident happened was on Aug 15 2009. Please I need your help and assistance. Thanks
- Ft. Wash, MD, USA
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I own a 2005 Chevrolet Cobalt. It currently has 63,000 miles on it. The electronic steering system has been randomly shutting off. When the steering system fails, I am left with no control whatsoever. I never know when the system will shut down. This makes driving on the highway especially dangerous.
Power steering began to fail a few weeks ago. As I am driving the power steering notice comes on and I lose power steering in the middle of driving. I pull over, turn off the acr, and restart it and the power steering is back. Some days it doesn't happen at alla nd others it may happen every few miles. It has not been fixed. The small garage I took it to could not figure out what was wrong with and recommended we look into recalls. And then I found many complaints on this same problem and it costs anywhere from $600 to $110- to fix. I will not be spending that kind of money. And GM will not recall it.
As far as I know, there were no accidents leading to the failure, but 2 months ago, I started experiencing power steering failures in my 2005 Chevrolet lt. After shutting the car off, and back on, the problem disappeared. Then it started happening more frequently, once, even 8 times in one day. I didn't take it into the dealership for the first time until 7/21/09 because it was getting too risky to drive. I have taken it to the dealership to get the steering column replaced but the problem still persists. They have given me various excuses as to why this problem keeps occurring but none of them are valid. When they test drive it, they claim it never acts up for them, but it does it randomly, there is no pattern to why it acts the way it does. I have taken it to the dealership a total of 5 times already. They have the car now because on 8/10/09, I nearly got into an accident and had to jump the curb in order to avoid getting hit because I couldn't make a left turn into traffic. I then suffered a severe anxiety attack and needed assistance from family members to come pick me up and get the car towed back up to the dealership. I am only 19 years old, & this is my first car. All I want is something safe to drive so I can go to school, work, and perform my other tasks alive and in one piece, please help those of us experiencing these problem to get GM to provide a recall on these cars. I love this car, but it is not worth losing my life over. I have paid a total of $938 on the steering column & $138 for towing expenses. This has got to stop, & I cannot afford another car. Thank you for your time and consideration, andrea johnson
I purchased my 2005 Chevy Cobalt, used in February 2006. In February of 2008 the electric power steering began to go out if you made several sharp turns (I.e. parking garages.) after apprx. Six months the power steering began to go out sporadically while driving down the freeway. This problem continued throughout the year. In the past four months, the problem has escalated to the point that I cannot even drive 1/4 of a mile with out the power steering going out. When this happens, all you have to do in order to reset the steering is put the car in park and turn off the engine. Upon restarting the car the problem corrects itself, however; it goes out again immediately.
Power steering in a 2005 Chevy Cobalt, with 45,000 miles will go out for randomly. If you turn the car off and back on it works fine for a short period of time then it will go out again. It is very difficult to steer and is dangerous to make turns quickly while driving.
2005 Chevy Cobalt with 81K miles on it. First time it happened was today. While driving to the store from work I heard a ding, looked at the dash, and saw the power steering message. I immediately noticed that my power steering was out. I pulled off into a parking lot, restarted the car, and things were fine again. After stopping at the store, the same thing happened two more times during the drive home, each time requiring that I pull over and restart the car in order to regain power steering. Everything I have found online says that it will cost 1100 dollars to fix as the entire steering column needs to be replaced.
The contact owns a 2005 Chevrolet Cobalt. While driving approximately 30 mph, the power steering warning indicator illuminated on the instrument panel. Immediately, the power steering failed. The warning indicator illuminated intermittently. The driver had to exert greater effort to turn the steering wheel. The vehicle only steered in one direction. The vehicle was pulled over into a parking lot and the engine turned off. The vehicle was in the process of being repaired. The failure and current mileages were 63,000. Updated 09/18/09. Updated 09/21/09.
The contact owns a 2005 Chevrolet Cobalt. While driving at an unknown speed, the power steering light illuminated on the dashboard. Moments later, the power steering completely failed. The vehicle has not been diagnosed by the dealer. The current and failure mileages were 71,932.
The contact owns a 2005 Chevrolet Cobalt. While driving 65 mph, the power steering failed and the vehicle almost crashed into the divider. The failure occurred numerous times after the first incident. The contact feels that this is a safety issue because the lack of power steering could cause a crash. The current mileage was 48,000 and failure mileage was 46,500.
The contact owns a 2005 Chevrolet Cobalt. While driving at an unknown speed, the power steering suddenly stopped working. The vehicle is currently being diagnosed by the dealer. The current and failure mileages were 60,000.
I have a 2005 Chevy Cobalt that when driving down rode it flashes and says power steering then you lose all power in the steering. This has happened three times. After reassuring this problem I have learned it is very common for this to happen on Chevy Cobalts. This almost caused me and my 9 yr old some to wreck cause it happened in a curve. You have to stop the car shut it off then crank it back again and it resets. GM says they are unaware of this problem and refuse to do anything about it. I'm telling you about this problem cause someone is going to get hurt badly if nothing is done about.
The contact owns a 2005 Chevrolet Cobalt. While driving 55 mph, the power steering light blinked off and on. The steering then became very stiff when attempting to maneuver the wheel. The contact was able to safely maneuver the vehicle to his destination. There were no warnings prior to the failure. The contact called the dealer and was informed to shut off the vehicle and allow the computer system to reset, and then restart the vehicle. The dealer was unable to determine the cause of the failure and advised him to bring the vehicle in for further inspection. The contact has continued to experience failure with the power steering and the vehicle shutting off. The failure is not correcting itself by the computer resetting. The contact is in the process of taking the vehicle to a local repair shop for further inspection. He also plans on notifying the manufacturer. The failure mileage was 129,000 and current mileage was 130,000.
I have a 2005 Chevy Cobalt gave a steering alarm then locked going into a curve had to stop and turn the key off and restart had to stop in middle of the road so I called GM they told me they had not been any complaints they pretty much said that they was not responsible for the problem I mean hello it is a problem they are a numerous amount of complaints every one need to call GM and complain they has had this problem. The repairs is anywhere from 1000 to 1500 dollars.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Belton , MO, USA