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.
Power steering failure while I was on a curve going at a high speed. The steering wheel locked up and I was unable to resume driving. Something has to be done about this or someone is going to be killed! it is not the first time this has happened.
I was driving to work when the power steering when out, luckily I was paying attention and driving on a straight road. No accidents or injuries occurred. The car is being looked at now by the dealership. I researched this topic online and there are many people having the same problem.
I own a 2005 Chevy Cobalt, the car is 3 years old and the power steering is out. Unfortunately the warranty is out and by the looks of it there is hundreds of people out there with the same problem. I took it to the dealership and they said that a cost of over $1000 will need to be paid totally replace the steering problem. They are aware of the manufacturers defect and hoping this will be recalled. I think if they company is aware of this problem we should not have to pay for their mistake. I do not have this money to fix this mistake by the manufacturer. Please help!
I purchased a new Chevrolet Cobalt ls (4 door) in 2005 from my local dealer. I drive it very little - it now has slightly less than 13,200 miles. Last week when driving near home I rec'd a sudden flashing message on the dash "power steering." Immediately, the steering failed completely. It took all my strength to turn the vehicle and I was only going 20 miles per hour - had it been different - and as I've since found it this has occurred thousands of times to other drivers of this car - it cold have killed me. My local dealer told me that the entire steering mechanism had to be replaced - rather odd for a car, perfectly maintained, with so few miles on it! the head technician at my dealer informed me that there was a design flaw in the 2005 and 2006 Cobalt's steering mechanism. Both relied entirely on an electronic system that can fail instantly and leave the car with no steering control - while it's being driven! the repairs were largely covered by my extended warranty - I've had it for 38 months. (repair copy: "internal motor failure." And "replace steering column" = $804) but, as the repair service itself noted, this just restores the same, ready to fail system! the problem can't be fixed because it's a basic design flaw! according to the head technician, beginning in about 2007, the Cobalt was altered to include a back-up hydraulic steering mechanism to make up for this recognized problem. There are over 12,600 lists of this problem on the internet today, some noting that a second failure occurred only two weeks after having the same "repairs" that I had. I'm still paying for this car and it's a death trap. My wife won't ride in it and I won't drive it more than a few blocks and only in daylight. This must be addressed!!!!!! gerald J. davey, ph. D.
- San Antonio, TX, USA
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Power steering problem with my 2005 Chevy Cobalt. Three attempts by GM dealer to fix a problem, the problem is still there. This should lead to safety recall. During the driving power steering warning light comes on, the car starts to shake and is not safe to drive. I filled complaint with BBB, Chevy, but they said that the safety recall must come from NHTSA. Looks like thousands of power steering columns have been replaced on two or three yr old card, which is unacceptable. This is not normal wear-an-tear part, and someone should run statistics on this part with GM, and consider the safety of customers/drivers. This is a typical highschool/college students car, inexperienced drivers in totally unsafe cars... do not wait until someone gets killed to have recall on Chevy Cobalts power steering issues. Thank you!
At 57,000 miles, the power steering light came on in my car while driving down the highway. It became very hard to steer and seems very dangerous. After turning off the vehicle and then turning it back on the problem seemed to go away, but it came back on shortly while I was in the middle of turning onto a busy street. I almost hit a truck. I have since taken the vehicle to the dealership where I have been told it will cost $1000 to fix and they said that there is no sign that it was my fault.
05 Chevy Cobalt ss power steering was lost during merging on to highway, has happened twice now. Almost hit another car and construction cones not being able to turn the vehicle fast enough. Dealership said they found nothing wrong with the actual power steering. But if they were to order a new part it is on back order, so there must be something pretty messed up with the power steering in Chevy Cobalt to need the parts so much.
2005 Chevy Cobalt - 09/20/2008 - while driving straight at approx. 10 mph on a residential street, car chimed, dic displayed "power steering" and power steering was lost. With difficulty, pulled car over to the side of the street, put car in park, turned car off, and re-started car. On re-start, dash display was normal, power steering was normal. On 09/23/2008, while driving straight at approx. 30 mph on a busy road (2 lanes each direction), same thing happened (chime, "power steering" display, loss of power steering, difficulty steering the car); slowed to a stop on approach to a red light, put car in park, turned car off, re-started car, back to normal. On 09/26/2008 (today), while driving straight on a city street at approx. 20 mph, same thing happened (chime, "power steering" display, loss of power steering, difficulty steering the car), no place to pull over, had to turn left on a side street to park, very difficult to control the car while making the turn, parked, turned car off, re-started car, back to normal. I have an upcoming service appointment at my Chevy dealership, but service department advises me there is no recall for this issue, and they will only be able to find/fix problem if it occurs while it is in their possession, and I am out of warranty (44,000 miles on odometer). I am now afraid to drive the car, but have no other way to get to work and back. I will not drive it on the highway. I did an internet search on 09/23/2008, and see complaint after complaint from Cobalt owners about this very same problem. Also see that there was a "special coverage adjustment" (dated 12/03/2007) for 2005 Chevy Malibu and 2005 Pontiac G6S for what appears to be the same power steering problem (remedy for this was for dealer to replace the steering column assembly; special coverage was for 7 years or 70,000 miles). Driving a car that suddenly loses power steering on an on-going basis is not safe, why is there no recall for this problem for Cobalts?
My name is freddie brown I am a firefighter/emt I am filing this complaint in regards to a 2005 Chevrolet Cobalt. The power steering (electronic on this car) goes out 2-3 times a day which causes the steering wheel to lock up while driving. I have done research on the internet and I am not the only one experiencing this with this model year Cobalt. Thank god it has not done it while I am turning or it will result in a crash. Chevrolet wants $2000 to have it fixed. The car is 3 years old and is a factory default. In order to reset it you have to throw the car in neutral and turn it off while rolling and turn it back on and it resets itself. Please look into it. I typed in Cobalt steering recall in google search engine and there are plenty of complaints. Thank you, freddie brown firefighter/emt marion county fire-rescuer
I've just bought a 2005 Chevy Cobalt 23 days ago. This past weekend the power steering light came on. Upon research I have found that the electronic power steering on this and other models is an ongoing issue. I, as of this morning, have no power steering now. I have found many discussions online concerning this matter, yet no info. From GM/Chevrolet. According to discussions, it will cost between $600 and $2,000 to fix and then some of these people had it happen again anyway. This is a major safety issue and I don't understand why it has not been addressed. I, at this point, don't have the money to get it fixed, as I had scrimped to buy it in the first place just 23 days ago.
I have a problem that I would like to issue that has to do with safety. I bought a 2005 Chevy Cobalt back in July of 05. The power steering on the Cobalt's is an eps system (electrical power steering). The power steering has been going off and on when I am driving (I have only 68,000 miles). It started on Friday when I was driving into town it went out and I had to pull over, turn the car off then back on. After doing this the car was fine then a few minutes later the power steering went off again! ever since then the power steering has been going out, even on the highway going 55 it goes out which causes it to be very hard to turn or steer my car. I went on the internet and looked up 'issues with power steering on 2005 Chevy Cobalt's' and I came across hundreds of complaints about the power steering going out on people that own a Cobalt or a Malibu which also has a eps system. I'm not sure why GM has not recalled this issue when it is a safety issue! to fix this problem the part its self is $500 not including labor. As I did my research people have been paying about $1,200 to fix the eps system. I really think it is very irresponsible of GM to not have a recall on this part due to the hundreds of complaints I have seen! someone please help me on getting GM to wake up and see that when the power steering goes out while you're driving 55+mph on the highway its not easy nor safe for anyone in the car and that they need to do a recall to fix all of the problems on the eps system. I don't know what it will take for them to wake up and recall the part; maybe a death due to eps system failure is what they are waiting for. In that case they have no heart for their customers or appreciation. I also contacted GM customer service and they were not able to help me with anything but tell me I am going to have to pay for the problem to get fixed. I am also not sure if there has been any crash related incidents due to the eps system. Thank you!
I have a problem that I would like to issue that has to do with safety. I bought a 2005 Chevy Cobalt back in July of 05. The power steering on the Cobalt's is a eps system (electrical power steering). The power steering has been going off and on when I am driving (I have only 68,000 miles). It started on Friday when I was driving into town it went out and I had to pull over, turn the car off then back on. After doing this the car was fine then a few minutes later the power steering went off again! ever since then the power steering has been going out, even on the highway going 55 it goes out which causes it to be very hard to turn or steer my car. I went on the internet and looked up 'issues with power steering on 2005 Chevy Cobalt's' and I came across hundreds of complaints about the power steering going out on people that own a Cobalt or a Malibu which also has a eps system. I'm not sure why GM has not recalled this issue when it is a safety issue! to fix this problem the part its self is $500 not including labor. As I did my research people have been paying about $1,200 to fix the eps system. I really think it is very irresponsible of GM to not have a recall on this part due to the hundreds of complaints I have seen! someone please help me on getting GM to wake up and see that when the power steering goes out while you're driving 55+mph on the highway its not easy nor safe for anyone in the car and that they need to do a recall to fix all of the problems on the eps system. I don't know what it will take for them to wake up and recall the part, maybe a death due to eps system failure is what they are waiting for. In that case they have no heart for their customers or appreciation. I also contacted gmac customer service and they were not able to help me with anything but tell me I am going to have to pay for the problem to get fixed. I am also not sure if there has been any crash related incidents due to the eps system. Thank you! lauren phillips
On 9/3/08 my husband and I were driving our 2005 Chevy Cobalt with 45,700 miles on it going 35 mph, we came to a curve in the road and the warning light in our car went off and it read, "power steering", we then lost all power steering. My husband veered off the road because it was hard to steer, we then turned the car off hoping it would clear the error. We started the car and it then drove fine. When we got to where we were going we decided to check the power steering fluid but couldn't find where it was. We looked in our owner's manual and it stated that it was electrical and there was no fluid. The next day on the interstate at 60 mph driving to work the warning light went off and it read, "power steering", my husband maintained control and it never regained power steering. From that incident on every time we drove it kept happening and we would never regain power steering until we turned the car off and restarted it. First thing Monday morning 9/8/08 we took it to the dealership. They told us there was an internal fault in the steering column motor and they needed to replace the electronic column. I asked if there had been a recall because I found hundreds of incidents with the same problem with our same vehicle, make and year on the internet. The dealership claimed this is the first they had heard of. I told the dealership that when they replaced my motor I wanted the faulty one back. They got an attitude quickly and told me that I couldn't have the old part because it was under GM warranty. I then asked if that's the case then why do I have to pay for this new part because my old one is obviously faulty. They told me it was part of GM policy and I could not have the old part. After that it made us very suspicious as to why they wouldn't let us take the old part. I told them this was a safety issue endangering people's lives that needed to be addressed. I contacted the GM corporate office and they gave me the same spill that they haven't heard of this issue.
Two weeks ago my 2005 Cobalt ls sedan suddenly starting having problems with the power steering. While driving my warning light displayed "power steering" and I noticed that trying to steer the wheel was extremely difficult. I drove to a safe place and turned the car off and then restarted it and the power steering was working fine. I am noticing that the time the power steering is working correctly is getting to be less and less. This problem is very dangerous and someone could get seriously hurt or killed if Chevrolet continues to ignore the problem.
My family were driving in our 2005 Chevrolet Cobalt. As we made a turn off the highway the power steering went out. My car careened off the road and off into the median. My one child had a small head injury from the accident. Luckily we were not turning into traffic at the time, some one would have been killed. After researching this issue I have found the power steering on the Chevrolet Cobalt have a high rate of failure. I would like to know how many people have to be seriously injured before this issue is resolved through a recall of the vehicles to correct the problem.
Air bag light is on continuously and now the power steering light goes on and you loose steering as you are driving. The air bag light was fixed 1 time by dealer and now it is on again and they say they will not fix it because it has been tampered with but they are the only one's to work on it I have my repair invoice. The power steering light just started coming on and now you loose steering as soon as it goes on. It almost caused an accident the first time it happened because I was going around a curve and a car was coming the other way and I lost my steering. Luckily I didn't hit the other car but I think this is a major safety hazard.
On Saturday, August 16th, 2008 I was driving on the highway going about 55-60 mph and as I was slowing down to approach a left turn, a chime noise sounded and the "power steering" message came on and as I was in my left turn, the power steering completely went out and made my car almost impossible to turn the wheel. I pulled into a service/gas station right down the road and tried turning off my car to see if that would help. Once I restarted my car the power steering message was no longer on and the steering wheel went back to normal. This same problem occurred once the next day. As the days went on, the problem got more and more frequent to the extent of now it happens like four or five times a day. To get the power steering to work once it goes out, I have to either restart my car at redlights, stop signs, or sometimes even in the middle of the road. This is a very dangerous problem that needs to be addressed by GM. I took my car to a GM dealership last Friday and I was told my steering column needed to be replaced. I have researched this issue, and I see it is an ongoing problem with GM. I have notified the customer service department at GM and am awaiting a call back from them to see how they can accommodate me with this situation.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Anniston, AL, USA