The 2006 added it’s own special flare with gas leaks due to cracks in the “return portion of the modular reservoir assembly.” A recall of 2006 Cobalts was issued to fix the problem, but only to vehicles sold in or current registered in Arizona and Nevada, leaving other owners to pay for repairs themselves.
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.
My husband was driving our 2006 Chevy Cobalt when, without warning, the power steering went out. He crossed double yellow line before being able to regain control of the car. Could have been a very serious head-on collision had there been another car oncoming. Had to replace the entire power steering column and motor. Car had approx. 50,000 miles on it when this occurred and of course, just passed the warranty time. This is a serious safety issue. Why is Chevy/GM not taking accountability for a defective power steering column" there are 1,000's of people in our situation and it is unacceptable. Are they waiting for a fatality to occur" they are aware of the problem, as I called Chevy directly, but they will not pay for the repairs. Anyone driving a Chevy Cobalt should be made aware of this safety issue. I do not feel safe driving this car, nor do I want to drive my children in this car. You take it for granted that when you buy a car, the company producing the car is concerned for your safety. That is obviously not the case with the Chevy Cobalt. Shame on you GM to think about your own wallet before the safety of your customers. Makes you think twice to buy "american".
I have a 06 Chevy Cobalt. I was exiting a busy highway when my power steering went out. I about got hit by another car because I could not get the wheel to turn. The powersteering on my car goes out at least once a day, but on an average day about 2-3 times. Today I was driving from wichita, ks back home to tulsa, ok and my powersteering went out 4 times within a matter of 10 mins. This is a major concern when I'm turning a sharp corner and my two small children are in the car. I am a very small woman and can't turn the wheel when the powersteering goes out. The only way I have been able to fix the problem is to pull over, turn off the car, then restart the car after waiting for at least a minute. Usually, I have to try about 3 times to get the powersteering to work again and it doesn't work for very long. Highways in tulsa, ok have very sharp and narrow exits and it is scary when I don't know if I'm going to be able to safely exit because I can't turn the wheel of my car.
I have a 2006 Chevy Cobalt that has had a power steering problem. The power steering randomly quits working and the power steering problem indicator comes on. If you turn the engine off the power steering resets and then fails again unexpectedly.
I had never had any problems with my car until the power steering light came on one day and I couldn't steer the car all of a sudden. I had never experienced any thing like that before so I pulled over and turned off the car. After re-starting the car it was fine. However, the power-steering continued to lock up on atleast once a day, but with increasing frequency. I did not have the money to have it checked out, but I was able to drive it as long as I used full force with both arms to steer and turn. It is now to the point where the power steering locks up immediately upon starting my car. It is increasingly difficult to make simple turns and it has become a safety hazard. This is a fairly new car and should not have this issue.
Beginning in November 2009 the power steering on my 2006 Cobalt would go out intermittently while I was driving. In one instance it actually happened during a turn and I almost had a head-on collision with the vehicle in the opposite lane. By the second week of January 2010 the power steering was going out two to three times a day. As of this week it almost never works. When I called my dealer they refused to acknowledge this is a pervasive problem. They suggested I bring the car in and pay $95 to have them asses the issue. I have not done that yet and based on all the other complaints I have read I probably will not do that until Chevrolet takes action to repair the defect. I consider it a safety issue because it is easy to lose control of the car while trying to make a turn. Now that it is out most of the time it limits how far I can drive the vehicle because it is very tiring to maintain control over it for long periods.
When driving the power steering would cut off after the car was driven for a short distance. This was 8 weeks ago. Now, the power steering is completely not working.
Hi, about a week ago I was driving my 2006 Chevy Cobalt to work when I noticed it was kind of wiggling down the straight away of the 4 lane highway I was on. The cars behind me must have noticed because they quit passing me. I went straight back home after work that day and the car was fine. In the week since I have noticed a few oddities in turning the car, most being what loud pops. Now, the car has had a pop in the front end since I bought it that the dealer never has been able to fix and I was sure it was in the right front strut until yesterday. It's just been a little more random lately happening with no curves or bumps in the road. Yesterday on the way home I was turning right and the scroll on my dash read "power steering." I went ahead and turned and found absolutely no power steering help. Drove about a mile down the road with no power steering until I made it to a gas station where I restarted the car. The power steering was back with no warning message after doing that. The car was again fine for about a mile down the road where the message reappeared and I was immediately without power steering again. From all the messages I'm reading online this can be a very expensive fix and very dangerous. Going from great steering to no steering help can be a big shock when it happens in an instant and will lead to accidents. Please help us Cobalt owners.
The contact owns a 2006 Chevrolet Cobalt. While driving approximately 40 mph the power steering failed; however, the vehicle reset itself after it was turned on and then off. The dealer stated that they were not aware of the failure and the diagnostic test fee was $70. There were no related warranties or recalls. The failure mileage was 28,000.
I got 'power steering' message on my dic when I was getting out of parking lot.... then it was really hard for me to control my steering wheel. I turned the car off and started it back again, and it seemed to work fine for a few mins, then it started having a same problem again.
The contact owns a 2006 Chevrolet Cobalt. The contact stated that when driving approximately 35 mph, the power steering light would flash on the dashboard and then the steering wheel would lock. The failure occurred once every 2 to 3 days. She had not taken the vehicle to the dealer or talked to the manufacturer. The vehicle had not been repaired at the time of the complaint. The current mileage was 41,088. The failure mileage was approximately 40,688.
Power steering has failed numerous times on the 2006 Cobalt ls I bought for my daughter in 2006. I made the purchase so she could commute from college. Thought the car would be a safe and reliable purchase---boy!!! was I wrong!!! this is a dangerous problem & GM needs to fix these Cobalts now. How do we, as consumers demand this & get it corrected" do lots of people have to die before someone will help us" I think I should have bought a Toyota! at least, the Toyota Corp is doing something about their defects----they're fixing them!
Driving down the highway and power steering light came on. Power steering failed and unable to steer. Pulled to side of road. Restarted and power steering worked. Drove to garage and light came back on and steering failed and never came back on. Had wrecker pull to Chevy dealership for repairs. Dealer replaced steering column kit and motor kit at a cost of $983.43.
I was driving home on February 05, 2010 when my steering wheel locked up and I did not have control of the vehicle. I was coming to a stop fortunately when this happened. This is the first time I have experienced this situation. A friend told me Chevy Cobalt have been recalled and I began my search online and have found numerous complaints regarding this issue. Several months ago, my fuel pump module had a small crack in it disbursing gasoline. The mechanic who worked on it said he had never seen anything such as this before. Im lucky I was not driving at a high speed or around a corner when my steering wheel locked up or my car didn't explode into flames from the gasoline disbursing throughout my car when I had to replace my fuel pump. Power steering and fuel pumps should not require regular maintenance. Chevy barely acknowledges the problem and say its not big deal, try your best to control your car when your power steering goes out. I've heard this becomes a regular occurrence after the first time.
I have a 06 Chevy Cobalt with intermittent power steering failures. It fails after approx. 20 of daily driving with no prior warning. It becomes difficult to control and I consider it dangerous. GM is aware of the problems but is not being proactive to offer a solution or recall. I do not have the money to get it repaired but even so, repairs are also done with faulty parts. The car has 65K miles.
Just bought my Cobalt at used dealership and I have issues with the power steering. It feels really hard to turn and it makes noises that just don't sound right. I'm really concerned now reading these other complaints and I think the power steering needs to be recalled before someone does get hurt or killed. This is a serious safety issue!!
I own a 2006 Chevy Cobalt ls that I purchase used from a Chevy dealer with 70,000 miles here in miami. While driving my Chevy Cobalt, I attempted to make a right turn and my power steering stopped working and I almost crash my vehicle into a pole gladly there was nobody standing or other vehicle near the incident. It has now become an repeated incident meaning that is happening frequently. When the temperature out side gets to cold or too hot it stop working. It also makes a bee noise. I check thru the website review other Chevy Cobalt owners problem and they advice to remove the 60 amp fuse and place it back and it temporary correct the problem until it does it again. I took it to the dealer and they says that I have to replace the hold steering unit which over $1000 dollars which I do not have. I find out that the vehicle has a electronic steering gear instead of a hydraulic pump. I have done a research and find out that I am not the only person owning a Chevy Cobalt that is having the same problem. I research thru you website and several people already report the same problem. It is a safety hazard and a Chevy problem. Please I'm requesting that you guys investigate this problem further since is not an isolated problem. If you need to contact me please feel free. Please do not let someone get killed because of this. Thank you.
I have a 2006 Chevy Cobalt and my 18 yr son was driving and the power steering went out and the message inside the car came on. The vehicle became very hard to drive and almost lost control of the car. When I got home I restarted the car but after 2 minutes of driving the same thing happened. It is extremely dangerous for him and I hear can cost up to $2000 to fix. Something needs to be done.
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- Sparta, NJ, USA