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.
I was driving normally on the highway and power steering suddenly went out. Steering became very stiff, and dash lights read "power steering." After pulling over and restarting the car, power steering came back for about 30 minutes, and then went out again the same way. I arrived at the dealership shortly after, and two components were required to fix the car. An electric motor and something else I can't recall the name of. Fortunately, there was no crash. I was lucky to be on a very straight highway. I had no warning prior to power steering going out, and had even had the car serviced early less than a week previous to this happening.
My daughter's 06 Chevy Cobalt ls steering loss power and she barley got her car out of traffic, she then waited ten minutes and started the car again and was able to drive 4 more miles before it happened again. This has continued to happen so I had to get it fixed before someone got hurt, this has cost me some very expensive car repairs, some thing needs to be done about this I've beentold by the repair shop that it could happen again since the part they replaced is the same part they ordered, which is faulty, I live in fear everytime my child gets in that car to go anywhere, and she needs a car to get to college. As I said before please don't wait for a tragedy that could be prevented. Thank you
In my 2006 Chevy Cobalt I have lost control of my steering wheel 3 times. It happens between 50-55 mph on the highway. I will be driving on the highway hit my brakes and my car begins to shake violently. I have taken it to a mechanic for this problem. However, there is nothing they could do because they could not replicate the problem. They tried at several different speed.
Power steering goes out of Cobalt. Power steering alert comes on to dash and car beeps. When car is shut off and restarted power steering returns. 3 incidents. 2 near misses with other cars.
I have a 2006 Chevrolet Cobalt and I am having a problem with my power steering. It is often hard to turn the steering wheel and I hear a rattling noise in the steering chamber while I am making turns. Also, the power steering malfunctioned as I was driving which caused my steering wheel not to move at all. Fortunately I was not near other cars and was able to stop the car and turn it off in time. I re-started the car and the power steering must have reset itself and began working again.
- Mcdonough, GA, USA
Search CarComplaints.com for these popular complaint phrases...
Power steering stopped working on 1/28/10, as I was driving home from work. It started working again on 2/1/10, and then stopped and then started again. I took the car to my mechanic and he said that the entire steering column would have to be replaced.
I own a 2006 Chevy Cobalt with a little over 62,000 miles. I bought it used and have had it a year and three months. Ever since I purchased the car I've had issues w/the electronic power steering. It acts up on a daily basis. The power steering cuts on and off while I'm driving the car. It makes it almost impossible to steer the car at all. My arms ache at the end of the day from struggling to steer and keep control of my car. It is especially scary when you are on a sharp exit ramp and the power steering isn't working and then cuts on. I've come very close to losing control of my car many times. I've looked into having it replaced but the cost of the parts and labor are expensive and being a single mother of two I can't afford to have it replaced. I've seen countless numbers of websites and complaints on the internet of other Cobalt owners w/the same power steering issue. It's ridiculous that GM won't do a recall! this is obviously a manufacturers defect and GM needs to fix it before someone loses their life! this is my first GM vehicle and I can guarantee it will be my last!
The contact owns a 2006 Chevrolet Cobalt. The contact stated that whenever she turned the vehicle on the power steering locked up and this occurs also when she puts the vehicle in reverse as well. This has occured everyday where the light illuminates in the instrumental panel. The dealer was contacted and they told the contact to bring it in for diagnostic. There have been no repairs done to the vehicle. The failure mileage was 50000 and current mileage was 84729.
I have a 2006 Chevrolet Cobalt with 39K miles. My steering wheel shakes when driving, it is sometimes hard to turn, the radio turns on and off, and the check engine light & air bag light are on. I took the car to the dealership and they said nothing is wrong with the car. They got the lights to turn off. My warranty is now expired and the same lights came on again.
The contact owns a 2006 Chevrolet Cobalt. She stated while driving at speeds of less than 50 mph, the power steering failed three times within her traveling period, without warning. She would pull over at each time the failure occurred and shut the vehicle off. Once the vehicle was restarted, the power steering would reset itself. The vehicle was taken to the nearest dealer where they replaced the power steering module at the owner's expense. There were no recalls for the failure. There were no additional failure since the repair. The failure and current mileages were over 65,695.
The contact owns a 2006 Chevrolet Cobalt. The contact was driving approximately 20 mph on normal road conditions. A chime sensor sounded inside of the vehicle and the "power steering" warning light indicator illuminated on the instrument panel. Immediately, there was a loss of power steering. The driver pulled over to the side of the road. The engine was turned off. The vehicle restarted and resumed normal operation. However, the failure re-occurred during the travel. The failures occurred whenever the vehicle was in operation. The failure mileage was 68,000.
The contact owns a 2006 Chevrolet Cobalt. While the contact was driving the vehicle she noticed that the power steering light had appeared on the dashboard, moments later the contact noticed that the vehicle no longer had power steering. The vehicle was taken to the dealership where the contact had the power steering control module replaced. There were no prior warnings and the current and failure mileages were 73000.
2006 Chevrolet Cobalt - power steering intermittently stops working this is happening more and more frequently with a greater chance for a traffic accident.
I have a 2006 Chevy Cobalt and the steering is difficult to turn in the morning. I have to back up out of a driveway and turn my steering wheel and at times it is difficult to turn the wheel. I thought that was normal but now I am hearing it should not do that. It started back in August and has gotten more frequent, happening almost every morning. At times it does not feel like I have power steering.
The contact owns a 2006 Chevrolet Cobalt. He stated while traveling at speeds of 55 mph, the steering column locked without warning. The dealer replaced an unknown part at partial expense of General Motors. The vehicle was not under warranty. On a separate occasion, while operating the vehicle at speeds of 65 mph in clear conditions and moderate traffic, the steering wheel would not respond to driver operation. The driver attempted to slow down and move the vehicle off the highway by braking lightly, however the wheels would not respond. The vehicle then spun in a complete 360 degree turn and side grazed the median strip before coming to a stop. The manufacturer was contacted but took no liability for the failure. Repairs were made to the vehicle at the owner's expense. The failure and current mileages were under 47,000. Updated 3/12/10 the consumers daughter hit a guardrail due to the steering malfunction. Updated 07/09/10.
The contact owns a 2006 Chevrolet Cobalt. The contact was driving approximately 30 mph on normal conditions. The "power steering" warning light indicator illuminated on the instrument panel. Immediately, there was a loss of power steering. The driver pulled over to the side of the road. The engine was turned off. The vehicle restarted and resumed normal operation. The failures occurred whenever the vehicle was in operation. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer for diagnostic testing. The steering column was replaced for the malfunctions. The failure mileage 30,275.
While driving the power steering would display on the control panel and I was unable to turn the wheel. This happened at various speeds. Once while attempting to drive six miles on a busy roadway my husband and I had to pull off the road over 20 times to turn the car off and give the time for the power steering to reset itself only to drive a piece further and the incident to occur again. Eventually, having to tow the vehicle home. We took the vehicle to the dealership in November and it was over 800 for repair. They replaced the steering column and we haven't had any other problems so far.
The contact owns a 2006 Chevrolet Cobalt. While stopped at an intersection the power steering light illuminated and immediately she lost control of the steering and almost crashed. She turned the vehicle off and the steering reseted and operated normally for over one week and a shortly after she experienced the failure for the second time. She took the vehicle to the dealer; however the dealer was not able to locate the failure code.the dealer did not replace any parts. The failure mileage was 63,000 and the current mileage was 64,000. The manufacturer took a report and advised to take the vehicle to the dealer to be diagnosed. The vehicle was not repaired.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Brentwood, TN, USA