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 problems on our 2007 Chevy Cobalt. Our 18 year old daughter drives this car and the power steering goes off. Completely. This could cause a serious accident, especially with an inexperienced driver. We will be contacting the dealer tomorrow in hopes of fixing this problem. Car is not under warranty.
I own a 2007 Chevy Cobalt lt. The power steering will go out on it after a few minutes of driving. If I turn the car off and on again I will get the power steering back for a few more minutes. This happens every time I get in the car. This is very dangerous because you don't know when the steering will go out, what if it was in a middle of a turn and im not able to keep control of my vehicle. Im told that the steering column needs to be replaced, which is 1200 dollars.
We bought our 19 yr. Old daughter a 2007 Cobalt last year. She was on her way back to college on interstate and her power steering went out. The car has only 43,000 miles on it and we still owe 4 yrs on it. I was appalled at how many complaints there were about this same problem on the internet. She was scared and crying. She was 4 hrs away from us. This was February 14th 2010. She could of been killed or in a wreak. Why has GM not done a recall on these cars" the warranty has run out, so this will be out of pocket for us. This is a very serious problem. I am afraid for her to even drive this car now.should I tell her not to come home any more until somebody does something about this. You can't ignore this. People will get hurt or even worse be killed by this. Is that what everyone is waiting for before someone does something"
Driving on wv rt. 10 in logan county, wv. Power steering failed. Pulled over, shut the car off, started it up again, steering ok. A few miles later, power steering failed again. I was approx 100 miles from home, and every 10 miles approx., the power steering fails. Car is out of warranty, it will cost lots of $ that I do not have to fix.
- Huntington, WV, USA
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I made a complaint a month ago on my 2007 Chevrolet Cobalt. I have to make another one because it is extremely upsetting having to pay a car note every month and have to get to and from work in this unsafe vehicle. All these complaints pouring in have proved it is a consistent problem. Everyday I drive my car and have to deal with never being able to make a safe U-turn or park in a near parking spot in which I can not due to my electric power steering is completely out. It doesn't even restart after cutting the car off. It is unsettling to know I am and many others are driving an unsafe car and I'm left with no other choice as to the many other people with the same problem. I know there is an investigation out on this car and the eps because the amount of complaints. I really hope it doesn't take so long that a serious accident happens from this. It would make no sense whatsoever to pay the amount of money it cost to fix this problem and it is not promised to fix the problem, it's a 2007 to make matters worse this should not be happening already. Thank you NHTSA for looking into this matter.
The contact owns a 2007 Chevrolet Cobalt. The contact stated that when driving various speeds the vehicle would lose power steering and it became difficult to control the steering wheel. The failure began to occur on a daily basis. On several occasions the dealership made several unsuccessful attempts to repair the steering column. The contact has not spoken with the manufacturer to-date. The contact has also experienced the failure with other Chevrolet Cobalt's. the current mileage was approximately 30,000. The failure mileage was approximately 2,000.
2007 Chevrolet Cobalt - electric power steering intermittently goes out, causing the vehicle to steer hard; no accident to date but potential for accident if it goes out on the highway.
I purchased a new 2007 Chevy Cobalt 4-door in June 2007--in September I told my mother that my steering was strange, that sometimes I felt like I wasn't really steering my car. In October I was on my way to work on the highway, it was raining and I slowed down. Upon slowing down to approx 15-20 around a curve I couldn't steer my car. I was in an accident because my car just seemed to go on its' own. That same December, I was turning into a school parking lot and again couldn't steer my car and hit a parking block. My mom thought it was my tires and invested in a new set of tires on a new car. Two weeks ago (again on the highway) I came upon an accident, slowed down to almost a complete stop and once again lost my steering just long enough to turn the car a little trying to get it over to the shoulder, hit the guardrail support and smashed the headlight. I backed up, felt my steering grab and continued on. My steering I am convinced caused all 3 accidents. There is still damage on my car and my insurance rates have gone up. I want my damage fixed, my steering fixed, my mom reimbursed $500 for my deductible and a letter I can give my auto insurance company. It occurs fairly frequently, but luckily there has only been three accidents and no fatalities there is still damage on the vehicle because I can't turn it into my insurance company without my rates going up. When I told people at the dealership what was going on they thought I was nuts and so did I until a tow driver who also happened to own a Cobalt had the same thing happen.
I purchased a new 2007 Chevy Cobalt 4-door in June 2007--in September I told my mother that my steering was strange, that sometimes I felt like I wasn't really steering my car. In October I was on my way to work on the highway, it was raining and I slowed down. Upon slowing down to approx 15-20 around a curve I couldn't steer my car. I was in an accident because my car just seemed to go on its' own. That same December, I was turning into a school parking lot and again couldn't steer my car and hit a parking block. My mom thought it was my tires and invested in a new set of tires on a new car. Two weeks ago (again on the highway) I came upon an accident, slowed down to almost a complete stop and once again lost my steering just long enough to turn the car a little trying to get it over to the shoulder, hit the guardrail support and smashed the headlight. I backed up, felt my steering grab and continued on. My steering I am convinced caused all 3 accidents. There is still damage on my car and my insurance rates have gone up. I want my damage fixed, my steering fixed, my mom reimbursed $500 for my deductible and a letter I can give my auto insurance company. It occurs fairly frequently, but luckily there has only been three accidents and no fatalities there is still damage on the vehicle because I can't turn it into my insurance company without my rates going up. When I told people at the dealership what was going on they thought I was nuts and so did I until a tow driver who also happened to own a Cobalt had the same thing happen.
Whether you are driving down the road or making a turn and your power steering all of a sudden goes out it is very scary. My car has been doing this for a couple of months and there are times that it is very hard to manage. There has been alot of snow lately which just makes everything worse.
Was driving all at once had no control over steering. Was able to get to shoulder. Turned of car, let sit a few minutes. Started back up had done good since. I am scared to drive this car. I hope it doesn't go out again with my grandkids in car with me. Thank you for looking into this matter.
My 2007 Chevy Cobalt's power steering keeps going in and out, causing a tremendous disadvantage when trying to steer the car. I have had one incident of sideswiping a pole because I could not make the turn as the power steering failed at that point. It has failed multiples times over the last 8 months. So far no injuries or major accidents, but am concerned as there is no warning when it goes out.
I have a 2007 Chevy Cobalt ls. For approx 3 months I have been having problems starting my car due to the steering wheel being locked up. Since then, I have had various types of rattling, vibrations, and complications with my steering column. Today (February 9, 2009) I went to leave for work and my key only went to the first position (not start position) and is currently stuck there. My steering wheel wont move, and nothing, nothing, worked on trying to remove my stuck key. I have had a mechanic look at it, and he believes that it is the steering column now interfering with the ignition. I am very very upset that this has happened, however, I'm glad this was not while I was driving. This type of incident is exactly why there needs to be a recall. I love my car, but the safety issues need to be fixed!!
I own a 2007 Chevy Cobalt. On my way home from a friends house the power steering failed and it became very hard to steer. When you turn the car off and back on it must reset itself because it starts working again. Then without any warning it will quit working. The car only has 40K miles on it. I was told by the dealer it would cost over $900 to fix. I went online to see if other people were having this problem and it was full of people with the same problem.
Vehicle is 2007 Chevy Cobalt. The electronic power assist fails repeatedly and make for a very unsafe situation. GM refused to acknowledge the problem when I first contacted them. We have since had the system repaired out of pocket. My research on the internet found this problem has existed for several years. Your jumping all over Toyota right now, so let see you jump on General Motors a bit. Incidentally this is not an isolated incident, before we had the vehicle repaired it couldn't make it out of the driveway without the power steering going out.
The contact owns a 2007 Chevrolet Cobalt. While driving approximately 45 mph the vehicle became difficult to control when the steering wheel malfunctioned. The power steering warning light was illuminated continuously. The VIN was unavailable. The vehicle will be repaired by the dealer. The failure mileage was 41,185.
My daughter was driving to work around 7:30 a.M., on the highway in rush hour traffic, so was only traveling around 30 -35 mph at the most. She somehow lost control of her vehicle, veered off the road, hit the guard railing and took out about 15 - 20 ft. Of it, and landed down a small embankment. No other cars were involved. She had no idea how this happened, nobody had hit her, the roads were clear, no bad weather, no traffic problems, just slow moving traffic. Her car was totaled!!! after hearing of the steering related problems with the Cobalt, this would certainly explain what happened to her. She did hurt her neck and back and was taken by ambulance to the er, scared to death!. luckily she was not seriously hurt, but bruised and sore muscles, with muscle spasms for about 3 months after accident. She had owned this car less than 1 year. Chevy and the NHTSA definitely needs to look into this and recall the Cobalts so this doesn't happen to others!
I have a 2007 Chevy Cobalt, and at around 45,000 miles the power steering simply went out while I was going down the road. The cab was filled with a burning smell, and the vehicle became nearly impossible to turn. I pulled over and turned the car off. I waited about 3 minutes and restarted the car and the power steering was working again. I began driving again, and made it about two or three more blocks when it went out again, and again the car was filled with a burning smell. I contacted a Chevy dealer who told me there was a service bulletin out saying that the whole steering column needed to be replaced due to a faulty power assist motor. This starts at around $2500. I did some research online and found that hundreds.. maybe thousands of people were having the same problem with the same car. Many had paid the $2,000-$2,500 to have this motor replaced only to have the same problem reoccur weeks later. So, I have yet to have it fixed. Today I got a recall notice for a fuel pump on this car, but Chevy still refuses to correct the faulty power assist motor which acts as the power steering. Its only a matter of time before someone losing steering on a major highway and deaths occur. As for my Chevy Cobalt.. its parked in my driveway until I can finish paying it off, and then I'll be calling a junkyard to come get it. Just a thought... but its amazing how for any other product.. a dishwasher... a child's toy.. if a company sells a faulty product, you can take it back to the store and get your money back legally... if its a car, you're stuck.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Troy, AL, USA