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CarComplaints.com Notes: The 2007 Cobalt inherited most of the problems from the 2005 and 2006 model years, but toned them down (a bit). Sure, the power steering still fails and the car has a chance of going up in flames due to a cracked fuel tank, but it’s not as prevalent as the older models. At least not yet.

In 2012, the Cobalt was recalled for gas tank fires but only for owners in certain states.

Then in 2014, the 2007 Cobalt was part of a massive GM recall due to a defective ignition switch that could cause the airbags to not deploy during an accident. The problem led to 13 deaths, government investigations and multiple class-action lawsuits.

10.0

really awful
Crashes / Fires:
57 / 4
Injuries / Deaths:
51 / 3
Average Mileage:
67,145 miles

About These NHTSA Complaints:

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.

2007 Chevrolet Cobalt steering problems

steering problem

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2007 Chevrolet Cobalt Owner Comments (Page 25 of 33)

« Read the previous 20 complaints

problem #173

Jan 282010

Cobalt

  • 43,900 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

The contact owns a 2007 Chevrolet Cobalt. While driving approximately 20 to 25 mph on normal road conditions the "power steering" warning light indicator illuminated on the instrument panel. Immediately, there was a loss of power steering. The driver exerted higher effort to turn the steering wheel and drove into a service station. The engine was turned off. The vehicle resumed operation without power steering. The failure occurred whenever the vehicle was in operation. The vehicle I S in the process of being taken to an authorized dealer for inspection. The failure mileage was 43,900.

- Arlingtion Heights , IL, USA

problem #172

Jan 302010

Cobalt

  • 43,578 miles
My 2007 Chevy Cobalt is having intermittent failure with the power steering. It randomly occurs, with no warning. The "power steering" warning light appears on the display and I lose all power steering ability. This causes my vehicle to become unmanageable and feel rather unsafe to drive.

- Dayton, OH, USA

problem #171

Nov 272009

Cobalt

  • 50,962 miles
The power steering of my 2007 Chevy Cobalt went out Nov 27, 2009, late at nite on I-95 - freaked me out and caused me to be stranded! no dealerships service dept. Open on weekends, so I gave up and drove it back to Florida on Sunday (took 10 hours). Anyway, called local dealership, Chevy corporate and filed a complaint with NHTSA... unfortunately I had no choice but to take it to dealer for diagnostics and then call corporate back where they said they "might be able to assist with repairs but wouldn't know until diagnostics were done..." dealership informed me that they "believe" the problem could be solved by replacing the power steering motor if I would only pay $350 for labor (they would generously donate the motor...) I declined (for now anyway) as we will try to repair it ourselves... I cannot afford to pay for this and shouldn't have to as the car isn't that old. The warranty just ran out in September as seems to be the case for many who's blogs I have read. They also noted on the summary that the motor might not actually take care of the problem and if it didn't then they would have to replace the steering column for another $800 plus labor !! my car has not yet been repaired and is still dangerous so I don't drive it unless I just have to go somewhere and have no other option.

- Middleburg, FL, USA

problem #170

Jan 252010

Cobalt

  • 62,000 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

I own a 2007 Chevy Cobalt. It is 2 years old and at approximately 58,000 miles the car's power steering began to intermittently fail. The only way to regain the steering is to turn the car off and then back on, which is dangerous in traffic. This happens somewhat randomly, but occurs within a few minutes of starting the car 80% of the time. On Jan 25th the power steering went out as I was about to make a left turn and having to overcompensate for the hard steering wheel almost caused me to hit an oncoming car. After resolving to try and get this repaired, I checked into the problem online and have found multiple websites with over 1,000 consumers who complain about power steering failure on all models of the Chevy Cobalt. A couple of these are www.topix.com/forum/autos/Chevrolet-Cobalt/T8fmsuqb7V2dth5jh/P36 and getsatisfaction.com/GM/topics/cobalt_power_steering and www.thepetitionsite.com/1/Chevy-Cobalt-power-steering-issues. a repair charge of $800 - $2000 is needed to fix the problem which is not covered by the factory warranty, and in some cases is recurring. GM refuses to acknowledge that this is a very frequent and dangerous problem and refuses to modify their warranty to fix it. There is no info on their website despite thousands of obvious complaints and widespread failure of this part that, when fails, creates unsafe conditions for everyone on the road. I have heard that class action lawsuits are in the works, and I am going to try and start one myself, but we'd all really like to see GM acknowledge this problem, make an effort to fix this plague on their customers, and issue a recall.

- Winter Garden, FL, USA

problem #169

Jan 142010

Cobalt

  • 60,272 miles
The contact owns a 2007 Chevrolet Cobalt. While driving 65 mph the power steering failed. The contact was able to drive pull on the side of the road, turn the vehicle on and off so that it would reset itself. The vehicle has not been diagnosed by the dealer. The Chevrolet manufacturer has not been notified. The failure mileage was 60272.

- Denver, CO, USA

problem #168

Oct 252009

Cobalt

  • 45,000 miles
I own a 2007 Chevy Cobalt. When my mileage hit about 45,000, around mid to late October, the power steering started messing up. It will go off in the middle of driving. This is a huge safety concern for me. I have two children and it will go off everytime I drive it about 3 to 5 minutes after I start driving. I am a single parent and can not afford to fix the problem. I think this needs to be recalled. I have read so many stories over how the power steering is going out and eventually its going to lead to death because GM would rather that happen then to fix what needs to be done.

- Marlow, OK, USA

problem #167

Nov 132009

Cobalt

  • 47,000 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

2007 Chevy Cobalt lt (power steering problems) has purchase the car new the warranty has expired on the vehicle I have 47,000 miles now when it first reached 32,000 miles my check engine light stayed on brought it to the dealer they said they had to replaced the cylinder head and injectors this car has been a problem since purchased. The steering while driving locks up and the dtc light comes on says power steering driving gets hard to steer. I have done research on the steering system there's a lot on Chevy's out on the market that needs to be a recall back on the steering system the name of the unit is call jtekt pwr.str. Asst.

- Houston, TX, USA

problem #166

Jan 052010

Cobalt

  • 38,500 miles
Loss of power steering with a 2007 Chevy Cobalt. The car has to be turned off then back on for the power steering to work again. The failure occurred about once within a week to 3 times a day. I contacted GM's customer service to check on any service recalls and a warranty extension. Since the issue was becoming very dangerous, I had to get the vehicle fixed immediately. The vehicle was taken into the dealership. I was told it was not covered under the warranty because the mileage on my vehicle was at 39,000. The bumper to bumper warranty is 3 yrs, 36,000 miles. The power steering column and power steering assembly motor had to be replaced.

- Fort Sam Houston, TX, USA

problem #165

Jan 102010

Cobalt

  • 29,800 miles
The contact owns a 2007 Chevrolet Cobalt. While driving approximately 35 mph and making a left turn, the steering failed which caused the contact to crash into a curb and a telephone pole. The vehicle was damaged; however, there were no injuries. The vehicle was towed to the dealer. The dealer does not want to diagnose the vehicle since they do not think that the steering was related to the failure. The contact called GM and was advised that someone would return her call. The failure mileage was 29,800.

- Bellevue, KY, USA

problem #164

Nov 272009

Cobalt

  • 63,000 miles
I have had several instances where the power steering goes out and becomes very difficult for me a 250lb male to turn or control it even jumps around on its own, in my 2007 Chevy Cobalt. I have found this to be happening to people everywhere from post on the internet. I am concerned for the safety and well being of all driver's and passengers in a vehicle that has Chevrolet electric power steering as well as the vehicles around them. If it hasn't yet it will cost lives if this problem does not get resolved. My wife originally discovered the issue when she hit the ditch at 35mph, we are thankful that the wheel jerked to the right (ditch) instead of to the left (semi).

- Ozark, MO, USA

problem #163

Jan 032010

Cobalt

  • 57,000 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

The contact owns a 2007 Chevrolet Cobalt. While driving 65 mph the power steering light illuminated and then the steering wheel locked. She was able to drive onto the emergency lane turn the vehicle off. Within a few seconds she started the vehicle and the failure recurred after driving 20 miles. The vehicle was taken to the dealer and they stated that since the vehicle was 3 years old the warranty was no longer valid for the steering. The vehicle has not been repaired. The failure has occurred twice. The failure mileage was 57000 and the current mileage was 58075.

- Paison, AZ, USA

problem #162

Jan 172010

Cobalt

  • 63,000 miles
Power steering light comes on and steering goes out.

- Foster, WV, USA

problem #161

Dec 132009

Cobalt

  • 49,000 miles
Intermittent failure of power steering while driving a 2007 Chevy Cobalt with only 49000 miles on it. To fix it temporarily you restart the engine, but will turn off again a few miles later. To fix it you have to replace the power steering motor which requires replacing the entire steering column.

- El Paso, TX, USA

problem #160

Jan 142010

Cobalt

  • 67,000 miles
My husband and I have a 2007 Chevy Cobalt ltz, for about three weeks we had been noticing vibrations in the steering. Also when braking the steering would shake. During that time we got a letter from our dealership about the side airbags. They said that they had sold it as if it had side airbags, but it didn't have any.on our way up there to the dealership we began to experience tightness in the steering just as we started on the interstate. We had not gone very far when our Cobalt began to fish tail and my husband was unable to control the car and we then went into two 360S and began to roll according to witnesses we rolled 4 or 5 times before the car rested on the right side. Also front airbags did not come out. It felt as if the car had no power steering at all.

- Crystal Springs, MS, USA

problem #159

Oct 282009

Cobalt

  • 300 miles
Within a month of purchasing a new 2007 Chevy Cobalt - I began hearing rattling noises from my vehicle. I have had the car in for repairs numerous times. Multiple components have been replaced and or repaired. I currently have 15,000 miles on the vehicle - to this day I can still hear rattling noises and clunking noise coming from the steering-suspension. The mechanics have now told me they don't know what's wrong and suggested I try a different dealership. I have contacted Chevy and received no help in settling this issue. If Chevy would of had their return policy when I purchased - I would of gladly returned the vehicle - I make car payments on a lemon. I don't even like my daughter to ride in the vehicle for fear of her safety. I fear I will be driving down the road the front end will fall apart. It scares me to death.

- Hickory, NC, USA

problem #158

Jan 152010

Cobalt

  • 50,500 miles
I was driving home and went to take a right turn when the steering wheel locked. It was very difficult to turn and I went into the opposite lane. Luckily, there were no cars in the other lane. I managed to pull over and restart the car. The steering worked long enough to get me back home. This is a very dangerous defect and needs to be recalled.

- Summerville, SC, USA

problem #157

Jul 102009

Cobalt

  • miles
Bought 2007 Chevy Cobalt used from a local car dealer last March, went on a family trip to the smoky mountains and while going through the mountains power steering goes completely out. Stopped at the visitor center and my father tries to see what is wrong. He cant find the power steering pump/fluid because we didn't know it was electronic. The problem persisted through out the trip but as we got back the problem seemed to stop, then a few weeks later the power steering constantly goes out. This problem occurs every time I drive my car, it has made driving an annoying task and I have come close to multiple collisions during the failure. This has also caused me physical pain in both my wrist and elbow while trying to turn my car. Nothing has been done to correct this due to lack of finance and my research on the topic said it costs around $4000 to correct.

- Fort Worth, TX, USA

problem #156

Dec 092009

Cobalt

  • 41,000 miles
We bought a new 2007 Cobalt and now at 43,000 miles only 7,000 miles past warranty the power steering goes out you can shut car off and restart and it fixes the problem for a short period of time but this is a ongoing issue with other Cobalts we have contacted GM and they are unwilling to fix it so that's why we are here.

- Ottawa, KS, USA

problem #155

Jul 012008

Cobalt

  • miles
Power steering on 2007 Chevrolet Cobalt goes out constantly. Its on when you first start the car, but then goes off after a mile or so of driving. Power steering motor was changed twice, and it worked for about 2 weeks, then went right back to the old way.

- Norman, OK, USA

problem #154

Jan 072010

Cobalt

  • 30,355 miles
When making a U-turn the steering turns by itself to the steering lock about 1/2 turn before hitting the stop. It happens both directions but not when doing this in reverse gear. It becomes hard to correct until the steering wheel is turned about 1 turn back towards center. It almost feels like the wheels are going past center and that is why it is hard to correct. It is in the dealer for this problem.

- Tucson, AZ, USA

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