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 daughter was traveling on a straight road when the steering became difficult. The vehicle went from side to side moving from the right of the road to the left of the road while fighting the wheel. She was unable to control the car and her arms gave out and she could not fight it anymore and then the car flipped and ended up on its side after hitting a fence and fence post. The rear airbags did not deploy. This car is very dangerous and people need to come forward with this information. Something has to be done before more people loose their lives. I could have lost my daughter because of a defect for which I have never rec'd a notice.
After running multiple errands around town, I pulled back into my work parking lot and as I was slowing down to stop, I heard a faint 'ding' noise and looked down and my display said "power steering" and then my steering wheel locked up! I was glad to be slowing to stop as the wheel would not turn. I turned off my engine and went inside work. After 10 minutes I came back outside to look at the manual to see where the power steering fluid container was inside the hood and start the car again. The power steering problem was gone. And I popped the hood and did not see a fluid container for the ps. I called the dealer as my car is two years old but I had just purchased it two months ago and had only put on less than 1,500 miles. I scheduled an appointment for me today (one day after the incident). The tech who checked me in, told me that there is no ps fluid container to fill, as it is all motor/electronic driven. He said they would look it over and let me know. I did purchase an extended warranty on this vehicle and the vehicle came with a two year certified used warranty as well. The mechanic said it was the power steering assist motor and that they would be replacing it at no charge as I had the warranty. The paperwork states they put a rebuilt ps assist motor into my 2010 Cobalt. Now after being online and reading multiple years of reviews regarding 2005, 2006 & 2007 Cobalt's, I am wondering where does it end" how many more years worth of cars are having these problems? why has a recall not been done on any of these years cars" I drive my car on long family trips as well as many work trips, which is why I got it in the first place to combat the higher gas prices and get better fuel efficiency. But getting into a crash while I am on the road, if this problem occurs again, negates all of that. Please do something! updated 08/29/12's
I was driving and the check power steering light came on and I was barely able to steer the car. I took it to a Chevy dealership in dickson tn and they told me that yes there is a recall for this problem however my vehicle is not included. I have also contacted the GM hotline but was told the same thing. The vehicle is not under warrant now for that problem and I just purchased it about 2 months ago. Can't let my teenage daughter drive due to fear that failure will result in an accident and that my insurance company would disallow any claim on this vehicle for an accident due to a recall and steering failure. I don't have any choice but to drive this car as it is my primary source of transportation and can't afford to get it fixed. In closing I want to know why if I am having the same problem that others experienced with steering and resulted in a recall for their vehicles why is my car not included? same problem as them, same part but because it was built after the recall I am stuck - help!
The contact owns a 2010 Chevrolet Cobalt. While traveling 10 mph the contact noticed that the power steering had suddenly failed. The vehicle was neither diagnosed nor repaired for the failure. The current and failure mileages were 20,000. The VIN was not available.
I purchased the car on March 12, 2012. Took possession of the car on March 15, 2012. I have not even made my first payment yet. While driving error message on dash displayed " power steering" and warning chime sounded. At that same moment power steering failed. Each time vehicle is started, approx. 100 feet after putting it in drive the warning light displays " power steering", warning chime sounds and again power steering fails. We checked the Chevy site and it states that there is no recall on this vehicle but through research ( after the fact) I see that Chevy Cobalt 2005-2010 were recalled for this very problem in 2010. Through E-mails with a representative of the local Chevy dealer, they stated that they are not aware of any recalls either. This is a safety hazard and I am unable to drive the vehicle and I still owe $13,000 on it.....updated 08-24-12 updated 08/28/12
- Swannanoa, NC, USA
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I bought this car fairly new. At first there were no problems with it. But after a couple thousand miles I started to hear a rattle noise. I have since taken it to the shop 6 + times. They keep sending me around with their bull crap saying its this, its that, when in fact its most likely the steering recall/problem. When they replaced the steering column it stopped, but only to come back after a couple more thousand miles.
The contact owns a 2010 Chevrolet Cobalt. The contact stated that while reversing out a residential garage, the steering wheel fractured. The vehicle was towed to the dealer who diagnosed that both the rack and pinion, the coil and the steering wheel were fractured and would need to be replaced. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure and current mileage was 48,000.
The contact owns a 2010 Chevrolet Cobalt. The contact stated that while attempting to park, the power steering assist failed without warning. The vehicle was towed to the dealer who advised the contact that the power assist was locked by the computer and would need to be reset. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure but did not offer any assistance to the contact. The vehicle was repaired. The VIN was not available. The failure and the current mileage was 17,000.
The contact owns a 2010 Chevrolet Cobalt. The contact stated that while driving 45 mph the power steering stopped functioning. The contact was able to maintain control of the vehicle and stated that the failure occurred intermittently. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who diagnosed that the power steering circuit was defective and needed to be replaced. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure, but offered no assistance since the vehicle was not included in the recall associated with NHTSA campaign id number 10V073000 (steering:electric power assist system). The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 41,320 and the current mileage was 41,400.
The contact owns a 2010 Chevrolet Cobalt. The contact stated that while driving 65 mph, the power steering light illuminated seconds before the power steering seized. The vehicle was then coasted the side of the road where it was turned off and once restarted the vehicle resumed normal operation but the failure recurred shortly thereafter. The dealer was contacted and they stated to the contact that they would have to diagnose the vehicle to determine the cause of the failure. The vehicle was neither diagnosed nor repaired. The failure mileage was 50,000 and the current mileage was 90,000.
Was driving as usual when all of a sudden the wheels started grabbing to the left, I pulled on steering wheel & then I noticed "power steering" light was on. By then the car had crossed one lane I slammed brakes on because I could not control the steering, & car came to rest in turning lane at which time I called on star, & local sheriffs office. When police arrived to help get car out of middle of road, a very large cop I might say, he was astounded at the difficulty he had at turning wheel so we could move car out of road. When cop #2 came up he was the one that told me that they had problems before with these cars. I googled it, then I pulled the power steering fuse out & luckily it reset computer so I could drive it to dealership to get it fixed. Now is next one they install going to be any safer? not from what I have read. Owe way too much on car to trade in now or I will be in the hole. So I am driving scared in a 1 year old car.
I have a new 2010 Cobalt and I now find that there is a problem with the steering, my Cobalt is not part of the power steering assist recall. I started noticing the problem while turning, I seem to loose power steering from time to time and I don't get a warning light. This happens at low speeds as well as at high speeds and when it does happen turning right or left is harder and the steering wheel seems stiff like I say seems like I loose power steering. I had it into the dealer to confirm that it was not part of the recall and they say there mechanics where unable to reproduce the issue so they say there is no problem and they checked the power steering assist and they did not see a problem with it. The tight steering happens on and off and does not seem to follow any pattern. I started noticing this problem at about 15K km. There was a noise in the front end and the GM mechanics says there was a problem with something in the steering column however it did fix the noise but the loss or what seems to be a loss of power steering control still there.
I was taking the bay area blvd exit traveling about 30 mph when I lost control of my power steering. I couldn't get the car to turn right causing me to run over the curb with the left side of my vehicle.
I was turning onto webster St when I suddenly lost my power steering causing me to hit a curb. There was quite a bit of damage done to the right side of my vehicle causing it to be inoperable.
The contact rented a 2010 Chevrolet Cobalt. While driving the contact attempted to turn the steering wheel and it locked. The contact proceeded to loosen the wheel and the axle broke. The vehicle was towed to the rental facility. The contact was not notified whether the vehicle was repaired or not. The manufacturer stated there was a NHTSA recall campaign id number: 10V073000 (steering:electric power assist system) related to the failure, but the vehicle was not a part of the recall. The failure and current mileage was unavailable.
The contact owns a 2010 Chevrolet Cobalt. While driving at any speed, the contact stated that the vehicle was very difficult to steer. The dealer advised the contact that the vehicle was operating as designed. The manufacturer had not been notified of the failure. No repairs were performed. The current mileage is 13,000 and the failure mileage was 12,000. Updated 8/29/11 updated 09/21/11
The contact owns a 2010 Chevrolet Cobalt. The contact stated that when driving at any speed, the vehicle would pull to the left. The failure recurred whenever the vehicle was driven. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer six times where the contact was advised that the failure was caused by torque steer and there was no solution. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact called the manufacturer and made them aware of the failure. A complaint was filed but no other assistance was offered. The current mileage was approximately 6,400 and the failure mileage was 55.
On the morning of February 20th, I was driving back to my boyfriends house from work. I got off around 7:30 am so it was around 8 am when I reached the exit for his house. I slowed the car to take the exit ramp to 40 mph with my foot still on the brake. The car then veered hard to the right and I tried to straighten out the wheel as I let off the brakes. Instead the car veered to the left and I started to hydroplane. I lost complete control of the car and began to spin. My steering wheel then locked up. As I was spinning, the right side of my car struck a light reflector pole and shattered my back passenger window in the pain and dented the car and removed paint. It also messed up my back alignment. For the first few minutes my car would not even start back up and the brakes were locked in place. I then had the car towed to my home dealership to be inspected. After inspecting the car, they said that no codes for power steering had popped up, yet they did not actually drive the car to see how it drove. Therefore, I had to pay out of pocket at a different dealership to have my car fixed.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Lewisburg, TN, USA