CarComplaints.com Notes: The Cobalt was introduced to replace two of Chevy’s smaller cars, the Cavalier and Prizm. But the compact’s fresh start that Chevy was hoping for was riddled with issues, most notably widespread power steering failure.
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 car is a 2005 Cobalt Chevrolet. Twice in 3 months a hear a chime and the steering goes from automatic to manual and puts me in harms way while driving. I have to turn the car off and then on again to fix the problem. The problem scared me today while driving 65 mph on I95 while raining. The steering went out and I had to manually control my vehicle and almost crashed before I was able to pull over. I contacted Chevy customer service the week before and they said it is a problem and a recall notice will be sent to me soon. Please help because I really don't want to crash and Chevy said it may be a while before I get my recall notice and they know how to fix it.
Two an a half years ago my vehicle started to just turn off randomly while driving, it started about every 4-5 months then about a year ago it started happening about twice a month. I brought my vehicle to the shop and they stated that the problem was the fuel pump. It was replaced since then. I have not had a problem with the vehicle turning off in the middle of me driving. Now February 6, 2010 I was driving and the power steering randomly went out. Sometimes if I turn my car off and restart it will have power steering again sometimes it does not help. This has been occurring for 2 days now and it happened yesterday 3 times and today 3 times. I was driving through the mountains and almost caused a couple of collisions because of this. I plan on going to the shop tomorrow and I will keep any parts they replace.
The contact owns a 2005 Chevrolet Cobalt. While driving approximately 70 mph with the cruise control activated, the vehicle suddenly flipped over three times. The weather conditions were dry. Due to shock, all the contact could remember was climbing out of the vehicle. She was informed by witnesses at the scene that the vehicle was traveling at a high speed and flipped over while exiting off of the freeway. The contact sustained a fractured vertebrae, internal bruising, and a cracked tailbone. A police report was filed. A couple of months prior to the failure, the contact stated that the power steering was difficult to maneuver and the warning indicator was illuminated. The vehicle was not serviced at that time. The contact had previously taken the vehicle to get a rod inspected, which was located between the brake and the steering. She was informed that it was not a serious issue at that time. The current and failure mileages were 60,000.
I was driving at about 20 mph after stopping at a red light when my car shut off, my dashboard lights went blank. I was able to restart my car and it has happened since. Today while driving at 65 mph on the interstate, my car started to shake badly and I almost lost control. I tried to brake but it made the shaking worse. The car felt like it had lost power. I was able to pull over. I thought at first maybe a flat tire but no. As quickly as it happened it went away. I am very unhappy about this and had problems with GM cars before. You would think I would have learned my lesson and went with a Honda or Toyota.
Washed car in parking lot, parked car in car port over night. Approximately 18 hours later after starting the engine attempted to pull out of the car port and the car felt stuck, I got out to make sure nothing was blocking the wheels; tried driving the car again with greater acceleration--was able to move car but the right rear wheel was locked and made skid marks and sounds for about 15 feet, the wheel would not unlock, tried putting the car in reverse, the wheel remained locked, then tried accelerated and braking hard, the wheel would not unlock. Called Chevrolet roadside assistance they sent a flatbed truck to take to dealer, the tow truck driver had the same problem, at my home and at the dealer; left Cobalt in the service drive overnight; next day when service drove the vehicle into service it operated normally. Dealers service dept was unable to duplicate the problem--I am concerned about this happening when I am not home or I am driving. 2005 Chevrolet Cobalt ls.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Belcamp, MD, USA