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.
The contact owns a 2005 Chevrolet Cobalt. The contact stated that the vehicle was included in NHTSA campaign id number: 10V073000 (steering:electric power assist system). The vehicle had the recall repairs performed but continued to experience a loss of power steering. The vehicle was taken to the dealer multiple times where the technician was unable to duplicate or diagnose the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 67,000.
My 2005 Chevy Cobalt has been having some issues with a knocking sound while driving. Almost sounds as if something was loose and hitting something else is the only way I know to describe it. People who have drove in my car thought it was bad shocks or struts, but those have been checked and working fine. It makes the noise while driving, hitting normal bumps in the road, etc. I had a mechanic look at it and he replaced some lower arm bushings in the front end. But that did not fix the problem. He looked at a service bulletin and narrowed my problem down to two things. One being the electric motor in the steering column. This part was supposedly replaced by my local dealer when Chevy put out a recall on it. The other part was the steering gear that turns the wheel. He said this could cost up to $500 to replace and didn't want to take a chance and that not be it. I did not have the money to replace it any way. He said he did not see a safety issue driving the car as is for now. But I wanted to report the problem in case others with this vehicle are having the same issues so a recall can be done.
The contact owns a 2005 Chevrolet Cobalt. The contact stated that the vehicle was being driven by another person. The driver lost control of the vehicle. The vehicle rolled over and the driver was ejected from the vehicle, where she was run over by other passing vehicles and fatally injured. The vehicle then caught on fire. The vehicle was destroyed. A police report was filed. In April 2010, the contact received notification of NHTSA campaign id number: 10V073000 (steering:electric power assist system) and believed that the power steering failure caused the driver to lose control of the vehicle. The manufacturer inspected the vehicle and removed the black box for investigation. However, the manufacturer had not notified the contact of any outcome of the investigation. The current and failure mileage was 50,000. The VIN was unavailable.
Power steering light comes on, power steering goes out, all display lights begin going off and on, speedometer needles go crazy, clicking noise in dash, car sputters when stopping and jerks real hard when beginning to resume driving after stopping. All of these things happen at the same time, not always just off and on, never know when its going to happen. Had recall on power steering assist motor, had that replaced at 70,558 miles, starting having same problems again. Had steering column, shaft and link replaced at 73,117 miles. Car seemed ok for about a month and then again at 73,900 miles same problems are happening again. Contacted GM, was told the recall was done so anything else that happens now is my responsibility. Have seen 100's of other comments from Cobalt owners having the same problem with vehicle and GM. There is obviously more of a problem with these vehicles than just the power steering assist motor. Something more should be looked into and done with this issue. It is and or can be a very dangerous problem when occurring (steering going out at anytime) like I've seen on many comments from others, does someone have to die before something is done about this problem? GM states that this vehicle has a 5 star safety rating but yet they don't want to fix a problem as serious as this. I like many others can't afford to keep fixing this problem just to keep having it re-occur. I had to pay out $950 a month ago and like I said before am now having the same problems. I had to borrow money to have the first repairs done and have no way to have it done this time (can't afford it) so now again like I've seen many others comment I have no choice but to drive around in a vehicle that's steering could and will go out at anytime. If there is anything I can do to find out or have done to fix this problem, please let me know. A very concerned and scared driver. Thank you!
With no advanced signs or warning (mileage at 99,930), upon starting the vehicle, the traction control and security light came on. The car's RPM revved up and down and wanted to stall. The fuel gauge jumped back and forth. There was a constant clicking in the gear shift and the steering wheel locked into place where I could not turn it. I shut the car off and restarted three additional times before everything seemed to go back to normal and I was able to drive. The next time this occurred was when mileage was at 99960. After several attempts at stopping and starting the vehicle, the traction control and security warning lights went out and I put the car into gear to drive, only to be practically jerked out of my seat with hard shifting and acting light it wanted to stall when coming to a stop. I drove the car directly to the dealership and the problem continued on the entire drive there. Once the car was shut off, the problem could not be recreated at the dealership and therefore I was sent on my way with no explanation of what might be wrong. The next repeat event occurred 3 weeks later (mileage 100,450) but corrected itself with several off/on of the engine. Next occurrence again at 100,600 with same results. This has not yet happened while driving, but I did ask the dealership about the possibility of this happening and he said if it did, I would easily be able to control the car and pull off the road. Personally, I do not want to experience this while driving 55-65 mph! the dealership said that this could be a costly fix since it is a process of elimination and no guarantees each time whatever they tried would fix it...not much confidence coming from the Chevy dealership mechanic!!
- Haw River, NC, USA
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I took my car to a Chevy dealer for safety recall 10023 after I was driving home from work and I heard beeping and the 'power steering' appeared in the console. Once the power steering light came on, the gears had a slamming sound and the car would only drive 10 mph at max speed. The day I picked it up, the same thing happened a mile away from the dealer but this time I heard the clicking sound the brake will make when you take the car out of park, shook the entire car when the gears shifted, drove only 10 mph and felt like it would stall if I came to a complete stop. I pulled it over in a parking lot and immediately had it towed back to the dealer who, the next day after looking at the car again, told me he could find nothing wrong with the car. Fed up with this dealer, I took it to a local garage to have it inspected, again nothing. I do not feel safe driving this car at all now. I don't understand how there can be so many persistent problems with this car, yet no mechanics can say there is an issue. The power steering light should only come on when there is a serious problem, and for one to not be detected is very frustrating. I have been without a car for nearly 2 weeks now and have gotten no closer to feeling safe with me or my family inside of it.
The contact owns a 2005 Chevrolet Cobalt. The contact was driving approximately 60 mph when the check engine and power steering warning lights illuminated. Within moments, the steering wheel became extremely stiff and difficult to turn. The vehicle was taken directly to an independent repair facility where the battery was disconnected and reconnected. The steering wheel was operating as normal. The failure recurred approximately 5 miles after leaving the dealer. The failure and current mileage was 90,000.
*please note...the incident date is approximate. We have a 2005 Chevrolet Cobalt sedan that was involved in the recall for the power steering motor intermittent power steering failure. We had never had a problem with the steering prior to the recall being performed. After the recall was performed, we began having trouble with intermittent power steering failure - plus additional failures. Upon start-up, we have experienced no power steering, and had to shut the vehicle off and retry numerous times before the power steering returns. In addition to loss of power steering, we have experienced the following electrical problems: Traction control light illuminating random clicking of the brake safety interlock relay / actuator (without touching the brake). Check engine light transmission going into "limp mode"..."slamming" into gear when shifting from park - or improper shifting while driving. Random dash gauge failure random failures of the "driver's information center" - flashing, etc. This was initially happening only upon start-up...but started happening while driving as well - nearly leading to an accident while my wife was driving on a busy urban street. She was fortunately able to drift into the turn lane and come to a stop to avoid a collision and likely serious injury to herself and others, as it was virtually uncontrollable. In addition to the loss of power steering (while driving), the transmission also went into "limp mode", causing very hard shifting and much difficulty in drivability. This has also happened while I was driving the vehicle. I am 6'3", 260lbs., and I was struggling to control the vehicle. I have also been in contact with other Cobalt owners with the exact same set of "symptoms". it is clear that the motor replacement was not sufficient to repair the problem, and - in some cases - may be leading to further problems as in our case. This vehicle is very dangerous!
My power steering will stop working while I drive and I have to physically manipulate the vehicle to a stop and turn off the car and restart it to reset the electirical motor in the power steering.
Chevy dealer replaced power steering assist, since the repair, issue has been recurring. Transmission slips and knocks the car forward, power steering error appears, tachometer and speedometer short out.
I recently purchased used my 2005 Chevy Cobalt and Sunday a week after having the car gave me problems. According to the carfax report the power steering was replaced in April assuming do to the recall. But I got in my car and the power steering read across the mileage area and chimed. Very little noticeable issues do to steering but when I came to a stop light it vibrated really bad and then everytime it shifted(its an automatic) to another gear higher or lower it would act like it had shifting problems. Also when I would come to stops at a light or stop sign it would vibrate really bad to the point where it seemed like it would stale out. It had only stalled once. I just hope someone can resolve this issue because it seems like tons of people are having this issue.
The contact owns a 2005 Chevrolet Cobalt. While driving 75 mph, the power steering failed. The contact pulled to the side of the road and turned the engine off. When she restarted, the power steering reset itself and functioned properly. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer where it was repaired according to recall 10V073000 (steering:electric power assist system). While drivign 35 mph, the power steering failed again and she almost crashed into a pole. The contact called the dealer and schedule another appointment. The manufacturer had not been notified. The failure mileage was approximately 89,000.
The contact owns a 2005 Chevrolet Cobalt. The contact stated that while driving 65 mph, the power steering light flashed on the instrument panel and the steering wheel suddenly locked up. The contact pulled over and turned the vehicle off. The power steering functioned properly after the vehicle was restarted. The vehicle had not been examined or repaired. The failure mileage was unknown.
Chevy today said that their is nothing wrong with my pwr steering yet both myself and my brother test drove it. Now in Aug I had the recall and they fixed it so they claimed in Aug but yet it is doing the same thing only worse this past wk. Amazing how Chevy will try to use the excuse that it is something else other then the pwr steering when the instrument light chiming pwr steering was a [xxx] good indication that it was the steering. Not to mention I could not turn my steering wheel and when I try to accelerate the car would jolt like it was not going into gear. Let me not forget to mention the clicking noise I get underneath the dash near the steering wheel and the clicking in the shifter. Same problem new day and they tell me it's fine. I guess I have to kill someone on the rd for them to do something about the car. You guys need to step in because I am 2 steps away from calling a lawyer and suing everyone that is involved with knowing and not doing anything about it. I surely do not feel like being scraped off the darn hwy or the guilt of killing someone over something that you guys should have taken care of back in 2005 when all this started happening. We need to recall all cars from 05 to 09 and get them off the street and have Chevy reimburse us or give us a safer car. I know it may seem like a lot of money but 1 life being saved makes a difference. I know car dealers have what they call a bean counter and they don't care if 1 or a 12 people die from faulty equipment and you guys can live with that. But to me that is horrible and needs to be stopped immediately....now means now!!!!!!!!! thank you for your time not so happy with how you guys manage safety and the response time. Ignore the parts section or equipment section because I did not know the manufacturer of the pwr motor replaced. I truly do not feel they even replaced it. I think America has been had once again by the car industry. [xxx] information redacted pursuant to the Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).
Well last year I had issues with my 05 Chevy Cobalt power steering unit and it did almost get me killed along with some pedestrians on the side of the road. Luckily no one got hurt. You guys finally recalled the car and I had my unit replaced on August 16 of 2010. However this past Monday October 4th my car did the same thing after the repaired recall was fixed. It would appear that any vehicle from 05 - 09 has this problem and it will never be fully repaired correctly or it can't be. But I think it will take hundreds of more accidents and maybe a few hundred deaths before it is truly dealt with accordingly. I think they just need to take all these vehicles back and scrap them as recyclables because they will never be safe or liable. They were poorly manufactured and I truly do not feel safe in it. However I can not afford a new car so I am stuck with the risk of killing innocent people along with myself. God be with us all as we take our chances and Venture into the valley of death. Keeping these cars on the road, you are killing people. Wake up guys and lets fixed this problem now before more people get killed........I am already for a class action suit against Chevy. I rather do it now before it is too late and others die or get hurt because of a computer controlled device that I think is truly unrepairable.... sorry under equipment I added zf and I-shaft. I did not know the part manufacturer that they installed so ignore that part. All I know is they fixed the so called power steering recall issue thing and it did not fix the problem. Or the repairs will never truly fix this problem and you need to issue a statewide alert to get these vehicles off the road completely before someone gets hurt if not killed. Have some dignity for human life please is all I ask. Thank you!!!
The contact owns a 2005 Chevrolet Cobalt. While driving 65 mph, the steering wheel began to jerk and the power steering failed which caused the vehicle to pull to the side of the road. The failure occurred three times before. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer where the motor sensor, steering column and rack and pinion shaft were replaced. The manufacturer had not been notified. The failure mileage was approximately 54,000.
My Chevy Cobalt just reached the 40,000 mile mark recently and has been presenting a power steering defect. I understand the car operates electrically, however, there has been no warning of a power steering problem. My steering wheel picks and chooses which day it wants to lock up and stop working. The first time the power steering acted up, I was making a left turn. I was terrified because my steering wheel wouldn't turn enough to complete the turn, even by using all my strength. However, my cars problem is occurring more frequently as of lately. This problem could of very well caused my life. Having researched the problem I'm even more terrified seeing as I am beginning to experience these problems. I'm upset and disturbed that this issue has not been recalled. Every time I turn my wheel I'm scared of when it will act up again.
The contact owns a 2005 Chevrolet Cobalt. The contact was traveling between 55-70 mph when the steering wheel and column began to shake abnormally. The dealer informed the contact that the vehicle was not under recall and any repairs would be at her expense. The vehicle was not repaired. The VIN was not available. The current and failure mileage was 92,000.
I own a 2005 Chevy colbalt ls that I purchased two months ago. There was a recall #20110023. I took it to a Chevy dealer and they "fixed" the electric power steering motor. About a month later, I was driving on beverly rd in pittsburgh, 35mph or less, I turned the wheel to the right and tried to turn it back to center but it would not respond, causing me to hit a telephone pole and $6000 worth of damage.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Baltimore, MD, USA