The 2006 added it’s own special flare with gas leaks due to cracks in the “return portion of the modular reservoir assembly.” A recall of 2006 Cobalts was issued to fix the problem, but only to vehicles sold in or current registered in Arizona and Nevada, leaving other owners to pay for repairs themselves.
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.
This vehicle is not safe to drive and was not built right. The manufactures knew for many years that the Chevy Cobalt 2006 would have a leaking gasoline system, and they kept this faulty defect to themselves for many years before bring this issue to the customer. I was driving the vehicle leaking gas for a few years unit the crack was large enough for me to smell it, while not driving, the ignition switch; with the key in it while the car was in park has started the car engine without turning the key. The key wont come out of the ignition switch. The car has turned off on me on the freeway more than 9 times. The car turned off on me going in reverse, couldn't control the brake and steering power to move out of the pole. While driving in the freeway I have had to quickly react; putting my emergency lights on and praying to god a car doesn't hit me, while with the left had side is quickly waving at the vehicles coming from behind to stop. Please help me. I have two children and im tired of being exposed to the dangers of this M defected life threatening vehicle. [xxx] information redacted pursuant to the Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).
The contact owns a 2006 Chevrolet Cobalt. The contact stated that an abnormal chiming noise was heard from the steering wheel area when suddenly, the power steering assist malfunctioned and the steering wheel became difficult to turn. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed that the electric power steering motor was faulty and needed the be replaced. The vehicle was repaired but the defect was not remedied. The manufacturer was notified and no solution was offered. The failure mileage was 45,000.
My electrical issue: I have had my car diagnosed so many times because I could not find the reason why my car RPM keeps going up and down. Than it came down to an electrical issue. Power steering: While I am driving my power steering completely goes out therefore it is causing me not to be able to control the car and have had multiple times where I almost wrecked my car due to this issue. I could be driving and or turning and all of a sudden it just completely goes out causing me not control the car especially when the roads are wet. I saw there was a recall back in 2010 but so many people are having the same issue now that it's 2014...it is not worth having death on their hands I just don't understand why nothing is up to date.
I own a 2006 Chevy Cobalt that yes is involved in the ignition switch recall. Just putting the key in the ignition I am sure helps a bit. But I have been checking the ignition position when I stop at lights and stop signs and a few times the key has slipped a little not enough to bounce it into the off position. But enough that if I did not push it back into position and I hit a bump it would have. However it has not been recalled in the steering column recall. I have for months off and on had a whining noise in the steering wheel and when it does this the car is hard to steer. On the way home from work the other day the steering wheel started to whine when I was turning onto the highway and steering got harder. When I hit the highway the warning light came on and car started to ding at me. I pulled over and turned car off for a minute and turned it back on and car was fine. When I got home I looked to see if there were other Cobalt owners having this issue. And there are hundreds of 2006 owners and even more for 2005 having the issue. That is when I found they were recalling cars for this issue but only 2010 Cobalt's which they had recalled in 2010 for the same issue. But the rest of us are not included in the recall but are having the same problem. There is also another problem with the 2006 Cobalt's front end. I brought my car in a couple months ago because it was making a banging noise in the front end. And found that the lower tie rods and the bearing were bad on both sides of the car. I again hit the internet to see if other owners where having this issue and I found again hundreds of 2006 Cobalt owners where having this same issue. And many of them stated that they contacted Chevy to talk to them about the issue and they were told that it was not a safety issue so therefore Chevy was not going to recall the car and fix the problem it was our issue.
Starting the car and pulling out, the power steering not working, car hesitating when accelerating and then I pull over and shut the car off. I wait a few seconds and start the car again, and its running fine. This started a month or so after our purchase (used) on May 15,2009. The dealer did not have any weekend service. The date above is when we 1st reported for service. But turning the car off/on always fixed the problem. Service dates-10/8/09,10/15/09,8/28/10,5/19/11.3/27/12. Dealer couldn't find any dialogistic problems. I brought the car in & running, on 7/2/13, while running a mechanic drove it, said he knew the problem. Dialogistic showed 2- cost $430. To repair. 2wks. Later, happened again, dialogistic showed 6. estimate $6-$800 plus. Too much to fix it. In the past 3 yrs., four times while driving at 60mph, on hwy., no power steering, gas hesitating, & down shifts to 25+/-while flooring the gas, car bucking, & speedometer bouncing B'twn.30-50. Very freighting and once there was no place to stop.
- Milford, CT, USA
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Yes I was at a friends house then I came back down turned my key and the power steering sign came on I drove it to auto zone I went in to get power steering fluid and I had no place to put the fluid in I looked at M manual and it was not even listed in the book at as a part of my car I asked a specialist at auto zone where does the fluid go they told me my power steering is electrical so I need to go to my closet dealer then I turned it back on and it went away but a reminder it was hot that day so when it cooled off im guessn it went away.
On 9/13/2012 my niece was driving her 2006 Chevy Cobalt. It was a clear night with light traffic. All of a sudden her car veered to the right and crashed into a tree. She died of blunt force trauma to the head. There were no brake marks and the air bags did not deploy which you would have expected with such a violent collision.
After several contacts and attempts to seek assistance from local dealership & GM with the ignition and gear shift problems, both concluded that vehicle VIN number was not part of any current recall. Owner (55 year old) repeated contact due to concerns of mechanical symptoms identical with existing Cobalt recalls. Family was involved in a single vehicle accident at 10:00 am on 3/2/2013. Gear shift and steering simultaneously locked while navigating a corner on local highway. Vehicle crossed centerline, launching over a snow bank and continuing air-born for 30 to 40 yards. Only 1 of the 2 air bags fully deployed. Total loss of vehicle and several ongoing injuries with three occupants of vehicle. (29 year old, 55 year old, and 79 year old) neither the local dealership or GM ever acknowledged vehicle defects. The local dealership had removed the dash cover, console cover, and steering column cover and make some type of adjustments prior to accident. Law enforcement was on scene and no citations were issued. Damage exceeded the value of the vehicle.
These cars are notorious for the electrical steering mechanisms to fail, parts break inside of the steering column making rattling sounds constantly while driving, my master mechanic father couldn't even figure out how to fix it, the stability is wobbly, hard to keep in a strait line while driving. These model year vehicles are terrible and needs to be part of the GM recall pertaining to the electrical steering. Look at any Cobalt complaint forum, its insane, these cars are dangerous and have had nothing but problems since I bought the car.
Randomly the electric power steering goes out, it went out while turning a corner and bounced off a oncoming car in a turn lane, this happens constantly and I just got the car, they want me to pay just to look at it I don't have 200 to look till I hear a large number of other owners are having the same issue.
On 7/05/12 my daughter was in a 2006 Chevy Cobalt that was involved in a major accident. She stated she lost control of the vehicle because the steering would not allow her to steer & regain control of the vehicle. As a result of this the car left the road and flipped several times and landed approximately 25ft into a wooded area. No air bags deployed. Injuries sustained: Loss of consciousness, concussion and several lacerations.
I was driving on the highway, and my Cobalt suddenly lost power steering. I received flashing warning messages for power steering and another one saying "service air bag." I am worried that if I am in an accident, the air bags will not deploy. These two things happened simultaneously.
The contact owns a 2006 Chevrolet Cobalt. The contact stated that while traveling various speeds, the vehicle suddenly stalled. The contact also mentioned that the power steering ocassionally failed. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not contacted about the failure. The failure mileage and VIN was not aviailable.
I purchased my 2006 Cobalt in February of 2007 with mileage of +/- 30000, within the first 2 weeks I had to have the steering column and power steering assist replaced and had to pay for front end alignment caused by the steering a) steering wheel shaking when driving at highway speeds and very violently when breaking and B) the power steering going out. The car now has 107000 miles on it and have had trouble with this same shaking when driving and it being violent when breaking. The dealership states GM is aware but I still have had to redo my front brakes twice (which helps temporarily)..the last time being in June or August of 2013. The shop tells me the problem the first time was the front rotors were sticking and the ground them down smooth. Then the shaking started again. I had to take my car in to have the rotors ground down again and have a serpentine belt replaced. So here I am again 7 months later and will have to do this again because the shaking has started again and is becoming so bad it will have to go to the shop again at my cost for something they know about but will not fix. I have already received a recall letter regarding the ignition problem but am told that the parts are not available and will be informed when they are. This steering/braking problem is serious and I some times fear that either something will break inside the car or I will not be able to hold on to the steering wheel and will wreak. I am afraid to drive my car any distance or speed because I fear it will fail and I see that this has been an ongoing problem since 2007 and people have complained but have received no satisfaction.
Driving down the road and all items on gauge cluster die and come back on over and over again. Security light pops on ABS light comes on air bag light comes on. I lose power steering when this happens and sometime vehicle wont start and my security light pops on. Sometimes nothing in my gauge cluster wont work and all warning lights will appear when driving down the road or as soon as I start my vehicle.
You know when my son bought this car, I know he thought he had the best, this is part of your reviews. New for 2006 are ss sedan and coupe models with normally aspirated engines. These new ss models fit between the lt and ss supercharged models. Their price, power and performance and body work are all toned down from the ss supercharged coupe, but they're sporty cars and possibly the best choice in the lineup, boasting 171-horsepower engines and sports suspensions.this car was suppose to handle good. But now he is dead because of this car. Do you people at chevorlet even know how people feel or what kind of emotion a parent goes through with losing a child and how my life has changed. I will never see him get married, have children. I will never be able to talk to him, feel him, tell him I love him. Yes, I'm hurt. I want you to pay for the mess you have done for my son's life and the life of others. Because you guys hid this mess for years you knew. How many people have too get injured or die. Just look at all the recalls just for this car. Just to think Chevrolet has been the choice of vehicles we have always driven.
When the accident happen, my son and his friend were going to his other friend house to stay. His friend that lived said he was having trouble controlling the steering they ran off the road hitting the side of the road flipping the car, my son was thrown out of the car and was dead on the scene.
The contact owns a 2006 Chevrolet Cobalt. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the front end of the vehicle would shake and become unstable. The contact indicated that repairs to the power steering were performed. No further information was available. The contact also stated that he was unable to remove the ignition key from the ignition switch. The ignition defect was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified. The failure mileage was 90,000.
I was traveling on a 2 lane road that I travel most every day, the road is not busy most times.as I was entering a sharp curve suddenly the car engine quit and next thing I knew I was raking the guardrail on the right side of the road, .damaged the car more than it was worth, this was only the 2nd time the car had done this but I had only owned it about 11/2 yrs.the guardrail saved us from going over a 300 ft.mountain into the river.thankful for that guardrail, but left without anything to drive.
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- Bell, CA, USA