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CarComplaints.com Notes: The 2006 Cobalt continued to carry the torch first lit by the 2005 model year. To be clear, that torch is burning bright with widespread power steering issues, electrical curiosities and a dangerous ignition switch defect which led to a massive recall by GM. This isn’t a great torch to carry.

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.

Between this car stalling while driving, giving owners fits with power steering failure and having it be a potential tinderbox because of gas leaks, we felt we had no other option than to award it our “Avoid Like the Plague” badge.

10.0

really awful
Crashes / Fires:
70 / 4
Injuries / Deaths:
129 / 3
Average Mileage:
64,228 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.

2006 Chevrolet Cobalt steering problems

steering problem

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2006 Chevrolet Cobalt Owner Comments (Page 56 of 62)

« Read the previous 20 complaints

problem #130

Jul 172009

Cobalt

  • 69,400 miles

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

Power steering comes on and off in my car. Stays off mostly when driving it but comes back on for a brief minute after restarting the engine before going back off again. I have filed a complaint to GM corporation who did nothing about the problem despite it being a safety issue. There is a service bulletin active from GM about the steering issue as I was shown by another mechanic.

- Winter Haven, FL, USA

problem #129

Jul 262009

Cobalt

  • 38,956 miles
I have a 2006 Chevy Cobalt that is under 40000 miles. The power steering message comes on and the I lose control of the vehicle not being able to turn the wheel. This does not happen while I am at a stop it happens while I am driving in traffic. When I turn the car off it will work fine for a while and then I lose the power steering again. I took it to the mechanic and they said that they couldn't find anything wrong, but as soon I had left it started it again. I went back to the mechanic and they said that I need to replace the steering column and that will cost over $700. I have only had this car for 3 years and have kept up on all routine maintenance. This is ?!@#$%!!! I looked online and there are numerous people who have had the same complaints about this car. And as usual my warranty was just expired. This car is dangerous and I can no longer feel safe driving on the road.

- Winter Springs, FL, USA

problem #128

Jul 252009

Cobalt

  • 72,000 miles
Power steering warning light comes on while driving, power steering immediately stops working, once you turn the car off it resets but no more then 5 minutes and it fails again! I luckily have not had an accident yet while this occurs but there is definitely potential for one, I brought the car to the dealer and they want to charge me over 800 dollars to replace the steering column, which I've heard is not the problem.

- Lancaster , CA, USA

problem #127

Mar 102008

Cobalt

  • 62,000 miles

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

Well my power steering worked for a while when I bought it, but one day I was getting on the interstate and all of a sudden my power steering icon came on and it got very hard to steer so I pull over and turn the car off turn it back on and it worked fine. A few days pass and it happens again so I turn it off and bout 30 minutes later it happens again. Now my power steering only works bout 4 seconds long enough for me to restart my car to make a U-turn.

- Cleveland , TN, USA

problem #126

Jul 162008

Cobalt

  • 53,000 miles
I own a 2006 Chevy Cobalt lt. It runs off of a electronic power steering system which differs from the typical hydraulic power steering fluid system. Every time I start the car then rotate the steering wheel to back out of my drive way my power steering shuts down. The first time it happened I was driving down the interstate to orlando and it locked up. This problem can be fatal if someone who is driving is not prepared or cannot drive a car without power steering. I have read thousands upon thousand of Chevy Cobalt drivers having this same issues and all General Motors is telling us to do is take it to a dealership which then gets followed up by a nice $2000+ bill. If this problem does not get corrected I am almost certain that deaths could result from this problem. Going down the road and power steering locks up with a turn coming up means a horrific car accident will ensue not only for the driver of the impaired vehicle but others on the road as well. I am awaiting a reply back from an attorney im speaking with this concerning any lemon law issues in the state of Florida and I would hope that the NHTSA is looking into this matter. I know I am not the only one with this issue and it appears in Saturn ions as well. The problem seems to occur from vehicles years from 2005-2007 the most as I have not fully looked into the 2008's yet. NHTSA please assist us!!! I do not want to be one or see a motorist on the road lose power steering a life gets lost due to the power steering failing.

- Jacksonville, FL, USA

problem #125

Jun 282009

Cobalt

  • 74,291 miles
The contact owns a 2006 Chevrolet Cobalt. While driving at any speed, the contact noticed that the power steering failed. The vehicle has not been diagnosed by the dealer. The current and failure mileages were 74,291.

- Houston, TX, USA

problem #124

Jul 012009

Cobalt

  • 72,000 miles

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

I have an 06 Chevy Cobalt that I purchased in November of 2006. Recently the power steering has been going out while I'm driving down the road. The only way to make it stop is to stop the car and turn it off. It has done it several times in the past two weeks and is very dangerous. I have read several other cases with the same issues and this should be a recall.

- Charlestown, IN, USA

problem #123

Jun 222009

Cobalt

  • 33,037 miles
I was driving my car back home when the power steering failed(almost crashed). I was able to drive but the car was very hard to steer. I got the car diagnosed and the steering column got replaced.

- Chula Vista, CA, USA

problem #122

Jul 052009

Cobalt

  • 70,300 miles
I was driving my 2006 Cobalt on 95 South and I experienced loss of power steering which made the steering wheel locked up and become extremely difficult to do anything with. Within a week of the first incident this started to happen every couple of miles and the only way to regain the power steering is to pull off to the side of the road and restart the car. It got so bad within a week it was very dangerous to drive and I could not even pull out of my apartment complex without loosing the power steering and started to occur every couple of miles I drove the car. From the first time I experienced power steering loss until a got it fixed was about one week long and this happened at least 20 or more times. I took it to the Chevy dealership and they said I needed to replace the steering column because there was a internal short in column motor module and have a four wheel alignment which cost me $966.95 to fix and I had to pay the money to fix the problem because the car was way to dangerous to drive with out fixing this problem. I travel on major highways with my job and this dangerous safety defect left me in almost serious accidents and I was pulled over on the interstate 95, pa turnpike, 76, and 495 in Delaware state dealing with this hazard. This problem is a serious safety danger not only to me but every other person on the highway which is not fair to them.

- Wilmington, DE, USA

problem #121

Jul 202009

Cobalt

  • 4,800 miles
I have a 2006 Chevy Cobalt 2.4L ss and the power steering system went out on me at 48K miles. I have read many complaints about this same problem continuing with 2005 and 2006 Cobalts. I feel completely unsafe driving my car and refuse to pay for a repair that GM knows is a problem.

- Lakewood, CO, USA

problem #120

Jul 072009

Cobalt

  • 38,099 miles

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

Power steering fails about 2 times per week. Steering becomes very hard to steer and car looses power. Failure has not as yet been corrected. If you turn car off and let it sit for awhile it returns to normal until next occurrence.

- Fortville, IN, USA

problem #119

Jul 212009

Cobalt

  • 38,000 miles
The contact owns a 2006 Chevrolet Cobalt. Whenever the contact would drive at any speed, the vehicle would lose power steering ability. When the vehicle was restarted, the power steering would resume normal operation. The vehicle has not been diagnosed by the dealer. The current and failure mileages were 38,000.

- Louisville, KY, USA

problem #118

Jul 222009

Cobalt

  • 93,000 miles
I was driving on the highway and my power steering went out. I had no control of the wheel and felt my life was in danger. So I pulled on the side of the road and cut the car off and the problem went away for a minute and came back within 5 min. Can you please help me!!!

- Oglethorpe, GA, USA

problem #117

Jul 142009

Cobalt

  • 53,000 miles
The power steering light on my 2006 Cobalt came on randomly. There was nothing to lead up to the incident. Then later the light had disappeared for a week, until it came up again. This time I received the light warning as well as losing my power steering. It is not constant, but is becoming a more common thing. I have not fixed the problem yet because the dealer can not figure out what the problem is with regular diagnostic testing, and I will not fork out the money to have the dig further into the car. I am looking on fixing the problem myself, but still do not know what the problem may be. I do not want to buy a used item and have the same problem happen. I have been reading up on this problem and it seems to be a pretty common thing with the Chevy Cobalt's and Pontiac G5's. what I would like to do is find an oem part with a warranty, put that is also hard because I don't know if there is a new aftermarket oem part that has been changed so that this problem does not occur again.

- Woodbury, MN, USA

problem #116

Jan 012009

Cobalt

  • 50,000 miles
After reaching 50,000 miles on my 2006 Chevy Cobalt, the power steering became faulty. It will work for the first 30 seconds of turning the car on, and then it will stop. It happens every time the car comes on. I took it to the dealer and they told me it would cost about $1,100 dollars to fix.

- Ames, IA, USA

problem #115

Jul 102008

Cobalt

  • 50,000 miles
The contact owns a 2006 Chevrolet Cobalt. The contact stated that the power steering continued to fail. It was very difficult to move the steering wheel shaft. The vehicle was taken to the dealer and they stated that there may have been a misread in the computer. The failure could not be duplicated. On a separate occasion, the power steering failed again. The contact turned off and restarted the vehicle in order to correct the failure. Later, the power steering failed completely. The VIN was unknown. The current and failure mileages were less than 50,000.

- Corpus Christie, TX, USA

problem #114

May 152009

Cobalt

  • 42,000 miles
My 2006 Chevy Cobalt's power steering went out around the 42,000 mark.

- Garland, TX, USA

problem #113

Jun 152000

Cobalt

  • miles
Steering wheel get stuck was repaired in the same year purchased in 08 now the same problem service said it will cost 1,000 dollars I can not afford to repair it now what do I do? the same problem 2 times is there a defect in the part.

- Miami, FL, USA

problem #112

Jul 172009

Cobalt

  • 37,000 miles
The power steering goes out at random intervals on my 2006 Chevy Cobalt. This has nearly led to several accidents.

- Munford, TN, USA

problem #111

Jun 302009

Cobalt

  • 82,500 miles
Driving down the highway and my power steering went out going 70 mph in a 2006 Chevy Cobalt, pulled off onto ramp turned car off worked fine for 1/2 mile and went out again. Made it to a shop and had the steering column replaced and I still have the old part.

- Paola, KS, USA

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