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.
While driving at 35 mph, heard beeping and message on dic read"power steering". pulled to the shoulder and restarted the car. No message was displayed after restarting the car, but problem remains. Car will lose power steering now more frequently, at least 5 times during a 45 minute ride. Have to keep pulling over to restart the car to fix the problem. Car is 3 years old with about 85,200. Have not repaired it yet, car not under warranty.
The contact owns a 2006 Chevrolet Cobalt. While driving approximately 30 mph on wet road conditions, the contact heard a loud noise underneath the vehicle. Immediately, the vehicle spun out of control several times before skidding off the road surface into a wooded area. The failure occurred without warning. The police department and roadside assistance were called to the scene and a police report was filed. The driver sustained minor facial injuries. The vehicle was towed to an authorized dealer for inspection, but the cause of the failure has not yet been determined. The manufacturer engineers are investigating the vehicle. The failure and current mileages were unknown. Updated 05/11/09. The lower control arm was replaced. Updated 05/11/09.
The contact owns a 2006 Chevrolet Cobalt. While driving at any speed, the power steering locks up. The dealer stated that it was a common failure with the Chevrolet Cobalt. The contact stated that the failure was guaranteed to occur when the vehicle was at 50,000 miles and out of warranty. A report was filed with the manufacturer and they stated that there was no recall. The vehicle has not been repaired. The current and failure mileages were 63,000.
- Oklahoma , OK, USA
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Starting in October 2007, I have had ongoing power steering problems with my 2006 Chevy Cobalt. Without warning, the power steering will suddenly quit while the transmission will start jumping. The car becomes unable to drive. This will happen while driving. The problem will occur and then go back to normal a short time later. I have brought my car into the dealer four times now concerning this issue. I have been told that they don't know what to do. I am not the only one experiencing this problem. After doing some research, I have found that this happens to be a very common problem with the Cobalt. There is currently an online petition to have the Chevy Cobalt recalled. This is a huge safety issue!!! I am afraid to drive my car. Something needs to be done before someone is killed.
The contact owns a 2006 Chevrolet Cobalt. While driving 20 mph, the contact noticed smoke coming from the hood of the vehicle. He pulled over and turned off the vehicle. The vehicle was diagnosed and it was discovered that the serpentine belt failed and caused the engine to lock. The vehicle was taken to the dealer and repaired under warranty. In addition, the power steering failed twice and is currently being repaired. The failure and current mileages were 44,000.
I have a 2006 Cobalt ss/SC with 60K miles. I will start the car and powersteering will be fine. Then I drive about 5 min and power steering pops up on my dic and powersteering goes out. Dealer wants a grand to fix. I think its pathetic GM doesn't recall this problem. If my problem doesn't get resolved I will never buy a GM car again. People wonder why we buy foreign cars. This is absolutely ridiculous!
The contact owns a 2006 Chevrolet Cobalt. The contact stated that the power steering fails while driving various speeds. The steering wheel becomes locked and he must use excessive force to pull over to the side of the road. The contact turns off the vehicle and then restarts it minutes later. The vehicle was taken to the dealer and they stated that a part in the steering column was faulty and needed to be repaired. The contact stated that he would repair it eventually. The failure mileage was 52,000.
The contact owns a 2006 Chevrolet Cobalt. The contact stated that the power steering indicator illuminates while driving various speeds, and then the vehicle loses power. The vehicle nearly forces him off the road and he loses control of the steering wheel. A mechanic stated that the entire power steering needed to be replaced and the motor sensor was burnt. The dealer has not been notified. The VIN was unknown. The failure mileage was 50,000.
2006 Cobalt lt. I've had this car only a year and a half. The power steering indicator keeps coming on and the steering goes off while driving down the road. I'm afraid it's going cause my wife to wreck. I seen on the internet where there were several hundred complaints for the same problem. It needs to be recalled before someone gets killed.
While driving the car on a 3 hour trip the power steering went out and the car was very hard to handle and turning a corner was very difficult. It happened several times over one weekend. First thing on Monday I took the car in to be checked and was told the electronic steering motor/module needed to be replaced at an expense of $858.23. No old part was able to be used and the part had to come directly from the manufacturer.
When driving my car the power steering message comes on my dash with a beep. And then all power steering is lost in the car. Once the car is turned off and re started the power steering message goes off and the power steering works fine until the buzzer goes off again. If you press the button the power steering message will disappear but there is still no power steering. There does not seem to be any variables as to what causes this you can be going 70 mph or 20. It can go off 10 minutes into the drive or 45 minutes into it. I have taken to a local shop they feel there is a short in the dash. They have referred me to take back to the dealer and to contact your site. The dealer is going to do a diagnostic on the car Tuesday Mar 12, 2009. My car is a Chevy Cobalt 2006 with 40 000 miles on it. I was informed that there are many service bulletins on this car and that for such a new car a problem of this type and large repair cost is extremely abnormal and the safety issues of the sudden loss of all power steering is a great concern.
Sunday, March 8 starting car in parking lot and began to drive but the power steering failure displayed. This is a 2006 Cobalt and should not experience something like this so soon. I've read numerous complaints about the same thing. What is being done about it!"! warranty or no warranty, repair of this should be on the hands of Chevrolet, not me. Where on earth has quality gone and ownership of your work ethic. Who cares about putting the latest and greatest vehicle on the road" how about thinking about the person driving the car! thank goodness there wasn't an accident 5 minutes before the parking lot because the car was on the interstate on a busy weekend.
On this particular day I was driving North on I55, from joliet to Chicago, without any previous warning while driving about 65mph. The "power steering" warning flashed on the dash and simultaneously the steering wheel became extremely hard. Luckily I managed to gather enough strength and safely steer the vehicle to the closet off ramp. I turned the vehicle off and it was fine again until I was on my way back home and the same thing happened. I took the vehicle in for service but it is under no warranty. After doing some research I see that this is a frequent and extremely dangerous problem. I checked with the dealer but they say no recall is in effect. However, I certainly think that there should be this could result in fatalities. This is a giant problem that shows up without any warning.
I purchased a 2006 Chevrolet Cobalt on 10/06/2007 the car was a prior corporate lease vehicle, with an impeccable car fax history detailing its service records. I did not start having any problems with the steering until approximately 1 month ago and it was intermittent power steering loss. It has now progressed to the point where there is only power steering for the first minute the car is running. I did a little research and contacted a service writer that I know and trust at a large Chevrolet dealership here in Kansas City and he mentioned that he wrote replacement orders for 20 of the steering columns himself within the last year. I took the car in and they did a diagnostic check and sure enough the column needs to be replaced. I feel that a car with under 75000 miles should not have this type of a failure, so I contacted GM and was told the best they would do is 15% discount on the total repair which is $760 plus tax, I feel this is a major slap in the face for a 30 year + Chevrolet customer, not to mention the fact that my daughter is driving this car with my grandkids and it is not safe. I do not have the means at this time to afford this repair. This should have been a recall on GM's part a year ago, the person I spoke to at GM denied that this was a wide spread problem, but obviously after what I've found on this site as well as numerous others, I beg to differ. Please help!!! thank you
I have a 2006 Chevy Cobalt, I have had this occur 2 times. While driving the electronic steering that is used in this car malfunctioned and the whole steering wheel locked up and the engine started shutting down. This is a dangerous situation because this has happened twice to me while driving, the first time I took it to the dealer they failed to properly fix the vehicle and stated the replaced a computer chip. Four months later this happened again. This final time they had to replace the whole steering column. If this were to happen while driving on the expressway going over 55mph this would have been a life threatening situation. This defect could kill innocent people along with the driver and any passengers as kids in the car. I have had the steering column replaced, however I am doubtful that this issue won't happen again due to the fact the electronic system in the car may be defected.
Our 2006 Chevrolet Cobalt loses it's power steering. At first it is only intermittent, now it loses power steering within about a minute of turning it on. It makes it harder to steer. We have not done anything to correct the failure because the solution to fix it is to replace the steering column and we can't afford it.
I just bought a 2006 Chevy Cobalt ss last year and have only put 15000 miles on it and the power steering went out last night while I was going 70mph on the freeway! I researched to see if anyone else is having this problem with Cobalts and found site after site of thousands of people! this needs to be recalled before it kills someone!
The contact owns a 2006 Chevrolet Cobalt. While driving less than 65 mph, the power steering warning indicator illuminated on the instrument panel. Within seconds, the steering wheel locked and could not be turned in any direction. The dealer performed a diagnostic and discovered that the power steering column needed to be replaced at an estimated cost of $547. The VIN that was provided was not accepted by the system. The failure and current mileages were less than 73,000. Updated 03-06-09 updated 03/09/09.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Ocala, FL, USA