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.
Last year a bought a 2007 Chevy Cobalt for my daughter who had just turned 17. The car rode smoothly and I was impressed with the overall handling. This unfortunately only lasted for 9 months. My daughter was driving home from work at 1230am on Sunday night only to call me hysterical that the steering got hard all of a sudden. I told her to calm down and pull over and I would be there as quickly as I could. Well after explaining to an officer that stopped me for speeding, the officer and I both got to my daughter and sure enough, the power steering did fail on her. I proceeded to drive the car home carefully, and ever since then the steering has been an ongoing problem. I can't unload the car cause I owe $9000 on it. So now I'm researching to replace what I need to replace on this piece of junk. I do hear a click under the dash right when the steering gives out, so I'm replacing both the power steering control module and the assist motor. Here's hoping this solves the problem. To GM, I am never, ever buying another vehicle made by you again!! may you mercilessly go out of business once and for all. We could use another domestic car maker to replace your incompetence.
Power steering indicator light came on while I was out and about running errands (at least 3 times). Fortunately, I was able to pull over, stop and start again. It would run fine for a short while and the light would come on again. I also experienced a great deal of trouble 7/17/09 with the key getting stuck in the ignition and it not turning. I have recently spent $1,600 plus to repair/replace the cylinder head gasket.
2007 Cobalt lt with 40,000 miles on it--two weeks ago I was driving it when the warning light flashed power steering and 2 seconds later there was no power steering--fortunately I was in a parking lot so I pulled over turned it off and went inside to complete my business (including buying some power steering fluid-what a waste F money that was) when I started it up again it was fine and it drove just fine --very limited use though. The exact same thing happened 8 days later. So I took it to dealer for routing maintenance and to have it checked. They said the electric steering was bad and that I would have to replace the entire steering column for $800 (this did not include the $100 they charged to tell me this) per a bulletin put out by Chevrolet. I took the car and contacted Chevrolet about it. In the mean time my nineteen year old nice borrowed the car and it happened to her as she was driving on the highway at 70 miles per hour--luckily she was able to get to the side of the road without incident. I bought this car for my 76 year old mother and fortunately it has not happened to her because she would not be able to control it. So basically she has a car right now that she can not use.
- Robinson, IL, USA
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Power steering on my Chevy Cobalt went out in the middle of the highway, almost causing me to have a wreck. Hundreds of other people have reported this problem all over the internet. This needs to be addressed.
I own a 2007 Chevrolet Cobalt and the power steering system intermittently fails at no particular time leaving the car without power steering at any moment. This happened to my daughter today and fortunately she was able to pull over to have the car towed without incident. I researched this online and found a website within 5 minutes which has 387 exact complaints and they describe everything from no accident to being towed and unfortunately some collisions. I am paying to have it repaired as there is no recall for this defective motor. It is a new type of electric steering assist and not the traditional hydraulic assist type. This needs to be recalled before someone gets hurt.
Power steering failure. Power steering goes out abruptly while driving in normal driving conditions. After turning car off and back on, power steering is restored but will abruptly go out again at random, sometimes it gives out 4 or 5 times within a single driving trip ranging from 4 to 10 miles. I am currently in the process of replacing the steering control module, and power assist motor hoping that fixes the problem.
The contact owns a 2007 Chevrolet Cobalt. The contact stated that the steering has become loose several times while the vehicle was in motion. While driving 70 mph, the contact lost control of the steering and a power steering failure indicator illuminated on the instrument panel. The contact was able to safely maneuver the vehicle to her destination. The vehicle was taken to the dealer and they determined that the steering wheel column failed. The vehicle was repaired. The contact is in the process of notifying the manufacturer. The failure mileage was 9,801 and current mileage was 21,304.
The contact owns a 2007 Chevrolet Cobalt. While driving 15 mph, the contact noticed that the power steering light illuminated on the instrument panel. He lost complete steering functionality. The vehicle then jerked to the left and the steering column became very stiff. The contact was able to safely maneuver the vehicle to his destination. The vehicle was taken to the dealer and they stated that the power steering motor failed. The vehicle was repaired at the cost of $1,000. The manufacturer stated that because the vehicle was not included in a recall, no compensation would be provided. The failure mileage was 20,000 and current mileage was 44,000.
-the contact owns a 2007 Chevrolet Cobalt. While driving approximately 25 mph on normal road conditions and proceeding into a left turn there was difficulty steering the vehicle. Unexpectedly, the vehicle pulled to the right unexpectedly. The vehicle uncontrollably swayed off the road. The driver inspected the vehicle and resumed operation with caution. There were no warning light indicators illuminated on the instrument panel. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer for diagnostic tests. The technician was unable to duplicate the failure. The manufacturer was notified of the malfunction. The vehicle has not been repaired. The contact had concern of the safety risk involved. The failure and current mileages were 40,833. Updated 05/26/09 the consumer also stated the warning sound indicator workes intermittently. Udated 05/28/09.
While driving on a 2 lane road about 2 weeks ago, steering locked to the right while trying to turn to the left, went off road and when got my car back on road barely moving by this time, then car went left, almost hit car in other lane, stopped and checked tires, and went on, about another mile or two did it again, took car to dealership, they found nothing. I love my car but I am finding there is too many steering complaints with this car. GM is no help, they said they would call me each week to check on me. In the mean time I am afraid to drive it, so I have a pretty lawn ornament. Please safetycar.gov help us. I filed a formal complaint today on the phone, waiting on my paper work to sign and return, please every one do the same, get the number from this site and file, and also call GM corporate, not just your local dealer. So afraid there will be severe injuries or worse before something is done.
The contact owns a 2007 Chevrolet Cobalt. The power steering randomly failed while driving approximately 45 mph. The vehicle will became very difficult to control; however, occasionally, it would reset itself. There were no warning lights on the instrument panel before or after the failure occurred. The dealer agreed to pay half of the $1800 repair cost and the contact requested the repair be no charge. The failure and current mileages were 49,000.
After 1 month of use, the electronic power assist began giving out on random intervals and continues to do so to this day. The failure does not occur at predictable intervals, sometimes taking a few minutes following the start of driving, up to a half hour. This has almost lead to many accidents due to steering going out during a turn.
I was driving out of my apartment complex and power steering came up on the little screen, then with no warning my power steering went out. It was very difficult to steer and was very unsafe. This was on a weekend so I could not get to a dealership. The next day I went out to look at my car and it worked fine. When I drove it around all of a sudden my power steering went out again. Once again, a dangerous situation. I have not taken it in yet but have looked on the internet and seen that many people have had this problem with their Cobalts and even though they take it to get fixed it keeps happening.
In July 2008 my 2007 Cobalt starting making thunking and clunking noises when turning or going over bumps. The local GM dealer found a warn sway bar link and a problem with the steering column, both of which they replaced. In January 2009 the same noise started again when I would go over bumps. This primarily would happen at lower speeds (20-45 mph). I brought the car back to my local GM dealer and they found a loose sway bar link and replaced it. Now, in February 2009, the same noise is occuring going over bumps at lower speeds. I had an independent mechanic inspect the car and he found the back bushings of the front control arm are bad and the front passenger side strut is leaking. This car has only 28,000 miles on it, and is only 18 months old. I plan on taking the car back to the dealer it was originally purchased from on Monday 2/23/09 to have these issued hopefully resolved.
The contact owns a 2007 Chevrolet Cobalt. While driving approximately 35 mph on normal road conditions, the power steering failed. The driver experienced extreme difficulty steering the vehicle, which resulted in higher effort to turn the steering wheel. The power steering warning indicator illuminated on the instrument panel and it remained lit until the engine was turned off. The contact pulled over to the side of the road and turned off the engine. When the vehicle was restarted, it resumed normal operation. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer for diagnostic testing and they stated that the power steering module failed. The vehicle was repaired and the steering column was replaced. The failure mileage was 50,000 and current mileage was 50,516.
My power steering keeps popping up and making the car hard to steer I turn the car off then back on it resets for a total of 1 min then it does the same thing again.
The contact owns a 2007 Chevrolet Cobalt. While driving 45 mph, the contact slowed down to make a left turn, but was unable to turn the steering wheel. The vehicle remained moving forward. The contact maneuvered the vehicle to the side of the road and the steering began working normally again. The vehicle was taken to the dealer for inspection, but the cause of the failure could not be determined. The vehicle was then towed to another dealer, but they could not duplicate the failure. The manufacturer spoke with the dealer and stated that no compensation would be provided because the failure could not be duplicated. The contact was advised to take the vehicle back to the dealer if the failure were to occur again. The failure mileage was 17,728 and current mileage was 18,100.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Locust Grove, GA, USA