I bought my 2007 Chevy Cobalt LS in September of 2011. I had owned a 2004 Dodge Neon SRT-4 prior to this, and intended to use the Cobalt as a temporary car until I had enough money to buy something new. From the dealership, I noticed that the car had a rattling/squeaking noise underneath the front end. I assumed that this was a heat shield or something like that, and that it would be an easy fix. How could the dealership sell me a car that had something major wrong? Well as it turns out, the knocking became worse, and I took the car in to CarX and they said the front struts were blown, so I had those replaced. After driving away thinking the car was noise-free, I noticed that the squeaking was gone, but the knocking was still prevalent. I then took the car to my local mechanic a few months later and he said that the lower control arm bushings had gone bad. I saw that the control arms had about an inch of play up and down, so those were replaced. I finally thought my car was totally fixed, and there was no noise at first. But after traveling over bumpy, uneven road, I noticed that the rattling was coming from the steering column, and i could feel it in the steering wheel. Well this was the last straw. I sold this piece of crap and bought a new Ford Focus. The steering column was an issue from the start, but so were the control arms, and the struts. The fact that all of these thing went bad on a car with less than 20,000 miles on it is inexcusable. GM should be ashamed of itself, being one of the oldest and most successful and reputable car companies in America. They have sunk to such a low level that I doubt they will pull out of it. Especially if they keep putting crap products on the market like this car.
It started rattling over ever little bump in the road. So the mechanic replaced the bushings in both side and said that they were bad. The rattling continued (sounded like the tire was loose--scary!) The car is currently in the shop for the same rattle with an additional noise occurring when the car is put in reverse and I turn the wheel to the left. When the car is is reverse the front right side lets out a loud metal-on-metal bang and the repeats this bang when I put it in drive and go forward as if to correct for the first bang. So loud it makes me jump every time!
- ahowell,
Morgantown, WV, US
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A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
I bought my 2007 Chevy Cobalt LS in September of 2011. I had owned a 2004 Dodge Neon SRT-4 prior to this, and intended to use the Cobalt as a temporary car until I had enough money to buy something new. From the dealership, I noticed that the car had a rattling/squeaking noise underneath the front end. I assumed that this was a heat shield or something like that, and that it would be an easy fix. How could the dealership sell me a car that had something major wrong? Well as it turns out, the knocking became worse, and I took the car in to CarX and they said the front struts were blown, so I had those replaced. After driving away thinking the car was noise-free, I noticed that the squeaking was gone, but the knocking was still prevalent. I then took the car to my local mechanic a few months later and he said that the lower control arm bushings had gone bad. I saw that the control arms had about an inch of play up and down, so those were replaced. I finally thought my car was totally fixed, and there was no noise at first. But after traveling over bumpy, uneven road, I noticed that the rattling was coming from the steering column, and i could feel it in the steering wheel. Well this was the last straw. I sold this piece of crap and bought a new Ford Focus. The steering column was an issue from the start, but so were the control arms, and the struts. The fact that all of these thing went bad on a car with less than 20,000 miles on it is inexcusable. GM should be ashamed of itself, being one of the oldest and most successful and reputable car companies in America. They have sunk to such a low level that I doubt they will pull out of it. Especially if they keep putting crap products on the market like this car.
- Ben B., McHenry, IL, US