8.9

pretty bad
Typical Repair Cost:
$3,000
Average Mileage:
21,350 miles
Total Complaints:
7 complaints

Most common solutions:

  1. new steering rack installed (3 reports)
  2. not sure (3 reports)
  3. new steering rack (1 reports)
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This problem may be covered under warranty. Ask your Chevrolet dealer.

problem #7

Dec 252019

Volt Premier

  • Automatic transmission
  • 28,004 miles

I had the car one month past 36 months, with only 28k miles on it, and the Power Steering locked while driving. Chevrolet won't honor warranty, says it's just wear and tear... car didn't even make it to 36k miles. Chevrolet won't help and wants me to eat over half of the cost of the service. The car was serviced by the same dealer (Nissani in Los Angeles) since I bought it. Neither the dealer or Chevrolet will stand behind this vehicle. Didn't even make it to 30k miles and I'm out $2600 at the moment.

Garbage customer service at both the dealer and Chevrolet themselves haven't been very helpful, they won't send any offer to reimburse me in writing or give me any corporate contacts to reach out to for discussion.

To top it all off, the dealer had left my steering wheel crooked after the service and tried to ding me for another alignment when I went back to get it fixed. I told Chevrolet the steering wheel was crooked the day I picked up the car, but I had to leave for a trip, was told to bring it back when I returned and it wouldn't be a problem. Still... had to kick and scream over the bill to get them to fix their lax work.

I used to like this car, but i've been through 4 "brain" modules and now this steering issue. Chevrolet is unwilling to stand behind their craftsmanship. Their cars won't even make it to 30k miles. I'm getting rid of this Volt first chance I get. Never buying Chevy or GM again. Plenty of cars out there that will definitely make it past 30k miles without a major failure. Frankly, I'd like a car maker that actually cares about their customers. Honda used to take good care of me. Never had a problem with any of their cars, I've owned a few new and used.

There's a few of us with this problem already. I'm reachable and willing to join any class action suit that stems from this issue. Please contact me. It looks like a similar problem as the 2015 Volt is beginning to manifest itself in the 2017 models.

- iamthecarlos, Los Angeles, US

problem #6

Jan 172020

Volt LT 1.5L

  • Automatic transmission
  • 38,500 miles

Driving narrow winding canyon road, playing with steering wheel audio controls, then suddenly steering while froze up. Power loss. Muscled to side of road. Shut it off, restarted and back to normal. Could have been fatal if not for my muscle strength in my arms to remain in control.

- Randy K., Bellvue, CO, US

problem #5

Mar 222018

Volt LT Hybrid

  • Automatic transmission
  • 38,800 miles

Lost power steering on the freeway to work. I was able to muscle the car with very heavy steering to the dealer. They said power steering is not covered under power train warranty and since my car has 38800 I am out of bumper to bumper warranty. It would cost $3300 to replace the power steering. I have no choice but to fix it since the car is not driveable without power steering. This is unacceptable for a 1.5 year old car, especially there appear to be a power steering recall on 2015 Volt. Filed a complaint to corporate GM but have not heard back from them.

- Mike F., Temple City, CA, US

problem #4

May 082017

Volt

  • Automatic transmission
  • 8,000 miles

At 8,000 miles the steering totally failed as I turned sharp left to enter Dunkin Donuts before getting on highway. Was towed to Chevy dealer. No part available. Given a loaner. Took 6 days for them to get part and fix it. Have filed a complaint with office of attorney general in Massachusetts. We could easily have died if we had been on the highway. Original dealer, De Nooyer of Albany, had no interest in this--"things happen," they said. I'm outraged. We leased a new car so that we wouldn't have problems.

Contacted GM--they also had zero interest in compensating us in any way for this problem. Checking online, I discovered there was a serious steering problem in 2013 and settled with a major lawsuit. I am 75. My husband is 78 with advanced Parkinson's Disease. This is our only car and we require total reliability. First American car in years and will never, ever buy another as quality control is obviously totally inadequate. Find it extremely interesting that Chevy is not currently advertising the Volt. What do they know that's wrong with it?

- Gillian H., Pompton Plains, US

problem #3

Aug 102017

Volt 4H

  • Automatic transmission
  • 33,345 miles

I'm driving on California highway 371 towards the town of ANZA(100 miles from home). I'm going approximately 60 MPH when all of a sudden an error message pops up on the instrument panel "Get Power Steering Serviced"..and then immediately I lost all power steering..not knowing what to do, I drove on to fine an area off the road so I could pull over..the car was very hard to control without power steering, also; I needed to be aware of the traffic behind me..I thought that I was going to end up in an accident..thank goodness that did not happen.

After I pulled over off the highway, I looked in the manual for help of this problem..I found nothing!!

I had shut the car off not knowing if I would be able to start it again..I was getting ready to call AAA, when I started the car and found that the power steering was working. I turned around and headed for home.

That was yesterday, I'm now sending this complaint to you & will be sending it to GM also.

Rich Bauer

- Jeanne B., La Mesa, CA, US

problem #2

Oct 052016

Volt LT Electric

  • Automatic transmission
  • 1,268 miles

Lost power steering while driving at about 30 kilometres an hour. There was a bad shimmy and grinding noise. One of my passengers asked if she should record the noise, but the noise didn't last long enough to record it. The shimmy and noise both lasted for about 10 seconds, with no power steering during the incident, and no power steering after the shimmy stopped.

I drove home without power steering – about 3 kilometres. When I checked the car about 10 minutes after having parked it at home, the power steering had returned.

Obviously this could be very serious if driving at high speeds or when turning. I was able to drive the car home without power steering, but I believe that while the incident was happening(the shimmy and grinding noise) a person has next to no steering control. Potentially deadly.

I am having the car towed to a dealer.

- Bill S., Pender Island, BC, Canada

problem #1

Oct 052016

Volt LT Electric

  • Automatic transmission
  • 1,261 miles

I was driving about 50 kilometres an hour, on a straight stretch of road, so I was able to stop quickly. With no power steering it was a bit difficult to pull over. The problem began with a very bad shimmy of the car, and of course the shimmy came up through the steering wheel. There was also a grinding noise. The shimmy continued for a few seconds after I had stopped the car, and before I pulled to the side of the road. The power steering returned after 5-10 minutes, and I drove home(about 4 kilometers). I believe this could be a very serious problem in certain circumstances – such as at high speeds, during a turn. The bad shimmy also seemed to be quickly turning the car back and forth(left, right, left, right...). I am going to report a second incident that occurred later the same day.

- Bill S., Pender Island, BC, Canada