8.9
pretty bad- Typical Repair Cost:
- $20
- Average Mileage:
- 76,300 miles
- Total Complaints:
- 49 complaints
Most common solutions:
- not sure (42 reports)
- clean battery terminals and cable ends (1 reports)
- mas, spark plug gap (1 reports)
- ran a wire in fuse box from ignition to fuel pump temp fix (1 reports)
- replace engine (1 reports)
- replace entire ignition with a lock on it (1 reports)
This problem may be covered under warranty. Ask your Chevrolet dealer.
« Read the previous 20 complaints
This car has many issue, another is the fact that when you drive the car it will randomly die while driving it. They car had been in the shop twice to address this, both times nothing was found. They believe it is the gas I am using. They suggested I go to yet another gas station, that the other gas stations must have moisture in the fuel, causing the vehicle to die.Since we bought the car, it has been in the shop for repairs/recalls 5 times. My warranty runs out next spring, we are trading this piece of crap in before we are stuck with an out of warranty money pit.
- Josh S., Marseilles, IL, US
I work out of my car and in so doing my odometer alarm came on saying,'Power Steering'. I then noticed that my engine had shut off as I lost control of my steering. I threw it into Neutral and turned it back on as if nothing had happened. I was perplexed! No Engine Light at all... It then did it again 2 more times that afternoon. What the Hell!?!
- Joseph F., West Jordan, UT, US
I am disgusted. I just took my car to the dealership to have them check it out they acted like they had never heard about this problem which maybe they haven't but according to this site others have had it. It is really dangerous. I was driving on the expressway and the car completely stalled. I mean from 55 mph to 0 mph with no warning. Very scary and dangerous. I am going to pursue this with Chevrolet directly as I feel that it is a condition that warrants immediate attention.
- Kim B., Akron, OH, US
Same thing brand new 2005 and it has done this to me about 6 times now and stranded me at night even for half an hour before it would restart and the dealership keeps saying they fixed it and last time they say they re-programed it even but it just happened to me again late last night ... power steering becomes hard and service light pops on as the engine stalls out on the freeway then it will not restart for a bit then it seems ok but it keeps happening again to me another time
- Justine D., Tampa, FL, US
I have had my cobalt shut off randomly for over a year now. As is the case with others the dealership and GM can't do anything for me, because they can't find the problem. It has happened at least twice a month over the last 6 months. The problem seems to be worsening. I drive interstate to country roads with no cell phone access, few houses, lots of deer, sharp turns, steep banks and hills, daily on my commute to work. If my vehicle would lose control due to this situation, bodily harm or even loss of life is a reasonable possibility. I can only hope that GM will take care of the people experiencing said problem. It is an outrage that such a problem is being swept under the rug by GM. I'm looking into Lemon Law on this one and would like to organize a class action suit if anyone else is interested. Please come forward if you have had this occur. Our lives are too important to risk.
- Justin R., Moundsville, WV, US
Just bought this car and has had it in 4 times so far this month for repairs on this problem. Car shuts down every so often.
- amyh, Wentzville, MO, US
My Cobalt is having the same problem. The car has shut off 3 times now, all of which have been on a highway traveling around 75mph. I have brought it in 3 times to 2 different dealerships, both of which say that there is nothing wrong with this vehicle. I have also been in contact with GM Corporate, and as of today, they have no solution except asking me to place a flight recorder on the vehicle. I am sorry, but I do not feel like placing my wife, myself, or those around us at risk in hopes that this problem will happen again so that GM can have some information. This car has had many problems and I am sick of it. Has anyone had a resolution to this problem yet? I do believe that it is electrical, but I filed this under engine so that there were two reports for the same problem.
- Shawn K., Wyoming, MI, US
Four times now I have been driving and my Chevy Cobalt shuts off. The radio stays on but the car basically stops. Two times it happened while in the middle of the road and thank god no one was directly behind me. I had to shut the ignition off and back on. The car started right up but it should have never shut off!! I have called the dealer about it several times and they said there was nothing they could do because there was no error light coming on. Finally they put in a "Flight recorder" they told me to push the button when I had the problem and this recorder would tell them what happened. Well I did that, took time from work to bring my car in and have them install this recorder. About two days later it happened again so of course I slapped that record button and called the dealer to let them know. Again took time from work to bring the car in so they could remove the recorder. Now a week later I am calling them to find out what is going on because they still haven't called me like they said they would. Well they said they would call me back because they haven't had time to check it. Within an hour of my call to them, they called me and said they can't find anything because the recorder didn't work, why didn't it work?! Well apparently they need to put something else on my car in order to make the flight recorder work, so you know what that means, more time from work to go have more crap installed on my car so they can find nothing and just buy time. I have read on other car sites that other people have had the same problem. Has anyone had this problem and been able to resolve it? I am so fed up. Is it going to take an accident before they take the problem seriously? If my car stops like that on the highway it will cause an accident!
- Aimee H., Windsor, CT, US
I have a 2005 Chevy Cobalt and I work about 35 minutes away from my house. I got in my car to take my son to school about 2 weeks ago and my car just stopped running. I was on the main highway scared. It has continued to shut off at any given moment that I am driving it. It has been doing this everyday for the last 2 weeks. So I am not able to drive it because my boyfriend does not want me to be sitting on the side of the road/interstate at night by myself. A GM dealer around town continues to tell us that there is nothing wrong with it.
- Mitchelle K., Gould, AR, US