10.0
really awful- Crashes / Fires:
- 2 / 0
- Injuries / Deaths:
- 0 / 1
- Average Mileage:
- 86,046 miles
About These NHTSA Complaints:
The NHTSA is the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints can be spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem. See the Back button — blue bar at the very top of the page — to explore more.
My husband was driving and the car suddenly stopped taking gas and said reduced engine power. He got it back home as it was only a few miles but top speed was less than 10 mph. It never did run right anymore and then completely stopped a few days later. Also the key gets stuck in the car if the battery goes dead. I had to leave the key in with the window down because I was scared of getting locked out. When my husband was able to come and charge the battery some it released the key. It never had any issues like these until they suddenly started. These issues showed up in summer 2021. Codes mentioned general electrical failure, throttle control issues with pedal and tac module. High and low voltage to tac module.
- Garrison, KY, USA
The contact owns a 2005 Chevrolet Cobalt. The contact stated that the transmission failed. The contact stated that the transmission shift point failed and caused the vehicle to shift gears incorrectly and causes the vehicle to jerk and stall. The contact also stated that the power steering warning light illuminated and caused the steering wheel to be difficult to turn. The contact stated that extra effort was needed to steer the vehicle. The contact also stated that the vehicle speedometer failed to operate as designed while driving, providing speed readings of 40 mph, 20 mph, 50 mph intermittently. The contact took the vehicle to an independent mechanic. The mechanic replaced the transmission control module however, the repair failed to correct the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The vehicle was also taken to several dealers and independent mechanic however, the vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not contacted. The VIN was not available. The failure mileage was 100,000.
- Fenton, MI, USA
Tcm module, power steering and odometer not working properly
- Brownsville, TX, USA
Takata recall while I am driving my power steering light comes on and my car will lose power steering. My gear shift starts making a clicking noise, when I press on gas when it goes to change gears it jumps into the next gear, when I try to stop it won't let me the engine feels like it is trying to go faster when I'm trying to stop. I have had fhe car for about 2 years and it's a ongoing problem.
- Council Bluffs, IA, USA
Car alarms power steering display comes on, car shakes, won't shift gears, was looked at, comp said lost connection to tmc trans modular control. While in motion
- North Wales, PA, USA
Vehicle losing power, speedometer flat, tachometer working, while in motion and stationary; displaying: Power steering = car has steering wheel play; car does not drive over 30 mph and revving high. The car regains power and loses power and regains intermittently. Chevy Cobalt 2005
- San Diego, TX, USA
GM replaced ignition parts and shifter mechanism as per recall. Shortly after issues began with steering locking up, transmission not shifting and various warning lights flashing. This became more frequent and is now impossible to drive. My technician says it is a body or transmission control module costing well over a thousand dollars. There appear to be 100S of 1000S of the same issue as per search engines. I will contact my local GM dealership. If GM will not back up its product it will be the last GM in my driveway. I will trade in on a Toyota.
- Millersburg, PA, USA
While driving in town shortly after turning onto a 45 mph road my vehicle, automatic, started hesitating while shifting into the next gear. It would shift but not like normal. Brought it into a repair shop to have a diagnostic ran to be informed it is a failure to communicate with tcm. Code U0101 and also U2100. After doing research there has been multiple complaints about this. So first things first replaced the tcm with a new one at the dealership. After replacement the vehicle is still not shifting correctly.
- Pahrump, NV, USA
This issue seems to be a common problem with the 2005 Cobalt. Please research any car complaint websites about this certain vehicle. Even though all the recalls have been taken care of, while in motion, at any time and any speed, the dash lights starts flashing and you get the message power steering on message center, tc light comes on, light that shows padlock symbol comes on, RPM needle jumps up and down, steering wheel locks up, motor surges and shakes, and you hear all types of clicking sounds below gear shifter. This is a very dangerous thing and Chevrolet/GM just cannot seem to fix this issue or even find anything wrong. The 2005 Cobalt needs to be recalled and any other year of Cobalt having this issue. I will give you below the last date this has happened, but this has went on since we got the car in 2008. My daughter is in school in Kansas City, and this issue has happened quite frequently lately. The only remedy is to pull to side of road, shut off vehicle and restart and hope it does not act up again. I just wonder how may deaths have happened already because of this faulty GM product and no one knew it was because of what the Cobalt did, locked up on its driver.
- Thayer, KS, USA
The power steering on my vehicle cuts off and the speedometer remains rested at 0 when driving. The doors also lock and unlock on their own while driving. The car does not automatically shift while driving making it hard to accelerate and the vehicle will also decelerate on its own while driving it is very dangerous and very scary to drive with these problems. The dealership claims that the problem with steering has already been fixed but I am still having these problems.
- Baton Rouge, LA, USA
My daughter was accelerating to enter the on-ramp on the interstate. The gas pedal stuck when she accelerated and she was unable to slow her car down. She was forced to maneuver through traffic and had to exit at the next ramp because she could not get around vehicles on the interstate. She stepped on the brakes and tried to tap the gas pedal lightly to see if it would come unstuck. At some point while exiting the highway the gas pedal came unstuck, and thankfully she managed to stop her vehicle safely without an accident. She is concerned that this problem may occur again and she may not be so lucky the next time.
- Ludlow, ME, USA
I was driving the car in the city street when the engine light came on. I continue to drive the car when I start hearing click sound than I hear bell sound come from the car. The car wouldn't go any faster than 40 mile hr & the gauges were jumping all over the place. I continue to drive the car then the words "power steering" came on where my mileage would show. All of the recalls have been repaired and something still wrong with this car. I asked GM to take look at the car without charging(money) to see if it is relative to the recall. The dealership said they couldn't tell if they would charged me money or not.
- Simpson, NC, USA
The contact owns a 2005 Chevrolet Cobalt. While driving 50 mph, the vehicle slowed down, jerked, and accelerated rapidly on its own. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The failure mileage was 130,000.
- Oakland, CA, USA
I was driving down the road when my locks started popping in and out, my car started stalling out and losing power, and the power steering was going on and off. I took it in to the Chevy dealership and they said it was the ignition switch. I just received my car back after it was fixed and the same problems are occurring still. I was going 60 mph when my car completely lost power. I have taken my car in other times for this problem with still no resolution.
- Lavaca, AR, USA
I have received (both) recall work done on my 05 Cobalt, and yesterday I was driving on the highway at 55-60mph for the first time since I got my car back last Friday. I lost power steering and my car would no longer shift to increase its speed. It felt like I was in neutral gear as the rpms were in the 5000-6000 range yet I was still at a speed of apprx 55mph, as I attempted to pull over to the shoulder I recognized I did not have power steering, and the light on my dash quickly went off and then came back, along with a check engine light. After finding out what the engine codes were via autozone, I was told my transmission control module had failed, hence why my transmission would not engage into third gear. After driving the car around more that afternoon, it continued to happen at the high speed levels, and again the power steering failed. I brought it up to the Chevy dealership that performed the work, yet the service department was closed at 7pm. The sale guy tried to convince me that this recall would not affect anything with the transmission, yet multiple mechanics have told me that if the new piece was not programmed properly with my ECM, then its possible that this is affecting my vehicle. I am going to try and bring my car back in tonight after work, or hopefully tomorrow. I have already call General Motors and reported the same incident, because there is a rumor going online that the new ignition switch may have a "short" in it. But I do not want to confirm that.
- Hanahan, SC, USA
The contact owns a 2005 Chevrolet Cobalt. The contact stated while driving the vehicle and making a U-turn the drivers side door would open, when it was locked. The contact also indicated that on multiple occasions while attempting to exit the vehicle the driver side door would not unlock. The failure was not diagnosed nor was the vehicle repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure.. updated 07/01/14 MA the consumer stated the vehicle suddenly accelerated and she crashed into a garage. The consumer has since traded the vehicle. Updated 07/23/14
- Plymoth, MN, USA
The vehicle shuts off while running. I've stopped at stop lights and when I try to continue driving the car will shut totally off while in drive. The door locks are constantly running up and down and will not stay locked. Many times I've come back to the car thinking it was locked to find it unlocked itself. The electrical problem has created a problem with brand new batteries. I've replaced it twice since purchasing the car in 2010.
- Philadelphia, PA, USA
The blower for heating and cooling began to work sporadically, then one day it just stopped working all together. I removed the HVAC control rand noticed the orange wire had overheated which caused the control knob and wiring plug in connector to fuse together.
- Granville, NY, USA
The contact owns 2005 Chevrolet Cobalt. The contact stated that while reversing from a driveway at 5 mph, the vehicle began to accelerate independently. The contact had to shut the engine off in order to stop the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to the dealer for inspection where they stated that they could not determine the cause of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified. The failure mileage was 80,000.
- Linn Creek, MO, USA
- Carlisle, PA, USA