10.0
really awful- Crashes / Fires:
- 70 / 4
- Injuries / Deaths:
- 129 / 3
- Average Mileage:
- 64,071 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.
« Read the previous 20 complaints
My 2006 Chevy Cobalt's electronic power steering goes out without warning making steering the car almost impossible creating a very dangerous situation. Great effort is needed to turn the steering wheel 90 degrees (this is not like driving an old car without power streering). Condition started at about 39000 miles and the car has about 40550 miles on it today. Problem occurs at various intervals but is becoming more frequent. The car must be stopped, engine shutdown, and car restarted to temporarily clear the condition. Situation has not been corrected as of 2/8/2010. Chevrolet customer service said a recall is pending (they allegedly are cooperating with nhsta at this time on a recall), but cannot commit to fixing their defect in my car. Internet research indicates repairs can be up to $2000 becuase individual repair parts can only be purchased as a large kit. I have begun discussions with local dealership trying to get Chevrolet to do the right thing and pay for the repair since it is a well documented defect currently being investigated by nhsta. This is a serious defect in the car's design that places the driver and other motorists on the road near the car when the power steering system goes out. This can happen at any speed at any time leaving the public at risk.
- Decatur, AL, USA
2006 Chevy colbalt.power steering has went out on several times.
- Moorefield, WV, USA
Power steering goes out when turning slowly
- Lothian, MD, USA
The power steering in the Cobalt just fails. First time in the parking lot of a jewel with lots of people in the lot barely able to turn wheel to park. Turn car off and back on the power steering comes back on. 2nd time I was on the highway on a trip 1.5 hours into trip the power steering light came on and I had to drive off the road. Restarted the car and about 10 minutes into trip power steering went out and I drove without it for the remaining hour. One the return trip the power steering went out again on the highway after 1.0 hours of driving at a consistent speed.
- Des Plaines, IL, USA
Please go to get satisfaction.com to review all of the complaints by Chevy Cobalt owners. These cars are defective and dangerous, particularly the power steering issue. I have an '06 Cobalt and the electric power steering went out without warning suddenly at around 62,000 miles. GM refuses to fix it because the warranty expired on the car at 60K. They want nearly $1000 to diagnose and repair.
- Madison, FL, USA
Approximately 6 months ago..power stee ring light came on and complete loss of power steering occurred. The vehicle must be shut down and restarted to recycle the power steering..this has ceased working because the power steering does not last more than 2 seconds after restarting. When the power steering light is on it is extremely difficult to maintain control of my vehicle. I have replaced fuses and I am just short of taking it to the dealer and upon research noticed more than a few complaints about this problem with this vehicle.
- Palm Coast, FL, USA
Power steering failed. It was off and on several times until it finally would not come back at all. We had to be put on a waiting list for the actual part. Once it came in, we had it repaired.
- North Huntingdon, PA, USA
Driving on surface street and the power steering warning came on the dash panel. Then the power steering failed. Pulled car to curb, shut off engine and restarted car engine, power steering resumed. While returning to my home power steering failed two more times.
- San Diego, CA, USA
Electronic power steering failure. Every time vehicle is driven the power steering goes out. This makes the vehicle very difficult to control while turning.
- San Leon, TX, USA
The power steering goes out. It started happening at around 40 miles an hour and has gradually started going out at even lower speeds. It only happens when the steering wheel is straight. It happens during acceleration and braking. I cannot even get out of a small parking lot with out it going out. It is hard to turn and hard to steer when this happens. It happens every time I drive my car.
- Pelham, AL, USA
My electronic steering is no longer working. As soon as I start my car, it last for a few seconds and then it goes out and I have to steer unassisted. This is very difficult to do at low speeds. It impedes my manueverability especially with respect to parking and parallel parking is impossible. My wife can longer drive this car since it requires the strength of hercules to steer car.
- Plainsboro, NJ, USA
2006 Chevy Cobalt power steering failure, now occurs every 100 miles. Is okay after car re-starts, then fails again a few minutes later.
- Waterford, MI, USA
My sons 2006 Chevy Cobalt power steering would go out while he was driving he would have to pull off to the side of the road turn the car off start it back and it would be ok and it would happen again over and over. We went back to the Chevy dealer and had it fixed paying our own money.
- Homosassa, FL, USA
The power steering in my 2006 Chevy Cobalt ss supercharged went out suddenly. When I turn the car off and then back on, the power steering is fine while I am parked, but as soon as I begin driving again the power steering goes back out. The vehicle only had about 36,000 miles on it when the power steering went out.
- Lennon, MI, USA
As I was driving to work my power steering light in my 2006 Chevrolet Cobalt came on and it got really hard to steer. As I tried to get the side of the road I had to cross over into the right hand lane and then onto the shoulder. Somewhere between the right lane and the concrete barrier the power steering kicked back in, seems how I had the wheel turned so sharply toward the shoulder I nearly hit the concrete barrier. This is a serious problem and from what research I have done this is quite common. If they think it may be in over 900,000 cars, you would think a company like GM (that has had enough problems with debt and in the public eye)would take care of this. This is going to turn into a problem like Toyota. Its not a cheap fix the dealer said 2 hours of work for what could cost me up to $3000. This car is almost 5 years old. The car is barely worth $5500. Mine is sitting in the driveway, I refuse to drive it with a 2 year old. This stubborn attitude that GM has is very sad due to the fact that many people that have Cobalts from the years indicated would be upgrading to other vehicles, too bad they wont be anything made by GM.
- Maggie Valley, NC, USA
I own a 2006 Chevy Cobalt and the power steering keeps going out. When I start the car it works fine but while I'm driving it cuts out and its very hard to steer the car.
- Wilmington, NC, USA
Driving the Chevy Cobalt (2006) on the highway and the car suddenly became difficult to keep in the left hand lane. The car swerved over to the right lane and scraped/damaged another vehicle and the Cobalt.
- Moon Twp, PA, USA
1. beginning at the start of January, randomly the power steering in our 2006 Chevrolet Cobalt would simply stop working with notification. 2. the failure would occur without warning multiple times within a day. 3. I had to have the power steering pump replaced which cost me nearly $500.
- Hemet, CA, USA
Power steering failure. Talked to repair shop again and they stated that this is a component failure.
- Festus, MO, USA
- Fredericton, 00, USA