Power steering failure. Electrical system failure.

- Katy, TX, USA

At 50,000 miles or so the power steering failed, it no longer works. I heard this is a common problem with the Chevrolet Cobalt. GM will not fix this problem now because my car is no longer under warranty.

- Compton, CA, USA

While driving my 2006 Chevrolet Cobalt, the power steering message would appear on the led screen and the power steering would fail, reverting back to manual steering. Fortunately, I was able to control the vehicle and avoid driving underneath a tractor trailer, but others may not be as fortunate. I read several hundred postings on a website last night with other people experiencing the same problems. GM will not acknowledge that there is a problem with the vehicles steering, or potentially a defect prompting a recall. Once you turn the car off and restart it, the power steering works again and then the problem will repeat itself again sometimes within seconds of several minutes. This has been occurring for 3 days now and getting worse. I am waiting to take the vehicle to a GM dealer for evaluation, and I'm already being told that this is a non-covered warranty problem, costing around $2,000 to fix.

- Lyndhurst, NJ, USA

Power steering comes on and off in my car. Stays off mostly when driving it but comes back on for a brief minute after restarting the engine before going back off again. I have filed a complaint to GM corporation who did nothing about the problem despite it being a safety issue. There is a service bulletin active from GM about the steering issue as I was shown by another mechanic.

- Winter Haven, FL, USA

I have a 2006 Chevy Cobalt that is under 40000 miles. The power steering message comes on and the I lose control of the vehicle not being able to turn the wheel. This does not happen while I am at a stop it happens while I am driving in traffic. When I turn the car off it will work fine for a while and then I lose the power steering again. I took it to the mechanic and they said that they couldn't find anything wrong, but as soon I had left it started it again. I went back to the mechanic and they said that I need to replace the steering column and that will cost over $700. I have only had this car for 3 years and have kept up on all routine maintenance. This is ?!@#$%!!! I looked online and there are numerous people who have had the same complaints about this car. And as usual my warranty was just expired. This car is dangerous and I can no longer feel safe driving on the road.

- Winter Springs, FL, USA

Power steering warning light comes on while driving, power steering immediately stops working, once you turn the car off it resets but no more then 5 minutes and it fails again! I luckily have not had an accident yet while this occurs but there is definitely potential for one, I brought the car to the dealer and they want to charge me over 800 dollars to replace the steering column, which I've heard is not the problem.

- Lancaster , CA, USA

Well my power steering worked for a while when I bought it, but one day I was getting on the interstate and all of a sudden my power steering icon came on and it got very hard to steer so I pull over and turn the car off turn it back on and it worked fine. A few days pass and it happens again so I turn it off and bout 30 minutes later it happens again. Now my power steering only works bout 4 seconds long enough for me to restart my car to make a U-turn.

- Cleveland , TN, USA

I own a 2006 Chevy Cobalt lt. It runs off of a electronic power steering system which differs from the typical hydraulic power steering fluid system. Every time I start the car then rotate the steering wheel to back out of my drive way my power steering shuts down. The first time it happened I was driving down the interstate to orlando and it locked up. This problem can be fatal if someone who is driving is not prepared or cannot drive a car without power steering. I have read thousands upon thousand of Chevy Cobalt drivers having this same issues and all General Motors is telling us to do is take it to a dealership which then gets followed up by a nice $2000+ bill. If this problem does not get corrected I am almost certain that deaths could result from this problem. Going down the road and power steering locks up with a turn coming up means a horrific car accident will ensue not only for the driver of the impaired vehicle but others on the road as well. I am awaiting a reply back from an attorney im speaking with this concerning any lemon law issues in the state of Florida and I would hope that the NHTSA is looking into this matter. I know I am not the only one with this issue and it appears in Saturn ions as well. The problem seems to occur from vehicles years from 2005-2007 the most as I have not fully looked into the 2008's yet. NHTSA please assist us!!! I do not want to be one or see a motorist on the road lose power steering a life gets lost due to the power steering failing.

- Jacksonville, FL, USA

The contact owns a 2006 Chevrolet Cobalt. While driving at any speed, the contact noticed that the power steering failed. The vehicle has not been diagnosed by the dealer. The current and failure mileages were 74,291.

- Houston, TX, USA

I have an 06 Chevy Cobalt that I purchased in November of 2006. Recently the power steering has been going out while I'm driving down the road. The only way to make it stop is to stop the car and turn it off. It has done it several times in the past two weeks and is very dangerous. I have read several other cases with the same issues and this should be a recall.

- Charlestown, IN, USA

I was driving my car back home when the power steering failed(almost crashed). I was able to drive but the car was very hard to steer. I got the car diagnosed and the steering column got replaced.

- Chula Vista, CA, USA

I was driving my 2006 Cobalt on 95 South and I experienced loss of power steering which made the steering wheel locked up and become extremely difficult to do anything with. Within a week of the first incident this started to happen every couple of miles and the only way to regain the power steering is to pull off to the side of the road and restart the car. It got so bad within a week it was very dangerous to drive and I could not even pull out of my apartment complex without loosing the power steering and started to occur every couple of miles I drove the car. From the first time I experienced power steering loss until a got it fixed was about one week long and this happened at least 20 or more times. I took it to the Chevy dealership and they said I needed to replace the steering column because there was a internal short in column motor module and have a four wheel alignment which cost me $966.95 to fix and I had to pay the money to fix the problem because the car was way to dangerous to drive with out fixing this problem. I travel on major highways with my job and this dangerous safety defect left me in almost serious accidents and I was pulled over on the interstate 95, pa turnpike, 76, and 495 in Delaware state dealing with this hazard. This problem is a serious safety danger not only to me but every other person on the highway which is not fair to them.

- Wilmington, DE, USA

I have a 2006 Chevy Cobalt 2.4L ss and the power steering system went out on me at 48K miles. I have read many complaints about this same problem continuing with 2005 and 2006 Cobalts. I feel completely unsafe driving my car and refuse to pay for a repair that GM knows is a problem.

- Lakewood, CO, USA

Power steering fails about 2 times per week. Steering becomes very hard to steer and car looses power. Failure has not as yet been corrected. If you turn car off and let it sit for awhile it returns to normal until next occurrence.

- Fortville, IN, USA

The contact owns a 2006 Chevrolet Cobalt. Whenever the contact would drive at any speed, the vehicle would lose power steering ability. When the vehicle was restarted, the power steering would resume normal operation. The vehicle has not been diagnosed by the dealer. The current and failure mileages were 38,000.

- Louisville, KY, USA

I was driving on the highway and my power steering went out. I had no control of the wheel and felt my life was in danger. So I pulled on the side of the road and cut the car off and the problem went away for a minute and came back within 5 min. Can you please help me!!!

- Oglethorpe, GA, USA

The power steering light on my 2006 Cobalt came on randomly. There was nothing to lead up to the incident. Then later the light had disappeared for a week, until it came up again. This time I received the light warning as well as losing my power steering. It is not constant, but is becoming a more common thing. I have not fixed the problem yet because the dealer can not figure out what the problem is with regular diagnostic testing, and I will not fork out the money to have the dig further into the car. I am looking on fixing the problem myself, but still do not know what the problem may be. I do not want to buy a used item and have the same problem happen. I have been reading up on this problem and it seems to be a pretty common thing with the Chevy Cobalt's and Pontiac G5's. what I would like to do is find an oem part with a warranty, put that is also hard because I don't know if there is a new aftermarket oem part that has been changed so that this problem does not occur again.

- Woodbury, MN, USA

After reaching 50,000 miles on my 2006 Chevy Cobalt, the power steering became faulty. It will work for the first 30 seconds of turning the car on, and then it will stop. It happens every time the car comes on. I took it to the dealer and they told me it would cost about $1,100 dollars to fix.

- Ames, IA, USA

The contact owns a 2006 Chevrolet Cobalt. The contact stated that the power steering continued to fail. It was very difficult to move the steering wheel shaft. The vehicle was taken to the dealer and they stated that there may have been a misread in the computer. The failure could not be duplicated. On a separate occasion, the power steering failed again. The contact turned off and restarted the vehicle in order to correct the failure. Later, the power steering failed completely. The VIN was unknown. The current and failure mileages were less than 50,000.

- Corpus Christie, TX, USA

My 2006 Chevy Cobalt's power steering went out around the 42,000 mark.

- Garland, TX, USA