Steering failure.

- Prince George, VA, USA

The contact owns 2007 Chevrolet Cobalt. The vehicle was purchased new in 2007. She noticed that the key was hard to release from the ignition. In February 2007 the power steering failed under normal driving conditions. The vehicle will be taken to the dealer to be diagnosed. The current and the failure mileage were 16,000. Updated 07/19/10 updated 07/21/10

- Hilliard , OH, USA

My wife's 2007 Chevrolet Cobalt ls power steering went out after restarting the car everything is fine for now. After searching online I see that many others are having the same problem. And in all cases they are being charged just for diagnostics and nothing is being done to fix it. This is a problem that could get my wife hurt being as she would have trouble steering it luckily I was driving it at the time. It is the Chevy dealer now having the fuel pump replaced which was recalled and we will see what they tell me about it.

- Paris, TX, USA

We live in lumberton Texas and we had to go to shreveport, la to take a friend of mine to the dentist. On the way home while we were in town the power steering light came on and my husband had trouble steering it around curves and turns. Not knowing that it was an electric power steering, he pulled into the store to get power steering fluid. He couldn't find the place to put it so I looked at the book that came with the car and found out. Well when we got back in the car to leave it was fine at first, then it started it again and all the way home. We have noticed that when you turn the car off for a while and start it back it does ok for a little while. We have problems with it everyday. Once the power steering acts up it stays that way until you turn the car off and let it cool off but after your driving it again its starts all over. We have not had an accident yet and hopefully we don't. it is very hard for me to drive it but I have to use it sometime to go places.we have not had it fixed yet and were told it could cost alot to get it fixed. We don't have the money now to get it fixed. Another complaint is well actually was the gear shift. It would not go all the way into park, I guess, and you couldn't get your keys out of the ignition. We have already had that fixed though. There are other complaints I have but probably nothing that would be cover under safety issues. This car is a lemon in my book.

- Lumberton, TX, USA

-the contact owns a 2007 Chevrolet Cobalt. The contact was driving approximately 55 mph on normal road conditions. There was a sudden loss of power steering. The driver proceeded to a service station which required greater force to be applied to the steering wheel. The engine was turned off. The vehicle restarted and resumed normal operation. The vehicle was in the process of being taken to an authorized dealer for inspection. The failure mileage was 67,000.

- Grand Bay , AL, USA

Purchased used 2007 Chevrolet Cobalt Nov 08 35,503 miles. Check engine light came on 2 Dec 08. Dealer switched out cam sensor fuse. Check engine light came on end of Jan 09 in germany. German mechanic turned light off. Check engine light came back on a few days later, but continued to drive. Power steering started to fail Sep 09. Car intermittently lost power while driving. Pulled over, turned key to off, waited a few minutes, turned the key, and the car started back up with no problem. Power steering kit replaced end of Nov 09. Check engine light came on again. Power steering motor replaced middle Dec 09. Check engine light came back on again code P0230. Replaced fuel pump relay Jan 10. Car continues to lose power intermittently while driving. Check engine light came back on code P0230. Chevrolet dealership switched out fuel pump relay 15 Feb 10. Chevrolet dealership suggests replacing ECM if check engine light comes back on. Check engine light came back on 17 Feb 10 and car continues to lose power intermittently while driving. Scheduling appointment with Chevrolet dealership to diagnose.

- Apo, AE, USA

We bought it new and was having trouble with steering wheel locking up they said there was no defect now we are having trouble with the powersteering failing and we bought the steering column kit(385.06) and had it installed and it still is doing the same thing, when it goes out it is hard to control the car.

- Cusseta, GA, USA

Everything was working fine in my 2007 Chevy Cobalt until it got to about 70,000 miles and then while I driving down the road the power steering shut off. This has continually occurred every time that I drive and it happens at random times. It's only a matter of time before it happens at a bad time and some one gets hurt. I've taken it to a few mechanics who have said they have encountered at least a dozen other people who have the same problem with their Cobalt. They then tell me to take it to the dealership who said that the total cost would be about $900. That's ridiculous I wont pay that much money for something so stupid. GM needs to get their act together before someone gets seriously injured from their crappy made cars.

- Layton, UT, USA

Electronic power steering -

- Kingwood, TX, USA

The steering suddenly froze up and could not steer the car. Luckily, we were in our own residential neighborhood.

- Sacramento, CA, USA

Nothing out of the ordinary, just driving, and a warning 'beep, beep, beep, ' the 'power steering' warning comes on in the dash where the temperature and mileage are, and the power steering is not working. The wheel is very hard to turn and control is lost if already in a turn. My son had to help me steer. Shift into neutral, turn the car off and restart it, and then the power steering will come back on, but the interval of operation gets shorter and shorter. Not driving car now. Too dangerous, cannot steer.

- Las Vegas, NV, USA

2007 Chevrolet Cobalt -- in December 2009 the power steering went out while exiting interstate. That was near the end of a 2-hour trip. The next day it was working again. Since that first incident the power steering has started failing more frequently (almost every time) and on shorter trips. Turning off the engine and restarting the car restarts the power steering, however sometimes it recurs within a few minutes. The car is difficult to drive without power steering and I'm afraid it will lead to a wreck. After the first incident we called the local Chevrolet dealer service department and was told the car was just out of warranty and therefore we would have to pay for the repair. (this is obviously a manufacturing defect, not a worn out part.) the car is scheduled for repair next week and the service department said could cost about $400.

- Asheville, NC, USA

Was driving along when a dashboard warning indicated a problem with the power steering and it became very difficult to steer. Pulled off, turned off car and restarted and problem was clear. Drove a few more miles and had the same issue. It has been a couple of weeks and the issue hasn't happened again. But concerned that it will.

- Roanoke, VA, USA

I purchased a used 2007 Chevy Cobalt about 2 years ago. There were approximately 11,000 miles on it at the time. Early last summer it was nearing the 40,000 mark and my power steering started going out. I assumed that it was out of fluid, so I took the car and had an oil change and all the fluids checked. As I was leaving the mechanic, it went out again. I went back into the office, told them my issue and that's when I found out there was no place to put power steering fluid, that it was a closed transmission. (I later learned that it was electric.) the power steering continued to come and go for another few months. I stopped driving for about 8 weeks and when I resumed driving, it was fine. I thought maybe the problem had fixed itself. It went out again about 6 weeks ago; it had around 41500 mile on it. I live in the back of a neighborhood, where I have to make lots of turns and that is generally where it goes out. I do not do a lot of interstate or highway driving, mostly just inner-city. I rarely travel over 50 mph. Because the power steering continues to go out, it makes it hard for me to make turns and drive. I have not yet been involved in any accidents because of the issue, but I have had several close calls. I try to remain extra aware of my surroundings to prevent any incidents.

- Mobile, AL, USA

Power steering failed then worked intermittently.

- Tampa, FL, USA

2007 Chevrolet Cobalt. Power steering failure at 32,000 mi. Power steering motor replaced under warranty. Old part kept at dealership.

- Shepherdstown, WV, USA

I bought a 2007 Chevy Cobalt ls from stearns Chevrolet in graham, nc in June 2009 with just a little over 32K mi. Some where between 45K & 50K mi. My power steering began to randomly go out. The first time, I was in first gear switching to second on a right hand turn. Since then, it happens extremely randomly, usually in town where I have to switch gears the most. If appropriate, I can usually just pop in the clutch & restart the vehicle & it resets the motor and everything is fine for a while, sometimes it just goes right back out. I do not feel safe driving the car but I have no choice. I took the car to the dealer I bought it from (which is now closed) and it was determined that the power steering motor in my electric power steering system had gone bad and GM agreed to pay 1/3 of the $700 to fix it. I did not have the money to fix it.

- Burlington, NC, USA

The vehicle is a 2007 Chevrolet Cobalt with approximately 62,000 miles on it. It was purchased used a week before incident occurred. My daughter had just got off work and was starting to drive home when she noticed power steering failure message come across the message board on the dash. At the same time she felt the steering get hard to control. She was able to pull over and stop the vehicle without incident. My daughter called home and I went to her location, thinking power steering fluid must be low. To my surprise I learned it had no pump and it was electrical. I restarted the vehicle and message was out and steering appeared to be fine. I drove it home. The next day I went out and after starting vehicle noticed the message coming across the message board read steering problems. I tried to drive the vehicle but it was very hard to maneuver the steering. It had no power assist in the steering. It became sporadic off and on over the next few days. Took vehicle to local Chevrolet dealer and learned inorder to fix problem, the power assist steering needed to be replace. I had the dealer replace the steering column which housed the power assist computer module and the electric power assist motor. Our total expense was $730.27. I learned from the dealership that 2005 thru 2007 model years were known to them to have a problem with power assist steering going out. I still have the old steering unit that was replaced. I read where NHTSA was looking into the steering problem. I just wanted to let Agency know I too had a problem with the steering going out.

- Lake Jackson, TX, USA

The electronic power steering went out in my Cobalt while driving down the road. The dealership replaced it since it was under warranty, but I have read that this is a frequent problem, and that the units they replace also fail in the same amount of time. I am worried that this will happen again to not only me but someone else. This problem could easily cause an accident if not fixed.

- Spring City, TN, USA

When we drove our 2007 Chevy Cobalt the power steering went out. We had to stop the car off and re-start it. The power steering came back on but went out again. We were on the highway when it went out and we lost control of the car. We were able to avoid a crash. I took the car to our service guy and we told that it would be about $1200 to fix the problem. At this time we cant afford such a large repair. We were also told that the local dealer was aware of the problems that the model car had been having because they had multiple incidents.

- Florissant, MO, USA