This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.
So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.
The contact owns a 2007 Chevrolet Malibu. The contact stated while driving no particular speed the vehicle lost power steering when making a right turn. The steering wheel was very hard to turn. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer for diagnostic testing. There was a recall under NHTSA campaign id number 14V153000(steering); however, the VIN was not included. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 88,870.
On November 10, 2010, I was on my way to work. It was about 10:00am if I remember correctly. I could not even make it out of my subdivision before my Cobalt began to give out on me. I made a right turn at a stop sign, and my car suddenly started to "roll" I would say, because I was not able to steer or press the brakes. Basically the car had cut off without me knowing. I definitely didn't expect it to happen since it was on a full tank of gas. But anyways as it was rolling it was pulling towards the right since that's how my steering wheel was already turned from me making a right at a stop sign. I could not get the car to stop and I was rolling down the hill drifting off into peoples yards. The car rolled into a brick mailbox. It hit pretty hard. The brick mailbox came completely out of the ground and luckily fell in the opposite direction. I slung forward one the car hit the mailbox. I blacked out for a few seconds, and then immediately went into a panic attack which caused me to go into an asthma attack. I have asthma pretty bad. The air bad did not deploy. The front end of the car was all smashed in and all the fuels had leaked out. Because I slung forward I had whiplash, and also a knot on my head and a swollen busted lip. I was wearing my seat belt. I was out of work for a while due to the pack neck and head injuries. The police was called and a police report was filed. And of course the car was totaled out, which also left me with no transportation.
I would be driving down the highway and the car's dials would not work then start bouncing around. Then the power steering message would read out, I would loose power steering. If I slowed down it would take more of an effort to get the car up to speed and the car would jump in to gears hard. It wouldn't shift smooth. None of the gauges would work, and if the A/C was on it wouldn't work. When it started back working, the engine lock light would stay on. And the car wouldn't shift in and out of gear with out jerking.
While exiting the freeway, the car engine and electrical system suddenly went dead for no apparent reason. The driver steered the car to the side of the road without power steering or brakes. After it stopped, the driver put the car in park and restarted the engine. There were two people in the car at the time of the incident.
4/22/13 approx 7:30 am, approached red-light, gently applying brakes. Car started to lose power! dashboard lights dimmed while I was slowing down. This has been happening for over a yr. As soon as light turned green, car felt like it was losing power and was going to stall out! (like if you were to run out of gas. Stepped on the gas, as soon as I saw the light turn green, to try to prevent the stall out, and about 1/4 into intersection, another car was running a caution light, which turned to red... my car regained power with a thrust of the engine, which took me into the path of the other vehicle who hit me at about 35 mph, which caused us to spin completely around in the middle of intersection. Airbags did not deploy. The police report stated I failed to yield the right of way. In part that is true, as I felt I had to apply the gas to the car to keep it from "stalling! heavy damage to driver's side, front end, hood, bumper and support beam by engine. There are many recalls on this car. 5/9/2012, fuel odor or spotting on ground; 9/16/10-loss of power steering assist; 3/1/2010-recall 10V073000 power steering motor replacement; 1022/2009-fuel pump module replacement. In the pass three yrs I advised East syracuse Chevy dealer that my dashboard lights, lighted areas radio, etc; go in and out like the car has an electrical problem, door left-open, lights, low-fuel, single lights chimes all don't work. Dealer advised me there is a short in the dash somewhere causing all these problems, radio speakers are all connected I would have to pay to repair which was over $2,000. Remotes don't work. I have had many front end problems with this vehicle, I.e. sway bar, steering column bushings; struts'steering components, linkage/cv drive axle boots, control arms; repairs;11/30/11, 2/16/2011.
- North Syracuse, NY, USA
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The contact owns 2007 Chevrolet Cobalt. The contact stated that while driving approximately 65 mph, the vehicle independently steered to the left and caused the contact to lose control of the vehicle. The vehicle then spun in a circle and crashed into another vehicle, and then into the retaining wall. There were 3 people with minor injuries. A police report was filed of the incident. The vehicle was destroyed and towed to a salvage yard. The contact referenced NHTSA campaign id number 10V073000 (steering) but did not confirm if the vehicle was included in the recall campaign. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 100,000. Updated 07/03/14 MA. Updated 07/08/2014
I purchased a car from cox Chevrolet in bradenton, fl which happened to be a 2007 Chevrolet Cobalt and it had numerous power steering problems which would affect drive-ability during high speeds on the interstate. I had the problem fixed at gainesville Chevrolet in Florida which cost me over 900 dollars. The manufacturer sent me a recall notice and failed to reimburse me for the cost, also I had a fuel leak which was under recall and yet to no avail the car smelled of fuel and had sparks from the wiring. The car was still under warranty and yet the manufacturer and the dealer, did not purchase the car back from me, they made me purchase a new vehicle and as well did not tell me about the recall until after the fact. I am upset to learn that only now the NHTSA and other government agencies are willing to do something about this. I want compensation for all of the damages caused by Chevrolet and by cox Chevrolet in Florida.
My car was running and getting warmed up, then suddenly the locks start going off and on, repeatedly. It has continued to do this and the car will not stay locked. It does this whether it is off or on now. It is constant. The power locks no longer work and you can't use the door handle to unlock the car from the inside, you must manually pull the lock "up" and to lock the car you must manually push all the door lock knobs down, but that doesn't matter because it will not stay locked. In addition to this electrical issue the front speakers go off and on at random. Also, the turn signal remains on even after the full turn has been made. The car will randomly shut off while it's being driven. It doesn't matter if you are going 70 mph or 20 mph. Also the power steering went out on my car, that was recalled and has since been replaced, but the steering still malfunctions. My car was leaking fuel the summer of 2012, after the fuel pump module was replaced the gas tank had to be replaced months later because the car continued to leak gasoline. There are many other countless issues with this car. I am surprised and fortunate that there haven't been any injuries or fatalities while operating this death trap. I will never purchase another GM.
TL the contact owns a 2007 Chevrolet Cobalt. While driving approximately 30 mph the ignition switch failed and the vehicle stalled causing the steering wheel to lock. The contact had a difficult time removing the key from the ignition and was unable to get the key back into the ignition. The vehicle was towed to the dealer who stated the ignition switch was faulty and it was replaced at the owners expense. The failure occurred on March 2, 2014. The manufacturer advised her that the recall was not available until April of 2014 and there was nothing they could do to assist her. The contact was concerned that the failure could recur and result in a fatal crash. The approximate failure mileage was 179,000. Rk updated 04/22/14 MA the consumer stated the steering wheel locked up and there was a vibration in the steering wheel. Updated 04/24/14
The engine turned off all by itself while I was driving around a corner, causing the car to go off the road. I was going about 35 mph, and applied the brakes as fast as I could, but the car went up and over the curb, across the sidewalk, and both front tires went down off the steep edge of the sidewalk's far side into the mud. The part of the car body immediately behind the front tires was almost touching (way less than 1 inch above) the edge of the top / edge of the sidewalk. I couldn't reverse back up and over the sidewalk edge. A tow truck was called, and pulled the car straight back and up/over the edge of the sidewalk and onto the road. Some sort of dust cover thing from up inside the passenger-side wheel well had been torn loose during the crash off the sidewalk edge and was still laying in the mud. After I restarted the car and drove home, the steering / suspension (I cannot tell which) made a creaking and grinding sort of noise when turning, and I could tell from the extensive bouncing at even little bumps in the road that both front struts had been damaged.
While backing out of a parking space and shifting into drive, my 2007 Cobalt lost power steering. A chime sounded and the dash lit up with an error message about power steering failure. I've previously taken advantage of the recall for the assisted power steering rebuild in 2010, yet the component has failed again! GM wants me to pay for a tow to the dealership and pay for a diagnostic. I will pay for a tow, but I will not pay for them to tell me that the assisted power steering has again failed. If I take it to the dealership, and they find an error code indicating that the assisted power steering has failed, I believe they should not charge me at all. Furthermore, they should replace - not rebuild - this faulty, ill conceived device that has such poor design.
The contact owns a 2007 Chevrolet Cobalt. The contact stated that the steering wheel became hard to turn while attempting to complete a turn. The dealer advised the contact that NHTSA campaign number 10V073000 (steering) was previously performed however the failure was not corrected. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure and current mileage was 59,000.
The contact owns a 2007 Chevrolet Cobalt. The contact stated that while entering a drive-thru window, the power steering assist failed. The contact momentarily lost control of the vehicle and barely avoided crashing into a concrete wall. The contact shut the vehicle off and once restarted, the power steering assist had returned to normal function. The dealer advised the contact that the vehicle was not included in NHTSA campaign number 10V073000 (steering). The vehicle was not repaired. The failure and current mileage was 168,000.
The ignition switch wouldn't turn when I inserted the key, the key got stuck. I had to play with it for it to finally turn. I took it to a car locksmith and had another key made for the car which cost me $100. Yesterday, October 8, 2013 I begin to encounter the same problem all over again. The key gets stuck in the ignition switch and the ignition switch does not turn. I have to jiggle and play with it for the key to finally turn and the car turn on. I have read that numerous people have posted very similar complaints with the Chevrolet Cobalts. It appears that this may clearly qualify as a recall issue. I should not have to go through this time and time again.
The contact owns a 2007 Chevrolet Cobalt. The contact stated that while driving 60 mph, the power steering assist failed as the power steering warning lamp illuminated. The vehicle was not inspected or repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the incident. The approximate failure mileage was 50,000.
While braking, the vehicle's security system warning light lit up, tachometer dropped to zero, and power steering warning briefly flashed. Restarting the car turned off the warning light and car drove fine. Two weeks later the incident happened again while driving on the highway; again restarting the car solved the issue. The power steering recall was performed on the vehicle a week after the second incident. A month later, the incident occurred again, while braking. Several minutes later the gauges started going up and down and the information display shut off. Restarting the car did not clear the warning, and car jerked with changes in tachometer. Restarting the car a few hours later cleared the warning. Car was brought to a mechanic the next morning, and the incident could not be duplicated nor did the computer read an error occurring. The error recurred moments after leaving, and was brought back to mechanic who stated the front lights were also turning on and off. Restarting the car several times cleared the warning, but information display no longer turns on properly. The most recent failure mileage was 75,500 miles.
I received a recall on the power steering. I called them and told them that my power steering had gone out twice on the car while I was driving it. They told me to bring it in immediately since I was experiencing problems. I brought it in and they fixed it promptly but ever since I have been having other electrical problems with the blinkers not clicking off, the dashboard lights coming on and off. I also had a problem with my gas tank leaking. I had someone to fix it because it was pouring gas out and I didn't have the money to pay what a dealer would charge. Several months after I had it fixed I got recall in the mail for the faulty gas tank. I also had a wheel bearing that went out but the car was still under warranty and the dealer fixed it free of charge.
Edited partial news entry from the deadly accident: South Idaho crash kills two, including nampa woman; ipt (Idaho press-tribune) newsroom; gooding county--a nampa woman died after a car accident in gooding county Friday (12-21-12), according to Idaho state police. A burley man also died in the two-vehicle crash, which took place around 6:45 P.M. on interstate 84 about 35 miles outside mountain home. Three others from burley were injured. Young woman, 22, of nampa, was driving West on the interstate in a Chevrolet Cobalt. Authorities aren't sure why she lost control of the vehicle. She drove into the median and overturned. Her vehicle continued into the eastbound lanes of travel, colliding with a Nissan maxima driven by 23- year-old young man of burley. Young man died at the scene of the crash. Young woman was transported by air ambulance to a boise hospital, where she later died. Three passengers related to young man, all of burley...were taken by air ambulance to a boise hospital. All drivers and passengers were wearing seatbelts. [source: www.idahopress.com/news/S-Idaho-crash-kills-two-including-nampa-woman/art- - icle_7E5ce650-4C9A-11E2-8D7F-001A4bcf887A.html] because the roads were clear and dry, the Idaho state police speculated that the young woman was perhaps somehow "inattentive" in her driving. But the fact she was not on her cell phone or otherwise engaged with any other known distraction and the fact that her wrist was snapped back resulting in a serious compound fracture suggests that the vehicle violently and suddenly jerked out of her control. We know the Chevy Cobalt vehicles were under investigation for "steering problems" by the NHTSA and the investigation was closed in July 2010. With these fatalities perhaps it is time to review your previous findings. Updated 09-18-13 updated 9/24/13 updated 09/25/2013
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Jacksonville, FL, USA