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.
I bought a used 2009 Chevy Cobalt 2 years ago in 2017 with 119K miles. It has been nothing but a headache with things going wrong! the biggest issue is the code P2135 that sends the car into reduced engine power and the engine shakes violently. This is very scary especiallywith 3 young boys in the car with me. I have replaced the entire throttle body, ECM, accelerator pedal assembly with new sensor, crankshaft positioning sensor, camshaft sensors, spark plugs and spark plug wires. After all these things I am out of ideas onwhy this keeps happening in but all those new parts have not fixed the problem that keeps occurring. Please tell me there is a recall or you can at least tell me what the problem is. I have read many forums about people with this same issue.
Car was stationary then got in and car wouldn't start and key wouldn't go to off position once key was inserted. After jump start all information miles etc was cleared. When driving seems like it won't go into next gear. Speedometer stopped working and going slow even 20 mph ramps up to 4-4.5 RPM. Power steering warning and, airbag warning stays on in addition to engine light. Tire pressure information started working on 3 of 4 when stopped working a year ago.
On multiple occasions the accelerator sticks and the only way you can get it to stop is to tap the gas pedal. I have been able to get it to do this multiple times.
When accelerating hard to get on the highway from exit or going up a hill the accelerator gets suck. The car will not slow down with our foot on the brake as hard as possible. We just pray we can get over to break down lane without hitting anyone. The only way to stop car is to put in neutral, keeping your foot on brake and pulling the emergency brake. Once the care is in park you must shut off car and restart. It you put the car in drive without shutting car off it willl start running by itself again going 65mp in the break down lane. The first time this happened it was in 2009 with only 700 miles on the car. The second time was in 2014 and again September 2018. Took car back to dealership and could not duplicate the problem, therefore it didn't happened. Told me it was a freak occurrence.probably wouldn't happen again. The car is a 2009 model with only 23,000 miles on it because, I'm afraid to drive it. My husband drove my car the last time this happened about 2 weeks ago. He was on the mass pike and almost had a heart attack before I could get the car into neutral. We called GM headquarters because we got no where with our dealership in the past. Would not take care of problem unless we paid for the all tests first which we did twice before. All three incidents happened on the highway with heavy traffic and a higher power was watching over us. We could have been killed along with other people. Traveling 65mp in the break down lane is no joke. The car has also had 2 recalls on it that were fixed.
The contact owns a 2009 Chevrolet Cobalt. While driving various speeds, the accelerator pedal was depressed; however, the vehicle moved very slowly. In addition, while the vehicle was in reverse, it accelerated forward independently. The vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired. The manufacturer was not notified. The approximate failure mileage was 64,000. The VIN was not provided.
- Lynn, MA, USA
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The dic shows the reading of each tire pressure backwards, for example right front wheel is actually the rear right wheel, and left front is actually rear front. Also I am unable to use the cruise control. The lights turns on but the car does not engage in the same speed for the cruise control.
On Thursday October 9th, 2014 I was driving East on rt 70. It began to rain heavily at approximately 4:50pm and I attempted to use the brakes on my vehicle. The brakes were suddenly very stiff. I didn't think they were working. I was in the left lane when this occurred and immediately put on my emergency lights and tried to move to the middle lane, to the right lane so I could go to the shoulder. When I attempted to switch the lanes, the power steering wasn't working. I managed to move the steering wheel slightly so that I could switch lanes. There was oncoming traffic before an available shoulder so I tried to speed up. I was unable to increase my speed. I was able to slow down naturally but I wasn't able to completely stop until I got to the shoulder and pushed extremely hard on the breaks and held down on the break for several seconds. The radio was still working and the heater was blowing cold air. I was able to get the vehicle working again by turning the ignition to the off position and turning the ignition back on. I think my vehicle's engine turned off while I was driving. I have onstar on the vehicle and immediately pushed the button when I was unable to break properly with my vehicle. The lady I spoke with said that she was seeing some problem with my breaks but I took my vehicle to the local dealership the same day and they found no codes for my vehicle. The next day the dealership told me that they fixed the ignition recall on my vehicle and that might have fixed the issue. On two other occasions before the recall was announced, I had a similar issue and brought it into the dealership. They couldn't find anything wrong. This experience was terrifying and I'm just glad that I wasn't killed.
I was trying to turn my car on and I kept hearing a clicking noise. The car would not start no matter how many times I tried to restart it. I waited another five minutes it started and as I went to put the car in reverse it shut off again. I put the gear back into parking and then tried to restart the car, everytime it turned on it would shut off as I put the gear into reverse. So as I turned the car on again I went forwards to turn outward from the parking stall around the cement block but then the car shut off again and I hit the cement block which left a dent on the right side of my car. When driving to work it shut off in the middle of the road on my way to work. I pushed the gas pedal and nothing happened and then it just shut off. I took the car in to get serviced by the dealership, I paid for a vehicle inspection. The next day I went to school and my car would not start I was stuck in a parking stall again. I called the dealership and they said to bring the car in, I told them it was not running and it needed to be towed by them because I had just taken it in. They towed it and kept the car. The next day I called and they had not gotten to it. Then the third day I called and they still did not get to my car. Finally on the fourth day I explained to them that I had a rental and was paying out of pocket. They then told me it had to do with the clutch and that I had to replace it. So I did, I have the receipts. A few days later, it happened again. I tried replacing the battery. It happened again, I went back to the dealership and they said it was faulty wiring all along and that the wires leading to the power of the car were loose and rubbing against the ignition causing the car to turn off and they said they fixed it. Months later the car shut off again. I spent a lot and have all receipts and exact dates, I have since stopped driving car.
The contact owns a 2009 Chevrolet Cobalt. The contact stated that while braking at a intersection, the vehicle surged forward. The vehicle was taken to a local mechanic where the technician diagnosed that the throttle body would need replacing. The appropriate repairs were made to the vehicle however, the issue still persisted. The manufacturer was notified about the failure. The failure mile was 43,127 and the current mileage was 88,963.
As I was pulling into the garage I always look to see exactly where I should stop. As I stepped on the gas pedal to pull up a little bit more the car accelerated and would not stop when I stepped on the brake and went into my son's tool box and if it wasn't there would of gone through the dining room wall out the other side. As it was the tool box went into the wall. The air bags did not deploy and the windshield wipers kept on go as full speed, the tires were spinning and there were skid marks on the floor. The brakes went down to the floor. The garage was full of smoke from the tires that is how fast the car was going. I had trouble shutting off the car.
The contact owns a 2009 Chevrolet Cobalt. The contact stated that while driving 55 mph, the vehicle accelerated independently. The contact had to depress the brake pedal with extreme force before the vehicle responded. The vehicle was later taken to the dealer for inspection where they stated that they could not determine the cause of failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified but provided no assistance. The failure mileage was 90,000. The VIN was unavailable.
The contact owns a 2009 Chevrolet Cobalt. The contact stated that while driving 50 mph, the brakes and accelerator lost power. The contact was able to maneuver to the shoulder and stop the vehicle. The contact shut the vehicle off and upon restart. The vehicle operated as normal. The vehicle was taken to the dealer and they were unable to diagnose the failure. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure mileage was 40,000 and the current mileage was 45,000. The VIN was not available.
The contact owns a 2009 Chevrolet Cobalt lt. The vehicle would periodically accelerate without driver intent. When this would occur, the contact would attempt to decrease speed by depressing the brake pedal, to no avail. He had to put the vehicle in neutral, shut off the engine and restart it in order to stop the acceleration. There were no recalls for the failure. The failure mileage was 31,000 and the current mileage was 32,170.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Blackfoot, ID, USA