NHTSA — Vehicle Speed Control Problems

2006 Pontiac G6 (Page 1 of 3)

CarComplaints.com Seal Of Avoid Like The Plague

CarComplaints.com Notes: The 2006 Pontiac G6 has major problems with two areas fairly critical to the act of driving... steering & safety.

The 2006 G6 has a major defect trend with electronic power-assisted steering failure. The power steering cuts out while driving, making it extremely difficult to steer. G6 owners typically report spending $600 - $1,200+ to fix the problem, replacing either the entire steering column or the power assist motor.

In March 2010, GM recalled 1.3 million vehicles for this exact problem "...after receiving 1,100 complaints of power steering failures." However the 2006 G6 wasn't included in that recall.

In July 2010, GM issued a "Special Coverage Adjustment" — TSB #10183 — covering "certain" (not all) 2005, 2006 & 2008 Pontiac G6's for this power steering issue, up to 10 years/100k miles. However a large number of 2006 G6 owners have reported they were not covered by this campaign, based on VIN#.

As of late 2013 the NHTSA had well over 700 steering complaints on file for the 2006 G6, with 21 crashes & 12 injuries. The NHTSA closed their initial investigation in 2007, having determined that losing your power steering going over 15-20 mph isn't a big deal & that most crashes occurred at slow speeds, so not a safety risk. Ridiculous? Yep, we think so too.

The 2006 G6 also has an expensive problem with "popping" or "clunking" noises when turning, & that issue extends to newer model years as well.

Factor in the 2006 Pontiac G6's poor side impact protection & you end up with a vehicle you should steer clear of.

10.0

really awful
Crashes / Fires:
5 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
3 / 0
Average Mileage:
64,432 miles

About These NHTSA Complaints:

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.

2006 Pontiac G6 engine problems

engine problem

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2006 Pontiac G6 Owner Comments (Page 1 of 3)

problem #60

Jun 012023

G6

  • miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

Unknown

- Greenville, NC, USA

problem #59

Jul 262021

G6

  • miles
1. Loss of power assisted steering making it hard to control car. But I turn off car and turn back on, it works. 2. Steering column knuckle or u-joints are making a loud clunking noise when turning steering wheel. 3. BCM or Body Control Mudule is either bad or needs cleaning because cruise control nor traction controls work. I checked fuses and they are ok.

- Cottonport, LA, USA

problem #58

Mar 042021

G6

  • 214,398 miles
Within a few minutes of driving 🚗 today I couldn't normally steer to either direction without pulling tremendously on the steering wheel, as well almost like its stalling out putter, , "GM, is short for god mode and can he build it, or "got man" cause he 'got ya' when you bought it.. great. Love it. Fml

- Delta, CO, USA

problem #57

Jun 232018

G6

  • 69,000 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

Cruise control does not come on and brake lights are on without being used. Car only had 69000 miles

- Rio Rancho, NM, USA

problem #56

May 182018

G6

  • miles
The contact owns a 2006 Pontiac G6. The contact stated that there were several failures that randomly progressed upon purchasing the vehicle from a private seller. Due to the various failures, the vehicle was unable to pass state inspection. The vehicle was taken to four different independent mechanics, but a permanent remedy could not be provided to prevent the failures. The various mechanics replaced the throttle body, spark plugs, air flow sensor, and battery; however, the failures continued. The contact stated that the vehicle failed to accelerate when the accelerator pedal was depressed, and failed to start and restart on numerous occasions. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic and it diagnosed that the master computer and the struts needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The vehicle had not been diagnosed by a dealer. The manufacturer was notified of the failures. The failure mileage was not available.

- Denver, CO, USA

problem #55

Oct 062017

G6

  • 150,000 miles
Driving on way home from work, whole trip nothing over 45 mph, the traction control off light came on and stayed on. Its the light with tc and a slash trough it. The light turns off when the car is in park or neutral but comes on when shifter is in reverse or drive. After the light came on I noticed extremely sluggish engine performance, extremely hard shifting all the way through 4th gear with bad slams coming from the transmission. After about 30 mins of driving with the light still on, the check engine light comes on and I can barely get going from a stop light. I parked it for the night to work on it the next day, and to my surprise the next morning the tc off light was gone and after about 10 mins of driving the check engine light goes out and the car runs and drives like normal. The next day it all happened over again with all the same issues and then the warning lights went out again and the car ran fine. Then for a third day it all happened again and now the engine seems to have no power, I might as well be pushing the car down the street. This happened in the middle of my drives on a normal no wet weather day. The dealership and a private garage tried reading the codes through the connector under my stearing wheel and no bodies reader can connect to the ECU. I checked all the fuses and relays and none are blown or damaged. I know the G6 had recalls for this issue a few years ago and my car wasn't included in this but it sounds like the same issue. I can get under the car and look for any melted wires or ground faults but I wouldnt know where to begin. Looking online there are thousands of people experiencing this same exact issue. Tc off light coming on and check engine light coming on with an expensive repair or no solution available. This is causing my vehicle to have little to no acceleration and really spotty shifting. It happens everyday at random times.

- North Potomac, MD, USA

problem #54

Sep 152017

G6

  • 100,000 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

The contact owns a 2006 Pontiac G6. The contact stated that when at a parking lot of a school, the contact drove very slowly at an unknown speed, the brake pedal failed to respond when depressed and in addition the vehicle accelerated to an unknown speed. The power steering failed to turn left or right. The failure occurred without warning. The failure caused the contact's vehicle to crash into another vehicle, which made the vehicle come to a stop. Only the air bag on the power steering wheel deployed. The other air bags failed to deploy. A police report was filed. The contact sustained a back injury that did not require medical attention. The vehicle was towed to the contact's residence. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The contact received notification of NHTSA campaign numbers: 14V252000 (service brakes, hydraulic, electrical system, exterior lighting, vehicle speed control, electronic stability control), 14V153000 (steering) and 14V224000 (power train) however, the parts to do the repair were unavailable. The contact stated that the manufacturer exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was not contacted and was not made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 100,000.

- Gulfport, MS, USA

problem #53

Mar 092017

G6

  • 114,000 miles
My vehicle was recently taken to the dealership for a recalled part (brake lamp malfunction) and my vehicle is still locking up. After fixing the recalled part I have purchased a battery, a caliber, starter, and two hubs. My car is still not working it will function for a couple of miles perfectly, and then it returns to the same problems. First it will not gear up the car will be on drive and it will take a couple of minutes to catch, then the car will lock up and not be able to move. So I will have to get a tow service because the ABS system will lock the car and I cannot push it to a safe area.

- Houston, TX, USA

problem #52

Nov 052016

G6

  • 110,385 miles
Re: Pontiac 2006 -G6 GT elect. System, elect. Stability control, exterior lighting, service brakes, hydraulic, vehicle speed control --- this car was recalled for above problems in 2014. At that time I brought car to dealer to be fixed, although the car was not in need of repair because no problems had existed, dealer stated he fixed all recall problems at that time. Now two years later I am experiencing all the listed problems above. I took car to mechanic where he did replace parts but still experiencing problem. It must go back to dealer so problem can be alleviated. Brake lights do not go on when braking also when applying gas they sometimes go on. Cruise control is also not working. What's to say that this problem was never fixed in 2014 when the car was recalled due to the fact that I wasn't having any issues at that time. Had do I know the work was ever done the first time around since I was not in the service area and I had no problems with the car. What's to say I was handed an itemized list of all corrected parts and indeed it was never fixed. I called Pontiac and was told since it was replaced with recall I have to now pay out of pocket. According to NHTSA -they have been working to reduce deaths and injuries on the roadways to make it safer for the public. They also need to be on the customers side and not the side of the dealer.

- Deer Park, NY, USA

problem #51

Jul 192016

G6

  • 157,000 miles
Takata recall traction control light comes on randomly and check engine light comes on. When driving it shifts really hard if the tc light is on also while driving it trys to stall out. Also randomly all dash light will come on and gauges all go crazy and puts error on the dash where the odometer reading is and then car want start.

- Hudson, NC, USA

problem #50

Nov 192015

G6

  • 88,000 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

During slippery road conditions, when I apply brakes, even at low speeds like 5mph, the traction control interferes with brakes and car does not allows me to apply brake. I feel this strong vibration in the brake pedal and can hear some mechanical noise. Its life threatening in winters to drive this car with family. Physically by brakes and rotors are in good condition. Seems like problem with traction control or ABS.

- Apple Valley, MN, USA

problem #49

Aug 212006

G6

  • miles
Shortly after I purchased my 2006 Pontiac G6 (in 2006) it has been failing to start from time to time. The dealership stated that there is an electrical (shortage) problem that causes the car not to start and kills the battery. I have had to replaced the four(4) times. The car has totally died on me five (5) different times and had to be towed. The first and second times it died, it was between 25-40K miles ; therefore, still under warranty. The third time it was a little beyond 60K and the dealership would not honor the extended warranty, so I paid out of pocket. The fourth I replaced the battery again. The fifth after a few attempts the battery was recharged. Lost steering power while driving. The dic readout "check gas cap, " I would tighten the had cap, but still the engine light comes on. I have replaced the had cap the times. Lost power while driving. Car will not go above 40 mph. Transmission dipstick is missing.

- Silver Springs, FL, USA

problem #48

Nov 172014

G6 6-cyl

  • 117,054 miles
I have taken my car to have it fixed under a recall for steering problems 3 times and now they are saying its not their problem> General Motors is sellin bad parts on vehicles and they are not doing enough to fix them.

- Swanville , ME, USA

problem #47

Jun 232014

G6 4-cyl

  • miles
2006 Pontiac G6. Consumer writes in regards to GM recall #13036 and repair reimbursement.* ld the consumer stated the dealership would not honor the no charge provision.

- Hampton, VA, USA

problem #46

Oct 072014

G6

  • miles
The contact owns a 2006 Pontiac G6. The contact received recall notifications for NHTSA campaign number: 14V252000 (electrical system, electronic stability control, exterior lighting, service brakes, hydraulic, vehicle speed control) and NHTSA campaign number: 14V153000 (steering). The parts needed were not available. The dealer did not provide a specific date when the parts would become available. The manufacturer was notified. The contact had not experienced a failure.

- Pueblo, CO, USA

problem #45

Sep 022014

G6 6-cyl

  • miles
2006 Pontiac G6. Consumer writes in regards to recall repairs. The consumer stated after receiving two recall letters, the parts finally came in. When the consumer arrived home, her husband reviewed the invoice, and discovered the parts, that were installed in the vehicle, were re-manufactured and not new. The dealer denied, the parts were re-manufactured.

- Perry, MI, USA

problem #44

May 092014

G6

  • 100,000 miles
Recently in may I started having problem with my 2006 Pontiac G6 V6. Once the car was diagnosed for problems with the transmissions as far as the speed senor control, I took actions as far as getting quotes for repairs. Every transmission placed that I contacted was quoting a price no higher than 3,000 because of the type of transmission that was in the car. As the days and time goes by there was no way that I would be able to come with this money. I contacted the lien holder in June, stated that I wanted to return the car, because I was unable to come up that type of money to repair my car. As of 08/01/2014, I received a letter in the mail from GM stating that it was a recall on the transmission for the same problem that it was giving me. I have sent a copy of the letter to united auto credit thinking that they would take this in consideration. If I would have known that this problem would have occurred I would have kept my car, instead of going through the time and trouble being without a car, and paying on a car that I no longer have. Since I had my car I was never late on payments. The problem with this car has caused me an on 9 month probation period with my job, due to the fact that I had to call off work or late for work. Since the car was purchased, I have kept up the maintenance on the car. I also have documents to follow that, until the day it was returned to the lien holder. By, not knowing this recall was going to occur, this has cost me a lot of money that I have to pay bay to my lien holder. Considering that I had received the letter after the I had sent my car back. It's unfair to me, that I had to go through this situation and I have to pay my lien holder $5200 back, because of this. If you need further information for this matter, please feel free to contact me. I have all documents handy.

- Atlanta, GA, USA

problem #43

Aug 262014

G6

  • 136,202 miles
I recently purchased this vehicle. Soon after I purchased it, my husband was driving behind me when he discovered that my brake lights were backwards. They were on when I was not pressing on the pedal and were off when I was pressing the pedal. So to be clear the brake lights are on when they should be off and coming on when they should be off. Also, the cruise control light comes on but the vehicle does not maintain speed while using the function.

- Ravenna, MI, USA

problem #42

Aug 292014

G6 6-cyl

  • 135,000 miles
While driving there was a noise similar to that of which you hear when the seat belt isn't engaged then the display on the radio reads "engine power reduced" then immediately after that it reads "engine power disabled" and then the car shuts itself down. I was able to coast to safety where I then turned the ignition to off. Tried to start it again but the car was completely dead. I waited 10 minutes and then was able to start the car again but it didn't start normal it kind of sputtered and then started. I was then able to drive home. A second occurrence happened a different day when I was parked. I started the car and it immediately made the above mentioned noise, gave me the same 2 messages and then shut itself down. I then could start it again after about 10 minutes. I was told this was a throttle body issue by a dealer and have not yet had this problem resolved. This is a very dangerous thing to happen while you are driving especially if you have small children in the car. This should be a recall immediately.

- Fond Du Lac, WI, USA

problem #41

Feb 032014

G6

  • 123,000 miles
The contact owns a 2006 Pontiac G6. The contact stated that the vehicle would jerk forward violently and accelerate independently while at a complete stop. The contact had to apply excessive force to the brake pedal to ensure that the vehicle would stop. In addition, the service engine sensor illuminated multiple times and was cleared twice by an independent repair shop; however, the failure recurred. The vehicle was taken back to an independent mechanic who changed the oil and reset the code twice, but did not diagnose the code displaying from the sensor. The contact also mentioned that the power steering sensor illuminated intermittently and the steering wheel was difficult to maneuver. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The vehicle was not included in NHTSA campaign number: 14V153000 (steering). The manufacturer was notified of the failures. The approximate failure mileage was 123,000.

- San Antonio, TX, USA

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