Shortly after buying this car, the parking brake stopped working completely. The rear calipers have locked up and do not do anything when the handle is pulled up. This is a terrible design which causes, at best an inconvenient, and at worst, possibly dangerous situation as, for a car equipped with a manual transmission, there is no park to put the car in so I have to block the wheels when parking until I can get this problem fixed. The gm dealer said this is a common problem but there is no permanent fix. How can so many people have this problem but nothing is being done about it? What if I had parked on a hill and my car rolled down into another vehicle or a pedestrian?
2009 Chevrolet Cobalt SS: brake failure
9 of the 190 complaints about the 2009 Chevrolet Cobalt SS describe brake failure.
- owner complaints
- 9
- of this car's complaints
- 5%
- typical mileage
- 19,183
- recalls
- 0
Is there a fix? No recall or service bulletin covers this area of the car yet.
Brake failure by model year
- 20099
- 20083
What owners say
The rear brakes failed on my car at around 28,000 miles. As soon as I got the new ones installed they still are terrible, I do not understand why there would be such brakes that fail so early and could cause harm to people. There needs to be a recall on these brakes, they are entirely too unsafe.
Within the first 15000 miles of my car the rear brakes failed. It was metal on metal. Reading the forums on cobalts ss I'm not the only one that had rear brake failure within 15000 miles. I do not race the car, and most of my miles are highway. I believe there may be a factory defect.
The rear brakes failed on my vehicle. After taking it to a mechanic for inspection the rear brake calipers did not have lubrication on the sliding pins which resulted in the rotors failing and the brake pads being destroyed. My rear breaks no longer work. After researching online this is a defect on all 2008-2009 chevy cobalt ss models.
Bought my 09 cobalt ss tc sedan with 3500 miles on it. Rear rotors already had grooves at that mileage. My car is at 8700 miles now with both rear brake calipers having to be replaced along with deeper grooves in rear rotors and squeaking from the rear brakes. The failing rear brakes caused my emergency brake to fail. The emergency brake failed while on a hill and I walk outside to find my car under my girlfriends truck! (e-brake engaged and in reverse) this was fixed with the calipers being replaced, I still need to have my rotors worked as they are already to this point. I was fortunate to be parked on a not so steep of a hill, couldn't imagine someone in the same situation living in a hilly region. (lawsuit waiting to happen).
480 miles rotors replaced 1200 miles brakes bad again squealing and grinding I am in fear everytime I drive it of brake failure this should be brought to the attention of cnn and the bbb.
Brakes failed, slid in the snow and hit the passenger rear rim against the curb. This even lead to the rim being replaced, along with the axle. After the car was fixed, I took the car back to the dealer where it was looked over too see if there were any manufacturer's defaults. Then I was told they could do nothing for me because they only had a 12 month/12,000 mi. Warranty, and my car was 17 months old and had 19,200 mi. I then replaced the rotors and pads around the entire car.
Brakes failed, slid in the snow and hit the passenger rear rim against the curb. This even lead to the rim being replaced, along with the axle. After the car was fixed, I took the car back to the dealer where it was looked over too see if there were any manufacturer's defaults. Then I was told they could do nothing for me because they only had a 12 month/12,000 mi. Warranty, and my car was 17 months old and had 19,200 mi., so I had to file a complaint with general motors. I then replaced the rotors and pads around the entire car, out of pocket.
The rear brakes on the 2008-9 cobalt ss are causing rotor scoring at 400+ miles. The pads are too aggressive or the rotors are too soft and the rotors are being destroyed which could lead to brake failure if not replaced.
Related recalls
No recalls on record for this model year.
Questions about the 2009 Chevrolet Cobalt SS brake failure
Is brake failure a common problem on the 2009 Chevrolet Cobalt SS?
9 of 190 owner complaints about the 2009 Chevrolet Cobalt SS (5%) mention brake failure. The model year with the most reports is 2009.
Is there a recall or service bulletin for this on the 2009 Chevrolet Cobalt SS?
There is no recall or service bulletin for this area of the car on record.
Other symptoms on the 2009 Chevrolet Cobalt SS
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