2009 Chevrolet Cobalt SS: grinding or squealing brakes

Filed Dec 9, 2011 · Brakes · 19,100 miles · NV

Rear brakes are dragging on the rotor and grinding at stops.

Filed Jul 13, 2011 · Brakes · NJ

The cobalt brakes have always made a screeching sound, which gm has addressed as being normal. Chevrolet #08-05-22-004: information on brake squeal/squeak noise - (jul 15, 2008)] however, I had to prematurely replace the rear brakes and have the rotors cut after only 27,039 miles, while the front brakes still had 50% life left. This is not a normal occurrence, since the front brakes should have worn out before the rear ones. While I was able to get 27,039 miles of wear, the fact that there is definitely a defect in the system means there is no guarantee that the condition will not worsen in time. There is also the chance that the system could fail completely causing a serious accident. Finally, the screeching sound is getting worse. This sound, along with the brake wear, will virtually reduce the value of the car considerably, making it nearly impossible to trade or sell, unless gm corrects this issue.

Filed Feb 22, 2011 · Brakes · 14,000 miles · MI

Purchased the car new. At about 3,000 miles I noticed scoring on the rear brake rotors. After about 12,000 miles my emergency brake started failing to hold the car on even the slightest hill. At about 14,000 miles the rear brakes started to grind. At this point the brake pads needed to be replaced, and the rotors turned. Only the inside pads were worn completely down, the outside pads looked relatively good.

Filed Feb 14, 2011 · Brakes · 11,000 miles · DC

Brakes started squealing a few months after buying the car brand new. Now, about 1.5 years later, they are grinding an excessive amount and their performance has extremely decreased. I fear I will have to change entire rotors and pads to fix this problem out of my own pocket within the next month on good aftermarket parts since the factory can't produce good quality oem parts and general motors doesn't give a flying ****. I informed my local dealer of the problem and they shrugged me off, but only after wanting to charge me $60 to just look at them. I shouldn't have to pay for them to inspect brakes that are faulty in under 2 years, and 20,000 miles; and I also have an extended warranty that I paid for. Apparently, it's just mainly the rear brakes that are the issue with these cars, but every owner I know, who hasn't already replaced the brakes with aftermarket performance parts, have the exact same issue, and in some cases, much worse. If the brakes fail within the next month or two and an accident happens(quite possible since rust is appearing on one of my rear rims due to the rotors being scoured so excessively, I fear one of them may let go and snap completely off)before either a recall, or I put aftermarket products on, gm will be facing a lawsuit by yours truly; especially if serious injury occurs.

Filed Dec 18, 2010 · Brakes · 15,000 miles · NJ

Rear brakes on a 2009 cobalt ss turbo score and grind within 10,000 miles. You have to put after market brakes on the car.

Filed Nov 9, 2010 · Brakes · 14,200 miles · TX

My rear brakes on my 09 cobalt ss are wearing unevenly. My right side rear brake pads are completely used up and as a result have begun to grind on to the rotors and caused them to form pits, and or grooves. Very disappointing.

Filed Sep 28, 2010 · Brakes · 7,589 miles · FL · crash

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).

Filed Aug 11, 2010 · Brakes · 21,000 miles · MO

Tl*the contact owns a 2009 chevrolet cobalt ss. While driving approximately 35 MPH pressure was applied to the brake pedal the contact heard a grinding noise. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer who stated that the failure was due to excessive braking. The dealer also confirmed that the rear rotors and brake pads needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure and current mileages were 21,000.

Filed Jul 21, 2010 · Brakes · 19,000 miles · TX

A terrible grinding coming from rear brakes. The brakes wear out too quickly (and the rotors are being scored at 100mile-20,000mile cars) also inside rear pads start to get noisy.

Filed Jul 14, 2010 · Brakes · 1,000 miles · TX

The stock rotors on my car started getting severely warped within the first 3-4 months of owning the car. The car was brand new when I purchases it. I replaced the brakes after owning the car for 10 months and the car had about 14,000 miles. I showed the dealer the rotors and they resurfaced them. I've been driving the car with new brakes since june 2010, the new brakes are already squeaking and rotors have severe grooves on them. I purchased the car june 2009 brand new.

Filed Jun 17, 2010 · Brakes · 15,000 miles · OH

My vehicle is a 2009 chevrolet cobalt ss coupe purchased new in march of 2009. After 15,000 miles (about a year's worth of driving), the rear brake rotors were pitted and scored, and when the brakes were applied a metal-on-metal grinding noise would occur. Also, after getting wet from driving in the rain, then allowing to vehicle to rest for a short period of time, enough rust would build up on the rear brakes that a copious amount of throttle would be needed to break free the pads from the rotors to move the vehicle forward. After taking the car to the selling dealer for inspection/repair, I was told this part was a wearable item and not covered under my manufacturer's warranty. I explained that most all owners of cobalt ss models between the 2008 - 2010 model years were experiencing similar rear brake issues, but was told that did not matter. The parts were not covered under warranty, and if I would like them repaired/replaced, I would have to pay for the parts and labor.

Filed Jun 1, 2010 · Brakes · 9,500 miles · IA

Purchased car brand new, have approx 10k miles on it. Rear brake calipers seem to not release fully- can be heard grinding when reversing and screeching when gently braking while moving forward. Rear brake pads are wearing unevenly so that the outside pad is scoring the rotor and wearing much faster than the inside. Possible that the slider pins on the caliper are not lubricated? I've had my local chevy dealership where I purchased the vehicle look at it, they wrote it off as brakes being a "wear&tear" item. Rear brakes only account for 20% or less of the full braking of the vehicle. Why is it that my front brakes are fine and my rears almost need to be replaced already?