2005 Chevrolet Cobalt: brake failure

Filed Dec 4, 2014 · Electrical, Steering · 131,939 miles · AZ

While driving my cobalt from anywhere between 10mph to 50mph multiple "ding" noises occur. Then any number of alert lights come on including; traction control, air bag, check engine, etc... There is a strange clicking noise that comes from somewhere in the dash. Also, along with these symptoms the transmission (auto trans) begins to shift very hard both up and down, car shudders as if it is going to stall when it comes to a near stop. The scariest and most dangerous part is that the car has experienced loss of power steering at speed and loss of braking control. Sometimes I have spent 5 minutes trying to get my key out of the ignition as well, and must forcefully move the transmission shift knob back and forth until the key turns free. This car is a danger, and despite having multiple recalls it is still unsafe to drive.

Filed Sep 4, 2014 · Brakes, Driver assistance · 118,000 miles · MD

While in drive, the vehicle made a buzzing sound like electrical wires being fried, and then completely shut off. There were no brakes and no steering ability- the car was completely lifeless, no ability to control it at all, stranded in the middle of a street.

Filed Feb 19, 2012 · Brakes · 142,368 miles · WA

I experienced "catastrophic" brake failure while driving my 2005 chevy cobalt lt sedan w/automatic transmission on the highway. I was forced to make a sudden emergency stop from approx 45mph to 0. The ABS system worked perfectly as the roads were wet and I did not lose control resulting from my sudden stop, with the ABS and traction control instrument lites illuminating. However upon quickly trying to resume travel (since I was straddling 2 lanes on the highway) the brakes would not "release" and fearing a rear end collision from approaching traffic, I shifted into 1st gear and simply drove 15' to the shoulder, fighting against the "grip" of the brakes. On the shoulder, with the ABS & tc lites still on, I was safely able to repeatedly shift in and out of park and repeatedly pumped the brake pedal until finally after approx 1min they released their grip and the ABS & tc lites turned off allowing me to resume travel. I traveled for approx 10 min at 65mph w/cruise control, when suddenly an alarm sounded with the ABS & tc lites illuminating again. I traveled approx 1mi before exiting the highway to investigate the alarms and their meaning. I entered the off ramp at approx 60mph and attempted to slow the vehicle but the brake pedal simply went straight to the floor with no pressure! I quickly repeated the action with the same result. Fearing a hydraulic loss, I began pumping the brakes with no success. Simultaneously I downshifted to 2nd however due to the near 60mph speed this had no effect as the automatic transmission will not downshift until reaching a safe RPM level for that gear. My final resort was using the parking brake which only slowed the car to approx 25mph until they also became inoperative with smoke billowing from the rear wheels. I ran through the intersection, finally stopping 1/2 way up the opposing on-ramp, thankfully due to the slight incline.

Filed Mar 2, 2010 · Acceleration, Steering · 119,378 miles · FL

I had severe power steering failure and my map sensor is also defective even though it has been replaced twice. I have a very low mpg its a 15mpg at best. My car also accelerates without my foot on the pedal and I have had severe brake failure , to the extent that I have had to use my hand brake to stop.

Filed Feb 23, 2010 · Electrical, Steering · 10,000 miles · TX

In march of 2006 I was driving about 40 MPH & the check engine light came on. As soon as the check engine light came on the power steering locked up. There was a clicking noise that came from the shifter (where you put it in park, reverse, drive). The car started to jerk forward at random & the brakes did not work. I pulled over as soon as I could & turned off the car. After letting it sit for about 30 minutes I turned the car back on & it had reset itself. I called the dealership and brought the car to them immediately. They kept the car for 3 weeks & were unable to get the car to act up while on the diagnostic test. They said that there was nothing that they could do. I had numerous episodes over the next 6 months including multiple times when I was driving between 60-70 miles on the freeway. They could never get it to act up doing the diagnostic testing. I took it to another dealership. They contacted gmac; the dealership agreed to fix the computer system. They told me that they were going to replace one of the computers that they thought was causing the problem and & just write it off since by this point the mileage was at 31,000 but the problem started when the mileage was at around 10,000. When I got the car back it was october 2006. I did not have anymore problems until november 2009. I turned on my vehicle & it did the whole thing again. I turned my vehicle off & called a dealership. I had the vehicle towed to the dealership & they kept it for a month and a half. While they had it I was calling gmac to try & get while they had it I was calling gmac since the mileage was at 94,000. While talking to the service manager at frank parra dealership & gmac the computer was never replaced; only reloaded. To this day the problem has not been fixed & it still happens at random. It has also started to have problems with the locks. They lock at random & trap me in the car or will not let me in. There is a definite electronic issue!!!!

Filed Oct 17, 2007 · Brakes · 19,860 miles · NC · crash

Brake failure/brake pedal went down when applied and vehicle accelerated at a high rate of speed,traveled 20-25 feet struck truck in front of me causing over $4,000 in damage to my 2005 chevy cobalt since the june 13th 2007 accident the brakes failed 2 more times the last time the brake pedal collapsed to the floor with no brakes(bushing &clip missing from brakes, I think this was done at the factory). I had to stop it using the emergency brake. I refused to drive it again. My wife had it do this to her, with the brakes failing and accelerating at a fast pace, luckily no cars were near her at the time,because I traded the cobalt general motors refuses to do anything about the problem reference number 71-562139648 talked to several people one was jake ext 22795.

Filed Mar 26, 2007 · Brakes · DC · crash

2005 chevy cobalt with brake failure customer states that her brakes didn't work when applied after traveling 30+ minutes a speed of 55+ miles which resulted in totaling her car and the car she hit**cc

Filed Dec 30, 2006 · Electrical, Engine · 18,000 miles · MA

#1 I brought it back because steering wheel always was to the left even though I was going straight. Dealer said it was fine, I complained to customer service and then dealer said they fixed it. When going straight the steering still looks left. #2 air conditioning not working, #3 liquid coming out of vents #4 cricket noises out of passenger side dash area. I was told air conditioning was fine, no cricket noises and it was normal for fluid to come out of vents. I brought the car back again said A/C is not fine I asked them if it could be some sort of filter (I am no mechanic) but it was. They had car all day, went to pick it up but they said dash was apart because they were fixing the problem with the fluid coming out of the dash (and I said I was told there was no problem) they had the car for the weekend. They tried to charge me for the filter and I said I would not pay for it because there was problems with that AC and defroster etc since day one. They took out the filter and put in an old dirty filter that did not come from my vehicle as the guy from the chevy dealership in malden said he found it in the trash, (has made my daughter sick). #5 while driving the car I was getting off of the highway into a rest area and the car just died, there was no power steering no brakes etc. The key was in the switch and it was not off. I started the car up again. #6 the electrical didnt work, they fixed that. I have contacted chevy customer service on several occasions and they say they will check into it etc and call me back, but they never do. I want them to fix the steering wheel, fix the car stalling out for no reason (we could have been killed) and put in a new filter not someone elses dirty filter. I don't trust the malden dealership. I have brought the car to the dealership on at least 7 occasions most of which they say nothing wrong.

Filed Dec 19, 2006 · Electrical · 33,500 miles · NJ

I purchased my 2005 chevy cobalt in march of 2005. I have had repairs done in june of 2005 on recall for air conditioning unit. No real problems until last month 12/2006. The car, while driving at 65 MPH just shut off (no warning). I had no steering, no brakes and thankfully was able to coast to the side. About 5 minutes later I was able to start the car to try to get it to the next exit. The car was driving ok so I tried to get to my destination (slowly under 50 MPH) the car then began to lose power and shutter. As soon as it started it stopped. Took car to dealer and computer was fixed. No problems until 1 week later. Car at a red light just stopped working and now has no power to accelerate. Taking car back to dealer but very frustrated over brand new car not working properly.

Filed Jun 7, 2006 · Acceleration, Airbags · 10,819 miles · GA · crash · 1 injury

1) months prior to the accident at high way speed (65 to 75 MPH) after several hour (from 1 to 4) with the cruise control engaged, when disengaging the cruise control, the car would vibrate violently. Gm claims they can not duplicate the problem. 2) brakes failed - applied brakes in traffic, pedal was soft and then went hard like the power brakes was not working, but the car did not slow down, causing the impact in the rear of a pick-up truck. 3) according to the air bag report the car was traveling over 30 MPH, but the air bags did not deploy on the frontal crash.

Filed May 26, 2006 · Brakes, Steering · 6,800 miles · FL

Dt*: the contact stated while driving 10 MPH the power steering and power brakes failed. The power steering and t-c lights on the dash illuminated. This happened three times. The vehicle was towed to the dealer were an unknown computer part was replaced. Updated 06/23/06.

Filed Aug 11, 2005 · Electrical · 3,000 miles · CT

Dt:bought a new 2005 chevrolet cobalt in march. Since then it has been in the repair shop 5 times. While driving 40 MPH dashboard panel lights came on and then suddenly the engine died. When this occurred the key was in the ignition in the start position. Dealer said it was designed for women so they may start the car easily. The ignition was designed to stop the engine if the key or ignition were touched while the vehicle was in motion. The dealer said chevrolet designed it this way. The second opinion from the dealer was simply there was nothing wrong. When the engine shut down there was a loss of brake power along with everything electrical. They did a diagnostic check which showed nothing. There was a recall service performed on the vehicle, but that was on the air conditioner. There was some sort of reprogramming work done. Consumer did not know what was wrong with vehicle.