2005 Chevrolet Cobalt: fire, smoke or burning smell

Filed Dec 14, 2015 · Body, Electrical · 12,800 miles · SC

When I unlock the driver door with the fob, the door would not open. I was driving one day and the relay electrical wiring started burning. When I took it back to the car dealer they told me there was nothing wrong. Myself and four other people smelled the burning. I gave the car back and nothing was done to satisfy the situation. I was told by an auto zone mechanic to park the car before it catches on fire.

Filed May 9, 2014 · Electrical, Engine · 125,000 miles · PA · fire

Tl* the contact owns a 2005 chevrolet cobalt. The contact stated while driving 55 MPH, the vehicle stalled without warning and immediately burst into flames. The fire department extinguished the fire. There were no injuries. The vehicle was destroyed. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure and current mileage was 125,000. Updated 12/17/14*lj updated 01/26/15.*jb updated 06/2/2015

Filed Feb 18, 2014 · Brakes, Electrical · 50,000 miles · PA · crash · fire

On january 10th, 2010 our daughter [xxx] 21 yrs. Old was killed in a car accident. We received a recall notice from gm in april 2010 on the car a 2005 chevy cobalt for power steering failure. The recall involves removing entire power steering mechanism built by a partially owned toyota factory. I knew the minute I got the news that my daughter was killed so violently and that it did not involve another car that it had to be mechanical failure. It was too late to save our daughter [xxx] but not too late to save others, I contacted gm who sent three representatives to the coparts scrap yard in duryea where the cobalt was stored in july to investigate the car accident. A photographer, an accident reconstruction and a mechanical engineer that flew in from detroit, the objective was to remove the black box, computer from the car and analyze the data. We went to the scrap yard and for the first time saw the wreckage that was once a beautiful red sports car. All the windows including the sun roof were blown out, the cobalt had flipped, rolled, ejecting [xxx] on to the highway where she was run over. We are not sure if [xxx] was killed on impact. The cobalt burst into flames melting the instrument panel, shift, upholstery. At the coparts scrap yard in duryea, myself and my husband [xxx] father saw the car for the first time the cobalt told the story of an extremely violent wreck. I was told by [xxx]that I would know the results from the black box data the next day. When I tried to contact gm through [xxx], miss price that they would not communicate with our family. Gm has my property and they will not release the data without us providing proof that the car was defective. This is not possible since they took the most valuable piece of information from the car. Information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6).

Filed Jan 24, 2014 · Fuel system · 105,000 miles · PA

I bought this vehicle new in february 2005. I've always been very diligent in maintaining and caring for my car. This summer I had noticed a gasoline odor several times when I got into my car. I always looked under the vehicle for wet spots or dripping but never found anything. In january 2014 I took my car in to have the annual safety inspection done. The inspector told me my car needed brakes on both axles and front rotors. He also told me he smelled a gasoline odor but could not find an active leak even though he turned the key on and primed the fuel system several times. Because it was raining that day he told me the underside of the vehicle was wet which prevented him from finding any wet areas due to a fuel leak. He told me he would check again when I brought it back for the re-inspection. A few days later, after the brake repairs, the inspector put my car on the lift and found the fabric heat shield/sleeve was damp with gasoline. He removed the heat shield/sleeve and found that the supply fuel line had rusted through. I did some research online and have found this is a very common problem with the cobalt model. I took my car to the local chevrolet dealership and they gave me an estimate of $647 to replace the one bad fuel line! A fuel line rusting through in less than 9 years? Terrible design having fuel lines run a few inches from the exhaust pipes. Terrible quality parts that fail prematurely and cause a fire hazard making the vehicle unsafe to drive. Terrible customer service at the dealership with an uncaring attitude and statements of "it's a car, they don't last forever" and "it's only $647, it's not the end of the world". I guess someone's car has to catch on fire, someone get killed, and gm get sued before they'll do something about this known and common problem. Now I know why the us government had to bail out gm. Smh!

Filed Nov 27, 2013 · Electrical, Engine · 47,500 miles · IL

Vehicle was parked inside garage, filling tires with air. A cigarette lighter powered air compressor was being used to fill tires. Was only in use for a few minutes, when air compressor stopped. The fuse for the cigarette lighter was blown. This was a common problem with the car. On several occasions the fuse for the cigarette lighter would be blown for no apparent reason. I have only used it in the past to use my obd ii scanner, being that the obd diagnostic port is powered by the same fuse as the cigarette lighter. Besides using the obd scanner, no other things have been used via the cigarette lighter. Regardless the fuse would be blown. After the fuse was blown with the air compressor, I unplugged it from the cigarette lighter, only to see smoke coming from under the hood. The fuse melted in the fuse block. From there, the window wipers began operating, as well as the windshield wiper fluid being shot out from the nozzles. Smoke began pouring from the inside of the car, from under the dash. I quickly ran to the trunk where the battery is located, and disconnected the battery as soon as I could. Garage was filled with smoke, with the ominous burnt electronic smell.

Filed Nov 26, 2012 · Fuel system · 80,000 miles · ND · fire

Tl* the contact owns a 2005 chevrolet cobalt. The contact stated that the instrument panel suddenly became dark. The contact exited the vehicle to inspect the failure further when he discovered that the rear end of the vehicle had ignited in flames. The contact stated that the fire began near the fuel tank area. The fire department was contacted to extinguish the fire. The vehicle was towed to the dealer for further inspection but was not repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure and current mileage was 80,000.

Filed Feb 13, 2012 · Steering · PA · crash · fire

On january 10th, 2010 our daughter [xxx] 21 yrs. Old was killed in a car accident. We received a recall notice from gm in april 2010 on the car a 2005 chevy cobalt for power steering failure. The recall involves removing entire power steering mechanism built by a partially owned toyota factory. I knew the minute I got the news that my daughter was killed so violently and that it did not involve another car that it had to be mechanical failure. It was too late to save our daughter [xxx] but not too late to save others, I contacted gm who sent three representatives to the coparts scrap yard in duryea where the cobalt was stored in july to investigate the car accident. A photographer, an accident reconstructionist and a mechanical engineer that flew in from detroit, the objective was to remove the black box, computer from the car and analyze the data. We went to the scrap yard and for the first time saw the wreckage that was once a beautiful red sports car. All the windows including the sun roof were blown out, the cobalt had flipped, rolled, ejecting[xxx] on to the highway where she was run over. We are not sure if [xxx] was killed on impact. The cobalt burst into flames melting the instrument panel, shift, upholstery. At the coparts scrap yard in duryea, myself and my husband [xxx] father saw the car for the first time the cobalt told the story of an extremely violent wreck. I was told by [xxx] that I would know the results from the black box data the next day. When I tried to contact gm through [xxx]that they would not communicate with our family. Gm has my property and they will not release the data without us providing proof that the car was defective. This is not possible since they took the most valuable piece of information from the car. Information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6).

Filed Feb 25, 2011 · Steering · 50,000 miles · PA · crash · fire

Tl* the contact owns a 2005 chevrolet cobalt. The contact stated that the vehicle was being driven by another person. The driver lost control of the vehicle. The vehicle rolled over and the driver was ejected from the vehicle, where she was run over by other passing vehicles and fatally injured. The vehicle then caught on fire. The vehicle was destroyed. A police report was filed. In april 2010, the contact received notification of the federal safety agency campaign id number: 10v073000 (steering:electric power assist system) and believed that the power steering failure caused the driver to lose control of the vehicle. The manufacturer inspected the vehicle and removed the black box for investigation. However, the manufacturer had not notified the contact of any outcome of the investigation. The current and failure mileage was 50,000. The VIN was unavailable.

Filed Jun 3, 2010 · Steering · 50,000 miles · PA · crash · fire

Tl* the contact owns a 2005 chevrolet cobalt. The contact stated her daughter perished in a violent car crash on january 10, 2010 and believed the crash was a result of a defective power steering module. The police officer who handled the crash stated the driver was traveling at a high rate of speed, the vehicle flipped several times and the driver was ejected from the vehicle and run over. A police report was filed accordingly. On april 10, 2010, the contact received notification that the vehicle was recalled (the federal safety agency campaign id number: 10v073000: steering: electric power assist) due to a defect in the steering module. The vehicle was totaled. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure and current mileages were 50,000. .. Updated 08-07-12 *bf the consumer also stated the vehicle burst into flames, melting the instrument panel and other components.

Filed Mar 3, 2010 · Engine, Fuel system · 33,000 miles · TX · fire

2005 chevy cobalt caught fire when the ignition key tried to start the engine. This car was parked during the work day at the hospital covered parking lot.

Filed Sep 12, 2008 · Engine, Tires · 59,083 miles · CA · fire

Tl*the contact owns a 2005 chevrolet cobalt. The vehicle was taken to the chevrolet dealer for maintenance. While repairing the vehicle, a mechanic left a rag on top of the engine underneath the hood. After the contact retrieved the vehicle, it caught fire due to the rag being left on the engine. The dealer repaired the vehicle, but the contact does not feel that it is safe to drive because it continues to break down. In addition, the traction control light continues to illuminate. The dealer stated that they could only repair the vehicle to its original state. The current mileage was 60,059 and failure mileage was 59,083.

Filed Feb 20, 2008 · Steering · 35,200 miles · GA · crash · fire · 2 injuries

Events leading up to complaint of '05 chevrolet cobalt steering problems: the cobalt was under warranty & gm road side assistance was call for each failures. 3 times the power steering went out. After the first 2 failures there was not any change in the sensitivity of the steering. 12/2/07 failure #1 @ I-75 near adel driver was able to drive the car to the next exit (exit 39). Gm sent the car to prince automotive in valdosta, ga for repair. Prince auto. Replaced the steering column. 12/14 the car was driven from s. Ga to atl. 12/24 failure #2 @ gahwy 141 in duluth. Gm sent the car to bill heard chevrolet in kennesaw, ga (where car was purchase new) for repair. 12/26 bill heard determined the problem was in the communication between the computer & steering column. 12/31 failure #3 @ camp creek pkwy & fulton ind. Gm sent the car back to bill heard for repair. Bill heard replaced the steering column with a different steering column. Service tech @ bill heard said there was an issue with the original manufacture of the steering column, gm has a new vendor. Prince auto. Had replaced the column with one from the original manufacture. Bill heard replaced the steering column with one from the new manufacture. 1/8-9/08 during daily commute to work noticed more sensitivity of the steering. The car was more sensitive when driving through a curve in the road or over bumps and/or potholes. 1/19 car returned to driver in s. Ga., she noticed a more sensitive steering response during her around town driving. 2/1/08 ga hwy 221: driver swerved right to miss something in the road; car went off onto the right shoulder. When corrective action was taken, the cobalt went into a spin hitting an on coming vehicle. The cobalt's front airbags were deployed, front doors, jammed; the cobalt driver & passenger escaped through the driver side window, the car was engulfed in flames within 3 minutes from impact. The other driver vehicle died in the accident.