Tl*the contact owns a 2005 chevrolet cobalt. Sporadically, the electrical power steering fails and causes the contact to lose control of the vehicle. The vehicle has not been inspected to determine the cause of the failure. The failure and current mileages were 68,000. Updated 06/17/09 *bf updated 06/17/09.
2005 Chevrolet Cobalt steering complaints
Page 34 of 39: complaints 971 to 1,000 of 1,143, newest first, as owners wrote them.
While driving, power steering will stop functioning making it difficult to impossible to make evasive actions.
2005 chevy cobalt - loses power steering. Dealership cannot diagnosis and neither can my mechanic. Teenage driver. Very unsafe to have happen to her while driving.
Tl*the contact owns a 2005 chevrolet cobalt. While driving various speeds, the power steering activates and the steering wheel becomes difficult to turn. The failure has occurred three times. Through online research, the contact discovered many consumers who were experiencing the same failure. The vehicle must be shut off and restarted in order to deactivate the power steering. The dealer stated that they will charge $109 just to diagnose the vehicle. The vehicle has not yet been repaired. The failure and current mileages were 85,156.
Sudden loss of power steering while vehicle in motion.
Power steering light comes on. Then the power steering go out. This seems to happen more often when the temperature outside is hot.
I have been having problems with my 2005 chevy cobalt it can be working fine and then suddenly the power system shuts of and my steering wheel gets really hard impossible to turn. It has been increasing in time every time we use the car .
Tl*the contact owns a 2005 chevrolet cobalt. While driving 45 MPH, the power steering light illuminated on the instrument panel. The electronic power steering failed when attempting to make a turn and almost caused a crash. It took great effort for the contact to complete the turn. The current and failure mileages were 66,000.
Tl*the contact owns a 2005 chevrolet cobalt. The contact took the vehicle to the dealer because he heard a noise coming from the steering column. The dealer stated that a new steering column was needed. There were no warning lights illuminated on the instrument panel at the time of the failure. The current and failure mileages were 34,950. Updated 05/27/09 *bf an ignition switch was needed as well. Updated 05/29/09
I have a 2005 cobalt ls and the power steering goes out now within 5 minutes of driving the car. I use to be able to turn the car off and it would correct the problem, but now turning off the car doesn't correct the problem. I know what part needs to be replaced, but no one sells just that part, they want to try to sell you a whole steering column for $1500.00 or more. I think it is disgraceful that gm is asking for bail out money, but they will not recall this model of car to fix the problem. I cannot afford to go to a gm dealership and pay to have this problem fixed. I am not responsible for paying for this it is gm's responsibility! Gm wouldn't be in financial trouble if they built cars that didn't have problems or if the cars they built that had problems they took responsibility for fixing them. I don't think I can trust gm anymore. Eventually someone is going to get seriously hurt or worse.
Have a 2005 chevy cobalt and on four separate occasions, the power steering has gone out on vehicle. Almost impossible to drive. After getting it off the road and shutting off engine and restarting, worked ok. Took to dealership for them to check, they could find nothing wrong and said they had no history of this type of problem. This is a very dangerous situation and could results in death or injury. Gm has tsbs out there, which of course is customer pay, and they will correct gm defective issues. The cost is approx. $800.00. There have been enough complaints on this issue since 2005. A gm recall should be made mandatory. This is major safety factor. A recall by gm should be directed.
The power steering goes in and out intermittently. There is no warning. Particularity turning curves and corners. The dash board warning systems warns of this after the fact and you're in panic mode. When you shut down and restart it performs normally for a while and does it again. Also, when going around curves or making 90 degree turns, the steering "slips" and bumps as if you've run over something. Its as if the joints of the car aren't fitted together property.
Power steering in my chevy cobalt (2005) shuts off and car is difficult to drive.
No events leading to failure. Chevy cobalt 2005 model 33,000 miles power steering random catastrophic failure key sticks in ignition nothing was done to correct the failure by the manufacturer (no recall) even though multiple complaints and problems have been identified with the power steering in these models.
Tl*the contact owns a 2005 chevrolet cobalt. The contact experiences periodic power steering failure while driving various speeds. The steering wheel cannot turn to the left or right and she must turn and pull the wheel with great force to pull the vehicle to the side of the road. The vehicle has not yet been taken to the dealer. The failure mileage was 50,000.
Tl*the contact owns a 2005 chevrolet cobalt. While driving approximately 20 MPH on normal road conditions, the steering wheel locked and the power steering warning indicator illuminated on the instrument panel. The warning indicator remained lit until the engine was turned off. The vehicle was pulled over to the side of the road and the engine was turned off and restarted. The vehicle was able to resume normal operation; however, the failure recurred three times while driving. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer for diagnostic testing and the steering column code was reprogrammed. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer for identical failures. Currently, the steering column is being replaced. The VIN was unknown. The failure and current mileages were 54,000.
There were no events that LED up to this power steering just went out. A month before we had the key stuck in ignition problem. Paid $300 to get that fixed now it is back in the shop for power steering failure. I called gm about this and the rep said they had no other complaints about this issue. Are you kidding me?? I told him it was all over sites on the internet and he said I shouldn't pay any attention to that as gm has no power over what people reported on these sites and they should contact gm. He again tried to tell me that I was the only one reporting this problem!!
I just purchased a 2005 chevy cobalt as my wife drove it to the store the power steering locked up & shut off she almost got into a wreck she had to force car off the road. Spoke to a chevy mechanic said this was a common problem with 2005-2006 chevy cobalts, this is a defect in the steering column. Looked on the internet & there are lots of people with this model having the exact same problem yet there is no recall from gm. This is a safety hazard my wife could have been killed should these vehicles be on the road? Please investigate this problem. We had the car for 3 days now and it happened 4 times it is now in the hands of a mechanic.
Power steering message and failure began in april 2009. Power steering fails and displays message at random during turns, straight, high or low speeds, and will usually reset after engine shut off and restart. This failure and message can happen several times a day. Called gm after finding similar occurrences on the internet; they recommended a diagnostic at their dealership. Diagnostic revealed a c0475 code, which is a steering column motor short. The recommended course of action was to replace the steering column for $880 p&l. Mileage of 2005 cobalt is almost 80,000. This power steering failure is a huge concern for me since it is my wife's car. It is very possible for the failure to occur just before or during a needed reaction to an emergency situation, or could even cause an adverse reaction if failure occurs during a high-speed turn. This car isn't nearly old enough to "throw away" and get something newer, yet the price of the part and repairs seems to suggest it is time to do so. It's too bad for us we owe more than it's worth... And now this.
Power steering light comes on dash and car loses power steering immediately. Major safety concern while driving. It is happening often. Usually 1-2 times a month. I am not the only person who has this problem. Upon looking it up online and seeing that there's hundreds of other people with the same problem, it caused me to file this complaint. It obviously is a wide spread issue. I contacted gm through e-mail and they have yet to respond. It has been about 2 months. Also the key gets stuck into the ignition, I do not know if it is relevant to the steering issue but everyone who has the steering issue also has the key/ignition problems. When I experience power steering failure, I feel out of control of the vehicle. Luckily for me, it has not caused a crash, but I can certainly see how it could. I feel like gm should step up, take responsibility for this, and fix the problem instead of letting it be, and letting their customers drive unsafe vehicles. I feel unsafe.
Power steering stops during driving (electric). My daughter was almost involved in an accident when this happen.
Electronic power steering fails at 40,000 miles!!! Gm is claiming it is not a "defect" and also requiring the entire steering column be replaced.
The power steering on the 2005 and later cobalts quits either intermittently or continuously. In my case, the ps only works for 2/10 of a mile before quitting. After that point it is only manual drive. There are websites and blogs that are dedicated just to this problem including http://www.topix.com/forum/autos/chevrolet-cobalt/t8fmsuqb7v2dth5jh. This site has 335 instances of this problem as of today. Gm has failed to step up and fix this. In fact, they insist that the entire steering column must be replaced. However, this site http://www.carcomplaints.com/chevrolet/cobalt/2005/steering/power_steering_failure.shtml shows that it is usually only one component but that component cannot be purchased separately. The entire column replacement runs from $800 to $2000 whereas the component alone has to be much cheaper and is actually simple to replace. I tried the remedy listed by wayne from zion il #318 on the first website listed here and while it didn't work for me, there was so much black powder coming out of it I couldn't believe it. No wonder it doesn't work! This part is basically sealed so it must be made in unclean conditions. I believe it is made in japan (one of the posts mentions it). I believe that power steering issues are a major defect and why nothing has been done by this organization or gm is beyond me. While it may be safe to drive in manual steering, having it change in the middle of a turn (as is reported in the posts) is not safe! Another problem that seems to be related is the key not coming out of the ignition. I say related because most cars with the first issue seem to have the second issue too. Lastly, these cars also have the A/C leak directly into the passenger compartment causing mold and mildew and therefore unsafe breathing conditions in the car. Check the posts, dealers "can't find anything wrong" with them. How do I force your organization to do something about this as I know I'm not the only one to complain?
1. Power steering light comes up while driving and power steering goes off/locked, I can't move either right or left. 2. It occurs every when you drive the vehicle. 3. This is problem with electrical power steering for chevy cobalt 2005.
Tl*the contact owns a 2005 chevrolet cobalt. The contact stated that the power steering light illuminated on the instrument panel and the power steering failed. She had to place the vehicle into park or neutral and then shut off the engine in order for it to restart. The power steering functioned sporadically before completely failing again. The failure occurred every time the vehicle was in use. The manufacturer informed the dealer of a tsb for the issue and stated that the repair would cost $700. The vehicle has not been repaired. The current mileage was approximately 39,200 and failure mileage was approximately 37,500.
Power steering cuts out while operating vehicle extreme safety hazard if in the middle of a turn.happens at warmer temperatures, can be reset by turning off and re-starting vehicle. Problem re-occurs at random.
Tl*the contact owns a 2005 chevrolet cobalt. While driving various speeds, the power steering shuts off. As a result, the vehicle becomes unmanageable to turn and uncontrollable. In order for the vehicle to reset itself, the contact must shut off the vehicle and wait a few minutes for it to restart. Occasionally, this process must be repeated several times. He had to tow the vehicle to his residence after the most recent failure. The contact took his vehicle to the dealer on april 13, 2009. The failure mileage was 52,500.
2005 chevy. Cobalt electric power steering unit in steering column failed while driving. This failure occurred at 40,222 miles and happened about 15x . Absolutely no steering was possible, and this happened in traffic, once the vehicle was turned off I had steering again, then within seconds I would get the message power steering and the steering would be gone again. The cost to repair was $849.00 and only gm has the part. From the information on the internet, this is a defect with the part, and gm has known about it since fall of 2005. The shop manager at hudiburg chevy. Was not aware of any problems but when he asked his ticket writer, he acknowledged he has seen alot of this problem with this model vehicle.
Steering motor was determined defective by gm at 50k miles. Tires wood catch grooves in the road pulling the car unexpectedly. Shuttering of steering wheel while going straight. Knocking/ rattle sounds from steering column on rough/ bumpy roads. This happens all the time. These problems started about 35k, right after my warranty expired. After contacting gm and a chevy dealership, the cost will be $850. And it is a "common problem", design error. At 52k driving normally down the road, power steering shut off, "power steering" displayed, and the steering wheel was excessively hard to turn.
I have a 2005 chevy cobalt ls and around 38,000 miles the power steering flashed in the dash and I lost all power steering in a parking garage. There is no warning that's its going to happen besides the flashing in the dash 3 secs before it goes. This happened everytime I drove over 20 miles at a time, and I go to school in syracuse so I drive the thruway everyday so it was extremely hard to drive with it. I had to get the whole steering column replaced because the power steering is electric. It all cost 675$ I was able to get almost all of the labor charges dropped after working and talking with a chevy dealership.
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