My son owns a 2006 chevy cobalt. The power steering light comes on and then the power steer locks up to where you are unable to turn the steering wheel. The quick fix is to cut off the ignition and restart. This is only a short term fix as it happens again within the next 10 miles or so and is becoming more frequent as time goes on. Does someone have to die before a recall is issued? After reading the reported problems on the internet this is a very common thing for the 2005 and 2006 models. I have seen recalls on here for lesser things like not enough amber in a turn signal? How is this any more dangerous than losing the ability to steer while doing 70 MPH on the interstate? It is a matter of time before a death or permanent disability happens to someone. Gm has to be aware of this problem by now. I guess they will just take there chances being that they are filing bankruptcy. I beg you to recall this component. How many more complaints are needed?
2006 Chevrolet Cobalt steering complaints
Page 42 of 44: complaints 1,211 to 1,240 of 1,299, newest first, as owners wrote them.
I have a 2006 chevy cobalt ltz and the power steering has went out on it numerous times while im driving, trying to make a turn, while my 2 children were in the car. It makes the car extremely hard to steer around a curve. Thankfully I have only about hit other cars. But I still have to drive it because I don't have any other way to work, until I can save enough money to get it fixed. I don't know what caused it but, I have done some research and there are many people dealing with this problem with the cobalt 06. I have to replace the whole electric power steering part bout 1000.00 that I don't have.. I m a single mom of two boys . I think there really needs to be a recall done on this particular part on the 06 cobalt. Before someone is hurt.. There are to many people having problems with this.. Oh and did I mention my warranty just ran out..
Our 2006 chevy cobalt has started having power steering failures. The car has 44,000 miles. Two weeks ago while driving down the highway, the ps light indicator flashed on and we did our best to try and get off the road. If we turn the car off and then back on, the power steering will work, but the problem is becoming more frequent; at least a couple of times a week. This car was bought new and is driven by my 20 yr. Old honor college student. I had a mechanic check this and he told me the steering column had to be replaced at a cost of approx. $1500.
My power steering has been going on and off since 2008. I took it to the dealership and they said I have to replace the entire column. The power steering goes out every day. As soon I turn on the car and go a few yards it goes out. The problem has gotten worse. It's a lot harder to turn and a lot more frequent than it was in november.
The power steering lock up every time I drive the car. The key will not come out of the steering column. Cant drive the car.
Driving down the highway and the power steering went out, power steering goes in and out on 2006 chevy cobalt.
The power steering in the vehicle went out while making a turn almost causing a collision with the oncoming vehicle.
While driving at 35 MPH, heard beeping and message on dic read"power steering". Pulled to the shoulder and restarted the car. No message was displayed after restarting the car, but problem remains. Car will lose power steering now more frequently, at least 5 times during a 45 minute ride. Have to keep pulling over to restart the car to fix the problem. Car is 3 years old with about 85,200. Have not repaired it yet, car not under warranty.
Tl*the contact owns a 2006 chevrolet cobalt. While driving approximately 30 MPH on wet road conditions, the contact heard a loud noise underneath the vehicle. Immediately, the vehicle spun out of control several times before skidding off the road surface into a wooded area. The failure occurred without warning. The police department and roadside assistance were called to the scene and a police report was filed. The driver sustained minor facial injuries. The vehicle was towed to an authorized dealer for inspection, but the cause of the failure has not yet been determined. The manufacturer engineers are investigating the vehicle. The failure and current mileages were unknown. Updated 05/11/09.*lj the lower control arm was replaced. Updated 05/11/09.
Tl*the contact owns a 2006 chevrolet cobalt. While driving at any speed, the power steering locks up. The dealer stated that it was a common failure with the chevrolet cobalt. The contact stated that the failure was guaranteed to occur when the vehicle was at 50,000 miles and out of warranty. A report was filed with the manufacturer and they stated that there was no recall. The vehicle has not been repaired. The current and failure mileages were 63,000.
Starting in october 2007, I have had ongoing power steering problems with my 2006 chevy cobalt. Without warning, the power steering will suddenly quit while the transmission will start jumping. The car becomes unable to drive. This will happen while driving. The problem will occur and then go back to normal a short time later. I have brought my car into the dealer four times now concerning this issue. I have been told that they don't know what to do. I am not the only one experiencing this problem. After doing some research, I have found that this happens to be a very common problem with the cobalt. There is currently an online petition to have the chevy cobalt recalled. This is a huge safety issue!!! I am afraid to drive my car. Something needs to be done before someone is killed.
Tl*the contact owns a 2006 chevrolet cobalt. While driving 20 MPH, the contact noticed smoke coming from the hood of the vehicle. He pulled over and turned off the vehicle. The vehicle was diagnosed and it was discovered that the serpentine belt failed and caused the engine to lock. The vehicle was taken to the dealer and repaired under warranty. In addition, the power steering failed twice and is currently being repaired. The failure and current mileages were 44,000.
I have a 2006 cobalt ss/sc with 60k miles. I will start the car and powersteering will be fine. Then I drive about 5 min and power steering pops up on my dic and powersteering goes out. Dealer wants a grand to fix. I think its pathetic gm doesn't recall this problem. If my problem doesn't get resolved I will never buy a gm car again. People wonder why we buy foreign cars. This is absolutely ridiculous!
Tl*the contact owns a 2006 chevrolet cobalt. The contact stated that the power steering fails while driving various speeds. The steering wheel becomes locked and he must use excessive force to pull over to the side of the road. The contact turns off the vehicle and then restarts it minutes later. The vehicle was taken to the dealer and they stated that a part in the steering column was faulty and needed to be repaired. The contact stated that he would repair it eventually. The failure mileage was 52,000.
Tl*the contact owns a 2006 chevrolet cobalt. The contact stated that the power steering indicator illuminates while driving various speeds, and then the vehicle loses power. The vehicle nearly forces him off the road and he loses control of the steering wheel. A mechanic stated that the entire power steering needed to be replaced and the motor sensor was burnt. The dealer has not been notified. The VIN was unknown. The failure mileage was 50,000.
2006 cobalt lt. I've had this car only a year and a half. The power steering indicator keeps coming on and the steering goes off while driving down the road. I'm afraid it's going cause my wife to wreck. I seen on the internet where there were several hundred complaints for the same problem. It needs to be recalled before someone gets killed.
While driving the car on a 3 hour trip the power steering went out and the car was very hard to handle and turning a corner was very difficult. It happened several times over one weekend. First thing on monday I took the car in to be checked and was told the electronic steering motor/module needed to be replaced at an expense of $858.23. No old part was able to be used and the part had to come directly from the manufacturer.
When driving my car the power steering message comes on my dash with a beep. And then all power steering is lost in the car. Once the car is turned off and re started the power steering message goes off and the power steering works fine until the buzzer goes off again. If you press the button the power steering message will disappear but there is still no power steering. There does not seem to be any variables as to what causes this you can be going 70 MPH or 20. It can go off 10 minutes into the drive or 45 minutes into it. I have taken to a local shop they feel there is a short in the dash. They have referred me to take back to the dealer and to contact your site. The dealer is going to do a diagnostic on the car tuesday mar 12, 2009. My car is a chevy cobalt 2006 with 40 000 miles on it. I was informed that there are many service bulletins on this car and that for such a new car a problem of this type and large repair cost is extremely abnormal and the safety issues of the sudden loss of all power steering is a great concern.
Sunday, march 8 starting car in parking lot and began to drive but the power steering failure displayed. This is a 2006 cobalt and should not experience something like this so soon. I've read numerous complaints about the same thing. What is being done about it!?! Warranty or no warranty, repair of this should be on the hands of chevrolet, not me. Where on earth has quality gone and ownership of your work ethic. Who cares about putting the latest and greatest vehicle on the road? How about thinking about the person driving the car! Thank goodness there wasn't an accident 5 minutes before the parking lot because the car was on the interstate on a busy weekend.
On this particular day I was driving north on i55, from joliet to chicago, without any previous warning while driving about 65mph. The "power steering" warning flashed on the dash and simultaneously the steering wheel became extremely hard. Luckily I managed to gather enough strength and safely steer the vehicle to the closet off ramp. I turned the vehicle off and it was fine again until I was on my way back home and the same thing happened. I took the vehicle in for service but it is under no warranty. After doing some research I see that this is a frequent and extremely dangerous problem. I checked with the dealer but they say no recall is in effect. However, I certainly think that there should be this could result in fatalities. This is a giant problem that shows up without any warning.
I purchased a 2006 chevrolet cobalt on 10/06/2007 the car was a prior corporate lease vehicle, with an impeccable car fax history detailing its service records. I did not start having any problems with the steering until approximately 1 month ago and it was intermittent power steering loss. It has now progressed to the point where there is only power steering for the first minute the car is running. I did a little research and contacted a service writer that I know and trust at a large chevrolet dealership here in kansas city and he mentioned that he wrote replacement orders for 20 of the steering columns himself within the last year. I took the car in and they did a diagnostic check and sure enough the column needs to be replaced. I feel that a car with under 75000 miles should not have this type of a failure, so I contacted gm and was told the best they would do is 15% discount on the total repair which is $760.00 plus tax, I feel this is a major slap in the face for a 30 year + chevrolet customer, not to mention the fact that my daughter is driving this car with my grandkids and it is not safe. I do not have the means at this time to afford this repair. This should have been a recall on gm's part a year ago, the person I spoke to at gm denied that this was a wide spread problem, but obviously after what I've found on this site as well as numerous others, I beg to differ. Please help!!! Thank you
I have a 2006 chevy cobalt, I have had this occur 2 times. While driving the electronic steering that is used in this car malfunctioned and the whole steering wheel locked up and the engine started shutting down. This is a dangerous situation because this has happened twice to me while driving, the first time I took it to the dealer they failed to properly fix the vehicle and stated the replaced a computer chip. Four months later this happened again. This final time they had to replace the whole steering column. If this were to happen while driving on the expressway going over 55mph this would have been a life threatening situation. This defect could kill innocent people along with the driver and any passengers as kids in the car. I have had the steering column replaced, however I am doubtful that this issue won't happen again due to the fact the electronic system in the car may be defected.
Our 2006 chevrolet cobalt loses it's power steering. At first it is only intermittent, now it loses power steering within about a minute of turning it on. It makes it harder to steer. We have not done anything to correct the failure because the solution to fix it is to replace the steering column and we can't afford it.
Tl*the contact owns a 2006 chevrolet cobalt. While driving approximately 45 MPH on normal road conditions, two chimes sounded followed by an unintended loss of power steering. The driver had to exert more effort to turn the steering wheel. The power steering failure warning indicator illuminated on the instrument panel and remained lit until the engine was turned off. The driver pulled over to the side of the road. Immediately, the engine was turned off and then restarted. The vehicle was driven with caution to an authorized dealer for diagnostic testing. The technician stated that the failure was related to the power steering. The part was unavailable and ordered for the repair. The failure and current mileages were 10,200. Updated 3/9/09
I just bought a 2006 chevy cobalt ss last year and have only put 15000 miles on it and the power steering went out last night while I was going 70mph on the freeway! I researched to see if anyone else is having this problem with cobalts and found site after site of thousands of people! This needs to be recalled before it kills someone!
Tl*the contact owns a 2006 chevrolet cobalt. While driving less than 65 MPH, the power steering warning indicator illuminated on the instrument panel. Within seconds, the steering wheel locked and could not be turned in any direction. The dealer performed a diagnostic and discovered that the power steering column needed to be replaced at an estimated cost of $547. The VIN that was provided was not accepted by the system. The failure and current mileages were less than 73,000. Updated 03-06-09 *bf updated 03/09/09.
Tl*the contact owns a 2006 chevrolet cobalt. While driving 45 MPH, the contact noticed that the steering column was becoming stiff when attempting to turn the wheel. The steering wheel locked and became very difficult to maneuver. The contact was able to safely steer the vehicle to the shoulder of the road. The vehicle was taken to the dealer and they stated that the electronic steering sensor failed. The vehicle was repaired at the cost of $802.62. The contact is in the process of notifying the manufacturer. The failure mileage was 74,000 and current mileage was 74,500. Updated 03-09-09 *bf the steering position sensor failed. The dealer replaced the electronic steering column. Updated 03/13/09.
There were no events leading to the failure of the power steering in my 2006 chevy cobalt. It happens everyday, atleast once every three minutes. In order to "temporarily" fix it you have to put the car in park and turn it off and restart the car then in about three minutes it goes out again. Then you have to repeat this. I am not the only one with this problem thousands and thousands of people are having the same problem with 2005 and 2006 cobalts. You can search on the internet power steering problems cobalt and you will see. This has been going on for about 5 months because on top of my car note and insurance I can not afford to fix this.
Normal driving, and the eps shuts down, making it hard, or sometimes even impossible to steer. Quite dangerous saying it does it only while driving. Once the car is started and running, it takes approx 15 mins to begin acting up. Shutting down the car resets it, but shortly after, the eps shuts down again eps(electronic power steering). Nothing has been done yet to fix this problem because this is a newer car, and it's basically not affordable right now. Knowing by reading forums this is not only a problem I have, but many others are having with this. With this kind of system being in newer cars, this product should be looked at closer to see if there is going to be an outgoing problem.
I was driving my car at 25 miles per hour and a warning signal was heard and then the digital display read power steering and I couldn't turn the wheel. Got it home, narrowly missing a car, and turned it off. Turned it back on again and worked fine. It happens randomly, and often. Took car to local chevy dealer, it's out of warranty and chevy refuses to pay for it. It will cost $971 to fix. Car is unsafe and I am not the only one with this problem.
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