Problems with 2005 Chevrolet Cobalt STEERING

#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. *nm

Tl* the contact owns a 2005 chevrolet cobalt. while driving at various speeds, the steering wheel became difficult to turn. in addition, the contact stated that the doors would lock and unlock independently. as a result, the contact was unable to get into or out of the vehicle. the dealer stated that the body control module, door locks, fuses, electronic door lock mechanism, and the power steering assist motor needed to be replaced. the failure recurred. the manufacturer was notified. the failure mileage was 5,000.

I am a high school algebra teacher. i own a 2005 chevrolet cobalt it has been experiencing these power steering problems the entire time i have had it. i have taken it to numerous mechanics and back to the dealer while it was still under warranty. it has a 175000 miles on it now. the first time i did take it back they replaced a wiring harness. at approximately 3000 miles (approx in august 2005) i had my first oil change and this is when my power steering light came on for the first time. it has been coming on every since. when the power steering light comes on: *the car jerks slightly at cruising highway speed and* when i am at speeds less than 20 mph it jerks violently and * it goes dead when it stops and *the gauges on the dash (odometer, speedometer, and gas) fluctuate wildly, and very frequently and for sustained periods of time (days) i have no power steering and the power steering goes out abruptly, several times this has happened while i am turning at a busy intersection. sometimes the power steering will come back after turning the car off about (1 out of 5 times) the check engine light turns on and off and the light with a lock on it turns on and off. it has been checked at sellers chevrolet in purvis numerous times for this. i have had regular maintenance and service checks. i have had the transmission fluid changed twice. they have not been able to fix it the power steering problem. it keeps recurring. i have not been in any accidents. i have had several near misses though. thank you so much for exposing this problem and if you want to come get my car and test it you are more than welcome to have it and make it your poster boy/car for lemons. i need a new vehicle since i have 4 foster children now. all my friends and family have urged me to sell this car for the entire time i have had it because of its recurring problems. the consumer stated the power steering light illuminated again three days after the recall was performed. updated 04/21/10.*jb

Dt: the consumer stated that he heard a snapping noise in steering column and could feel it in the steering wheel. this happened all of the time and would occur with no warning. the steering column shaft was replaced. the ignition switch was replaced because of the flashing that held the tumbler and the s had collapsed. the manufacturer told the dealer not to replace the steering column shaft but the dealer made the repairs because they had already ordered the part. *ak (12/01/05) after the column was replaced, the vehicle was taken back to the dealer twice. the wheel cover did not have enough rings to hold the rims tight and would rattle when going over light bumps, the vehicle pulled to the right and the passenger side front pillar was loose. *sc

Dt: the consumer states that the 2005 chevrolet cobalt was having two problem. the abs malfunctioned the abs locked the tires. the main issues with the car was the steering column. the tilting of the steering wheel was making the vehicle stall. the steering wheel was brought down to the bottom with force and the vehicles stalled. this has been happening for around a month. the vehicle has not been in the dealership for this problem. the manufacturer has not been contacted. the dealer and the manufacturer were contacted over the abs , and they denied having a problem.*ak

Tl* the contact has a 2005 chevrelot cobalt. the contact states that the vehicle is having a failure with the power steering. the contact stated that when this failure happens the service engine and traction control light illuminate. the rpm gauge will start to flip up and down. the failure started to occur 6 months ago. everytime the failure occurs the contact has to pull off the road and restart the vehicle in order for the power steering to operate. the vehicle failure mileage was 48000 and the current mileage 65000. the vin number was unavailable.

I bought a 2005 chevy cobalt ls as new in 2005. the car has 55,000 miles on it and has been well taken care of. i am a hypermiler and do what i can to baby the car down the road. around a week ago, i was driving the car and out of nowhere the power steering goes away and a message is displayed on the led display near the tachometer, it reads "power steering". i stop somewhere and turn off the car and then back on, the power steering immediately works okay again. each time i drive the car, this happens at some random point. it is always fixable by turning off the ignition and re-starting the car. i did research online and discovered there are a ton of people reporting this exact same problem with atleast the 2005 and 2006 models, and maybe more. i feel that this is a potentially life threatening problem as a sudden loss of power steering can be the cause of a serious or fatal accident. from what i can see, general motors has not issued a recall. i find this alarming considering this is a known manufacturer's defect and is a widespread problem. *tr

The 2005 chevy cobalt power steering has a serious problem. as stated in the hand book if you turn the steering wheel to the stop position you may lose power assist, that does happen. in my opinion you should never lose power steering. it occurs often with me because i teach driver education, and in pennsylvania part of the test requires parallel parking. when teaching students we very often lose power steering. if you are in a city situation and you have to make many turns to get into a spot you will lose power steering. general motors claims this is not a big enough problem to warrant looking into. i feel in can very well be a safety hazard. *nm

Dt:the contact owned a 2005 chevrolet cobalt. this vehicle was rented by the consumer for three days. the vehicle was making a squealing noise, and got into a severe accident. the problem was either in the steering or the tires. an investigator was looking into the problem . contact believed that the accident was caused by this noise. she lost complete control of the vehicle while going around a curve, resulting in a collision. 2 occupants sustained injuries. the police reported that contacts vehicle hit the left side of a diesel semi truck, but she stated that vehicle hit the front of the other vehicle. also, the police report stated that there was moderate damage to the diesel truck. the police report was available if needed.

Dt : the caller said that while driving if she bumped the knee under the steering column the engine died. she was not hitting the ignition switch, but just bumping the underneath side of the column. it did not need to be hit very hard to happen. this happened three times while she was going down the highwa,y and once to her son. dealer and manufacturer have not been contacted yet. *ak

Dt: the contact stated while driving on rough roads a noise was coming from the steering. the noise sounded like there was something loose in the steering. after driving the vehicle approximately 5000 miles the steering shaft was replaced. this did not correct the problem. the manufacturer was contacted , and they stated there was a technical service bulletin (tsb) nhtsa 10017497 that dealt with this problem. however there was no solution to correct the problem.*ak

I purchase my vehicle brand new in 2005 and had continual problems with the car shutting off while driving ever since. i had this car at the dealer for annual maintenance as well as for the car shutting off while driving. i had the cart in the shop monthly for them to evaluate until they said there was absolutely nothing they could do they cant find anything wrong. went to another dealership and still no satisfaction i even called gm to complain several times and i cried that i was going to get killed and they said there was nothing they could do. now 13 + people are dead. i have my car at the dealer and it was a fiasco. they gave me back my car with a check engine light on and said i should pay for diagnostics. really?? they had my car i did not give it to them that way. i called gm and they told me to pay for diagnostic my car is to old so they wont make them do anything. nice real nice - i guess i am lucky to still be alive today - i wish i could sue them but i work hard and don't have that kind of money to spend. again they are lucky they have no penalty. they don't care and they will only do what they are forced to do not what is the right thing to do. they should not have been bailed out they should never have that privilege again. in this world only the strong survive and the weak fail. let them fail. *tr

In 2008, my 2005 chevy cobalt would loose the power steering at random. the only way to correct this was to turn the ignition off and restart the car. this happens everytime the car is driven and it only has approx 45,000 miles on it now. *tr

Dt: while driving down the road powering steering locked, vehicle would throw consumer forward and backward in the seat. coming to a stop light and press the brakes it was like the car lunged forward. just got the vehicle back from the shop yesterday and it started doing the same thing. power steering was locking but was not actually locked. will stop and restart the vehiclwas and its like having foot on the gas pedal and brake pedal at the same time. *ak

Consumer states: steering column itself makes a rubbing and grinding noise, no matter which way you turn to left or right

2005 cobolt power steering blew fuses. now light comes on car jumps tries to die on me. power steering light comes on. *tr

I bought a chevy cobalt ls for my son to drive back and forth to college. what i thought was a dependable car. my son informed me last night (2-25-10) that the power steering light came on and he had a hard time driving car. the light has not came on since incident. i took the car to a chevrolet dealer today (2-26-10). the service tech tried to talk me out of having in hooked to a computer. she verbalized it probably won't show anything when hooked to diagnostic computer. informed her i wanted it done anyway. when i returned home, i had a message on answering machine that power steering pump needs to be replaced. so i got on the web. tried to locate a replacement. apparently they can only be bought through a dealer. while looking on the web i found over 60 complaints with same problem. just reading about 10 complaints, someone had wrecked and had pictures posted on complaint. found a parent on u tube (that's where i got this web site) who was telling other owners to complain so that gm would have to fix steering problem. i'm not a genius, but seems like if there are this many complaints and i only started looking today on internet, that gm would have to recognize there is a problem and recall these vehicles and fix the problem. i guess enough people hadn't died or they haven't had enough bad publicity like with toyota cars. it speaks volumes about gm if these are the factors they motivate them to change. we own 3 other gm vehicles. i plan to contact gm headquarters monday (3-1-10), which i am sure i will be told poor me boo hoo. *tr

Power steering fails in 2005 chevy cobalt. speedometer quits working so odometer no longer registers. daughter was driving vehicle when steering quit. this almost created a major accident. took car to mechanic and he says the computer won't give out any input. *tr

Auto purchased new. car and steering wheel pulls/drifts to the left. steering wheel does not return to center after making left hand turn. auto was fully inspected and found to have no damaged parts. dealer has decided to replace electric steering column unit. replacement part will take 1 to 2 weeks for delivery.*ak

The power steering on my 05 cobalt keeps going out i drive and all the sudden my power steering fails and its hard to turn and bounces all over the road i turn the car off and start it again and it goes away it does at random times more often in warm weather i bought the car for my wife and she cant drive because of and im still paying on the note chevy fails to acknowledge the deficiency the steering column has been replaced once because of this problem and problem still exist a recall is due because the cost of repair is around 2500 dollars more than the car is worth. *tr

I have a 2005 chevy cobalt- the power steering is extremely difficult at times- the light comes on and off- showing a problem is present- i am unable to turn the car normally- making me use two hands-also, there is a rattle in the back- left- very noticeable- to all in vehicle. *tr

Power steering warning light comes on and dings and it is extremely difficult to turn the steering wheel. if i turn off the car and restart it the car is fine for a little while and than the warning light comes on again. i have had it checked by the dealer service dept and they found nothing wrong, so i have been driving it like this for over two months. not sure exactly what to do next. it happens on short trips and long trips, always when i am driving, never when i am parked or stopped. *tr