Owner-reported complaints naming the driver-assistance system, filed with NHTSA
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Reports naming forward-collision avoidance, lane keeping, back-over prevention, cruise control and related electronic driver-assistance systems. Every record below is an owner-reported complaint about the 2005 Chevrolet Cobalt submitted to NHTSA — not a confirmed defect, not a recall and not a manufacturer bulletin. 67 reports on file name it.
Complaints are reports submitted by owners and drivers to NHTSA. They are not verified and do not establish that a defect exists.
The 25 most recent of 67, in the owner's own words
The tcm in my 5 cobalt is not working properly I've tested and replaced everything els and had the tcm reprogrammed still getting problems aiming back to the tcm it wasn't looked at by a business
My husband was driving and the car suddenly stopped taking gas and said reduced engine power. He got it back home as it was only a few miles but top speed was less than 10 mph. It never did run right anymore and then completely stopped a few days later. Also the key gets stuck in the car if the battery goes dead. I had to leave the key in with the window down because I was scared of getting locked out. When my husband was able to come and charge the battery some it released the key. It never had any issues like these until they suddenly started. These issues showed up in summer 2021. Codes mentioned general electrical failure, throttle control issues with pedal and tac module. High and low voltage to tac module.
TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2005 CHEVROLET COBALT. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE TRANSMISSION FAILED. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE TRANSMISSION SHIFT POINT FAILED AND CAUSED THE VEHICLE TO SHIFT GEARS INCORRECTLY AND CAUSES THE VEHICLE TO JERK AND STALL. THE CONTACT ALSO STATED THAT THE POWER STEERING WARNING LIGHT ILLUMINATED AND CAUSED THE STEERING WHEEL TO BE DIFFICULT TO TURN. THE CONTACT STATED THAT EXTRA EFFORT WAS NEEDED TO STEER THE VEHICLE. THE CONTACT ALSO STATED THAT THE VEHICLE SPEEDOMETER FAILED TO OPERATE AS DESIGNED WHILE DRIVING, PROVIDING SPEED READINGS OF 40 MPH, 20 MPH, 50 MPH INTERMITTENTLY. THE CONTACT TOOK THE VEHICLE TO AN INDEPENDENT MECHANIC. THE MECHANIC REPLACED THE TRANSMISSION CONTROL MODULE HOWEVER, THE REPAIR FAILED TO CORRECT THE FAILURE. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE VEHICLE WAS ALSO TAKEN TO SEVERAL DEALERS AND INDEPENDENT MECHANIC HOWEVER, THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOT CONTACTED. THE VIN WAS NOT AVAILABLE. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 100,000.
I KNOW ABOUT THE RECALL FOR 2005 CHEVROLET COBALT, MY CAN HAS TURNED OFF WHILE DRIVING & I HAVE HAD PROBLEMS STARTING MY VEHICLE., THE STEERING WHEEL IGNITION SYSTEM 'IS THE PROBLEM' MY VEHICLE DOES NOT START ANYMORE AT ALL !! PLEASE SCHEDUAL AN APPOINTMENT AT THE NEAREST DEALER THAT CAN REPAIR THE RECALLED PARTS? NEAR 95838 SACRAMENTO, CA. I BELIEVE THAT MY LIFE HAS BEEN ENDANGERED SEVERAL TIMES BECAUSE OF THE DEFECTIVE RECALLED PARTS !! " YES" I AM VERY UPSET" !! MY VEHICLE HAS STOPPED RUNNING ON BOTH CITY & FREEWAYS.
TCM MODULE, POWER STEERING AND ODOMETER NOT WORKING PROPERLY
TAKATA RECALL THE PROBLEMS I'M HAVING WITH MY CAR IS THAT THE LOCKS KEEP UNLOCKING AND LOCKING AND WON'T LET MY CAR STARTUP. IT LOCKS ME OUT AND WHEN I PUT THE KEY IN THE SWITCH IT WON'T CRANK AND THE ONLY WAY THAT I'M ABLE TO GET THE KEY OUT OF THE SWITCH IS IF I JUMP IT OFF. I WAS AT HOME WHEN IT HAPPENED PARKED.
TAKATA RECALL WHILE I AM DRIVING MY POWER STEERING LIGHT COMES ON AND MY CAR WILL LOSE POWER STEERING. MY GEAR SHIFT STARTS MAKING A CLICKING NOISE, WHEN I PRESS ON GAS WHEN IT GOES TO CHANGE GEARS IT JUMPS INTO THE NEXT GEAR, WHEN I TRY TO STOP IT WON'T LET ME THE ENGINE FEELS LIKE IT IS TRYING TO GO FASTER WHEN I'M TRYING TO STOP. I HAVE HAD FHE CAR FOR ABOUT 2 YEARS AND IT'S A ONGOING PROBLEM.
SUSPENSION IS REALLY BAD.
CAR ALARMS POWER STEERING DISPLAY COMES ON, CAR SHAKES, WON'T SHIFT GEARS, WAS LOOKED AT , COMP SAID LOST CONNECTION TO TMC TRANS MODULAR CONTROL. WHILE IN MOTION
THE TRACTION CONTROL SYSTEM LIGHT ON MY CHEVROLET COBALT 2005 STAYS ON AND DOES NOT TURN OFF UNTIL I SHUT OFF THE ENGINE. THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT ALSO STAYS ON AS WELL AT THE SAME TIME THE TRACTION CONTROL SYSTEM LIGHT IS ON, SO NOT SURE IF THESE TWO ISSUES ARE RELATED. I ALSO NOTICE THAT THE VEHICLE JERKS PERIODICALLY WHEN I AM ON THE ROAD AND THERE IS ROUGH SHIFTING OF GEARS.
I SIMPLY LOST THE ABILITY TO STEER MY CAR, ALL IT DOES IS CLICK WHEN I TURN THE STEERING WHEEL, LUCKILY I WAS CLOSE TO HOME AND SLOWLY EDGED TO THE FRONT OF MY HOME.
VEHICLE LOSING POWER, SPEEDOMETER FLAT, TACHOMETER WORKING, WHILE IN MOTION AND STATIONARY; DISPLAYING: POWER STEERING = CAR HAS STEERING WHEEL PLAY; CAR DOES NOT DRIVE OVER 30 MPH AND REVVING HIGH. THE CAR REGAINS POWER AND LOSES POWER AND REGAINS INTERMITTENTLY. CHEVY COBALT 2005
THE FIRST TIME IT HAPPENED, WAS AT INTERSTATE SPEEDS.(60 TO 70MPH) THE SECOND, WAS IN CITY STOP AND GO TRAFFIC. THE THIRD WAS BACKING OUT OF MY DRIVEWAY AFTER A 5 MINUTE IDLE. THE FOURTH WAS WHEN MY LAST MECHANIC WAS TEST DRIVING IT BECAUSE HE THOUGHT HE'D FIXED IT. DASH LIGHTS BLINK ON AND OFF, ALL WARNING LIGHTS COME ON, ENGINE COOLING FANS STOP OPERATING, TRANSMISSION HUNTS FOR WHAT GEAR IT SHOULD BE IN; RESULTING IN THE TRANSMISSION SELF DESTRUCTING. ENGINE MANAGEMENT, OTHER THAN THE COOLING FANS, SEEMS TO BE UNAFFECTED. I'VE REPLACED 4 TCM'S SO FAR; AS ALL MECHANICS SAY THAT IS THE PROBLEM. IT WORKS FOR A FEW DAYS OR A WEEK, THEN THE SAME PROBLEM MANIFEST. THIS SEEMS TO BE A PROBLEM WITH QUITE A FEW GM VEHICLES.
GM REPLACED IGNITION PARTS AND SHIFTER MECHANISM AS PER RECALL. SHORTLY AFTER ISSUES BEGAN WITH STEERING LOCKING UP, TRANSMISSION NOT SHIFTING AND VARIOUS WARNING LIGHTS FLASHING. THIS BECAME MORE FREQUENT AND IS NOW IMPOSSIBLE TO DRIVE. MY TECHNICIAN SAYS IT IS A BODY OR TRANSMISSION CONTROL MODULE COSTING WELL OVER A THOUSAND DOLLARS. THERE APPEAR TO BE 100S OF 1000S OF THE SAME ISSUE AS PER SEARCH ENGINES. I WILL CONTACT MY LOCAL GM DEALERSHIP. IF GM WILL NOT BACK UP ITS PRODUCT IT WILL BE THE LAST GM IN MY DRIVEWAY. I WILL TRADE IN ON A TOYOTA.
WHILE DRIVING IN TOWN SHORTLY AFTER TURNING ONTO A 45 MPH ROAD MY VEHICLE, AUTOMATIC, STARTED HESITATING WHILE SHIFTING INTO THE NEXT GEAR. IT WOULD SHIFT BUT NOT LIKE NORMAL. BROUGHT IT INTO A REPAIR SHOP TO HAVE A DIAGNOSTIC RAN TO BE INFORMED IT IS A FAILURE TO COMMUNICATE WITH TCM. CODE U0101 AND ALSO U2100. AFTER DOING RESEARCH THERE HAS BEEN MULTIPLE COMPLAINTS ABOUT THIS. SO FIRST THINGS FIRST REPLACED THE TCM WITH A NEW ONE AT THE DEALERSHIP. AFTER REPLACEMENT THE VEHICLE IS STILL NOT SHIFTING CORRECTLY.
THIS ISSUE SEEMS TO BE A COMMON PROBLEM WITH THE 2005 COBALT. PLEASE RESEARCH ANY CAR COMPLAINT WEBSITES ABOUT THIS CERTAIN VEHICLE. EVEN THOUGH ALL THE RECALLS HAVE BEEN TAKEN CARE OF, WHILE IN MOTION, AT ANY TIME AND ANY SPEED, THE DASH LIGHTS STARTS FLASHING AND YOU GET THE MESSAGE POWER STEERING ON MESSAGE CENTER, TC LIGHT COMES ON, LIGHT THAT SHOWS PADLOCK SYMBOL COMES ON, RPM NEEDLE JUMPS UP AND DOWN, STEERING WHEEL LOCKS UP, MOTOR SURGES AND SHAKES, AND YOU HEAR ALL TYPES OF CLICKING SOUNDS BELOW GEAR SHIFTER. THIS IS A VERY DANGEROUS THING AND CHEVROLET/GM JUST CANNOT SEEM TO FIX THIS ISSUE OR EVEN FIND ANYTHING WRONG. THE 2005 COBALT NEEDS TO BE RECALLED AND ANY OTHER YEAR OF COBALT HAVING THIS ISSUE. I WILL GIVE YOU BELOW THE LAST DATE THIS HAS HAPPENED, BUT THIS HAS WENT ON SINCE WE GOT THE CAR IN 2008. MY DAUGHTER IS IN SCHOOL IN KANSAS CITY, AND THIS ISSUE HAS HAPPENED QUITE FREQUENTLY LATELY. THE ONLY REMEDY IS TO PULL TO SIDE OF ROAD, SHUT OFF VEHICLE AND RESTART AND HOPE IT DOES NOT ACT UP AGAIN. I JUST WONDER HOW MAY DEATHS HAVE HAPPENED ALREADY BECAUSE OF THIS FAULTY GM PRODUCT AND NO ONE KNEW IT WAS BECAUSE OF WHAT THE COBALT DID, LOCKED UP ON ITS DRIVER.
THE POWER STEERING ON MY VEHICLE CUTS OFF AND THE SPEEDOMETER REMAINS RESTED AT 0 WHEN DRIVING. THE DOORS ALSO LOCK AND UNLOCK ON THEIR OWN WHILE DRIVING. THE CAR DOES NOT AUTOMATICALLY SHIFT WHILE DRIVING MAKING IT HARD TO ACCELERATE AND THE VEHICLE WILL ALSO DECELERATE ON ITS OWN WHILE DRIVING IT IS VERY DANGEROUS AND VERY SCARY TO DRIVE WITH THESE PROBLEMS. THE DEALERSHIP CLAIMS THAT THE PROBLEM WITH STEERING HAS ALREADY BEEN FIXED BUT I AM STILL HAVING THESE PROBLEMS.
I WAS DRIVING DOWN THE ROAD AND FOR NO REASON MY CHEVY COBALT THEFT LOCK CAME ON (ABS) LIGHT STARTED FLASHING AND TRACTIONS CONTROL LIGHT CAME ON INDICATING THAT THE TRACTION CONTROL WAS OFF THEN IN MY DASH BOARD IT SAID POWER STEERING FAILURE THEN IT WAS ROUGH IDLING AND FUEL GOES UP AND DOWN THEN IT GIVES ROUGH GEARS THIS IS THE SECOND TIME IT HAS HAPPENED DRIVING DOWN THE ROAD THIS IS NOT SAFE
MADE LEFT TURN AND MY AIRBAG WENT OFF. MECHANIC SAID THAT THE CLOCK SPRING SHORTED OUT INTERNALLY IN THE COIL AND DEPLOYED THE AIRBAG. GM HAS NOT CONTACTED ME OVER THIS MATTER AND HAVE BEEN TRYING TO GET THEM TO REIMBURSE ME FOR SINCE 2010.
MY DAUGHTER WAS ACCELERATING TO ENTER THE ON-RAMP ON THE INTERSTATE. THE GAS PEDAL STUCK WHEN SHE ACCELERATED AND SHE WAS UNABLE TO SLOW HER CAR DOWN. SHE WAS FORCED TO MANEUVER THROUGH TRAFFIC AND HAD TO EXIT AT THE NEXT RAMP BECAUSE SHE COULD NOT GET AROUND VEHICLES ON THE INTERSTATE. SHE STEPPED ON THE BRAKES AND TRIED TO TAP THE GAS PEDAL LIGHTLY TO SEE IF IT WOULD COME UNSTUCK. AT SOME POINT WHILE EXITING THE HIGHWAY THE GAS PEDAL CAME UNSTUCK, AND THANKFULLY SHE MANAGED TO STOP HER VEHICLE SAFELY WITHOUT AN ACCIDENT. SHE IS CONCERNED THAT THIS PROBLEM MAY OCCUR AGAIN AND SHE MAY NOT BE SO LUCKY THE NEXT TIME.
I WAS DRIVING THE CAR IN THE CITY STREET WHEN THE ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON. I CONTINUE TO DRIVE THE CAR WHEN I START HEARING CLICK SOUND THAN I HEAR BELL SOUND COME FROM THE CAR. THE CAR WOULDN'T GO ANY FASTER THAN 40 MILE HR & THE GAUGES WERE JUMPING ALL OVER THE PLACE. I CONTINUE TO DRIVE THE CAR THEN THE WORDS "POWER STEERING" CAME ON WHERE MY MILEAGE WOULD SHOW. ALL OF THE RECALLS HAVE BEEN REPAIRED AND SOMETHING STILL WRONG WITH THIS CAR. I ASKED GM TO TAKE LOOK AT THE CAR WITHOUT CHARGING(MONEY) TO SEE IF IT IS RELATIVE TO THE RECALL. THE DEALERSHIP SAID THEY COULDN'T TELL IF THEY WOULD CHARGED ME MONEY OR NOT.
TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2005 CHEVROLET COBALT. WHILE DRIVING 50 MPH, THE VEHICLE SLOWED DOWN, JERKED, AND ACCELERATED RAPIDLY ON ITS OWN. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS MADE AWARE OF THE ISSUE. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 130,000.
2005 CHEVROLET COBALT. CONSUMER WRITES IN REGARDS TO VEHICLE ELECTRICAL ISSUES. *SMD THE CONSUMER STATED SHE EXPERIENCED PROBLEMS WITH THE CRUISE CONTROL AND CLUTCH NOT WORKING UPON PURCHASING THE VEHICLE. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO THE REPAIR SHOP 2-3 TIMES. IN JULY 2015, THE VEHICLE STALLED. *JB
VEHICLE LOSES POWER STEERING USE AFTER DRIVING FOR A FEW MINUTES CAUSING STEERING TO BECOME VERY DIFFICULT ESPECIALLY AT LOWER SPEEDS CAUSING THE POSSIBILITY OF A VEHICLE COLLISION WHICH IS VERY UNSAFE AND CHEVROLET NOR GENERAL MOTORS WANTS TO DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT, I URGE YOU PLEASE DO NOT PURCHASE A GENERAL MOTORS VEHICLE AS ONCE AGAIN THEY HAVE SHOWN THEY DO NOT CARE ABOUT THE LIVES OF THERE CUSTOMERS
WHILE DRIVING HOME THE CHEVROLET COBALT (WHICH WE'VE ONLY HAD FOR TWO WEEKS) ENGINE SHUT OFF, LUCKILY WE WERE IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD GOING SLOW WHEN THIS HAPPENED. I STARTED THE CAR UP AGAIN AND PRESSED ON THE GAS BUT IT WOULD NOT GO FORWARD, NOW ONLY THE REVERSE WORKS. *TR
Higher-selling and older vehicles accumulate more reports. Counts are not failure rates and are not directly comparable between vehicles that sold in very different numbers.
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