2016 Chevrolet Colorado Driver assistance Problems

While driving my family home on a hot 90+ degree day. My 2016 Chevy Colorado suddenly has a power loss engine died and i went from 75 to parked in less than 30 seconds. Luckily I was able to pull off the freeway to the median. We were almost hit by two vehicles pulling a trailer and the other pulling a RV. I had to have someone pick my kids up due to the hazards of being stranded on the side of the freeway. We had to have the truck towed. The code we got was for a fuel pump control module. We replaced and had it programed. This did not fix the issue. After further diagnostics from a auto mechanic shop, which we had to pay out of pocket. We learned it was a lifter failure. I have see numerous forums and people sighting "Lifter Failure" in Chevy Vehicles. Where most of us owners have to cover all cost out of pocket. Yet still "NO RECALL" for this issue that seems to be worth a recall. Next Issue the speed sensor which we have replaced it 3 times now in less than 2 years.

NHTSA ID

11727045

Incident

Mar 21, 2026

The contact owns a 2016 Chevrolet Colorado. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the steering wheel failed to steer in the intended direction. In addition, the “Service Stabili-trak” message was displayed, and the “Power Steering Failure” warning light was illuminated. The contact held the steering wheel tightly and pulled on the steering wheel, preventing the vehicle from crashing into a wall. The vehicle was driven to the intended destination. In addition, the contact stated that the vehicle was driven very slowly, and the contact used added force to steer the vehicle. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired by an independent mechanic or dealer. The contact referenced an unknown recall for the 2015 Chevrolet Colorado with a similar description of a failure; however, the VIN was not under recall. The contact stated that an online forum advised the contact to contact the NHTSA Hotline to report the failure. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 130,000.

NHTSA ID

11704048

Incident

Dec 9, 2025

Mileage

130,000 mi

POWER STEERING AND STABILITAK UNABLE TO STEER . CHECKED OWNERS MANULE IT SAYS TURN TRUCK OFF THEN START AGAIN. iT ALSO STATES IT IS STILL SAFE TO DRIVE I don't think so!!! it comes with no warning and you have to pull over and shut the truck off let it sit just a short while then it will steer just fine ....again for a while . the warning lamps and chimes worked just fine. at the same time the system is failing. 202

NHTSA ID

11700459

Incident

Dec 31, 1969

The contact owns a 2016 Chevrolet Colorado. The contact stated while driving approximately 27 MPH and making a right turn, the steering wheel became difficult to turn. The contact stated that the failure initially occurred while making turns but had started occurring while driving straight. The contact stated that the failure was intermittent, requiring the contact to pull over to the side of the road, restart the vehicle, for the vehicle to operate as designed. The stabili-trak warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired by an independent mechanic or dealer. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 185,000.

NHTSA ID

11697251

Incident

Jun 3, 2025

Mileage

185,000 mi

The contact owns a 2016 Chevrolet Colorado. The contact stated while driving approximately 55-60 MPH, the stabili-trak failure message was displayed, and the vehicle lost power steering functionality. The contact stated that the failure was frightening. The contact was able to continue driving at a slower speed. The dealer was contacted, and an appointment was scheduled for a diagnostic test. The contact was informed that the VIN was not under recall. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 114,000.

NHTSA ID

11682484

Incident

Aug 22, 2025

Mileage

114,000 mi

The contact owns a 2016 Chevrolet Colorado. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the power steering assist deactivated, and the steering wheel became very difficult to maneuver. The contact stated that the messages "Power Steering - Drive with Care" and "Service Stabili-track" were displayed, and the traction control warning light remained illuminated during the failure. The local dealer was not contacted. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 115,000.

NHTSA ID

11674030

Incident

Apr 30, 2025

Mileage

115,000 mi

The contact owns a 2016 Chevrolet Colorado. The contact stated while driving 45 MPH, the steering failed to respond, and the steering became difficult to turn. There were no warning lights illuminated; however, messages “Loss of Steering Assist” and “Stabili-trac” were displayed. The contact pulled over to the side of the road, turned off and restarted the vehicle and the vehicle regained steering functionality. The contact was able to dive the vehicle to the residence. The vehicle was then taken to a dealer however, the dealer was unable to duplicate the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 103,000.

NHTSA ID

11656813

Incident

Apr 17, 2025

Mileage

103,000 mi

The contact owns a 2016 Chevrolet Colorado. The contact stated while driving 55 MPH, the stability control warning light illuminated. The contact stated that the vehicle lost power steering functionality. The local dealer was not contacted. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not contacted. The approximate failure mileage was 112,000.

NHTSA ID

11655412

Incident

Apr 17, 2025

Mileage

112,000 mi

The contact owns a 2016 Chevrolet Colorado. The contact stated that while his brother was driving at an undisclosed speed, he became aware that the electronic power steering was not functioning properly, requiring increased effort to maneuver the vehicle. The vehicle returned to normal functionality, but the failure became a regular occurrence. The stability control system warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer or an independent mechanic. The vehicle was not repaired. After investigating the failure, the contact related the failure to NHTSA Campaign Number: 21V213000 (Steering); however, neither VIN nor the model year was included. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and referred the contact to the NHTSA Hotline for assistance. The failure mileage was unknown.

NHTSA ID

11616067

Incident

Sep 23, 2024

The contact owns a 2016 Chevrolet Colorado. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds on several occasions, the "Stabili-trak Failure" message was displayed. The contact then stated that the vehicle lost power steering functionality. The vehicle was steered to the side of the road and restarted. The contact stated that on several occasions, the message and failure recurred. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where DTC code: UO420-42: “Power Steering Control Module – Not Receiving Signal” was retrieved. The contact was informed that the power steering module needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 147,000.

NHTSA ID

11615341

Incident

Jul 15, 2024

Mileage

147,000 mi

Power steering stopped working. Lane departure light came on in dash. Warning about steering came on in display. When vehicle was turned off and then started back, power steering worked and warnings were off.

NHTSA ID

11580366

Incident

Mar 31, 2024

The contact owns a 2016 Chevrolet Colorado. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, intermittently the steering wheel became firm. The Service Stabili-trak warning light illuminated. The vehicle was towed to a dealer. The vehicle had not been diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 103,000.

NHTSA ID

11546549

Incident

Jun 4, 2023

Mileage

103,000 mi

A known wire chaffing problem for this make/model caused vehicle to loose all transmission power. Doors unlocked and locked on their own while moving the vehicle. Had two young children with me in 100+ degree weather. Truck finally moved in first gear at 20 mph max to get home on the road with other traffic.

NHTSA ID

11541545

Incident

Aug 25, 2023

The Power Steering keeps failing and this is dangerous once the vehicle is in motion. The most recent incident was July 4th 2023. We have taken the truck to Lawley Chevrolet Sierra Vista AZ (Mando Flores-Service Advisor)several times within the last year and they claim they can't find anything wrong. We can't drive it until the steering is properly fixed. It's impossible to drive. We have to constantly pull over and turn off vehicle for the electrical system to reset . Then we drive for about 1/8 miles then the issue starts all over again. Once the power steer light comes on to include the stabilitrak warning lights then the vehicle is almost impossible to steer. My wife drives the truck most of the time and it's very dangerous and it's not easy for her to steer this vehicle once the power steering goes out. I'm disabled and not able to drive the vehicle in case the power steering goes out. Please thoroughly investigate this vulnerability & issue a recall to fix this issue.

NHTSA ID

11532394

Incident

Jul 4, 2023

The Power Steering keeps failing and this is dangerous once the vehicle is in motion. We have taken the truck to Lawley Chevrolet Sierra Vista AZ (Mando Flores-Service Advisor)several times within the last year and they claim they can't find anything wrong. We can't drive it until the steering is properly fixed. It's impossible to drive. We have to constantly pull over and turn off vehicle for the electrical system to reset . Then we drive for about 1/8 miles then the issue starts all over again. Once the power steer light comes on to include the stabilitrak warning lights then the vehicle is almost impossible to steer. My wife drives the truck most of the time and it's very dangerous and it's not easy for her to steer this vehicle once the power steering goes out. I'm disabled and not able to drive the vehicle in case the power steering goes out. Please thoroughly investigate this vulnerability & issue a recall to fix this issue.

NHTSA ID

11532393

Incident

May 17, 2022

Anytime I drive down a moderately steep hill, the transmission down shifts to a lower gear and the RPMs go above 5000. It seems to get stuck in this gear for a bit of time. If I speed up, the RPMs get to about 6000 before shifting. Otherwise, I’ll need to slow the vehicle considerably before it will change gears. I contacted the dealership and they told me to bypass it by switching to the manual shifting gear.

NHTSA ID

11521280

Incident

May 6, 2023

While driving on the highway "service stabilitrack" warning suddenly appeared. The warning went away, but the light on the dash stayed illuminated as if I had manually turned off stabilitrack. Dash then indicated traction control was turned off, speedometer, rpm gauge, and temp gauge all started bouncing around and fuel range indicated "--". Also received a warning that power steering is not functioning. Vehicle would not appropriately change gears (automatic transmission), causing issues maintaining speed. I have a video of the gauges (taken by my partner while I was driving) that can be sent via email, or screenshots can be uploaded upon request. An online search yields several forum posts indicating this is a repeated issue for this model year, causing significant safety issues and leaving individuals stranded. Within forums I discovered a service bulletin regarding the issue, but it appears no one felt this was important enough to issue a recall or notify owners. I have not yet been able to get to a dealership for repairs, as this occurred on a weekend (while I am 14 hours away from home), but I will be contacting a dealer Monday morning.

NHTSA ID

11480417

Incident

Aug 20, 2022

my truck has a issue when you are going down a hill it shifts into a lower gear. This is an automatic transmission. This can cause my truck to slide and spin in bad weather. I have seen people comment about this issue on some Colorado forums. It has done this many times and at times I have pulled over and placed it in park

NHTSA ID

11443159

Incident

Dec 8, 2021

2016-2020 Chevy Colorado and GMC Canyon diesel models have faulty DPF and DEF systems that fail within <20-60K miles. They do not warranty it as powertrain, and it is a common problem. SAFETY ISSUE: While out of state, the vehicle regenerating exhaust cleaning cycle can not properly clean the system. It then goes into limp mode. 2 dealers have tried to fix it, with no avail. Limp mode limits speed from 65mph with no power on hills, to 55, then 4mph. See this thread for how many people are experiencing problems: https://www.coloradodiesel.org/threads/dpf-regeneration.1137/page-2 Thank you, Andrew R

NHTSA ID

11418576

Incident

May 25, 2021

VEHICLE STALLED DUE TO BRAKING DURING STOPPING HAS BRAKE ASSIST SERVICE LIGHT ON STILL DOES THE SAME THING OTHER VEHICLES HAVE RECALLS

NHTSA ID

11406237

Incident

Jan 1, 2021

Mileage

100,000 mi

STABILITYTRACK LIGHT CAME ON & LOST POWER STEERING WHILE THE VEHICLE WAS IN MOTION ON THE HIGHWAY. IMMEDIATELY, TURNED ON THE HAZARD LIGHTS AND ATTEMPTED TO STEER THE VEHICLE TO THE SHOULDER. STEERING A VEHICLE AT A HIGHWAY SPEED WITHOUT POWER STEERING WAS A VERY DIFFICULT TASK. RESTARTED THE VEHICLE A COUPLE OF TIMES, THEN IT WAS BACK TO NORMAL. THE DEALERSHIP FOUND ERROR CODES U0415 AND U0420 AMONG OTHER ERRORS IN THE HISTORY OF THE VEHICLE. THE DEALERSHIP ONLY RE-CHARGED THE BATTERY AND RESET THE COMPUTER (I BELIEVE). HOWEVER, THE EXACT SAME ISSUE OCCURRED AGAIN ON 10/18/2020 IN THE EXACT SAME SCENARIO. EXCEPT, WHEN THE VEHICLE WAS BROUGHT BACK TO THE SAME DEALERSHIP. THE DEALERSHIP WAS UNABLE TO DETECT ANY ERROR MESSAGE IN THE VEHICLE HISTORY, WHICH IS QUITE FRIGHTENING. EXPECTING TO BRING THIS VEHICLE TO A DIFFERENT DEALERSHIP FOR A SECOND OPINION.

NHTSA ID

11366940

Incident

Sep 7, 2020

Mileage

101,000 mi

FIVE MONTHS AGO MY KEY BEGAN TO BE STUCK IN MY IGNITION. HAD TO CONTINUALLY RESTART MY TRUCK TO GET MY KEY OUT. SAME TIME I STARTED TO HAVE INTERMITTENT LOSE OF POWER STEERING. ONLY WAY TO RECTIFY THAT AGAIN IS TO TURN MY CAR OFF AND RESTART. JUST DROVE 13 MILES WITH MY DAUGHTER AND IT HAPPENED 5 TIMES.

NHTSA ID

11365462

Incident

May 1, 2020

Mileage

63,000 mi

WHILE THE VEHICLE REMAINED IN MOTION TAKING A TURN ON A ROUNDABOUT, THE VEHICLES POWER STEERING AND STABILITRAK SUDDENLY TURNS OFF CAUSING THE VEHICLE TO BECOME VERY DIFFICULT TO STEER AND NEAR IMPOSSIBLE TO COMPLETE THE TURN. THE SITUATION HAPPENED TWICE IN ROUNDABOUTS IN THE PAST COUPLE MONTHS. ONE OF THE TIMES THIS HAPPENED MY WIFE WAS DRIVING WHILE MY TWO YOUNG CHILDREN WERE IN THE VEHICLE. SHE DESCRIBED HITTING THE CURB, BECAUSE OF LACK OF ARM STRENGTH TO PULL THE WHEEL. THE ISSUE RESOLVES WHEN YOU CAN SAFELY PARK AND RESTART THE VEHICLE. AFTER TAKING IT TO THE DEALER IT WAS CONFIRMED THERE WAS AN ELECTRICAL ISSUE WITH THE "STEERING GEAR PINION" AND APPEARS TO BE A KNOWN SAFETY ISSUE WITH CHEVY COLORADO'S. THE DEALER MENTIONED THE COST TO REPLACE THIS ELECTRICAL COMPONENT INCLUDING LABOR WAS AN UPWARDS OF 1800 DOLLARS. FOR 2015 MODEL YEARS IT APPEARS 3000 VEHICLES WERE RECALLED FOR THIS EXACT ISSUE, HOWEVER A BROADER RECALL WAS NOT EXTENDED TO THE 2016 MODEL YEAR. AFTER CONTACTING GM IT WAS EXPRESSED THAT THEY WOULD NOT COVER MY VEHICLE UNDER THIS RECALL AT THIS TIME. I WAS CHARGED FOR THE DIAGNOSTIC FEE TO DETERMINE THE CAUSE OF ISSUE.

NHTSA ID

11364679

Incident

Sep 25, 2020

Mileage

52,000 mi

ELECTRIC POWER STEERING QUITS WITH NO WARNING AND LOSE TRACTION CONTROL AND POWER STEERING. DASHBOARD LIGHTS COME ON TO SAY POWER STEERING FAILURE USE CAUTION. PROBLEM IS PERSISTENT MULTIPLE TIMES A WEEK WITH NO WARNING. THE ONLY WAY TO RESOLVE ISSUE IS TO STOP FOR FIVE MINUTES AND RESTART ENGINE. THIS TEMPORARILY FIXES THE ISSUE BUT THE PROBLEM WILL REOCCUR AT UNSUSPECTING MOMENTS. IT HAS HAPPENED AT VARYING SPEEDS FROM 25 MPH TO HIGHWAY SPEEDS OF 75. CAUSES THE STEERING TO BECOME HEAVY AND UNMANAGEABLE REQUIRING A SPEED REDUCTION AND STOPPAGE TO RESET ENGINE. MADE APPOINTMENT WITH DEALER AND WAS TOLD THE TRUCK IS OUT OF WARRANTY AND THAT IT WOULD BE AN OUT OF POCKET EXPENSE.

NHTSA ID

11361921

Incident

Aug 28, 2020

Mileage

63,000 mi

POWER STEERING WOULD FAIL WHILE DRIVING CAUSING STEERING TO BE EXTREMELY DIFFICULT, AND POTENTIALLY EXTREMELY DANGEROUS SITUATION. STABILTRAC MESSAGE WOULD BE DISPLAYED ON THE MESSAGE CENTER. IT WOULD RESET UPON TURNING OFF THE THE VEHICLE.

NHTSA ID

11360219

Incident

Sep 18, 2020

Mileage

69,000 mi