Body problems of the 2005 Chevrolet Cobalt

22 problems related to body have been reported for the 2005 Chevrolet Cobalt. The most recently reported issues are listed below. Please also check out the statistics and reliability analysis of the 2005 Chevrolet Cobalt based on all problems reported for the 2005 Cobalt.

1 Body problem

Failure Date: 01/26/2019

Takata recall. I hit a patch of ice going to a friends house. I did a three sixty hitting a guardrail all the way around. My air bags didn't go off. They should of with how hard I hit. Totaled out my car. I was traveling down I-75 in ohio.

2 Body problem

Failure Date: 12/15/2017

When driving rear and front doors open when hitting a bumpl they just fly open won't stay locked or closed. When closing them sometimes not able to reopen them. The door mechanisms are faultly and don't work. Real safety issue should be on recall list as many people on-line have the same problem.

3 Body problem

Failure Date: 10/13/2017

My passenger door randomly does not open anymore from inside or out. It worked completely fine before a passenger got in, and when they tried to get out the handle was "loose" and neither handles will open the door. This is a safety hazard and it's scary that this could potentially happen to both doors. My passenger door currently doesn't open so if there was an accident they wouldn't even be able to get out.

4 Body problem

Failure Date: 10/03/2017

Tl- the contact owns a 2005 Chevrolet Cobalt. The contact stated that when attempted to exit the vehicle, the driver side door failed to open. The contact stated that she had to climb over to the front passenger side to be able to exit the vehicle. In addition, the contact stated that while the vehicle in motion the rear driver and passenger door independently open. The contact stated that she had to bungee cord the two rear door to keep them from opening while driving. The vehicle was taken to mangino Chevrolet (1484 saratoga rd, ballston spa, NY 12020, (518) 885-5301), but was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and informed the contact that the VIN was not included in the recall and did not offer further assistance. The approximate failure mileage was 106,000. The VIN was not available. Aw.

5 Body problem

Failure Date: 07/28/2017

The contact owns a 2005 Chevrolet Cobalt. The contact attempted to change the headlamp bulb because the bulb shield fell off. The contact had not noticed the shield was missing until he noticed a glare in the bulb. The contact stated that there were two light bulbs affected due to the reflector failing without warning. The contact purchased a repair manual and noticed NHTSA campaign number: 04v560000 (exterior lighting). The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The contact was concerned that the glare could affect an oncoming motorist, resulting in a crash. The dealer and manufacturer were not contacted. The approximate failure mileage was 108,400.

6 Body problem

Failure Date: 02/20/2016

The driver side door latch does not want to open the door from the outside. It feels like there is nothing connecting to open it. This has happened several times and I have had to crawl over passenger side to open it from the inside. I understand there are lots of people having this same issue with this vehicle, something needs to be done.

7 Body problem

Failure Date: 11/13/2015

When I unlock the driver door with the fob, the door would not open. I was driving one day and the relay electrical wiring started burning. When I took it back to the car dealer they told me there was nothing wrong. Myself and four other people smelled the burning. I gave the car back and nothing was done to satisfy the situation. I was told by an auto zone mechanic to park the car before it catches on fire.

8 Body problem

Failure Date: 05/02/2015

Was driving when the steering locked up as I was starting around a small curve in the road. Could not steer and went off the road into a yard and struck a tree. Insurance company totaled vehicle.

9 Body problem

Failure Date: 01/26/2015

The door doesn't open from either the inside or outside, even when the car is unlocked.

10 Body problem

Failure Date: 09/26/2014

Tl- the contact owns a 2005 Chevrolet Cobalt. The contact stated that the vehicle's door locks have malfunctioned. The contact stated the vehicle door lock will independently unlock and lock in a loop which causes the car alarm to function. The contact took the vehicle to the dealer where it was not diagnoised. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the issue. The vehicle mileage was approximately 65,000. Kh.

11 Body problem

Failure Date: 02/07/2014

While making a left turn, the car felt as if it was sliding and hit a guardrail. Then, slide alongside it. That impact propelled my car across the street and it collided with a guard-wall, on the other side of the street, totaling the vehicle.

12 Body problem

Failure Date: 12/03/2013

Driver's side door will not open from inside or outside. Both the inside and the outside door handles will become "loose" and while easy to pull handles, the door will still not open.

13 Body problem

Failure Date: 08/15/2013

Rear door opened while driving. Power steering cuts off.

14 Body problem

Failure Date: 12/24/2012

On 01//24/2012 I was driving my 2005 Cobalt on the lodge freeway in michigan my car just turn off for no reason while I was driving at 55 mph ,yes I was injured and lost control of my car .

15 Body problem

Failure Date: 05/01/2012

Randomly, the driver's door latch fails to function. If the door is open, it will not latch closed. If the door is closed, neither the interior or exterior door handle will open the door. Obviously, this is rather a severe safety concern. If this were to occur after an accident, an un-injured occupant could die from fire--or drown if the car were submerged. I explored the issue on multiple internet forums and found this is a rather common issue. For instance, here is a query on the Cobalt ss forum. Just entering "door latch" comes up with these search results. . Read more...

16 Body problem

Failure Date: 12/27/2011

Tl-the contact owns a 2005 Chevrolet Cobalt. The contact stated that the vehicle was parked and upon exiting, the front driver's door would not seal shut. The contact was able to successfully shut the door after repeated attempts. The contact also stated that the same door would intermittently not open from the interior. The vehicle was not taken to have the failure diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and offered no assistance. The failure mileage was 113,000. Sm.

17 Body problem

Failure Date: 06/08/2011

Unable to open drivers side door either from inside or outside. Doors appear to lock/unlock fine but handle feels like it is diconnected. This has happened multiple times. In researching on internet, I found that many Cobalt owners are having the same problem and that a quick fix is to pound on the outside of the door around the handle and that whatever is out of alignment will pop back into place. I consider this to be a very serious safety hazard in that one might be trapped inside of the car with no quick means of exit.

18 Body problem

Failure Date: 01/27/2011

The drivers door cannot be opened from either the inside handle or the outside handle of the the door, thus trapping the driver inside the car or preventing the driver from accessing the car if they are not in it when this happens. The door cannot be opened with either the door key, the remote or unlocking the door from the inside. This results in the driver being forced to enter and exit the car by entering the passenger side and then climbing over the console. This is a common complaint from many owners of Cobalts and needs to be addressed. If the occupant was involved in an accident in which it was critical to exit the vehicle, they could not. After several days the door began working again. This has happened several times.

19 Body problem

Failure Date: 01/29/2010

I was stopped at a red signal for a few minutes. Suddenly, a university of buffalo student hit my car from the rear at full force. He was texting and when he got out of the car he was still texting. He admitted it was his fault because he was not looking at the road and was texting on his phone. I called the police and obtained a police report. The air bags did not work. My mom and I were jolted forward at full force with back and neck trauma. My car stalled on impact of the other car. Luckily my foot was on the brake and I did not hit the car in front of me. I had to restart my car and I pulled the car over to the side of the road in order to not block the busy street. I complained that my air bags did not work but I was ignored. Also, the ignition switch had turned off the car which I thought was strange.

20 Body problem

Failure Date: 04/19/2009

Mr. Dana williamson was front passenger in a 2005 Chevrolet Cobalt driven by his cousin ms. Ashley matthews on April 19th, 2009. Ms. Ashley matthews lost control of the vehicle and severely wrecked the vehicle. Mr. Dana williamson was stuck under the vehicle for approximately 4 hours and had to be air lifted to richland memorial hospital when emergency personell arrived. Mr. Williamson was severly injured and suffered life time injuries. Mr. William's airbag did not deploy which caused him to suffer more extensieve injuries than he woould have if the airbags did deploy. Mr. Williamson later found out that gm had known of the problems with the airbag system in the 2005-2006 Chevrolet Cobalt vehicles but not report this until after mr. Williamson was severly injured on April 19th, 2009. Mr. Williamson suffered a broken neck, broken bone in his right foot, his right hip was knocked out of joint, also severe back and spine pain.

21 Body problem

Failure Date: 12/06/2007

I was going to work early in the morning. A train was in the distance which scared a huge buck deer. The buck deer with huge antlers ran straight into my car head on. I was not able to steer away from the deer and my car seemed to shut down. The huge buck deer hit me head on. The lights were totally smashed. The hood of the car was completely damaged. The windshield was totally smashed. The roof was damaged and the car was lopsided. The buck deer antlers went thru the windshield just inches away from me. The air bags did not work even though it was a head on collision with great force. My car seemed to shut off and I could not steer away from the deer. I was cut with glass on my face, arms and hands. My neck and back was hurt. I had my seat belt on but my stomach hurt from the dramatic impact. I complained that the air bags did not work and that my car acted strangely in which it seemed the ignition switch shut everything down and I could not control the car but I was totally ignored.

22 Body problem

Failure Date: 12/03/2005

I rented this brand new Cobalt 4 months after hurricane katrina from mobile alabama, so as to go back to my home town of san francisco, CA. By the time I made it through los angeles, at around 430 am. I lost control of car due to severe stiffness in the steering. Which led to the vehicle running off of I-5 heading north bound at a speed of 60 miles per hour. Visibility was good, I veered off the freeway into the median portion of I-5, and I tried to slow down but no response which led me to roll over few times, end to end and over and over, luckily I was wearing my seat belt and it held very well, suprisingly, no airbags, none of them deployed, and all the windows blew out, and not the reinforced kind including the front wind shield. The ambulance came, and so did the California highway patrol. There is a report about it which indicates that no airbags were deployed, and I do have pictures of car after incident. I had few bumps and bruises and had few cuts from the glass on my arms and legs, and I had to acquire a few rounds of physical therapy and accupuncture. But luckily I was in good spirits. The car was covered under 3 insurances, which paid for some damage, including my discover card, and my grandma's aarp. And the rental car company.


Other Structure related problems of the 2005 Chevrolet Cobalt


Fuel Economy of Cobalt Vehicles
Cobalt Service Bulletins
Cobalt Safety Recalls
Cobalt Defect Investigations