general problems of the 2008 Chevrolet Cobalt

I had recalls fixed in 2015. And then suddenly power steering turns on and off. Never before they touched it was there an issue. It happens here and there and stops. This year is happening every day and won't go away. My power steering turns off in middle of driving. Dash board lights go off and car starts cranking. Goes super slow . I'm scared ita going to explode. I can't drive on freeway . And now besides the lock on screen coming on my engine light stays on now . Not sure what to do with it. Car shops can't help. When I 1st had the issue I called the dealer because they fixed the recall and they said nothing could be done because they had already fixed the recall.

I've given this car regularly by the book maintenance and now I'm being told the transmission is bad and needs replacing. There are no repair mechanics that want to replace it either. They all state it is too complicated to get too. They tell me its cheaper to buy a new car. With the amount of car I've given this car, there should be no reason the transmission should go bad. Anything small with it should be easy to repair. It is as if the engineers set the consumer up to fail. I have a great car that is only an 08 with a nice body, starts instantly, and no one will touch the transmission! when I start off with this vehicle and I slowly start to take off from 0-20 it takes it a strange amount of time to get to 20mph than its fine. It also happens at stop signs and some lights. Occasionally, if I turn off the car and restart it its fine. I was forced to purchase a second vehicle and dealers would not even accept it as a trade in when I tried to get a new car. Like I said, body wise she is in great condition. What is going on with this transmission is outrageous.

While driving all the light on instrument panel will all light up then the transmission will shift hard. The car will not crank at times and when this happens its a guarantee the transmission will shift hard. The evap sensor is faulting because when I put fuel in the vehicle seems like it does not want to crank. The evap problem does not seem to be related to a possible computer malfunction. We have had the fuel pump replaced by a local licensed mechanic.

My 18-year-old daughter had a defective ignition switch in her vehicle causing her to lose control of her vehicle and crash into a ditch on today 11/29/2018 we check the recall list before we purchased her vehicle and it was listed as safe.

Instrument cluster malfunctioning, speedometer and warning indicators flashing, going out, resuming normal operation, then repeating the failure symptoms repeatedly. During failure symptoms the transmission and engine bog down, stall and the power steering assist fails (with engine still running) . Random electrical issues such as the check engine light, car alarm sensor, etc flash on and off then start working again totally normally. Can not get the failure to occur at the dealership or mechanics. Fails several times a week. Fails when driving on street, highway at low speeds, medium speeds or high speeds.

When driving at a constant rate, with constant accelerator pressure, between approximately 25 to 50 mph, the rpms jump/fluctuate causing the car to lurch and hesitate. This can be a safety hazard, particularly in icy conditions. The only way to avoid the hesitation is to actively accelerate or decelerate. There are numerous owners that have posted an identical issue on message boards and have stated that their vehicles had similar issues that were remedied by similar repair processes and that Chevrolet has altered the process used to make replacement parts as the initial parts were defective. In addition to being a safety hazard, it is also an excessive and costly burden on vehicle owners. My vehicle has only 40,000 miles on it and has been doing this since under 35,000 miles. It cannot be documented without a video. The rpms jumping is a constant and unrelenting issue when driving at a constant rate of speed between approximately 25-50 mph.

No forward drive,high or low gear,but reverse was working. Driving at 45 mph forward gear just went out and I had to turn into a buisness. Would not move in forward, but would go in reverse. Had car towed to home.

The powerstearing message appeared on my dashboard last night while, thankfully I was parked and stationery before I turnedmy car on. I had no mobility with the steering wheel and appeared to be locked up. I turned off the engine and after starting the car a short bit later the car was operational. The car runs fine for now but I fear it will happen again. To add before this happened I just finished driving 500 miles when I parked the car.

My 2008 chevy Cobalt began secreting a very strong fuel odor; it didn't matter if it was parked, or driving, the odor has been prominent 24/7. I checked for leaks and found nothing. I recently moved, so I have yet to find a new, trustworthy mechanic, so I've been driving my husbands car due to the fact that I do not feel safe driving the chevy at this point. I had however, been regularly starting the engine once a week, while trying to locate a mechanic, however now. My chevy is completely dead; it wont turn on, nor will the lock system even function VIN number: 1g1al58f787297278.

Start of the problem the gauges will go eratic, my car chimes a few dings then theft light comes on. I don't have a theft system. Ls model. Also effects the transmission(automatic) cause it will shift hard and jerk the car. The ac also shuts off during this issue, it will blow air but it won't be cold. Seems like the issue always comes back when it's extremely hot outside. This is an on going issue for about 5 years and it comes and goes. Every mechanic I went to their car reader can't read my car. Also it has happened while I was driving and again when I'm parked and just started the car. And I have had all the recalls fixed that were reported.

I was driving to work like normal on a street that goes 30 miles per hour and my door locks started locking and unlocking rapidly by themselves and the electricity was going on and off in the vehicle when I regained control of my vehicle the power steering showed up on my information dashbroad also the speedometer was dead it was no longer working it also became more difficult to handle the vehicle I took it to my mechanic and he said there has to be a recall as the car only has about 50,000 miles it I checked the website nhsta using my VIN number and it says there is no recall so checked the recalls for all chevy Cobalt 2008 and all of the had the recall for the electrical and power steering so I called my local chevy dealer and explained everything and then they asked for my VIN so I give it to them and they say there is no recall on this particular chevy Cobalt and the they can't help me.

The contact owns a 2008 Chevrolet Cobalt. While driving various speeds, the instrument panel gauges fluctuated, the power steering failed, and the transmission shifted abnormally. The security system warning indicator illuminated. The failures occurred sporadically. The vehicle was taken to a dealer, but could not be diagnosed. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 138,000.

Car rolled down slight hill after turning off and exiting vehicle, transmission shifter appeared to be in park but obviously not as car rolled after leaving alone on slight slope. After accident, I placed key in ignition, started car but will not back up or change position of gear from neutral or drive. Will not go back into park. Key will not come out of ignition now. Bumper and radiator are damaged after crash.

Electrical/electronics problem. Symptoms: dash warning lights (engine, traction, theft) came on. Digital display warning: low fuel (over 1/2 tank of gas) power steering (which stopped operating) and transmission service (transmission stopped shifting smoothly). Gauges (speed, fuel and tach) operated erratically, not at all or combination of the two conditions. This condition started with a few of the listed symptoms which initially cleared them selves. Later as more showed at same time, I was able to clear them or sometime they cleared themselves . This happened over a years time. When all symptoms showed and would not clear, I took the vehicle to trusted mechanic. He could not locate problem but due to outstanding ignition switch recall, suggest that repair may fix the problem. Vehicle was taken to dealership and recall service preformed and no other outstanding recalls were found. Vehicle operated without a problem for almost a month before the listed symptoms reappeared. Was able to clear the fault codes but symptoms returned within the day and won't clear. A check of recalls found that a recall for power steering loss as described was issued and done at approx. 49,000 miles. Several electrical system checks were found in maintenance history (done after power steering recall) and preformed before I purchased the vehicle. The issue describe has become worse over time and has effected the safety of not only those operating the vehicle but any one else on the road when this problem manifest itself. Given that the ignition was replaced and the problems persist, I can't believe it was the ignition causing these problems. I will contact gm to see what my options are. Given that gm is paying 900 million to the government in fines, maybe uncle sam could held those of us with gm engineered lemons replace them with something that is safe to drive on the road.

The key locked causing car to rook forward. I attempted to remove key but electrical system was disabled. I was not able to restart auto until jump starting it. Then the check engine light appeared and the traction control off warning appeared. Additionally the power steering light indicated it was off. No injuries occurred as I was coming to a stop when incident happened. When driving my auto to the dealer, I noticed the rpm reached 4500 at about 50 mph. Steering took some effort without power steering.

The contact was owns a 2008 Chevrolet Cobalt. The contact stated that the button located on the gear shifter housing became completely detached. In addition, the turn signal and windshield wiper mechanism fractured upon engaging. The dealer informed the contact that they would be responsible for fifty percent of the repair expense. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the problem. The approximate failure mileage was 55,000.

The vehicle's rpms and engine will surge making it difficult to control the speed of the vehicle.

Noticed a faint smell of gas while driving my Cobalt on Thursday September 15th, 2011. Gas smell grew stronger later in the day and, on Friday, was so strong that it was overpowering, even with the windows rolled down. Upon taking my car to the mechanic, they found that a plastic supply port on the modular resovoir of my fuel pump had cracked and it was creating a severe fuel leak. I had to replace the fuel pump in order to fix this situation, but, three days later, my car still has an existing gas smell to it. On Friday when the incident occurred, I felt like I had ingested gasoline all day, and it took a while for that feeling to go away. Addtionally, I know that gas leaks are potentially very hazardous and can start fires. In conducting research, it seems that this problem is consistent with recall id # 09v419000 dated 10/29/2009 in which 2006 and 2007 year Chevrolet Cobalts were recalled for the same problem in some states including arizona, where my car was purchased and registered. Service members at a Chevrolet dealership have stated that this issue has become common with my year Cobalts, so perhaps the 2008 Cobalts should be recalled as well? this is a hazardous problem that has turned in to quite an expensive fix for me, and I believe that it needs to be taken care of immediately.