There are 7 owner-reported speed control & cruise complaints for the 2006 Chevrolet Cobaltin NHTSA's database. These are unverified consumer reports and may not reflect confirmed defects.
THE VEHICLE CAN MESS UP FROM EITHER DRIVING DOWN THE HIGHWAY OR TRYING TO ACCELERATE THE VEHICLE ON CITY STREET OR HIGHWAY THAT THE ENGINE STALLS AND SAYS "ENGINE POWER REDUCED" THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT ALONG WITH THE T/C LIGHT COMES ON. IT HAPPENS MULTIPLE TIMES IN JUST 30 MINUTES OF DRIVING, MORE FOR LONGER TRIPS. IT WILL EVEN DO IT IN 10 MINUTES OF DRIVING. YOU HAVE TO PULL OVER AND TURN VEHICLE OFF FOR A FEW MINUTES AND THEN IT DRIVES FINE FOR MAYBE A MILE DOWN THE ROAD BEFORE IT DOES IT AGAIN, OR, YOU CAN CONTINUE DRIVING IT WITH THE PEDAL ALL THE WAY TO THE FLOOR BOARD TRYING TO GET SPEED WHICH IF YOU DO THE CAR SHIFTS GEAR VERY BADLY AND RIDES ROUGH BUT WHEN YOU'RE TRYING TO GET TO WORK ON TIME YOU DO WHAT YOU HAVE TOO. I HAVE TAKEN THE VEHICLE TO A MECHANIC 3 TIMES OVER THIS. THROTTLE BODY WAS CHANGED (TWICE), THEY REPLACED THE COMPUTER AND CLEANED THE WIRES. ONE MECHANIC WAS THE CHEVROLET DEALERSHIP AND THEY TOLD ME THEY NEEDED IT THERE WHEN IT HAPPENED TO BETTER DIAGNOSE THE SITUATION. I DO NOT HAVE THE ABILITY TO LET THEM JUST KEEP MY VEHICLE. I HAVE HAD THIS VEHICLE FOR A LITTLE OVER A YEAR. I BOUGHT IT USED. I HAVE A LOAN ON THE VEHICLE AND I AM SCARED TO DRIVE THIS ANY FURTHER THAN I HAVE TO BECAUSE I KNOW THE VEHICLE WILL MESS UP. I HAVE TWO CHILDREN THAT I HAVE TO PUT IN THIS VEHICLE TO TAKE PLACES. THIS VEHICLE IS EXTREMELY UNSAFE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I WANT HELP WITH THIS SITUATION!! THIS FIRST HAPPENED IN NOVEMBER OF 2016. I DO NOT KNOW THE DAY SPECIFICALLY. I DO REMEMBER IT DID NOT FALL UNDER THE DEALERSHIPS WARRANTY THAT I GOT IT FROM.
I WAS STOPPED AT A STOPLIGHT. WHEN THE LIGHT TURNED GREEN I PUT MY FOOT ON THE GAS PEDAL AND THE CAR WOULD NOT MOVE. AS MY FOOT LEFT THE BRAKE PEDAL IT STILL DID NOT MOVE. WHILE STILL ON THE HIGHWAY, I TURNED THE CAR OFF AND BACK ON. ONCE I TURNED IT BACK ON, THE CAR WAS ABLE TO MOVE AS NORMAL. THE FOLLOWING FRIDAY, THE SAME THING HAPPENED (I WAS STOPPED AT A STOP SIGN AND COULD NOT ACCELERATE AFTERSTOPPING.) THIS HAPPENED MULTIPLE TIMES (I TURNED THE CAR OFF AND ON MULTIPLE TIMES) AND FINALLY, AS I WAS DRIVING NORMALLY AGAIN WITH MY FOOT ON THE ACCELERATOR, THE CAR SLOWED DOWN ON ITS OWN AND CAME TO A STOP ON ITS OWN, AS MY FOOT WAS STILL ON THE ACCELERATOR. *TR
TRACTION CONTROL LIGHT CAME ON. CAR STARTED RUNNING VERY ROUGH AND THEN LOST ALL TRACTION AND SHUT OFF. *TR
THE VEHICLE STARTED TO EMIT AN ODOR OF FUEL WHEN PARKED, NOT RUNNING. A FEW DAYS LATER A VISIBLE PUDDLE OF FUEL WAS UNDER THE BODY OF THE CAR. THIS HAS BEEN RECURRING EVERY DAY SINCE THE FIRST OCCURRENCE. NOW A VISIBLE LEAK FROM ABOVE THE FUEL TANK CAN BE SEEN DRIPPING FUEL AT AN ACCELERATED RATE. *TR
I WAS DRIVING EAST ON US HWY 2 AT 55 MPH WHEN MY CAR SUDDENLY DROPPED SPEED TO 35 MPH AND THE ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON AND THE DASH READ RED ENG PWR. IT WAS A VERY SCARY EXPERIENCE, I WAS ABLE TO COAST TO A SIDE ROAD AS I LIVE IN NORTHERN WISCONSIN AND THERE IS NOT A SHOULDER TO PULL ON TO DUE TO THE HIGH SNOW BANKS. I PARKED THE CAR AND SHUT IT OFF AND IT HAD NO POWER NO SPEED CONTROL. I LET IT SIT FOR 1 HOUR AND WHEN I TURNED IT BACK ON THE ENGINE LIGHT WAS OFF ALONG WITH THE DASH READING AND THE CAR WAS NORMAL. THIS IS AWFUL! THIS CAR IS AWFUL! *TR
THE CRUISE CONTROL ON THE CAR GOES OFF BY IT SELF I WAS ALMOST REARENED BY ANOTHER CAR. *TR
EVENTS THAT LEAD TO FAILURE: 2006 CHEVROLET COBALT RANDOMLY SHUT OFF, INSTRUMENT GAUGE NEEDLES RANDOMLY FLICKER/TWITCH, BAD SMELL THAT IN MY OPINION RESEMBLED A BURNT FOOD/SULFUR COMBINATION. IT STARTED OUT LIGHTLY AND RANDOMLY FOR A FEW WEEKS, BUT BECAME HEAVIER AND CONSTANT OVER A WEEK. A KNOCKING NOISE CAME FROM THE REAR OF THE CAR, IDLE SURGED, AND CRUISE CONTROL FAILED TO DISENGAGE. FAILURE & CONSEQUENCES: FIRE! COMPONENT THAT FAILED WAS A CANISTER/SENDING UNIT REAR OF THE GAS TANK WITH THE CONSEQUENCE OF A FIRE AND THE TOTAL LOSS OF MY 2006 CHEVROLET COBALT. THE EVENING PRIOR I CONTACTED MY LOCAL DEALER ABOUT THE SMELL AND I TOLD THEM I HAVE NO WARNING LIGHTS ON. THE NEXT DAY DRIVING TO THE DEALERSHIP THE SMELL/ODDER INTENSIFIED. MY THOUGHTS WERE, WE'LL AT LEAST THEY CAN'T SAY THEY DON'T SMELL IT OR GIVE ME THE "CAN'T DUPLICATE IT" DECISION. I ONLY MADE IT HALFWAY WHEN MY CAR HAD A MAJOR ELECTRICAL/MECHANICAL FAILURE. I WAS ASSISTED BY CARS TRAVELING BEHIND ME AS ONE POINTED OUT MY CAR WAS ON FIRE AND THE CAR SHUT DOWN, ALL WITHOUT ANY WARNING LIGHTS! THE FIRE SEVERELY BURNED THE ENTIRE BACK HALF OF THE CAR. AFTER BEING INSPECTED BY A VERY WELL SEASONED FIRE INSPECTOR THE FIRE WAS DIAGNOSED TO COME FROM A CANISTER/SENDING UNIT MALFUNCTION. AGAIN NO WARNING LIGHTS GM! IN MY OPINION THE RANDOM SHUTTING DOWN OF THE CAR, THE GAUGES TWITCHING/FLICKERING, THE STRANGE KNOCKING NOISE AND THE SMELL/ODDER WAS ALL PART OF THE SAME PROBLEM. CORRECTED FAILURES: IN REFERENCE TO THE FIRE, THAT WILL BE UP TO GM HOWEVER, AFTER READING THE NHTSA ALARMING NUMBER OF 2005-2007 CHEVROLET COBALT COMPLAINTS AND TECHNICAL SERVICE BULLETINS ONE WOULD BE LED TO BELIEVE THAT THERE SHOULD BE MORE THAN JUST A COUPLE OF RECALLS. *AK
Complaints are unverified consumer reports submitted to NHTSA. A high complaint count may reflect vehicle popularity, not defect severity. Data sourced from NHTSA public records.
Data synced from NHTSA on Apr 25, 2026