Vehicle Data Hub

2005 Chevrolet Cobalt electrical system problems

Owners reported electrical system problems in 327 complaints for the 2005 Chevrolet Cobalt, 15% of the complaints on file. It is the 2nd most reported problem area for this model year.

At a glance

Complaints
327 15% of this year's complaints
Typical mileage
60,000 miles 249 complaints with mileage
Crashes and fires
13 and 2
Injuries and deaths
9 and 1

Source: NHTSA owner complaints

When electrical system problems show up

Electrical system complaints by mileage, 2005 Chevrolet Cobalt Complaints by odometer reading in 20,000-mile steps. The median is about 60,000 miles. 0k to 20k miles: 47 complaints 20k to 40k miles: 39 complaints 40k to 60k miles: 40 complaints 60k to 80k miles: 36 complaints 80k to 100k miles: 26 complaints 100k to 120k miles: 20 complaints 120k to 140k miles: 18 complaints 140k to 160k miles: 6 complaints 160k to 180k miles: 8 complaints 180k to 200k miles: 4 complaints 200k+ miles: 5 complaints 040k80k120k160k200k miles Typical: 60,000 miles
Based on 249 complaints that include mileage. 51% were reported before 60,000 miles. The amber marker shows the median: half of these complaints happened before that mileage.
View the numbers
MileageComplaints
0k to 20k miles47
20k to 40k miles39
40k to 60k miles40
60k to 80k miles36
80k to 100k miles26
100k to 120k miles20
120k to 140k miles18
140k to 160k miles6
160k to 180k miles8
180k to 200k miles4
200k+ miles5

What the data shows

Of the 249 electrical system complaints that report mileage, the median is about 60,000 miles, and 51% were reported before 60,000 miles.

These complaints mention 13 crashes, 2 fires, 9 injuries, 1 death.

What owners wrote

I was driving down the highway making a turn and my power steering went out it beeped at me and the dash displayed "power steering". When I restart my car its fine for a wile but then it dose it again and from what I can tell speed, turning,rpms, temperature distance have nothing to do with it. I was ran off the road due to this with my wife and child in the car my daughter smacked her head on the window I tore something in my should just trying to steer.

Reported at 53,000 miles, July 2008 CrashInjury

The shifter assembly on our 2005 chevy cobalt broke. My husband was suddenly unable to fully disengage the shifter, so that the key could be taken out of the ignition and the car fully turned off. Because the key could not be taken out, it created a serious draw on the battery strength of the car and caused it to die.

Reported at 52,000 miles, September 2009

Other problems reported for the 2005 Chevrolet Cobalt

Electrical system problems in other years

Electrical system problems across all Chevrolet models