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2005 CHEVROLET COBALT — ELECTRICAL SYSTEM

crash · 1044879 · 2014-03-11

Vehicle

Make
CHEVROLET
Model
COBALT
Year
2005
Manufacturer
General Motors, LLC
Component
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
Miles at failure
28,000
Speed
60 mph

Severity

Deaths
0
Injured
0
Fire
No
Crash
Yes
Police report
No
Medical attention
No
Vehicle towed
No

Narrative

THE 05 COBALT, REGULARLY SERVICED BY THE DEALER WHERE IT WAS BOUGHT CRASHED AFTER GOING OUT OF CONTROL WHEN THE IGNITION SWITCHED OFF ON THE INTERSTATE AT 60 MPH. THE STEERING LOCKED, THE ABS DID NOT FUNCTION, WHEN IT CRASHED INTO THE GUARD RAIL THE AIR BAGS DID NOT DEPLOY. THE ONLY WARNING WAS THE DASH WARNING LIGHTS ALL LIGHTING UP AND THE ALARM SOUNDS. THE ONE SECOND OR SO DID NOT ALLOW ANY CHANCE TO THE DRIVER TO REACT BEFORE THE CRASH. AFTER THE ACCIDENT, WHEN THE DEALER WAS CONTACTED, WE WERE ADVISED TO CONTACT THE GM PERSON. THE GM PERSON WAS FRIENDLY AND NICE, BUT VERY FIRM IN STATING THAT WE NEEDED TO HAVE PROOF THAT THE CAR FAILED, RATHER THE DRIVER AT THE WHEEL. THE CARS COMPUTER WAS NOT ANALYZED BECAUSE THE WRECKING YARD DEMANDED OVER $700 TO TOW THE CAR OUT OF THE WRECKING YARD SO ANY INVESTIGATOR COULD LOOK OVER THE CAR. GM TOLD US THAT IT WAS OUR PROBLEM TO PAY THE BILL TO ALLOW THEIR INVESTIGATOR TO LOOK AT THE CAR. WE DID NOT HAVE THE MONEY. AFTER READING NUMEROUS COMMENTS ON THE NHTSA SITE AND BLOGS, PEOPLE NEVER HEARD A WORD FROM GM AFTER THEY RETRIEVED THE COMPUTER. THE SALIENT POINT IS THAT MANY OF THE OVER A THOUSAND COMPLAINTS ABOUT THE COBALT AND OTHER SIMILAR GM CARS THAT IDENTIFIED THE POWER STEERING AS THE PROBLEM THAT CAUSED A CRASH ARE WRONG. THE POWER STEERING WAS NOT THE CAUSE OF THE CRASH. THE PROBLEM WAS THAT THE IGNITION SWITCH TURNED OFF. THE GM RECALLS ABOUT THE POWER STEERING PROBLEM HIDE THE FACT THAT THE IGNITION SWITCHES

Source

Authoritative
NHTSA ODI Flat-File Downloads
ODI Number
10568618
Machine
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