Problems owners report
Complaints filed with NHTSA about the 2010 Chevrolet Cobalt, by the system named in each complaint. One complaint can name several.
- Steering239
- Electrical system125
- Fuel/propulsion system101
- Air bags77
- Engine38
- Power train31
- Unknown or other28
- Fuel system, gasoline21
- Service brakes14
- Vehicle speed control14
NHTSA ODI complaints (public domain) · updated 23 Oct 2026 · 45 injuries and 4 deaths reported
Compared with other years
NHTSA ODI complaints by model year
Fatal crashes in the US
From 2020 to 2023, 90 2010 Cobalt vehicles were involved in crashes on US public roads in which someone died; 83 people died inside them, and 16 of the vehicles rolled over. This is a count, not a crash rate: it grows with the number of cars on the road.
NHTSA Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS), crash years 2020–2023 (public domain)
New York safety inspections
At its first New York inspection the 2010 Chevrolet Cobalt failed the safety check 3.93% of the time — 57% more often than the average 2010 passenger car (2.50%). Median odometer at inspection: 110,188 miles.
NY DMV Vehicle Inspections (vezn-fmmk), initial inspections since Aug 2021 · how we count
Fuel consumption
Official Canadian test results for 3 variants: combined 8.0–8.7 L/100 km (about 27–29 mpg US), CO₂ 184–200 g/km.
| Variant | City | Highway | Combined |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cobalt XFE · Subcompact · Regular gasoline | 9.3 | 6.5 | 8.0 |
| Cobalt · Compact · Regular gasoline | 9.7 | 7.0 | 8.5 |
| Cobalt · Compact · Regular gasoline | 10.0 | 7.1 | 8.7 |
Litres per 100 km. Natural Resources Canada, Fuel consumption ratings (open.canada.ca) · Open Government Licence – Canada
Recalls in Canada
7 Transport Canada recalls for the 2010 Chevrolet Cobalt.
| 2015354 5 Aug 2015 | Airbag On certain vehicles, the side-impact sensor wire harness in the driver-side front door may have been improperly routed. If the wire harness was improperly route… |
| 2015010 9 Jan 2015 | Steering Certain vehicles equipped with electric power steering may experience a sudden loss of power steering assist that could occur at any time while driving. If the… |
| 2014126 10 Apr 2014 | Other On certain vehicles, a defect may allow the ignition key to be removed from the ignition switch when the key is not in the "Off" position. This could result in … |
| 2014104 1 Apr 2014 | Steering Certain vehicles equipped with electric power steering may experience a sudden loss of power steering assist that could occur at any time while driving. If the… |
| 2014101 31 Mar 2014 | Other A safety defect may exist in ignition switches sold as service replacement parts. The defect could allow the ignition switch to unintentionally move from the “r… |
| 2010059 2 Mar 2010 | Steering Certain vehicles equipped with electric power steering may experience a sudden loss of power steering assist that could occur at any time while driving. If the… |
| 2010047 23 Feb 2010 | Brakes On certain Cobalt SS vehicles equipped with a turbo-charged engine, a front brake line may come in contact with the underbody of the vehicle. Brake lines posit… |
Transport Canada Vehicle Recalls Database · Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Canada
Recalls
General Motors LLC (GM) is recalling certain model year 2010 Chevrolet Cobalt vehicles manufactured January 4, 2010, to June 23, 2010. The affected vehicles may be equipped with an improperly routed Side-Impact Sensor (SIS) wiring harness in the driver side front door. The misrouted wiring harness could cause an electrical short that disables the driver side curtain air bag.
General Motors LLC (GM) is recalling certain model year 2005-2010 Chevrolet Cobalt, 2006-2011 Chevrolet HHR, 2007-2010 Pontiac G5, 2006-2010 Pontiac Solstice, 2003-2007 Saturn Ion, and 2007-2010 Saturn Sky vehicles. In the affected vehicles, the key can be removed from the ignition when the ignition is not in the "Off" position.
General Motors LLC (GM) is recalling certain model year 2004-2006 and 2008-2009 Chevrolet Malibu, 2004-2006 Malibu Maxx, 2009-2010 HHR (non-turbo), 2010 Cobalt, 2008-2009 Saturn Aura and 2004-2007 Ion, and 2005-2009 Pontiac G6. In the affected vehicles, there may be a sudden loss of electric power steering (EPS) assist that could occur at any time while driving.
This defect can affect the safe operation of the airbag system. Until this recall is performed, customers should remove all items from their key rings, leaving only the ignition key. The key fob (if applicable), should also be removed from the key ring. General Motors LLC (GM) notified the agency on February 10, 2014 that they are recalling 619,122 model year 2005-2007 Chevrolet Cobalt, and 2007 Pontiac G5 vehicles. On February 25, 2014, GM increased the recall to include an additional 748,024 model year 2006-2007 Chevrolet HHR and Pontiac Solstice vehicles and 2003-2007 Saturn Ion vehicles and 2007 Saturn Sky vehicles. In these models, the weight on the key ring and/or road conditions or some other jarring event may cause the ignition switch to move out of the run position, turning off the engine. On March 27, 2014, GM notified the agency that the defective ignition switches may have been used as service replacement parts on other vehicles, and as a result GM will be recalling certain model year 2008-2010 Chevrolet Cobalt, Saturn Sky, and Pontiac G5 and Solstice, and 2008-2011 Chevrolet HHR vehicles. The part numbers for the service parts are 10392423 (a/k/a ACDelco D1461F), 10392737, 15857948, 15854953, 15896640, and 25846762. This expansion represents an additional 823,788 vehicles.
GENERAL MOTORS IS RECALLING CERTAIN MODEL YEAR 2005-2010 CHEVROLET COBALT AND MODEL YEAR 2007-2010 PONTIAC G5 VEHICLES EQUIPPED WITH ELECTRIC POWER STEERING. THE DRIVER MAY EXPERIENCE A SUDDEN LOSS OF POWER STEERING ASSIST THAT COULD OCCUR AT ANY TIME WHILE DRIVING.
Whether a recall was fixed on a particular car is known only to the manufacturer: check the VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls.
NHTSA recalls · summaries in NHTSA's own words
Service bulletins
What Chevrolet told its dealers about the 2010 Chevrolet Cobalt: known faults, fixes and updates.
| Bulletin | Summary |
|---|---|
| 11011805 | This Preliminary information communicates a GM part number forreflective high temperature heat or insulating tape when repairing wiring harnesses. |
| 11011782 | This Preliminary Information communication provides information to the technician about the use of J-35616-64B terminal test probe, replacement terminals, and terminated leads. The J-35616-64B is the latest test probe released for checking tension or probing the .64 series terminals. The test probe terminal has been released in the terminal repair kit (J-38125-620H) located in Lear Tray 7 part number 963716-2. There are 5 terminated leads in a package part number is 13505346, which can be ordered through your normal General Motors Customer Care and Aftersales parts channel. |
| 11011444 | This Preliminary information communicates to the dealer a process for accessing the procedure to add attachments to a GM technical assistance case using the dealer case management tool. |
| 11011205 | This informational bulletin explains Unscheduled Supplemental Services and the importance of GM Simplified Maintenance Schedules. |
| 11010545 | This service bulletin provides information on key code security rules and information on GM keycode look-up applications (U.S). |
| 11010491 | This warranty administration bulletin provides policy information for GM courtesy transportation and roadside assistance programs. |
| 11010490 | This service bulletin provides guidelines and diagnostic/repair information to technicians regarding vehicle engine oil consumption. |
| 11010421 | This warranty administration bulletin provides policy information on the requirements for 12V battery testing and warranty replacements. |
| 11009764 | This service bulletin provides information on Concerns or Questions Regarding Installation of Dealer Installed Accessories. |
| 11009756 | This bulletin provides information on Policies Applicable to All U.S. Dealers for Engine and Transmission Assembly Replacement Under Warranty, Policy or Customer Enthusiasm and information on Submission of Warranty Transaction in Global Warranty Management. |
| 11009532 | This service bulletin provides information for maintenance cleaning of the fuel injectors and gasoline detergent additive. |
| 11009531 | This service bulletin provides information for maintenance cleaning of the fuel injectors and gasoline detergent additive. |
| 11009156 | This Preliminary Information communicates to the dealer the process for downloading or updating operating software for the Tire Pressure Monitor, Active Fuel Injector tester, multi media tester, PICO Scope, GR8 starting/charging tester and Vehicle Data Recorder tools, giving website address and step by step instructions to complete the update. |
| 11009088 | This service bulletin provides information on some vehicles that may rock or move slightly forward or rearward while in Park at start up after cold soak. This condition may be accompanied by a clunk noise. This is a slight movement that is more often seen visually, rather than felt, when viewed from the outside and using the auto-start feature, if equipped. |
| 11009039 | This warranty administration bulletin provides policy information, proper labor operation selection and causal part identification for warranty transactions (U.S. Only). |
| 11008956 | This service bulletin provides information for dealers/technicians on When and How to Submit a Field Product Report (FPR) (U.S. and Canada Dealers Only). |
| 11008906 | This service bulletin provides graphics, information and guidelines for engine component wear to assist service personnel as a guideline to perform necessary engine repairs and prevent unnecessary engine replacement. |
| 11008898 | The bulletin provides direction on how to locate the Temporary Service Part (TSP) form in GlobalConnect. |
| 11007936 | This service bulletin provides information to dealership personnel on diagnosis and replacement of shock absorber and strut due to fluid leak. |
| 11007935 | This service bulletin provides information to dealership personnel on diagnosis and replacement of shock absorber and strut due to fluid leak. |
| 11007744 | This Preliminary Information communication provides information to the technician about vehicles that the Heater-Vent-Air Conditioning blows warm air. Before calling General Motors Technical Assistance Center technician will need to have high and low pressures, outside temperature, humidity, and vent temperature. |
| 11007743 | This Preliminary Information communication provides information to the technician about vehicles that the Heater-Vent-Air Conditioning blows warm air. Before calling General Motors Technical Assistance Center technician will need to have high and low pressures, outside temperature, humidity, and vent temperature. |
| 11007208 | This Preliminary Information communication provides information to the technician about changing the tire and wheel size on vehicles. General Motors will only support a tire calibration for tires that have been sized, tested and designed for the vehicle in question and its applications. Technician should not use the information that is provided by the antilock braking system tire size selection. |
| 11007196 | This Preliminary Information communication provides information to the technician about vehicles that have an intermittent no crank, no start, or start stall concern with the security light coming on. Technician may find Diagnostic Trouble Codes B3055, B3060, and/or B3935. Technician should not replace any parts for this concern. If unable to duplicate the concern ask if the customer uses any Radio Frequency Identification Devices when the concern is present. Dealer should also direct their customers to the appropriate section in the Owner manuals that references that the device complies. |
| 11007121 | This bulletin provides information on Engine Concerns that could result from lack of scheduled maintenance, improper service or aftermarket calibrations. |
NHTSA manufacturer communications (public domain)
NHTSA investigations
Fuel Line Leak
NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation