General Motors Co. will recall 1.3 million Chevrolet and Pontiac compact cars dating from 2005 to 2010 and sold in the U.S., Canada and Mexico to fix power steering motors that can fail.
The recall affects 2005 to 2010 Chevrolet Cobalts, 2007 to 2010 Pontiac G5s, 2005 and 2006 Pontiac Pursuits sold in Canada and 2005 and 2006 Pontiac G4s sold in Mexico.
The automaker said the vehicles are still safe to drive and never lose their steering. The affected cars may be harder to steer them when traveling under 15 mph.
Alan Adler, GM spokesman, said the failures are rare and the cars can still be driven until motors can be replaced by dealers. Drivers will see a warning light and hear a chime if the power steering fails, but they could be surprised when the steering becomes more difficult.
GM told the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration about the recall March 1. The NHTSA began an investigation into 905,000 of the models Jan. 27 after getting 1,100 complaints, including reports of 14 crashes and one injury, in the cars lost their power steering assist.
The automaker will fix older models first because it usually takes 20,000 to 30,000 miles of driving for the condition to develop.
Article Last Updated: March 1, 2010.
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A sports, travel and business journalist for more than 45 years, James has written the new car review column The Weekly Driver since 2004.
In addition to founding this site in 2004, James writes a Sunday automotive column for The San Jose Mercury and East Bay Times in Walnut Creek, Calif., and monthly auto review and wellness columns for Gulfshore Business, a magazine in Southwest Florida.
An author and contributor to many newspapers, magazines and online publications, co-hosted The Weekly Driver Podcast from 2017 to 2024.
