2009 Chevy Cobalt LS/LT (used) - pulls/drifts to the right
Asked by jayIyer Aug 20, 2012 at 02:56 PM about the 2009 Chevrolet Cobalt LS Coupe FWD
Question type: Maintenance & Repair
I test drove a chevy cobalt LT/LS (2009/automatic) yesterday in shakopee. Its a great car and the owner
wants 6k$ for it + a few 100 or so more for transferring the title and stuff.
When driving this cobalt, I noticed that the resting position for the steering wheel was tilted to the right
slightly causing the car to drift / pull to the right when driving on the highway except if a hand is
holding the wheel firmly keeping it going straight. I was wondering if someone has any insights on
what exactly could be the issue here. When I told this to the owner, he suggested it is possibly a
pressure difference in tires causing this - (there was a 2 PSI difference in the front left and front right
wheel tire pressures) - but I don't know that much about cars to know if he was telling the truth or
hiding some flaw in the car from me.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you
~ Jay
8 Answers
could be an alignment problem usually pretty cheap but you can never be sure
GMCustomerService answered 12 years ago
Hi Jay, Thank you for your post! I would recommend having the vehicle checked out by a certified mechanic/technician at a GM dealership. Because you are purchasing from an independent owner and not from a GM Certified Pre-Owned dealership, you may want to avoid any possibly unexpected issues. Good luck! Hope everything works out well with the purchase of the Cobalt! Vanessa GM Customer Service
Hi Vanessa (GM Customer Service), During my research, I found that the Chevy cobalt has been discontinued. Is there a reason for this? Is this car not a good one? And if I do buy this car, is there a possibility that I will not get spare parts for it in the future due to it being discontinued?
Jay- it is now called the Cruze- this is done from time to time when GM updates models- Vanessa was correct- get the allignment checked- it shouldn't do that with only 2psi difference. I hope this helps.
my 86 Lesabre & 89 Riv did slightly pull right. could be torque steer. to this day, i'm not sure... uneven tire wear?
No need to shy away from a Cobalt. They are great cars. Parts are never going to be a problem, there are millions of them on the road. Nice economical, reasonably priced transportation. Not to say there aren't a few bad ones out there and ones that have been damaged or require repairs. I would be suspicious of this one. There are a dozen other ones nearby that don't pull to the right. Buy one of them. If you are bent on buying this one, definately have it inspected for mechanical problems as well as improperly repaired collision damage. It's definately not a tire inflation problem and if it is an alignment problem I would want to know how the car got that badly out of alignment to pull like that. A trip through a ditch or over a curb at high speed springs to mind, but it could be anything. People who don't know much about cars are living dangerously buying privately. I would consider buying something from a reputable car lot that comes with some sort of warranty, if I were you. Good luck.
Thanks for the answer Munron. I appreciate the honesty and yes, I am not going to buy this particular car. I will definitely consider a different chevy cobalt. I like their stylish design and the way the car feels when driving the best. I am happy I found Cargurus for discussing car problems. Its been a lot of help.
Glad to have you here and glad we could help. I have an '06 Cobalt SS/SC and totally love it. There's pics of it in my garage. It's the sport model so of course it has performance going for it as well, but I do agree, they are sharp looking little cars, as well as fun and reliable. Good luck car shopping. Let us know what you buy.
