2018 CHEVROLET BOLT EV Complaints

The steering fails to return to center after a turn, especially at low speed. It requires me to manually center the wheel, and can make steering difficult in low speed city driving. No warning lights or codes are displayed. Front end alignment seems to be good with very little drifting in either direction. Highway driving provides some centering of the wheel, though less than any of the vehicles I have driven. When test driving the vehicle on 9/15/25, I asked the dealership about the issue. They stated it had been inspected roughly a month prior and no issues were found with the steering, and no pending recalls existed that were related to steering. I bought the vehicle the same day and realized it had the symptoms at all times at low speeds. Chevy Bolt forums have reported the same issue, with a lot of vehicles having low miles.

Steering wheel makes noise and is hard to steer. The car creaks and clunks when driving over any type of speed bump, pothole, etc. Looking online, this seems to be a chronic safety problem with this make and model.

Steering does not return to center without effort. Feels stiff. Very different from other owned cars.

The steering wheel will not return to center after turning. The steering feels stiff, and the steering wheel will not return to center on its own.

At about 40k miles my steering changed. The steering would no longer straighten out. It occurred to me on a windy road, and made the drive a lot more difficult as I was not used to it. I just got it fixed from the Chevrolet dealership and they replaced the steering box.

The steering rack loses its lubrication make it turn harder and could potentially fail completely leading to a loss of steering. I noticed that when I am steering around a curve the steering wheel fails to pull back to the center position and has to be manually forced back. Loss of steering or steering malfunction could lead to a fatal crash. I have not had my vehicle inspected by a dealer or mechanic but have researched the problem and many people online have reported failure of the steering rack/gear as well. There is no warning from the manufacturer about this problem and could go unnoticed until the problem is severe. The manufacturer (Chevrolet) should be required to replace this faulty part at no charge to the customer.

Sometimes, the steering wheel of the car will not return back to center after turning. The steering also feels a lot heavier. This usually happens after driving straight for a little and then having to make a turn, but may happen spontaneously in other situations as well. The steering wheel suddenly not returning to center when it is expected increases the chances of accidents, especially in areas with many curves and people/activities. The car does not show any warning signs. The dealership said they said they didn't notice it when driving and thus didn't want to further check it (they only drove it from one parking spot to another).

On 4/5/2025 I was driving at 35mph and the steering wheel began to violently shimmy. The vehicle became difficult to steer putting safety at risk. Slowed to 25mph but shimmy did not stop. ABS warning light came on and Stabilitrak warning light came on and warning that steering was being was being automatically reduced. Driving became very difficult. Stopped and had car towed to Chevrolet. Car was diagnosed with broken left and right front axle anticlick washers and metallic debri found on sensors. Both front axle anticlick washers were replaced, sensors cleaned, and codes cleared, and brake fluid had to be flushed. Cost $850 to repair. Subsequently found out another friend had same thing happen to their 2018 Bolt. This was a safety issue and put us at risk while driving.

The steering of my 2018 Chevy Bolt is sticky. At moderate speeds and going around sweeping corners and curves, the steering becomes sticky and does not want to return to center - you must guide steering back to center and there is friction involved in pulling it back to center. This is a safety issue because the sticking does not allow the driver to sense true road conditions especially in adverse weather. The problem has been reproduced by the dealer and is commonly discussed in Chevy Bolt forums including this one: [XXX] There are no warning lights or indicators of this issue - it is something that you begin to feel with the steering. Certain weather, temperature, and driving conditions seem to make it more pronounced. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

Brake modules not working properly and need reprogramming. GM not honoring their buyback warranty.