2017 CHEVROLET BOLT EV Complaints

I purchased my 2017 Chevy Bolt new in early 2018. It has a little over 90k miles on it and no accidents. Over the past year, the steering on the car has become steadily stiffer, meaning that the wheel is harder to turn and does not return to center when the driver releases pressure coming out of a turn. If one releases his hands from the wheel in a turn, the wheel stays in the same position, neither sharpening the turn nor straightening out. I've also recently, as in the past six months or so, noticed a notch or a catch or a clunk when moving the wheel back and forth, especially when centered. I don't know if I can ask for feedback, but I'd like to know if a recall might be in the works for this issue. I know it's been fairly widely noted in the Bolt owner community, and I feel that it presents a safety hazard.

The steering rack get rusted prematurely et now the direction doesn't work properly. the steering wheel doesn't come back straight after a turn and you don't feel the movement has you should be which makes the driving unsafe.

My steering rack failed. Steering won't return to center on faster sweeping turns. Same thing happened to my neighbor who has a 2019 Bolt EV. Seems like such a common problem it probably should have been a recall.

The steering no longer returns to center after a turn, and manual correcting force is needed. This creates a safety risk in the event the driver is unable to correct the steering wheel. This problem was confirmed by a dealer, but the cause was not diagnosed. Multiple Bolt drivers have reported failed steering gear with the same symptoms, which is likely the cause. No warning lights appear when experiencing this issue.

Steering does not return to center on its own after a turn. Have to apply a lot of force to steering wheel to bring it back to center.

Steering doesn't want to return the center. This is a safety issue. Had steering rack replaced at 24k miles and now at 49k miles it's having the same issue. These parts are defective.

steering wheel bind when returning to center. This vehicle has less than 40,000 miles and just out of warranty. This could cause an accident if someone is taken by surprise when turning and the steering wheel is hard to turn back or stays in the turning position.

Within an hour of taking delivery of this used car, I noticed the steering system had an issue. When making a turn, the steering wheel would not return to center. It felt very unsafe to drive, having to force the steering back to center when turning. If I had not reacted fast enough I could have very easily ran into another car, or over the curb and into a pedestrian. I called and texted the Mazda dealership that sold the car to me, and they told me to bring it back to be repaired. They had the car taken to a Chevrolet dealership who confirmed that the steering gear / steering rack needs replaced. They are currently waiting on the parts to make the repairs. The service department of the Chevrolet dealership inspected the car and confirmed it needs repaired. There were no warning lamps or messages of the problem. The only indication of the issue was the steering not performing as it should.

During turns the steering rack will sometimes fail to return to center like normal and the power steering assist will fail to provide assistance mid turn. When this occurs the first symptom is the steering will pull into the direction of the turn at the beginning of the turn. This feels like an oversteer condition, but it happens at any speed and is a result of the steering moving into the turn on its own. After the turn is complete the steering wheel will not return to the center position on its own at all. This requires the driver to correct the steering wheel's position. Since this occurs seemingly unpredictably it feels like a safety risk since it requires me to be alert and ready to make quick manual corrections at any point while driving. I am reluctant to allow others to drive the vehicle since they are not away of this unexpected steering behavior. This is most easy to perceive during sweeping turns where there is plenty of time to notice the fault, however it occurs during tight turns as well. This is particularly scary during left turns at intersections when there is oncoming traffic. This issue has been occurring for approximately the last 10k miles at least and seems to increase in frequency but still not easy to predict or anticipate.

When driving sometimes the AIRBAG indicator light on the dash will turn on. Turning the car off and on will clear the light and it may not return for multiple drives. It's hard to replicate, but seems to happen while driving for a while. The car does not offer any other indication about the airbag's safety so I don't know if it is a faulty airbag system or a faulty indicator.