8.0
pretty badTypical Repair Cost:
no data
Average Mileage:
64,426 miles
Total Complaints:
2 complaints
Most common solutions:
- not sure (2 reports)
steering problem
Helpful Websites About 2005 Chevrolet Malibu failure in rack and pinion
2009Jul 17
Malibu V6
- Automatic transmission
- 86,000 miles
Hello everybody,
I need your help.Please pass my letter to everyone you know.
I bought a 2005 Malibu from a local car dealer. The car had low miles and I thought it would be a safe and reliable car. So safe, that I allowed my teenage son to drive my car. While he was making a left hand turn from a 4-way stop, he heard a pop and then had no steering without any way to control the car he ended up in a field. I thank God he was not going fast, that there was no other cars or people involved, and he was not hurt. I had the car towed to my mechanic who is a certified master technician, who worked for Gm as a line tech for 25 yrs. He informs me that this should have never happened in a car that is only 4 yrs old, and felt it was defective. He said the failure occurred inside the steering rack causing the pinion to disengage resulting in loss of control. I then had the car towed to a GM dealer who's mechanic said the same thing but because I did not buy the car from them, they would not help me.
My next step was to contact Gm. They took a week to investigate and decided that because I bought the car from a private car dealer, it had 86k miles on it and it was past the factory warranty they felt no need to do any thing about this. Not only was the steering rack and pinion damaged, the power steering unit under the dash and the air bag coils were damaged as well. The cost to repair this is over $2000.00. It's not just the cost to repair the car that upsets me; it's the fact that GM has no concern for safety.
If you log on to http://www.nhtsa.dotgov/cars/problems/complain/index.cfm you will find a long list for consumer complaints about Gm's steering failures. Unbelievable! And it's not the only site that has complaints. Not only will you find the Malibu but you will also find many other GM made vehicles. There was a recall to address the steering defect in the Malibu. But they obviously decided it was of no big concern to fix the problem because the car is still unsafe. I'm not sure I would still trust the car even after the repairs are done. Because it is also stated on the website by many consumers that even after paying to have the rack and pinion replace and it still failed.
The representative for Gm, Mr. Allen MacDonell, told me not to believe the comments made by consumers on the internet because it may be one person writing many complaints under different names. (I have a hard time believing that). I also asked how many complaints of this nature were reported. He could not give out that information for he was protecting the privacy of GM's consumers. I couldn't understand how that question was invading anyone's privacy; I don't think I asked for a specific names.
I thank God that my son was not injured or killed, I just wonder how many other loved ones were not so lucky as of a result of this and their families are not even aware of this defect in the steering column is why their love ones are gone they were told that maybe they fell asleep, maybe they were distracted by the radio/ phone, or just told they don't know why they lost control of the car. I told Mr. Allen MacDonell at Gm I was going to tell everyone I know about the integrity of GM. I may be one little person and no big concern to a Big Corporate like GM. But they say the best advertising you can have is word of mouth and I have a Big one!!! Please think twice before you purchase a GM Vehicle Your Loved one's life may depend on it. Once again PLEASE pass this letter!!!
Love you all, Please be safe!
Cindy
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A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
2009Sep 03
Malibu
I also have a 2005 chevy malibu have not even had it two years yet and it only has about 42852 miles on it and I bought it with about 33000 miles on it and it has all these same problems you are all describing, yesterday on my way home from work it felt like the steering actually went out on me, the steering wheel would easily turn left and not stop while sitting at a stop and go light but would turn right normal when leaving the stop and go light I almost went over the hill cause my steering was wrong and had to quick turn the wheels right but this morning it was fine and when doing research on the net at work today I found others have similar problems with malibu's I went to http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/recalls/ and recommend that others with the same problems do the same to see if we can finally get the malibu recalled before something or someone is seriously hurt. I am going today at lunch to find out for sure what is wrong with it and what it will cost me to get it fixed but it has been going on for months now with the noise in the steering and there is not reason for it not with the low mileage and I barely go anywhere but work which until about a month ago was only two blocks so this is unexceptable for me especially with what happened to me on my way home from work yesterday now that I moved which is now over a half hour drive and could have been more serious. If GM isn't going to make there cars safe then someone needs to do something about it I have children and am sure plenty of you do and I'm not about to tolerate this.
kaulback
Menomonee Falls, WI, USA
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