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10.0

really awful
Crashes / Fires:
5 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
6 / 0
Average Mileage:
62,176 miles

About These NHTSA Complaints:

This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.

So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.

2010 Chevrolet Malibu brakes problems

brakes problem

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2010 Chevrolet Malibu Owner Comments (Page 2 of 9)

« Read the previous 20 complaints

problem #155

Oct 112019

Malibu

  • 150,000 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

The brake lights come on at any given time even when you aren't pressing on the brake pedal. When you press on the brake pedal sometimes the brake lights do not come on at all. I have replaced wheel hub/bearing combos, along with adding electrical grease to the connector for the light controls, nothing fixes this issue.

- Enon, OH, USA

problem #154

Sep 182019

Malibu

  • 78,000 miles
Brake lights on rear window come on without hitting the break pedal and go off when depressing brake pedal. The ESC warning also comes on intermitently.

- New Smyrna Beach, FL, USA

problem #153

Jan 012017

Malibu

  • 98,000 miles
The contact owns a 2010 Chevrolet Malibu. While driving various speeds, the rear brake lights illuminated without depressing the brake pedal. In addition, the service ESC and service traction warning indicators illuminated. The contact also mentioned that the rear brake lights did not illuminate when the brake pedal was depressed. The contact mentioned that the vehicle was repaired per NHTSA campaign number: 14V252000 (service brakes, hydraulic, electrical system, exterior lighting, vehicle speed control, electronic stability control). The vehicle was taken to porter Chevrolet (414 E cleveland ave, newark, de 19711, (302) 722-4822) where it was determined that the brake pedal position senor needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 98,000.

- Elkton, MD, USA

problem #152

Apr 032019

Malibu

  • 76,000 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

The ESC light comes on and tells me it needs serviced. When this happens the brake lights stay on even if my foot is not on the brake. It also has a problem with the gear shift when trying to pull it out of park. This also disables my cruise control. This issue happens sometimes as soon as I start the car or after driving for a bit. I've taken the car in to get the problem fixed. They replaced the brake sensor and that worked for a week then the ESC light came back on and the brake lights stayed on.

- North East, MD, USA

problem #151

Aug 012018

Malibu

  • miles
High mounted brake light failure (3rd brake light) - I found that there is a recall on this vehicle. I took the car in for recall repair this authorized Chevy dealer: Haley Chevrolet located in: Haley automotive group address: 12400 Tennessee plaza, midlothian, va 23112 hours: Open ⋅ closes 8pm phone: (804) 818-7660 ** when I picked up the vehicle I was not told that whatever work they did did not work. In fact, they pulled the car up to the pickup area, said nothing about their failure to repair the vehicle, did not tell me that the brale light was stillm not working, thereby leaving me with a car still broken and me at safety risk to drive a car with brake light not working, and in fact I got a warning ticket by the police for the 3rd brake light still beung out

- Midlothian, VA, USA

problem #150

Jul 182019

Malibu

  • 73,000 miles
Brake lights flicker while driving when not pressing on the brakes. Ecs and check engine lights keep coming on and the car is jerking while driving.

- Chicago, IL, USA

problem #149

Jul 282019

Malibu

  • 209,000 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

The brake lights illuminate and stay on while driving when the brake pedal is not pressed. The brake lights turn off when the brake pedal is pressed. The car routinely displays "service ESC" and " service traction" messages.

- Statesville, NC, USA

problem #148

Jun 142019

Malibu

  • 145,000 miles
Even after brake light recall from 2014, I continue to have problems with the brake lights illuminating when I'm not pressing the brake pedal, and turning off when I press the brake pedal. I've had this problem 'fixed' several times now, and it keeps happening. Most recently, in January 2019, and now 6 months later, it is happening again. While I'm driving (and not always while I'm braking), the service traction, service ESC, ESC off warnings come on my info display, as well as the traction control image. From that moment on, while I'm driving and not pressing the brake pedal, my brake lights are all illuminated. When I lightly press on the brake, the lights go off, unless I continue to press harder on the pedal, and then they'll come on again. This is such a hazard while I'm driving that I don't even want to go anywhere. Why does this keep happening? if this was supposedly fixed with the recall, it absolutely wasn't. I've seen other people report the same issue on the online forums, so I know I'm not alone with this problem. It is a major safety issue and needs to be fixed now! I will be going back to the dealer who did the repair in January to get this fixed again, but I don't understand why I should need to. It shouldn't continue to happen if it is really being fixed. Something else is wrong with this vehicle.

- Milwaukee, WI, USA

problem #147

Jul 052019

Malibu

  • 126,000 miles
ESC, traction control lights come on. Then rear brake lights work opposite of standard brake light design. The rear brake lights come on while driving. When brake pedal is depressed, the brake lights turn off. This has been going on for two years now. The dealership just patches the repair. The repair only lasts a few weeks.

- Romeoville, IL, USA

problem #146

May 102019

Malibu

  • 198,000 miles
I purchased my Malibu from a friend who bought the car brand new. He told me they had the recall fixed. The problem came back last year, March of 2018, I called GM they said there wasn't a recall and that the recall had been fixed. I said maybe so but the problem is back. I was told the only thing I could do was to take it to a Chevy dealer and have them run diagnostics on it, which costs about $150 that I had to pay for. Why when we know what the problem is?! I took it to a shop, June 2018, where they changed the brake pedal switch, I still had the problem. I took it back to the shop where the poor guy worked on it for 3 hours, trying to figure it out. He finally just cleaned and re-greased the plug and it has been fine up until yesterday, May 10,2019, and my problem is back. Also, my third brake light works whenever it feels like it.

- Georgetown, IL, USA

problem #145

Mar 092019

Malibu

  • 157,000 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

On the highway going 65 mph, the engine shut off without warning but the battery/electronics were still on. I safely stopped the car on the side of the road. The check engine + ABS + traction control lights came on simultaneously. The car would not start. I finally had to call a tow company. No mechanic knows how to fix it. Upon further research, many owners of the same make model and model year range suffered similar situations. The car still won't start till now.

- Troy, AL, USA

problem #144

Mar 052019

Malibu

  • 132,000 miles
Brake lamp recall for these models do not work. I noticed the issue recently while driving home from work at around 55 mph at night. My brake lights are on, while my foot is off of the brake pedal. When I place my foot on the brakes, the brake lights go off. This is a serious driving hazard. I've taken the car to get the recall handled, but noticed this morning, that my brake lights are still illuminating when my foot is off the brake pedal.

- Marietta, GA, USA

problem #143

Mar 012017

Malibu

  • 28,981 miles
On March 1, 2017 at 28981 miles, the airbag light came on, (not the first time). The next day, the stability control and the ABS lights both also came on. In both occasions the car was moving at about 40 mph on a city street. I took it to the dealer, they charged me $153 to get a diagnosis.they wanted another $850 to have it fixed. I took it to another shop that did it for $190. These were 2 separate problems, one was the airbag light (a connection under the front passenger seat), and the other was a sensor in the left front wheel (the stability/ABS light).

- Sunny Isles Beach, FL, USA

problem #142

Feb 212019

Malibu

  • 142,000 miles
While driving down the road, the cluster panel starts showing warning lights for the steering, service ESC, and the mil light was on, the car lost power, lost power steering and had no power, no matter what I did, the car would not respond. This putting my family and me in danger, we were driving on the idl in tulsa Oklahoma at rush hour, very, very busy road at that time of day. I have researched the problem, this is a very serious issue that will end up getting someone killed. The car is completely unstable, erratic and very hard to drive, you lose power (no acceleration) and power steering. The car has 142,000 miles on it, that seems to be when it happening to other vehicles also.

- Tulsa, OK, USA

problem #141

Oct 012018

Malibu

  • 35,000 miles
Vehicle can shift from park to drive without brake being applied

- Louisville, KY, USA

problem #140

Dec 142018

Malibu

  • miles
I bought my Malibu in 2014. From ron marhofer Chevrolet. Not knowing there were recalls on my car when I bought it. In 2016, with 75K miles I was having troubles, brake lights were coming on when I accelerated the gas. Got the recall fixed. Now, at 102K miles and 2 years later, the brake lights are coming back on. My dealership told me since my warranty was up, I would have to pay a $99 diagnostic on top of labor. I wrote Chevrolet last week and they denied this has anything to do with the recall because no one else has been complaining.. it's frustrating and such a scandal. I have an appt with my dealership next week to take a look. I feel this is going to be a costly matter, for something GM is trying go cover up. Shame on you GM!

- Akron, OH, USA

problem #139

Dec 102018

Malibu

  • 125,000 miles
Headlight connection overheats making headlight go out. ABS control locks brakes durring normal driving. Rear brake lights engage while driving without pressing on brake.

- Dayton, OH, USA

problem #138

Dec 062018

Malibu

  • miles
On 12. 06. 2018 the power steering code C0454. Last year Nov. 2018, it was the timing chain, then the ESC, which is still unresolved, then I had to put in a new transmission.

- Gilmanton Iw, NH, USA

problem #137

Nov 132018

Malibu

  • 163,000 miles
The contact owns a 2010 Chevrolet Malibu. While driving 50 mph, the brake indicator illuminated independently. In addition, the service traction control warning indicator illuminated and the cruise control became inoperable. The contact stated that the vehicle was repaired on February 19, 2015 per NHTSA campaign number: 14V252000 (service brakes, hydraulic, electrical system, exterior lighting, vehicle speed control, electronic stability control); however, the failure recurred twice. Jeff wyler springfield Chevrolet (located at 2237 w 1st St, springfield, oh 45504, (937) 525-4646) was notified. The manufacturer was also notified of the failure and provided case number: [xxx]. the approximate failure mileage was 163,000. *parts of this document have been redacted to protect personally identifiable information pursuant to the Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).

- New Carlisle, OH, USA

problem #136

Jan 012017

Malibu

  • miles
My brake lights are on when I am driving and then when the brakes are pressed the brake lights go off. It's a scary thing because it really confuses the cars behind me.

- Fuquay Varina, NC, USA

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