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10.0

really awful
Crashes / Fires:
10 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
4 / 0
Average Mileage:
38,559 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.

2012 Chevrolet Malibu brakes problems

brakes problem

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2012 Chevrolet Malibu Owner Comments (Page 4 of 4)

« Read the previous 20 complaints

problem #4

Jul 012012

Malibu 4-cyl

  • 6,000 miles

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

I was driving home from work with my wife in the passenger seat and upon approaching a red signal at an intersection I felt a vibration under my foot as I came to stop. I thought it may have been uneven road conditions or something in the road and disregarded it. Later that day, I felt the same vibration as I had stopped and heard a noticeable grinding noise. I went to the dealer where I had purchased the vehicle to have it inspected and they could not duplicate the issue, nor could they find a root cause. Over the course of the next 8 months, the vibrations had gotten worse and more frequent. The vehicle has been serviced 5 times for the issue and the problem still exists worse than ever. One dealer, which I have returned to on multiple instances for this problem, was able to duplicate the issue, smell a noticeable aroma of burning brakes, identify I had a serious brake problem, but were not able to determine the cause for the failure, thus not correcting any faults. It has progressed to the point where the pedal will go almost down to the floor before the brakes will engage. It has almost caused several accidents due to the failure and the vehicle is no longer safe to drive. The mileage of the first failure was about 6000 miles and it currently has 16,000 miles on the vehicle with no resolution. Several online searches yield the same issue on the 2008-2012 Chevy Malibu as well as the 2008-2010 Saturn aura which share the same platform.

- Phoenix, AZ, USA

problem #3

Jul 062012

Malibu 4-cyl

  • 1,100 miles
Vehicle (2012 Malibu) was purchased April 2012 - starting July 2012 vehicle would stall going down the road, with loss of engine, power assist steering and power assist brakes. Dealer replaced numerous modules, but it occurred again in Sept 2012 (3 times) then again in January 2013. Two body control modules have been replaced, engine control modules, two power steering modules, onstar module, transmission control module, etc. Unintended power steering assist occurs such that within approximately 5 seconds while driving down the road, power steering comes in and out as module fails (along with engine and transmission). Very unsafe to drive. Dealer would not replace vehicle and GM states they stand by last repair. It has been repaired 6 times now, but we refuse to drive vehicle, as we believe there must be a short somewhere. They keep stating it is defective modules and they just keep replacing them. Please see youtube videos: "2012 Chevy Malibu - unintended power steering assist failure mode"" "2012 Chevy Malibu dangerous electrical problem - any ideas""

- Dallas, TX, USA

problem #2

Dec 012011

Malibu 4-cyl

  • Automatic transmission
  • 1,800 miles
The contact owns a 2012 Chevrolet Malibu. The contact stated that while traveling 15 mph, he tried to apply the brakes at which time an excessive amount of effort had to be applied and a loud cracking noise could be heard coming from the front end. The vehicle was driven to the dealer where the failure could not be replicated. Several repairs had been made to different components of the vehicle but to no avail. The manufacturer was contacted about the issue. The failure mileage was 1800 and the current mileage was 13,100. Updated 2/15/13 the consumer stated the failure was replicated around 10/3/12 by service manager and their mechaniccould not find the cause. The general manager advised the vehicle was safe to drive. As of 1/17/2013 the vehicle had not been repaired. Updated 02/20/2013

- Reader, WV, USA

problem #1

Aug 012012

Malibu

  • 2,255 miles
The contact owns a 2012 Chevrolet Malibu. The contact stated that the emergency brake foot lever failed. The contact mentioned that when the foot lever was depressed the emergency brake would not engage. The vehicle was taken to the dealer who replaced the emergency brake lever. The remedy failed to correct the problem. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure and the current mileage was 2,255.

- Winter Park , FL, USA

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