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10.0

really awful
Crashes / Fires:
4 / 4
Injuries / Deaths:
3 / 0
Average Mileage:
70,468 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.

2013 Chevrolet Malibu engine problems

engine problem

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2013 Chevrolet Malibu Owner Comments (Page 1 of 10)

problem #185

Mar 272024

Malibu

  • miles

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

78153 miles 2013 Malibu econotec never 1 problem until out of the blue timing chain eats thru plastic and metal tensioners with metal and plastic shavings going into engine delillo Chevy Huntington Beach ca along with my mechanic confirmed engine replacement here lies my hazard and or product defect timing chain causes stalling idling compete shutdown rpms up and down no engine light comes I was on the freeway and on streets car completely stalls I have to shift in nuetral and pray it-??s starts almost getting rear ended 3 times if this is not a safety issues wow you got to kick me I-??ve read numerous reports of same issues and still no recalls plus 78,153 miles and I-??m to replace the engine I-??ve never heard a mechanic say old is that engine it-??s how many miles this is my safety complaint

- Fountain Valley, CA, USA

problem #184

Mar 232024

Malibu

  • miles
Not starting due to loss of power I believe it's electrical.

- Manteca, CA, USA

problem #183

Mar 062024

Malibu

  • miles
The car suddenly shows the service StabiliTrak engine power reduced, just like what was recalled on the 2016-2018 Chevrolet Malibu. Even though it's a 2013 Chevy Malibu, mine has the same issues. Please call me back at [XXX] to provide more information on the issues my car is experiencing. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

- Indianapolis, IN, USA

problem #182

Aug 012022

Malibu

  • miles

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

Car randomly goes into engine reduced power mode and won't go over 50mph. Power steering either won't turn the wheels and will start working again without warning while driving and jerks wheel to the right. Service stabilitrac warning would come on intermittently and disable traction control. Service stabilitrac warning is on now everytime I crank the vehicle and traction control is never working. I have pictures where it has went in limp mode and videos of the gauges doing crazy things after this warning has come up. Very dangerous. Car will jerk the wheel without warning when power steering warning comes on.

- Cleveland, TX, USA

problem #181

May 312023

Malibu

  • miles
5/31/23, while driving uphill, car shuttered as I was slowing down at stop sign and displayed "Service Stabilitrak" & "Engine power reduced" which caused the car engine power to drop drastically. I was barely able to make it home safely with my children. On 6/1/23 tried to crank it, first time it wouldn't turn over, second time it started up. Check engine lights and messages still on, radio screen completely black (has gone out multiple times at random over past two years). Drove around the block with half power. On 6/2/23, attempted to crank three times, never turned over. Popped the hood to discover negative battery terminal severely coroded. While cleaning terminal, find battery cables possible faulty. Upon research, discovered how many thousands of others have the exact same issue, GM refuses to acknowledge to release a recall for those like me who can't afford hundreds wasted having anyone even looking at it, much less paying for guesstimating the wrong solution. So now I'm stranded along with my children, and don't have any resources to hope for a solution in the near future.

- Sheffield, AL, USA

problem #180

Apr 282023

Malibu

  • miles
My 2013 Chevy Malibu Eco 2LT has 120,000 miles on it. I purchased the vehicle at 68,000 miles from the only owner of the car. I have had the car 6 years and kept up on all maintenance. While I was driving in a 45mph zone my vehicle-?? s interior lighting started flashing. My dash flashed then said service stability track, car went blank then back on said service power steering flashed again and said service battery charging system and then went completely dead. When I got to the bottom of the hill to turn off main road my brakes had locked up in the rear and I had no power steering and wheel locked could not turn wheel. Vehicle would not allow me to shift into neutral so I could be pushed out of traffic and I had no flashers or any power. Battery was 1year old. My biggest concern is that the vehicle never alerted me with a service engine light. There was no indication that my alternator was not responding. And mechanics and dealership service shop are wanting thousands of dollars for possible parts and labor without a clear idea of what the exact issue is. I believe that this issue was recalled but since my vehicle was not manufactured in a specific state was never repaired. I believe that my GCM has a malfunction that was to be replaced and reprogrammed with the appropriate software!!

- Colorado Springs, CO, USA

problem #179

Mar 312023

Malibu

  • miles

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

I was trying to see if I could get a recall for a new motor because my motor makes weird popping noises when driving and reversing also a recall for suspension front and back shocks and springs because those are also making bad horrible noises

- Palatka , FL, USA

problem #178

Jan 052023

Malibu

  • miles
Driving the vehicle it just shuts off, the will cause an accident driving down the road. It-??s a major issue with shutting off an the ignition switch at that. I can-??t drive it it-??s parked. Along with the engine. My mechanic told me these are the troubles there should be a recall on these cars.

- Mountainburg , AR, USA

problem #177

Nov 272022

Malibu 4-cyl

  • 119,000 miles
The contact owned a 2013 Chevrolet Malibu. The contact stated that while driving at approximately 65 MPH and his son another vehicle behind made him aware of sparks seen coming from underneath the front of the vehicle. The contact stated that smoke was seen coming from underneath the hood and exit the highway. The contact stated that soon after exiting the vehicle, it caught fire. The check engine and loss of power steering warning lights were illuminated. The fire department extinguished the flames and informed the contact that the origin of the fire came from the engine compartment. Both a fire department and police report were filed. The vehicle remained at an out-of-state junkyard. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and a case was opened. The approximate failure mileage was 119,000.

- Arlington, TX, USA

problem #176

Oct 192022

Malibu

  • miles
My wife and I bought this beautiful 2013 Chevy Malibu.upon the first couple of days we had to take the car back to the dealer cause it was repeatedly shut down on us.The used car dealership never fixed the problem.As I done my research on this à2013 Chevy Malibu it has 9 recalls and these recalls been issued since 11-13-2013.These are all the recalls on 2013 Chevrolet Malibu by National highway traffic safety.suspension 12-22-2021.suspension 08-12-2021.... suspension 12-10-2020...... electrical system tran 7-5-2016.....visibility 03-23-2015.... electrical system seats 11-13-2013... electrical system software 5-7-2012. Please tell me how to go abought all these defects

- Ventura , CA, USA

problem #175

Sep 192022

Malibu 4-cyl

  • miles

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

2014 Chevrolet Malibu. Consumer states that while driving the electrical system shuts down and then restarts. The consumer stated the all the connectors were cleaned, but the failure recurred.

- Medford, WI, USA

problem #174

Aug 022022

Malibu

  • miles
Engine overspeed error message & car will start to hesitate to accelerate. First happened 7/2021. Second time is 8/2022

- Atlanta , GA, USA

problem #173

Dec 102017

Malibu

  • miles
Car starts idling up and down while stopped at light. When the car is given the gas to go it will not pick up speed it stalls and car completely turns off in drive. While parked in parking lot I put the car in reverse and it would not move and that has happened 5 times. The engine light comes on and I have taken it to 4 different mechanics to put the diagonstic test on it and it comes up with idle sensor, change it and 2 days later car starts jerking and will not go over 35mph and finally dies. While driving 55mph on the hwy the car looses speed and wont go over 35 mph. Nobody is allowed to drive this car until chevy fixes it, and it will sit in my yard until then because my family is more important than a piece of metal. I wont sell it because of this danger either. I crank it up every month but it has not been driven in 2 years.

- Jamestown, SC, USA

problem #172

Jan 152022

Malibu

  • miles
Car gives engine power reduced warning and then drastically loses speed. Another warning saying engine over speed comes up and the car is unable to accelerate at safe speeds. This is dangerous because I can easily be rear ended by this malfunction especially when driving on the highway. I have children and having them at risk of being in a motor vehicle accident due to a malfunctioning car does not sit well with me. I have seen this issue reported on several other platforms. When I took the car to the dealership regarding this issue I was told I needed to replace the battery but 2 batteries later and I-??m still having the same issue. There is no warnings or signs prior to this malfunction happening, it is unpredictable and at random, making it that more dangerous. I would also like to add that this has happened a repeated number of times, it is not an isolated incident. But as of late it has been occurring more frequently.

- Sacramento, CA, USA

problem #171

Mar 122021

Malibu

  • miles
I brought my 2013 Malibu LT in March of 2021. When I test drove and took it to autozone to get a diagnosis before buying the car nothing was wrong with it. After having the car for about 3 months the problems started. When I went to get it checked again it said that my alternator wasn-??t working correctly how it should do I replaced the alternator. After getting the alternator replaced my car still stalls while driving and acts like it doesn-??t want to go. When I try to start my car it barely turns over to start. While I-??m driving I can-??t turn on the radio or lights because it makes my car power go out. The radio lights turn on and off. When I put car in reverse it shuts off. When I-??m driving the car shuts off out of nowhere and I have to put it in park and turn it back on. Sometimes it takes awhile to turn back on. When it first happened the engine reduced power popped up as a warning then the engine light came on the dashboard on and off. Everyone says they don-??t know what is wrong with it so I feel that the manufacturer should be reliable to fix these problems for us customers. These problems put my child and I at risk by stopping out of nowhere in traffic. I-??m currently pregnant and it happened with me and my kids in the car.

- Xenia, OH, USA

problem #170

Sep 232021

Malibu

  • miles
Engine power reduced notification will come on, a part will be replaced as notified. The same notification will appear a month or so later after repair. This has happened on more than 1 occasion.

- Temple, TX, USA

problem #169

May 262020

Malibu

  • miles
Car cuts off and stalls and lights flickering

- Gary, IN, USA

problem #168

Aug 182021

Malibu

  • miles
I have this vehicle for past five years few years ago I see the engine reduce power sign came up and the check engine light turn on I took it to the dealership they fixed it cost me over $1000 And then I moved back to Illinois and a few months later I had the same sign and light came back up I called the dealership they said my work is still under warranty so I can take it to any Chevy dealer and I took it to the one close to me another time they kept the car all day fix it and then I start driving a few months later same sign same light back up again and it seems like it-??s an ongoing issue I have been looking around for resolution and I find a lot of people having this issue in Chevy Malibu-??s

- Palatine , IL, USA

problem #167

Aug 092021

Malibu

  • 185,195 miles
The contact owns a 2013 Chevrolet Malibu. The contact stated that while coming to a stop, the vehicle would stall without warning. The contact stated that there was no warning light illuminated. The local dealer was contacted but offered no assistance. The manufacturer was not informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 185,195.

- Plant City, FL, USA

problem #166

May 012020

Malibu

  • miles
my whole dash board went out why i was driving could not see my speed or how much gas i have nothing was coming

- Fremont , OH, USA

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