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.
Driving from school saw a car ahead person had turn signal on to go left. Took foot off gas went to brake and turn wheel could not do either. The car was totaled.
Driving along on a state hwy at 57mph, power steering alarm dings and power steering ceases and oh crap!! I'm not wanting to die yet! I maneuvered the car to the shoulder thankfully and restarted my car. After several attempts the power steering returned. Obviously the Chevy company is waiting for enough accidents or deaths to offset the cost of a recall. Has there been an investigations" how many people have to die? I see many complaints, stories of mechanics that know nothing about it or charge for a "maybe fix." Really??" please advise me of any real answers to this dangerous problem. I'll also be in contact with my senator sheila harsdorf and the state of Wisconsin's department of safety about this problem. Thank you
Sometimes when pressing on the accelerator, the gears on the dashboard all make a clicking sound and go down to zero and then back up. This is accompanied by three dings and a sudden loss of power steering. The power steering returns after a few seconds, however the car is hard to control when the power steering disengages. This can cause the car to swerve and be difficult to steer. This is a big problems and I am unable to take the highway. If the power steering were to disengage while driving, a serious accident could occur since it's difficult to control the car without power steering. On the highway, where the speed limit is much higher than city streets, there may be a greater risk for the incident to occur. GM has not yet recalled this vehicle, although it is known this model has the ion power steering which GM recalled in their colbalt and Saturn models.
Steering wheel jerked to left and I had no power steering but I was still able to turn the steering wheel but was real hard. The indicator on the radio message screen indicated the power steering was not working. I pulled over and turned off the vehicle and restarted my car and the power steering started to work again only to have this happen again just a few miles down the road. I have been reading all the complaints about the steering problem that the 2006 Malibu are experiencing. Chevrolet Corp. Should have a recall on all the models that have the electronic steering and fix them asap. This is a safety hazard and someone is going to have a wreak and major damage is going to occur to somebody or their family. There is a recall in Canada but not in the usa for this safety problem.
The vehicle was being driven into our driveway, the power steering light came on and the power steering failed. It came back on the next time I started the car, but the steering column has a very loud, grinding noise. Per my regular mechanic, this is the subject of the recall 12221 for Canadian vehicles, but my VIN doesn't come up so no dealer will assist me. I can't safely drive.
- Holbrook, MA, USA
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Driving at a local grocery store and lost steering and almost crashed into car while pulling into a parking spot. This needs to get fixed and I'm not paying for something that is a well documented problem before someone dies because GM doesn't want to fix a problem that they know about. Average cost of repair $700. Average cost of a life, priceless. Make a recall happen now.
The contact owns a 2006 Chevrolet Malibu maxx. The contact stated that while traveling various speeds, the power steering assist suddenly failed. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was contacted about the failure. The failure mileage and VIN was not available.
My vehicle lost electronic power steering (eps) assistance when being operated in an underground parking garage. The vehicle gave an audible alert and warning lights displayed on the dashboard. The problem persisted after turning the vehicle on and off several times. Because the parking garage contained tight corners and required slow speed operation, I could not safely operate the vehicle out of the parking garage. The next day, the eps worked without a problem. This unpredictable and intermittent power steering failure is well documented in 2006 Malibu maxx vehicles. In fact, Chevrolet has extended warranties and conducted special customer service campaigns to select 2006 Malibu maxx owners to remedy the defective eps. Even though it is the same make, model and year as other vehicles determined to be defective, my vehicle's VIN falls outside of the range identified by Chevrolet. The VIN range identified by Chevrolet is insufficient. Owners like myself who operate vehicles outside of the VIN range are not being alerted to the possibility of defective steering components. The eps components are known to be defective in 2006 Malibu maxx vehicles and should to be recalled.
This has happened dozens of times before GM did the "campaign" to lessen the affect on the steering. Normally while accelerating hard around a corner or up a hill, the powersteering would literally jerk the wheel from your hands and attempt to straighten the wheel. Obviously this is extreme disconcerting and dangerous at any speed. Symptoms are the ding ding ding warning and the very brief flash, like they don't want you to see it, of power steering on the radio display. That lasts maybe 1.5 seconds before it goes away, so you have to know to look at the radio very quickly when the ding ding ding goes to see the "error" message. It took 2 trips to the dealer on the recall to "resolve" the problem in GM's eyes. What they do is replace the column, and some settings in the computer that reduces the amount of force the motor exerts against the driver. The wheel no longer completely jerks from your hands, but it still will change your course when on a turn if you don't have a tight grip on the wheel. I consider this such a safety issue, that I rarely allow anyone but myself to drive it because it would just scare the bejeavious out of them for the car to take the wheel from their hands. Was back in the dealership yesterday on the extended campaign of 150K miles or 10 years. They indicated the fault was that the motor tossed an overheat code and that was causing computer input issues out of what was expected. I advised it does it even when the car is cold, not driving for more than a mile. Their response was the motor has an internal fault that causes it to overheat quickly, just by starting the car. Repairs costs are well over $700 parts and labor, and reading on the internet, this problem may not even be resolved by such a costly repair.
I also have problems with my 06 Malibu maxx. When accelerating onto the interstate, I cannot get my speed up normally. I hear ding, ding, ding... then the steering locks up. Can not move the steering wheel. Also happens when making sharp turns. Almost threw me into a ditch once and almost bounced me into the guard rail once. I am disappointed that Chevrolet has not recalled this problem. It is a true safety hazard. I am a loyal purchaser of Chevy products, and I expect Chevrolet to stand by me as well. Appears this is a well documented issue by all the complaints I read.
I recently bought this vehicle for my 18 year old daughter to take with her to college. We have owned it approximately 3 weeks now. On 7/30/13, we were driving down a local city road at approximately 45miles per hour, heard a dinging alert sound, and immediately lost power steering. She was able to move to the emergency lane to get out of the flow of traffic. She turned the vehicle off and when the vehicle was restarted, the power steering returned to normal. On 7/31/13 she was alone in the vehicle, and was once again traveling in town and lost the power steering twice on that trip. The first time she was driving at approximately 25 miles per hour, and the second time going around a sharp curve going approximately 10 miles per hour. I am frustrated due to the fact that there has not been a recall on this vehicle as it is an extreme safety hazard with over a hundred complaints on this site alone. I have also found many other complaints in other online blogs. I have been told at this point that I could replace the steering column, the eps fuse, the alternator, the grounding wire, and even the motor and assembly for the power steering and that in some instances none of these expensive repairs have fixed the problem. What is it going to take before someone does something to hold Chevrolet accountable for their product" is it going to take multiple deaths and/or multimillion dollar lawsuits to make someone listen and do something about this? what if this vehicle was one that you purchased for your child? would you put them in potential harms way? how many complaints does it take for action????"
My steering wheel tightened up and became almost impossible to turn. It started dinging and the power steering message appeared on the display screen. I just had the steering column replaced in March. I have been researching and it appears most owners of this car have the same problem. Something needs to be done before someone is seriously injured. My husband had to come drive my car home and barely made it.
Steering locked up when I was exiting the highway. I was going about 45 miles an hour. I heard the warning bell ding and the warning displayed "power steering failure". I almost crashed because I couldn't steer. It took all the power I could muster to steer. If my wife would have been driving it would have killed her. Also my steering wheel sometimes will jolt back and forth sometimes when the car is idling in park. Finally the steering makes a loud audible "thunk" whenever I turn the wheel out of neutral position, and it sounds like the wheels are going to fall off when I hit any kind of bump or rough road. As for the power steering failure I took it to the Chevy dealership and they said that they could not duplicate it. It happened about a dozen times so far and the dealership shrugs their shoulders and says "it didn't do it for me". the knocking or thunking noise seems to be a problem on every 06 Malibu on the road. Is somebody going to do something about this" or do we just have to have enough fatalities to force something to happen"
This has been happening for sometime now. I start my vehicle up to go, put it in drive and the car loses its power steering(steering wheel will not move) and the power steering warning shows up on the dash display. I also notice at a stop or at slow speeds the steering wheel jumps from right to left quite frequently.
My steering wheel locked up when I was turning, when I turn my steering wheel sometimes it makes a popping sound. Then power steering will appear on my message screen on my radio.
The contact owns a 2006 Chevrolet Malibu maxx. The contact stated that the power steering warning message illuminated and the steering became difficult to maneuver. The failure occurred intermittently at different speeds. The vehicle was taken to a local mechanic for diagnosis. The mechanic stated the steering column and the steering control motor module would have to be replaced. The mechanic informed the contact there was a manufacturer recall for the steering. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and stated the vehicle was not included in the recall. The vehicle was not repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 110,000.
My first occurrence was while driving across a railroad track at a speed of 35 mph....while driving I heard a dinging and looked to see my power steering light came on at the same time that I was crossing the tracks....tracks where uneven so I kinda went around the uneven part and couldn't handle my steering so I almost hit a car coming in the opposite direction...second occurrence has even more life threatening....while drivin on the highway at speeds of 65mph...I heard the dinging sound and my steering locked up completely(like when the car is turned off) I could not use steering at all and I had a semi right behind me....I was approaching a curve in the highway so I slow down so the traffic would go around me to hopefully get a chance to turn off the car and restart it to reset power steering....I had read about this problem online and that was the solution..I took the car to a mechanic where he did a road test and of course nothing happened....I only have 2 more payment on this car and to find out that the situation when fixed always recurs is very disappointing....please recall this vehicle before this problem kills somebody...my family is already aware of this problem and if I get into a accident they will be looking closely into this problem.
While driving a warning chime appeared thru the radio display "power steering" and the vehicle lost power steering. With great difficulty vehicle was pulled over to the side of the road and turned off. Upon restarting the car the power steering came back only to go out again. Had the computer reset and problem hasn't happened again, yet! check online and this vehicle and other models with the same power assist steering have been recalled as recent as 1212 in Canada, but not in the usa. Everything on the internet, including gms website say the steering column has to be replaced. We checked with the local Chevrolet dealer and there is no recall for this VIN #. this vehicle is driven on major highways everyday, so I am having the steering column replaced at a cost of $550 out of pocket.GM's website says it is not a safety problem because it can still be steered off the road. This is my daughter's car and she can barely handle this car without the power assist. I drove it and lost the power assist and I bumped a curb trying to turn it into a parking lot. How can this not be a safety issue" can I be reimbursed for the cost of fixing this problem"
The contact owns a 2006 Chevrolet Malibu. The contact stated that while driving the steering failed without warning. The contact mentioned that steering wheel became hard to maneuver. The vehicle was taken to the dealer who decided to replace an unknow part within the steering. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 89,000 and the current mileage was 139,000.
Power steering failure while driving at high speeds in highway traffic. Intermittent failure. Several months of driving it would sporadically fail and then return back to normal. Eventually it failed completely. Went to have the ps module replaced only to discover the column is to be replaced with it. The vehicle is drivable, but feels unsafe and puts others at risk. Vehicle is not easily maneuverable at low speeds. Needs large space to turn around. Seems to be a common problem among this vehicle as I have seen many many complaints. Why is there not yet a recall on the ps module/column failure of the Malibu??
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- West Chester, PA, USA