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.
The contact owns a 2006 Chevrolet Malibu. The contact was driving approximately 7 mph and unexpectedly the steering wheel locked with an illumination of the power steering warning indicator. In addition, a chime sounded inside the vehicle. The contact drove into a parking space and turned the engine off. Upon restarting, the vehicle resumed normally. The identical failure occurred three different times. The vehicle had not been diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the steering malfunction. The approximate failure mileage was 95,000.
The contact owns a 2006 Chevrolet Malibu. While driving approximately 20 mph, the power steering failed to operate with the illumination of the warning indicator. The contact drove to the side of the road and parked the vehicle in a safe location. The vehicle had not been diagnosed or repaired. Prior to the failure, the steering wheel would vibrate upon starting the engine. The manufacturer was not made aware of the problem. The approximate failure mileage was 107,000.
The contact owns a 2006 Chevrolet Malibu. While driving approximately 35 mph, the power steering warning light illuminated on the instrument panel. The failure recurred intermittently. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer for diagnostics and the vehicle was not repaired. The VIN was not available. The approximate failure mileage was 69,000.
Turned steering wheel left to exit a fueling pump and the power steering went out. The panel display indicated "power steering" and an indicator on the dash had a amber color icon with a wrench. Had to use a lot of force to turn vehicle to a safe place and turned the car off. Got out and looked under the hood but could not discern any obvious problem. Turned the car back on and the problem did not reappear as driving home approx. 2 miles from service station. Concerned because of the comments seen on the internet regarding owners having similar experiences with these vehicles. Fortunately, my speed was minimal. It would be virtually impossible to control the vehicle if this happened at high speed on a highway. GM needs to recall.
When making turns, whether left or right, the power steering in this car fails. Luckily I am one of the fortunate ones (so far) that it goes out at lower rates of speed. A couple of times, I barely made it into the parking lot and avoided hitting any cars while making that turn. The thing that I fear is that when it starts to snow or if I have to make some evasive moves to avoid objects, the power steering will go out and I will be unable to correct it.
- Maple Valley, WA, USA
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After backing out of my driveway, I started down the road and my steering wheel locked up. I was able to pull to the side of the road and turn the car off. I restarted the car and it seemed fine. I didn't want to take any chances so turned around and pulled back into the driveway. I have started the car several times but the steering is still locked up. My car has only 48000 miles on it and would like to see a recall. I have read many, many complaints on this same situation.
The contact owns a 2006 Chevrolet Malibu. The contact stated while driving at any speed when the steering wheel was turned to the left it locked. The failure was experienced numerous times. The vehicle was taken to the local mechanic who performed a diagnostic test that located the failure in the power steering column. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 75,000 and the current mileage is 85,000. Updated 12/12/11 updated 12/23/11
Power steering failure. Had began to drive out of a parking lot when power steering went out and was very difficult to turn steering wheel. Car has electrical power steering. I tried to step on brake, shift gear into park then back in drive but still could not get steering wheel to turn. Was extremely difficult and would have been very dangerous if had happened while driving on a freeway with my kids. I have found a multiple sites with the same similar complaints about the 2006 Chevy Malibu from people who had this happened to them. They have even had mechanics try to troubleshoot and charge them horrendous amounts for repairs but continued having issues after either the steering wheel column was replaced, coils and harness were replaced, or other parts that mechanics tried troubleshooting. Something must be done to issue a recall for this problem to be corrected before it does take someone's life.
The contact owns a 2006 Chevrolet Malibu. While driving approximately 45 mph, the power steering warning light illuminated on the instrument panel and the steering wheel became extremely stiff and difficult to maneuver. The steering wheel would occasionally shake. The failure recurred intermittently. The vehicle was not taken to a dealer for diagnostics. The contact stated he was a mechanic and after inspecting the vehicle, he stated that the steering column would have to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The VIN was not available. The approximate failure mileage was 70,000.
I have only had my 2006 Chevrolet Malibu for 6 weeks, and I already am experiencing 3 major problems. 1. the fuel gauge will go wild anytime gas is added to the tank, and as the weeks have gone by it is less accurate. I only know when my gas tank is full or empty. I have no idea on anything in between. 2. when I will start the car the power steering will not come on with the car. I will have to turn the car off, remove the key and open and shut the door to register the next try as a truly new start. If you fail to open and close the door, the car does not completely power down so it will not recycle. 3. the power steering assist will begin to lock up on me while driving, and I will have to fight the wheel to keep the car going straight. I have let go of the wheel once or twice and the wheel will turn enough in one direction to nearly do a uturn. If this were to happen when a driver was inattentive, im pretty sure it would cause one heck of a accident! the worst part is that the dealer I bought the car from had the car for 8 months, so they must have know about these defects and sold it to me anyways. The dealer put gas in the car before we did the paperwork. I know the guy saw the gas gauge going nuts, and that's why he insisted on being the one to drive the car to the gas station. I think they might have reset the computer to get the car to behave for test drives, because I had only put 40 miles on it before all this stuff started. Certainly not a coincidence.
This has been a good car for the most part great on gas but last week the brakes felt real hard to push so I replace with new brakes front and rear the old brakes looked almost new now the brake tail light come when you start the car and don't go off unless you depress them. Drivers think your stopping when your driving and when braking they cant tell because lights go out.also for the past 3 years the power steering light comes on and you lose your steering control I wonder if and when someone has to die before GM recalls and fix the problems.
I was pulling out of my parking spot and my steering completely locked up on me. I almost hit my neighbors vehicle. With much effort I was able to get my car out of the street and onto the side of the road.
Power steering light has been coming on for like year and almost like once a day the power steering will go out but if you turn the key off and then turn it back on it will be ok. Know it is even starting to sake while driving. So I took my car T a shop and they told me to take it to the dealer. So I have been researching this problem and there seems to be a lot of problems with this car and the power steering I am just not seeing while there is no safety recall this is very dangerous for the people who want this vehicle. Thanks
The contact owns a 2006 Chevrolet Malibu. The contact stated that the steering wheel would shake when driving in reverse. In addition, the steering wheel would also seize sporadically when driving highway speeds. A local mechanic diagnosed that the electric power steering assist was defective and would need to be replaced. The dealer was notified and an appointment was made to have the vehicle repaired. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure mileage was 37,000 and the current mileage was 37,100.
My steering wheel locked up as I was pulling out of my driveway today and I was so close into hitting my sisters car, I was lucky enough that I was able to steer as much as a could went a little bit onto the bushes. But this is a dangerous hazard if I would have known this I would have never have bought this car.the steering wheel also gives somewhat of a vibration which I thought were the struts which were replaced and the disc brakes. Which alot of money went into replacing those parts. I am the second owner of the vehicle I purchased it in August 2010 and now I am scared to drive around because I never know when it will lock up again. I don't have the warranty on the vehicle and I don't have the money to pay for this to get fixed as I am already paying for college. I have read numerous other messages from other Chevy Malibu owners facing the same issue. What can be done to fix this?
The contact owns a 2006 Chevrolet Malibu. The contact stated that the steering failed while driving and the wheel became very hard to turn. The power steering warning light illuminated while the failure occurred. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer to be diagnosed or repaired. The failure and the current mileage was 78,000.
The contact owns a 2006 Chevrolet Malibu lt. The contact was driving approximately 5 mph when the power steering warning indicator illuminated with a complete loss of power steering assist. The engine was turned off and upon restart, the vehicle began to operate normally. The power steering failure ecurred twelve times. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The contact planned to notify the manufacturer regarding the problem. The approximate failure mileage was 112,000. The VIN was unavailable.
Pulled up to the stop sign leaving my street getting ready to pull onto busy highway....steering wheel went completely stiff....power steering failure message came on the dash....managed to turn it around and park it back in my drive way....I have been reading all the other Chevy Malibu owners describing the same problem and how it has cost them hundreds even thousands to get fixed and some still did not fix the problem....I do not have hundreds to pour into my car....can barely make payments and insurance.....I do not know what to do....
The contact owns a 2006 Chevrolet Malibu. The contact noticed a knocking noise coming from the front end of the vehicle when she attempted to make turns. Also, the power steering would fail intermittently and she was unable to control the vehicle. The dealer advised the contact to bring the vehicle in for diagnostic testing. The manufacturer had not been notified nor was the vehicle repaired. The current mileage was 99,242 and the approximate failure mileage was 80,000.
The contact owns a 2006 Chevrolet Malibu. The contact was driving 10 mph when the steering wheel exhibited an abnormal noise. The failure would occur when attempting a turn in either direction or driving over road bumps. The vehicle was taken to a local mechanic who performed a diagnostic that located the failure at the steering column. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure and the current mileage was 35,000.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Shreveport, LA, USA