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.
Start the car and ESC is off and power steering is off. Shut the car off, restart and it comes on. Sometimes it takes a couple of times. Also when it is on and sitting with the car in drive, the steering wheel shakes back and forth.
Twice while starting my car the indicator for power steering and service ESC came on. When I would turn it off and restart it the indicators would go away. While driving in traffic on the parkway the indicators came back on and my steering locked. I had to wait until traffic slowed down enough to stop my car and restart quickly, hoping it would unlock. Thank god it did and that my kids were not in the car with me. Scary
While driving my 2009 Chevy Malibu in the city, the steering wheel locked up and I was not able to turn the wheel at all. This has happened twice in the past few weeks
Loss of power steering while driving car. Very hard to turn steering wheel, steering wheel locked up. Eps, eps offand power steering light came on dash display. Had to bring car to stop and restart engine and then was ok to drive.
Tcs, ABS, ESC, etc intermittently stop working. Electronic power steering occasionally stops working, usually when turning at low speeds. Brake lights sometimes do not illuminate when pedal is pressed. I also replaced the wiring harness to the passenger head light that had shorted out and melted. There is a slew of electrical issues, and they usually get worse as the weather gets wetter and colder.
- Niagara Falls, NY, USA
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My power steering light went on and my ESC light went on and it lost traction while waiting in line to drop my daughter off at school. I had been driving my car for 5mins and luckily it went out there and not while driving I could barely turn the wheel and ended up driving on the side walk.
Power steering service light comes on and lose power steering! it has done it while turning mostly and it doesn't matter what the temperature is outside! 3 times this week alone! it has happened on while in motion on city streets lately & I have less than 80,000 miles on 2009
2009 Malibu ls 2.4L with electronic steering. I'll be driving and then out of the blue the steering goes out. Hear a chime and the dic reports service ESC. Have to pull over, turn car off and then after a few cycles the steering will work again. Very dangerous, car is eventually going to crash! this is totally not safe. I've owned over 12 GM cars and currently own 6 including a new Malibu. Hopefully GM will fix the steering because it's just dangerous. I only have 113,650 miles on it and everything else on the car works great except I can't have my kids drive this car if they are going to end up in a ditch. I've own this car since new and always took action on any and all recalls but I never got a notice about this one. I can now recreate this problem by just starting it and the instant you try to turn the wheel it happens so now the car is immobile. I was able to get it to stop the first time it happened but now I can't even back out of the driveway without it happening over and over. I was able to drive it up to the front of the driveway but I can't chance my kids driving the car if it means they are going ot crash and get hurt or hurt someone else.
The contact owns a 2009 Chevrolet Malibu. The contact stated that an abnormal noise was heard coming from the engine. The contact took the vehicle to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed with a defective catalytic converter. The contact also stated that when turning the steering wheel, the wheels failed to respond. In addition, the ABS and ECM warning indicators illuminated when the failure occurred. Ed bozarth Chevrolet (2001 S havana St, Aurora, co 80014, (720) 746-2716) and autonation Chevrolet North (7320 N broadway, denver, co 80216, (303) 720-7609) were contacted and stated that there were no recalls on the vehicle. The manufacturer was not notified of the failures. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 100,000.
On November 6, 2019 was driving my kids to school on a regular street, when suddenly without warning my power steering goes completely out. Ran up on a curb almost hitting a pole because I was unable to turn wheel. I took vehicle to get power steering fluid and was told it was electrical. Took to another place to have tested and a recall came up for vehicle. Took to dealership and was told it was not a recall but it is listed as one. Refuse to help fix the problem due to over mileage and me not being the original owner. Refusal for rental or even a loaner.
My car is the 4 cylinder with electric power steering and when driving it and making a turn I lose all power steering, the traction control light comes on turning off the traction control and the ESC service light comes on. My car was not on the recall list but is having the same problem as cars on the recall list.
The contact owns a 2009 Chevrolet Malibu. While driving 30 mph and making a right turn, the steering seized and the traction control warning indicator illuminated. The contact had to turn off and restart the vehicle for it to resume normal operation. The vehicle was taken to phil long Ford at chapel hills (1565 auto mall loop, Colorado springs, co 80920, (844) 234-1769) where it was diagnosed that the eps needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired and the failure recurred seven times. The contact referenced NHTSA campaign number: 14V153000 (steering). The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and informed the contact that the VIN was not included in a recall. The failure mileage was approximately 122,000.
After pulling away from espresso stand the power steering on 2009 Chevy Malibu completely failed w/out warning. This occurred as I was just going into a right hand turn in a parking lot at approximately 5 to 10mph. I nearly hit the drivers door of a vehicle in the intersection as they were taking a left turn into the parking lot. The steering was extremely difficult and required both hands. I came to a stop as I completed the turn, just before the parking lot exited to a side road. The truck behind me was honking and my vehicle was barely positioned safely on 'my' side of the driveway. I had no choice but to turn right onto the roadway and pull as far off to the shoulder as I could. The shoulder; is about two car lengths long before it turns into a sidewalk. It should have been an easy task however, due to the steering I could barely get off the roadway- my front tires all but resting on the start of the sidewalk. The message center on my dash read "power steering" followed by "service ESC" and the ESC/ traction control indicator light on the dash was lit up. I called for help & they arrived within minutes. We are unable to access the power steering unit as is located underneath the alternator, and requires removal of the alternator. About 30 min after incident I moved car back several feet - steering was still hard. I turned it off. A few minutes later I turned back on. Still getting message, but decided to drive the 5 mi back since only 2 turns were necessary. One person helping was in front and one person following. It was uneventful however warning indicators were still on & steering extremely difficult. 3hrs later I turn car on to get mileage and noticed that indicators are off. Tested the steering- it has resumed to normal. Vehicle is driven approximately 8mi hm. Message displayed twice during this drive. Vehicle had pre-trip inspection 1wk prior. 108K mile
Electrical-I was following someone who was driving my Malibu, and we came up to a stoplight. I noticed that my brakes lights didn't illuminate when he was stopping, the light turned green and we proceeded down the road. I then saw the brakes lights going on and off a couple of times. We were not coming up on a light, nor was there anyone in front of him. When we got to our destination, I asked if he was tapping the brakes when we pulled away from that red light, and he said no, not once. This issue continues to happen, almost causing me to get into an accident. Steering- the power steering will just stop working when I am driving. It does this often. To correct it, I have to pull over and turn the car off and then back on. Sometimes I have to do this a few times right in a row before it corrects the problem. I have looked up recalls for my year vehicle. Currently, there are recalls for both of these issues, just not for my VIN. I cannot help but think that if the same exact issues have been happening with other vehicles from the same year as mine and they have gotten the recalls, that there is a very good chance that mine should probably be included in these recalls as well. Those recalls are 14V153000 and 14V252000.
I have not had my 2009 Malibu for almost a year now. I took it to the dealership to get looked at and they want to charge me 140 dollars for looking at it, just to tell me the transmission is messed up. I knew this. It started when I was driving to work and a light came on and it was really hard to turn the steering wheel. I had to slow way down because I could barely turn the wheel. This was a huge safety issue. I was terrified for my life with my three year old son in the back seat. I pulled off to the side and shut the car off, then started it up again. The steering wheel was fine. Then again I got into my car the next day and it did it again! but only this time, it didn't stop. No matter what. Then my car stopped shifting. I capped they Chevy dealership and they set me up an appointment to bring my car in. I explained it was unsafe to drive it so they scheduled a tow for me. That following week, (carless) I was waiting for the tow to show up and no one came. I called the dealship and she said that something happened and I had to drive my vehicle in, I explained, again, that it was unsafe to drive. She told me that I couldn't get my vehicle looked at then if it wasn't there. I drove 20 miles going ten miles an hour with my hazards on to get it there, just to leave it there for three days then be told that my transmission is messed up and they needed four thousand dollars to fix it. Needeless to say, my car has been sitting there for almost a year now. Nothing being done to it. If my transmission is messed up... which it is.... it's because of them!! I checked my recalls and I have recalls for all of these things on a website. But not yours? I don't understand. Please help.
The contact owns a 2009 Chevrolet Malibu. While driving various speeds, the power assist completely failed. The contact stated that the warning indicators only illuminated on the vehicle after the failure occurred. The contact took the vehicle to two different independent mechanics where the vehicle was repaired; however, the failure continued. The contact spoke with dublin Chevrolet GMC Buick (2042 veterans blvd, dublin, ga 31021, 478-246-4916) and was informed that the vehicle was not included in a recall. No further assistance was offered. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was unknown.
The contact owns a 2009 Chevrolet Malibu. Upon purchasing the vehicle, the contact noticed that the steering wheel rattled whenever the vehicle was in motion. On other occasions, while attempting to turn the steering wheel, the wheels on the vehicle failed to turn and perform as desired. The contact drove to baldwin Chevrolet Cadillac (621 S westwood blvd, poplar bluff, mo 63901, 573-840-0228) and was informed that the vehicle was included in NHTSA campaign number: 14E044000 (steering) prior to her purchasing the vehicle. The dealer stated that the recall was repaired; therefore, any remaining issues would have to be paid out of pocket. The manufacturer was not notified. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 156,000.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- East Lansing, MI, USA