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 2009 Chevrolet Malibu. While driving various speeds or while stopped, the steering wheel shook. Also, the power steering failed when the vehicle was started. The contact shook the steering wheel a couple of times to get it to operate. The failures recurred several times. The dealer and the manufacturer were not contacted. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 130,000.
While driving down the highway there was a sudden loss of electric power steering. Just as described in bulletin 114116, making it hard for me to turn the steering wheel which caused the car to shake terribly.
Randomly without warning the ESC light will come on and the cars electric steering goes out and makes it nearly impossible to steer. As of now you can shut the car down and wait a few minutes and start the vehicle and it will work but then shut down within 10 miles. This makes the car extremely dangerous to drive.
Takata recall. ESC triggers with turns, power steering shuts down making it difficult to turn. On multiple occasions steering has failed causing me to stop in the middle of traffic, luckily able to avoid accidents. 09' Malibu @ 148K
I recently bought this car for my son. The seller told me that the steering was not right. So while driving it home it became very hard to steer. The dash flashed "power steering". so I searched recalls and found the attached print out. But when I search though your website it says no open recalls. Seems to be harder to steer while turning and at all different speeds.
- Wheeling, IL, USA
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While driving each light comes on follow by power steering the wheel automatically started clicking while turning the wheel in the mist the wheel jerks the opposite direction make it hard to turn and can cause an accident. The power steering then goes completely out
Replaced battery, starter, and alternator driving down highway esu warning and traction service light come on power steering light came on. Car loss power and cut off
The contact owns a 2009 Chevrolet Malibu. The contact stated that the power steering was faulty and excessive force had to be used to turn the steering wheel. In addition, the electronic stability control indicator (ESC) illuminated and the contact's spouse changed the brake hubs more than twice. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic who diagnosed that the ESC sensor needed to be serviced and a new power steering system needed to be installed. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer and dealer were not made aware of the failures. The failure mileage was 154,700.
Driving the car down the road and the power steering suddenly quits working making it extremely difficult to steer the car and increasing the chance of an accident. Recalls have been issued for several Malibu's with the same exact problem but this car has been excluded from the recall. This is a serious safety issue.
Randomly loses power steering, I was leaving a concert sitting still went to move the car and no power steering, turned the car off and restarted it and had power steering again, that was the 2nd time it had happened, the first time I was in a drive thru again sitting still went to move and no power steering turned car off then on and power steering came back
The contact owns a 2009 Chevrolet Malibu. While driving various speeds, the steering wheel suddenly became difficult to turn in either direction. In addition, the check power steering and service ESC messages displayed. The vehicle was taken to cambe Chevrolet (704 S. heaton St, knox, in), but the cause of the failure could not be determined. The vehicle was not repaired and the failure continued. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and did not assist. The failure mileage was 120,000.
Steering wheel locks up in cold weather even after being warmed up for more than 5 minutes. Happened twice, second time I did a normal turn to the right it locked up and had to pull over right away. Always unlocks when restarting the car. Right headlight also doesn't properly work. Changed the light bulb two weeks ago and turned off just today. Checked the bulb and still works. I've researched the problems online and there's been recalls and complaints about both of my problems.
The contact owns a 2009 Chevrolet Malibu. While driving, the contact stated that the power steering was faulty. The contact turned off the engine and had to make multiple attempts to restart the vehicle. Once the vehicle was restarted, the steering returned to normal. On another occasion, the steering wheel moved on its while the vehicle was idling and the power steering and ESC warning indicators illuminated. The dealer and manufacturer were not contacted. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The failure mileage was unknown.
My daughter was pulling out of our parking space and the power steering went out. Power steering message and service ESC popped up. She was unable to steer the car and came very close to hitting a parked car. She did not have enough strength to turn the steering wheel. It stayed parked blocking traffic until I could get home to move the car.
Takata recall. The whole car appears to be having problems at once. We go and get a certain minor problem fix and the next things pops up. Having problems driving acceleration and breaking. Doesn't seem to be safe to drive.
While operating my 2009 Chevy Malibu 4cyl in a turn, the electric power steering without any warning failed. A warning indicator afterwards then flashed power steering and electronic stability control failure. The result was almost total loss of control of vehicle while driving in heavy city traffic going through a traffic circle with children in backseat of my vehicle. This is because without warning the electronic power steering failed which caused me to panic emotionally and also caused me great physical difficulty as I am a woman and I all of a sudden had to garner all this strength to manually steer the vehicle in heavy city traffic. Chevy is aware of this defect and will repair this if the vehicle is less than 10 years old and had less than 150,000 miles. We could have all died in a car crash. I think this should be recalled as this is a safety hazard that comes without any warning and renders the vehicle undrivable unless repaired as it is unsafe. The Chevy mechanic indicates if both the sensor and motor need to be replaced it will cost $1200. My husband is a veteran and we cannot afford this costly repair.
"power steering failure". our 2009 Chevrolet Malibu lost its power steering with no warning when my wife was driving home from work. Fortunately she was able to pull over on the highway. She turned the car off then restarted and it worked again. It worked for a few days then failed completely again when she was going shopping. Chevrolet is recalling many vehicles with this problem including many 2009 Malibu's. for some reason Chevrolet tells us our 2009 Malibu is not included. This is outrageous! my wife was shook up terribly and can not drive it till it gets fixed ( at great expense). Believe the problem is a failure of the electric power steering mechanism/sensor. This is a very serious safety issue and Chevrolet should be held accountable and responsible for correcting this problem on all affected vehicles. Thank you.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Spanaway, WA, USA