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 "power steering" message is on at the panel control. Every time when I turn to the left or right with my car, the wheel was hard and is difficult to drive on highways. My car is a Chevrolet Malibu 2009, 4 cylinders. The dealer repair the fault and I pay $ $509.
Steering suspension, 29nov09 replaced right sway bar link. 25jan20 replaced sway bar bushings at the frame. 10mar10 replaced sway bar insulators at the frame. 04may10 replaced sway bar links again only after 6 months from last replacement. There is obviously a quality issue here.
The contact owns a 2009 Chevrolet Malibu. The contact was traveling approximately 20 mph. The steering wheel exhibited looseness; followed by a loss of power steering. The vehicle began to shake. There was difficulty turning the steering wheel as a result of the driver sustaining pain to the arm. The failure mileage was 134. The current mileage was 6,900.
From the very first I have noticed it is very difficult to keep my 4 cylinder Chevy Malibu going in a straight line. There has to be constant correction and it makes it very tiring to drive. If I just glance away from the road I find that when I glance back I am going out of my lane. This can't be safe.
An ongoing potential safety issue on my 2009 Chevy Malibu (4 cylinder model only) is described below. This vehicle has electronic steering and the complaint I have is that when you are driving straight down the road and want to make very small steering inputs to go straight, the electronic steering assist makes you over correct. If you are sitting still with the engine running and you turn the steering wheel very slightly left or right, it feels stiff at first, followed by a sudden burst of assist, which causes you to continually fight the car to go in a straight line. This is a potential design flaw. The V6 Malibu that I drove with hydraulic power steering is not a problem, only the 4 cylinder. I have complained to the dealership as I only recently purchased the car on July 24, 2009. They contacted technical support at Chevrolet. They have had other complaints, but there is no fix yet. They say in the electronic power steering, a torque sensor is activated when you move the steering wheel, so it must be moved without assist for a split second until it recognizes that you want to turn and applies power assist. It cannot be adjusted. This is the cause of the continuous over correction issue. How can this be safe? this is an ongoing issue that Chevrolet says is "normal operation" at this time.
- Wichita, KS, USA
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2009 Chevy Malibu with 6 cylinder engine. Has a severe and significant torque steer on acceleration (most noticeable from a stop) causing car to dramatically and dangerously pull to left. Has almost caused accidents more than once.. in addition it requires a lot of pressure to put the emergency (parking) brake down to where it will hold the car on a hill. Have had this checked out by 3 separate Chevrolet dealers and all tell me they are design issues, normal conditions that cannot be corrected.
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- Pharr, TX, USA