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.
My engine light has been on since I purchased the car back in 2014 the dealership said it was no big deal that the light would evenually go out. Upon purchase it had 51,000 miles on it, because they had it for a few weeks due to it having hail damage the finance company wouldn't approve the loan because of problems. The car was riding ok up until a few montha ago I noticed I was loosing power it was driving slower, I started feeling it tugging when I wanted to pick up speed. Then 3 days ago it just wouldn't go in reverse, when I tried to switch back to driving it wouldn't go into drive ultimately I had to have the car towed because the tranmission went out on it. The car only has 71,000 miles on it. I barely drive it anywhere. The engine to look at it is very clean. I looked up all the recalls on my car and none of them I was notified for and there are many. So why am I not getting a letter about this transmission that has obviously gone out. Up until now I was in love with this Chevrolet Malibu and was a devoted customer advising people this was a good car, now I'm not so sure. Looking at all these recalls are alarming.
According to dealer, a product failure occurred. A plate within the transmission broke and damaged 3rd, 4th and rear gears. Car is only 6 years and 78,000 mikes with a yransmission flush at 60,000. Dealer states it couldnt be a bad flush.
A known Chevrolet issue on their 2.4 L engine caused failure in my automobile while travelling 70 mph on I94 in Minnesota. If the engine would have locked up we may have died. This issue is known to GM and has been addressed in other vehicles but the Malibu they left out. GM will not stand behind this. The timing chain, or chain tensioner, or chain guides failed causing the chain to break and lose power while travelling down the road. Every GM mechanic I have talked to after this happened has said that these vehicles require an oil change every 3000 miles but GM states differently. They say if you follow GM standards this will happen almost every time. Vehicle had under 100,000 miles on on when this happened and could have caused mass casualty. Again this issue is known on GM vehicles and they refuse to address it until more people with a Malibu come forward. This need to be resolved as this is a major safety issue travelling down the roads in mn. I was lucky enough to be able to control it to the side of the road.
Reactor gear broke, blowing into all parts of the transmission. Broke with no warning while driving on a city street, wasn't able to speed up or move out of first gear. Also was not able to reverse. Resulted in a need for a total new transmission.
The drivers side seat has broken. It is the right side and it is sitting lower than the left side. I have never had this happen in any vehicle I have owned. The other issue is intermittent problems with the shifting of the transmission. It is very worrisome. When you are sitting at a stop sign/light or anything and you go to take off it feels like car shuts down briefly and then it kicks in. The problem can never seem to be replicated at a dealership imagine that.
- Granville, IL, USA
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I was driving and the car began to shake and jerk, and then the alerts across the dash came up as "service ESC", "service traction", and "engine power reduced". I took it to a Chevy dealership and was told the throttle body needed to be replaced. After paying $550 for the repair the car seemed to work fine until recently, only two months after the initial repair the same exact thing has happened, and now the dealership is telling me that they do not know what is wrong with the car, there is no recall and I'll either have to trade the car in (which I can't afford to do) or just drive it and hope the problem will correct itself. I am beyond scared to drive it as my daughter is in the car with me, and I do not want to be driving a death trap down the highway. Please help.
Transmission, the car jerks at all speeds, slows down and speeds up.the longer you drive it the worse it gets.when you go to take off and push the gas it's like you pushed the gas and let off and then all the sudden takes off. It'd like the transmission is constantly slipping and then grabbing.
The contact owns a 2011 Chevrolet Malibu. While attempting to place the gear shift in reverse, the vehicle failed to reverse and the check engine indicator illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, but the cause of the failure could not be determined. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 103,000.
Late last week, after getting off the freeway, onto the city street, my front wheels completely locked up at 50 mph (as if the transmission had a catastrophic mechanical failure). This ended up in someone rear ending me, causing injuries and several thousand dollars worth of damage to the cars.
Transmission went out while driving. Would not shift gears then would not go into reverse to clear traffic suspect wave plate failure in the transmission
Had multiple concerns regarding slow acceleration and rough jerking when shifting gears which I was told was normal for my vehicle model especially in comparison to my previous vehicle an Honda Accord. Purchased car with 34K miles on it at 56K miles I was reversing out of a parking spot and felt a sudden hesitation. Car still drove normal in drive, drove about half a mile on highway and once exiting highway I noticed a weird screeching sound coming from my car. Pulled over to a mcdonalds to inspect vehicle and it was still making noise. Turned vehicle off and went through P, N, D and sound persisted. Drove vehicle a few blocks since I was close to home and sound stopped. Brought car to a repair shop to have inspected per the shop everything was intact and they could not duplicate noise. One day later I stopped on a side street at a stop sign and when I pressed the gas to pull away from stop sign car would not move. Tried again, car revved and moments later car would jerk forward violently. Crawled car to side of street and had towed to dealership where they diagnosed the issue as transmission failure, deeper diagnostic work revealed a belt had broken within the transmission. Have received car back with rebuilt transmission however car still is very sluggish with slow response in 1st and 2nd gear.
Transmission began lagging between shifts for 3rd & 5th gears. Took it in to the local dealership who noted the issue but told us that there were no codes so they wouldn't do anything. After a couple of months the transmission failed completely which required a replacement transmission which cost us $1500. When we picked the vehicle up after the replacement the steering wheel was crooked while driving straight and there were noises during the drive. Traded the vehicle in for a new vehicle.
I purchased my pre owned 2011 Chevrolet Malibu vehicle 3 years ago and after 80000 miles my transmission completely collapsed. I have taken good care of my car and still owe $8000 on my loan. I have seen multiple complaints online from people in my same situation with the 2011 Malibu. I do not understand why GM hasn't issued a recall for the transmissions. This is clearly a safety issue. I was exiting the freeway witj both of my children in the car, when my transmission gave out. It will not go in reverse or go over 20 mph. I feel that there should be some level of accountability from GM.
Purchased car 09/2015 haley Buick GMC trucks in richmond Virginia with 75K miles. It was a previous rental car. Was given clean carfax and maintenance record that the vehicle had been maintained per manufactures schedule. It has an enclosed transmission and cannot check transmission fluid it has to be maintained. A year after the purchase and adding only 8K miles this car has a completely blown transmission in will cost $4,888 to have a new transmission ordered. My issue is there is no recalls on the 35R plate which is the cause of ruining the transmission on many form sites for this year of Chevrolet Malibu. Then there are a large number of complaints and issue with this model on forms.
The contact owns a 2011 Chevrolet Malibu. While driving 30 mph, the vehicle began to decrease in speed when the accelerator pedal was depressed. The vehicle shook violently and all the warning lights illuminated on the instrument panel. The failure occurred once. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 72,000.
The contact owns a 2011 Chevrolet Malibu. While idling at a stop light, the contact heard an abnormal noise and the vehicle lost power after the accelerator pedal was depressed. The failure occurred without warning. The vehicle was towed to the dealer where it was diagnosed that the transmission malfunctioned and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. Prior to the failure, the vehicle experienced a similar failure. The transmission was replaced. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 125,000.
Less than two months after my 5 year or 100,000 mile powertrain warranty expired my transmission stopped working. It started by driving slowly while pressing on the accelerator. I was able to park the car and when I tried to reverse out of the parking space and it would not go into reverse. I had onstar so I had to get a tow to the nearest dealership which had just closed. I had to wait until the next day and the dealership called me to tell me that the transmission needed to be replaced and it would cost me $3,910. I have read several complaints about this so I do not understand why GM has not recalled this transmission. Many of them failed before $100,000 miles so they would have been able to get a new one. I was just two months past my 5 year but was at 98,273 miles and my warranty was expired. I had to get a new car since I could not afford to pay $4000 to get a new transmission. The car is just sitting and can't be driven.
Transmission completely broke after 74K miles while driving at about 20mi an hour. It would jump into 3rd gear and then wouldn't come out of 1st gear. After pulling over reverse had already gone out. There were no prior warnings that the transmission had any problems, there were no indicators that the transmission had problems. After the transmission broke I ran across many other consumers who have the same problem on their 2011 Malibu's. all of them are 4 cylinder 6 speeds with an MH8 transmission.
Since purchase brand new, my cars RPM's have fluttered between 2000 and 2500, but I did not have any problems until recently. Out of nowhere, my car started shuddered when it was idling in drive position and foot on the brake. It scared me, so I decided not to drive it for awhile. Then I had to take in it for some body work, when I got home from the estimate I stopped to get the mail. Car was in park idling, I put it in drive and pushed on the gas and it did not move! the RPM's stay stuck at 2500 when I took my foot off the gas. I put in back in park then back in drive and accelerated and it still would not move. I turned the car off for a few minutes, restarted it, and got it just far enough to get into my driveway. It does not move but check engine light did not come on until after it broke down!
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Columbus, OH, USA