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10.0

really awful
Crashes / Fires:
8 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
12 / 0
Average Mileage:
68,180 miles

About These NHTSA Complaints:

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.

2011 Chevrolet Malibu steering problems

steering problem

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2011 Chevrolet Malibu Owner Comments (Page 2 of 10)

« Read the previous 20 complaints

problem #163

Feb 102022

Malibu

  • miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

I was driving up a hill and my Service ESC power steering came up and I suddenly couldn-€™t turn my steering wheel so it had locked up-€¦ I slowed down and drove closes to the side of the road as I could safe as possible -€¦ after research online I notice this has happen to several others at this mileage and that there was a recall on esc system

- Baltimore, MD, USA

problem #162

Jan 212022

Malibu

  • miles
MAP sensor was physically broken and replaced during a particularly cold snap (below -10 degrees F), but the check engine light and "Service ESC, " "Service Traction, " and "ESC off" messages continued to appear in the following weeks. Acceleration repeatedly dropped off for a split second, and would continue to dip and return until I let off the accelerator and tried again. This acceleration problem always coincided with the three ESC/Traction messages listed above, and happened multiple times every time I drove it. During a second trip to the mechanic, some "frayed wiring" was replaced and the throttle relearned, but the symptoms continued as before, prior to the MAP sensor replacement and the wiring repair. The symptoms progressed to delayed, pulsing acceleration, not just dropping out. The following week, the power steering went out while driving, preceded by a gentle automated jerking on the steering wheel upon startup. The mechanic confirmed that it was electrical, nothing wrong with the physical components.

- Little Canada, MN, USA

problem #161

Dec 062021

Malibu

  • miles
My power steering randomly goes out and the warning lights come on. It-€™s hard to diagnose, as it doesn-€™t show up as an error and happens randomly. The wheel locks up and with no distinguishable pattern. Once I turn off the engine and start it up again, the issue seemingly disappears and I can drive as normal. Issue started around 120k, and I-€™m currently at 127k. Between then and now, it-€™s locked up about 5-6 times. Thankfully, it hasn-€™t happened while around others in traffic so far. But it-€™s definitely concerning since it-€™s my daily driver. Got a diagnostic done, but nothing shows up/no error codes.

- Jackson, MS, USA

problem #160

Jan 152022

Malibu

  • miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

Power steering went completely out as I'm driving down the road! It's only got around 65k miles maybe 66k, not that many miles at all for this to have happened. And they were aware of the issue as well. Now I'm out my car, I am in-between jobs at the moment, no money, and no transportation for my wife and I!! No way to go to job interviews, her very important medical appointments, and everything else!! I do not have the money to take to the shop, I don't have the knowledge either to do such a major task like that, not do I even have the space to work on it myself or anyone else for that matter.its winter time, And this car is my home, Soo now what are we supposed to do? It's unsafe to drive, and will probably just make it worse, more wear and tear on other parts by driving it the way it is now

- Ligonier, IN, USA

problem #159

Jan 052022

Malibu

  • 84,000 miles
The contact owns a 2011 Chevrolet Malibu. The contact stated while driving approximately 35 MPH, the steering wheel became difficult to turn. The contact stated that the ESC warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was not taken to a local dealer. The manufacturer was informed of the failure and informed the contact that they were unable to assist. The failure mileage was approximately 84,000.

- Montgomery, IL, USA

problem #158

Jan 112022

Malibu

  • miles
The power steering in the car has went out and its incredibly hard to steer the car.

- Saint Joseph, MO, USA

problem #157

Sep 142021

Malibu

  • miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

Power steering would go in and out while driveing makeing i hard to turn wheel. 137,000 miles had to have steering column replaced $1900 just for the dealer to replace this part.

- Indian Head , MD, USA

problem #156

Oct 282021

Malibu

  • miles
The steering wheel just shaking and doesn-€™t move is hard to move. The light in the board say steering wheel problem.

- Mchenry , IL, USA

problem #155

Sep 012020

Malibu

  • 40,000 miles
The contact owns a 2011 Chevrolet Malibu. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the power steering assist failed to operate as needed with the StabiliTrak warning light illuminated on the instrument panel. The contact called a dealer and was given an estimate for the repair which he declined. As the failure persisted, excessive force was needed to steer the vehicle due to the loss of power steering assist. The manufacturer was then notified of the failure and informed him that the vehicle was not under recall and that the warranty for the power steering assist had expired. The vehicle had yet to be repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 40,000

- Burgaw, NC, USA

problem #154

Apr 282021

Malibu

  • miles
This incident occurred in my 2011 Chevy Malibu with less than 44,000 miles on it. The ESC Service Power Steering light comes on, along with the traction light on the dash and the vehicle loses power steering. Initially (the first week or two) the problem corrected itself when the vehicle was shut off and started again. It got increasingly worse over the course of 2 weeks- then the power steering was gone. The car was very difficult to steer and almost couldn't turn. There were times when the steering wheel would suddenly jerk by itself and almost 'lock up.' Very dangerous. I learned this is "very common" in this vehicle. The service person I spoke with on the phone knew exactly what I was talking about. Research I've done shows this has been an ongoing problem with this vehicle since 2004, yet there is only a limited recall. Of course mine is not covered (with only 44K miles on it). Repairs cost me $747.54 (after $100 discount was given to me by the service people.) That is half the amount I make in a month. I found it kind of them to take on a problem that GM should be addressing.

- Sioux Falls, SD, USA

problem #153

Apr 182021

Malibu

  • miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

The contact owns a 2011 Chevrolet Malibu. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the vehicle loss power steering assist with the power steering assist warning light and the service ESC message displayed on the instrument panel. The contact spoke with a representative at northcutt Chevrolet-Buick (3201 w. owen K garriott rd, enid, ok 73703) and was advised to bring the vehicle in for an inspection. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. Upon investigation, the contact linked the failure to NHTSA campaign number: 14E044000 (steering) however, the VIN was not included in the recall. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was unknown.

- Enid, OK, USA

problem #152

Feb 282021

Malibu

  • 100,043 miles
Power steering is going out and it takes extra physical effort to steer the vehicle.

- St. Louis, MO, USA

problem #151

Feb 202021

Malibu

  • 102,430 miles
While driving 35 mph on city street, a chime sounded and power steering, service ESC message came on. The steering wheel became very difficult to turn. Although very hard, I was able to turn into a parking lot. After turning the car on/off for about 20 min, the message finally went away and the steering worked again. Today when I started my car, the same message appeared.

- St. Louis, MO, USA

problem #150

Feb 012018

Malibu

  • 80,000 miles
A clunking was coming from the steering column while driving, which ended up being the intermediate steering shaft.

- Holly, MI, USA

problem #149

Dec 252020

Malibu

  • 99,100 miles
The power steering light just came on my car while driving down the road

- Selmer, TN, USA

problem #148

Dec 192020

Malibu

  • 87,000 miles
While driving 45 mph on a city street, my power steering went out, the evs service light, then traction light & back to no power steering light. Was able to make hard turns to get into a parking lot. Turned the car off & on - all lights went back to normal. Called the dealer who told me it was "my call" if I wanted to bring it in for service. Dangerous as far as I'm concerned & surprised there is no recall on this issue. I could have been killed or killed somebody else at that speed.

- Comstock, MI, USA

problem #147

Dec 102020

Malibu

  • 83,581 miles
My cars steering wheel started to make noise in the steering wheel then it started to move slightly.very slightly while I was driving. After a little bit more of driving the same day. The problem got worse and the steering wheel would lock and only locked once while I was driving at low speed

- Commerce City, CO, USA

problem #146

Dec 092020

Malibu

  • 110,000 miles
Driving down the street from my house, my vehicle started to chime and display a message about the power steering being off and ESC service light came on while stationary at a stop light. I struggled to move my car over and off the road, still without power steering. After turning the car off and on again, my power steering had returned. Upon further research, General Motors has already recalled the previous years for this problem in June of 2014 with recall #14117. I have very good reason to believe that this is the exact same problem in later model years and they have failed to address it. The last recall had to do with the torque sensor assembly and/or the power steering motor controller unit, per the recall.

- Richlands, NC, USA

problem #145

Nov 192020

Malibu

  • 103,257 miles
The power steering warning comes on along with service message. When car is started and you are unable to turn wheel. Glad this happened in park and not while we were driving it. I read about a recall for Malibu from 2007 thru 2012 I'm the original owner and never have received any info from GM. The dealer ship said today that my VIN number was not in the recall. I can't beleive that the steering staff sensor was a diffrent part from one vehicle to another. The discription of the issues I'm having is exactly the same that has been described in the recall notice. I beleive GM is in error that if my vehicle has a diffrent part # for the sensor that part is also deffective and should be in this recall. Hope you can help thanks.

- Merritt Island, FL, USA

problem #144

Nov 172020

Malibu

  • 13,000 miles
While pulling out in traffic in tallahassee, Florida, leaving starbucks, , I lost power steering control without any warning of this possible issue occurring, almost resulting in crashing into the median.

- Tallahassee, FL, USA

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