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 2011 Chevrolet Malibu. While driving 5 mph, the power steering failed. The power steering warning indicator did not illuminate. The vehicle was towed to a dealer where it was diagnosed as a power steering failure. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 13,260.
Steering wheel "shakes" as of 12/2016 vehicle has approx 92,000 miles purchased vehicle new in Nov 2010 four new tires June 2015 full alignment August 2016. Brand new brake pads and brand new rotors, all 4 wheels, November 2016. Description of incident (and condition): Steering wheel has been rattling noticeably at freeway speeds (40 mph to 75 mph) and while tracking a straight line. This has been occurring since the vehicle hit the 40,000 mile mark. Can feel slight movement in the steering wheel coincident with this rattling of the steering wheel. Does not appear to affect ability of the vehicle to track a straight line while moving. The rattle also occurs at lower speeds less than 40 mph, but it harder to discern since the city street road conditions in SE Wisconsin are terrible. Starting about December 2016, I have noticed the steering wheel shaking when the vehicle is not moving, the engine is running, and the vehicle is in drive (not sure if this occurs when it is in park). The steering wheel seems to be doing some kind of "hunting" as the rattling is random. Appears to be independent of temperature as this occurred when it was -10 deg F and as well at about 50 deg F. power steering fluid levels are normal. I can not discern whether this occurs when the vehicle is turning while in motion, or while turning the steering wheel while the car is stationary. End.
On 12/19/2016 as I was making a left turn when exiting the highway onto a surface street my 2011 Chevrolet Malibu steering wheel locked and the dash board displayed a "power steering " message. Being unable to steer my car went forward and I almost hit the car on my right who was also turning left. I had to slam on the break to avoid hitting the car and the cars behind also had to slam their breaks. Luckily no one hit each other. Right after that dashboard message disappeared and my car was able to turn again with no problem. The night of 12/20/2016 the same happened but as I was expecting a parking lot. A week before the first incident I started to notice the steering wheel would pop like it was shutting down at a stop or red light. I read that is a known problem to GM and NHTSA and that owners in other states have received recall notices for that problem. I have not received such notice and it's not listed as a recall on the NHTSA or GM website for my VIN.
- Phoenix, AZ, USA
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As I was backing out of a parking space, I lost my ability to steer. The words "power steering" and "service ESC" flashed on my dash. I almost hit the car next to me. I made it to work. When I left work, the power steering was working just fine.
Eps electronic power steering has failed. It makes the steering revert to manual steering. Dealership says that the torque sensor is bad. While driving the vehicle becomes impossible to control. I can restart the car several times and the eps starts working, but fails later.
The contact owns a 2011 Chevrolet Malibu. The contact stated that while driving approximately 60 mph, the power steering ability seized. The service power steering warning indicator illuminated. The contact was able to maneuver to the right lane. The vehicle was towed to the dealer where the power steering assist motor was replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 60,000.
The contact owned a 2011 Chevrolet Malibu. While driving 65 mph, the power steering malfunctioned and the contact lost control of the vehicle. As a result, the contact crashed into a tree. The air bags failed to deploy. The contact sustained fractured bones on her face and the passenger sustained minor contusions that required medical attention. A police report was not filed. The vehicle was deemed destroyed. The vehicle was inspected by an independent mechanic who diagnosed that the power steering axle and tires were defective. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 66,000.
The contact owns a 2011 Chevrolet Malibu. While driving 60 mph, the power steering seized. The contact stated that the steering wheel became difficult to operate. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 89,000.
Power steering failed while driving. This happened in a curved part of the highway at ~45 mph. Was able to make the drive home which was ~2 miles. Restarted the car at home and everything worked fine until 5 days later - same problem. Service ESC and power steering illuminated on dash.
The contact owns a 2011 Chevrolet Malibu. While the vehicle was parked, the contact noticed that the area where the front driver side seat was welded had fractured. As a result, the seat failed to remain in position. In addition, while making a left turn at various speeds, the steering wheel steered to the left in excess and there was an abnormal noise coming from the steering wheel. The ESC warning light illuminated. The failure recurred on numerous occasions. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 30,000.
Car when started steering wheel locks up all the lights start flashing, locks start to unlock and lock themselves. Engine lines comes on hard to move forward or backwards.
Ntsb: 2011 Chevy Malibu: Consumer stated the vehicle experienced steering issues, so the vehicle was taken to the dealer service. During service, the consumer was notified the parts in question were deteriorating severely. The dealer found the rear trailing arm bushings and lower control arm bushings needed to be replaced.
I purchased a 2011 Chevy Malibu in 2012. Since the purchase I've experienced issues with the electronic stability control system, the service air bag light has come on while my daughter was sitting in the passenger seat. I was told that the problem with that could possibly be resolved with the recall for the seat belt lap anchor tensioner cable. I have also had issues with the car stalling / losing power after coming to a complete stop and begin to accelerate again into on coming traffic. I have also lost total control due to the power steering going out while driving. When I took my vehicle into the dealership regarding the car stalling, I was told that they could not get the car to duplicate the problem and I left without anything else being don;. I still have the same problem. There should be a recall for this before someone gets seriously injured or killed. I also have a 2011 Chevy Cruze that I've had numerous issues with, not to mention all of the recalls on it. All of the above issues have been while the car is in motion, while turning, and on highway and city streets. I recently noticed that my back seat is leaking from somewhere. I contacted GM and was told to take it into the dealership. The tech at the dealership tells me that the leak is coming from the molding on the roof of the car and wanted to charge me $200 for the diagnostic after I clearly told them that the leak was not coming from the roof of the car. They took down the headliner anyway and said that they did a test and water could be seen gushing from this area, but yet my seat was not wet as I had told them where the seat gets wet at. There are so many problems with these Malibu's I just want GM to take the car back so that I can purchase a different brand of vehicle.
I was going on a 3hr trip on a major highway, 40min into my ride my vehicle began to shake. As I continued to drive it began pulling to the right and shaking terribly. 40min from my final destination my car was shaking horribly and it felt like the steering wheel had no control of the tires. When the road reared to either the right or left I held onto the steering wheel very tight and it felt like the wheels were not turning in the direction that I was driving. I would drop my speed from 60mph to 40mph, which did not result in a change. I agree this should definitely be a recall, myself along with others could have been killed.
Received messages of: Service ESC, service traction, service power steering, eng pwr reduced, engine disabled this morning while driving to work. Engine lost all power, went into limp mode, had to pull to side of road to try and turn the engine off and on to try to reset. Nearly caused accident from oncoming and trailing vehicles. This make and model needs to be entered into the recall.
While I was driving I lost the power steering on the vehicle. It happened twice. Thank god there was no traffic other wise I could have had an accident.
Highway driveing speeds over 50mph steering is extreamly loose on a two lane road when bigger vehicles pass the air pushes my car so bad I get terrified it will make me hit a ditch my car is less then a week old to me. Under 70K miles. Even regular driveing on highways the steering is very loose.
The contact owns a 2011 Chevrolet Malibu. While driving 15 mph, all the warning lights illuminated and the vehicle began to lose power. The contact also stated that the power steering seized intermittently. The failure was recurring. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 115,000.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Pineville, KY, USA