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 2004 Chevrolet Malibu. The contact stated while driving at various speeds the power steering would suddenly malfunction making the steering wheel very difficult to turn. When the failure occurred the check engine, ABS and tc (traction control) sensor lights illuminated. The failure was not diagnosed nor was the vehicle repaired. The manufacturer was notified and no solution was offered. The contact also indicated that while driving various speeds the vehicle would drift from side to side. The vehicle was taken to the dealer who diagnosed that the control arms were faulty. The control arms were replaced but the defect was not remedied. While driving the headlights, turn signal lights and rear lights would intermittently shut on and off. The vehicle was taken to the dealer who diagnosed that the defect was caused by an electrical short. The defect was not repaired. The failure mileage was 17,000.
Front turning signals or running lights get very hot and melt through the amber lens that the bulb sits in. These bulbs burn out quite often, which have created some near misses while making turns because the bulbs would burn out without notice. This is a very common problem on all the 04 and 05 Malibu. I have contacted the Chevy dealers and the deny and knowledge of the problem, but there many complaints of this online. Every Malibu of these years have the same problem.
My 16 year old daughter was stopped at a four way intersection. As she proceeded to turn, she lost her ability to steer the car. She was able to avoid hitting another car and get her car to the side of the road. She noticed there was a yellow dash board light that came on when she lost the steering but no prior warning of any issues or warning lights prior to loosing the steering on the vehicle. Once she got to the side of the road, her four way emergency flashers would not work. My husband went to pick her up. He restarted the car and the steering worked fine for him. There was no warning lights indicating any problem on the dash board. We brought the car to our mechanic he could not get the problem to resurface. He did note that the directional turn signals seemed to be "messed up" and he changed the light bulbs. When she lost her steering a second time we had the vehicle towed to a different mechanic who told us this was a chronic defect issue with this make/brand of vehicle and that it needed a new electronic component in the steering column which would cost us $900. I researched this information on the internet and found that there are thousands of complaints for this very issue. It occurs at different amounts of mileage. It occurs on the vehicles when they were purchased brand new and purchased used as in our case. This is not your normal wear and tear type of vehicle issue. This is a significant safety issue which is an engineering/design flaw in the vehicle. I have called the GM customer service line. Our case # is 71-127-262-2441. We now have to bring the car to our local Chevy dealer and they have told us that it could cost way more just to diagnose the problem than to repair it. Unbelievable...please help look into this safety issue as my daughter could of been killed herself and or could have caused injury to someone else without any forewarning.
The car steering wheel locked up and unable to control where it was going to guide as coming around curve. Ended up in ditch and shaking like crazy! im so afraid that something is going to happen. I want another car!
The contact owns a 2004 Chevrolet Malibu. The contact stated while the cruise control was engaged at 75 mph it suddenly disengaged and caused the vehicle to lose speed. The contact did not apply the brakes in order to disengaged the cruise control system. The contact took the vehicle to a mechanic who stated the brake lights malfunctioned and caused the cruise control to disengaged due to the brake lights illuminating. The mechanic replaced numerous fuses in the vehicle as well as re-calibrating the electrical system; however, that did not remedy the issue. The contact stated the turn signal malfunctioned as well. The failure mileage was 148,000.
- Hickory Hills, IL, USA
Search CarComplaints.com for these popular complaint phrases...
As for the lighting I cannot count how many light bulbs I have replaced on this vehicle to the point that I had the auto shop replace them since I thought I was doing something wrong. They only last about a month or two and burn out which is really dangerous when you don't know if will work or not. The steering issue is a much more dangerous problem, this is my wife's car and she got stuck leaving the house and physically could not turn the steering wheel which she described as locking up. I can not imagine if she were to be turn down a busy intersection on not been able to turn the vehicle to the proper lane. This is dangerous and should be a recall item as the 2005's were!!!
This has been an ongoing incident with one or both turn signals lamps for more than two years. The turn signal lamps themselves do not appear burned out but the lamp socket wire melts the plastic housing from excessive heat and causes a break in the electrical circuit. I have made multiple bulb replacements over the two plus years only to have the turn signal socket plastic housing fail repeatedly. This situation may be a solder joint cracking caused by rapid temperature transitions. If solder joint cracking occurs and results in an open circuit, the turn signals lamps become intermittent or inoperative. Consequences: When the turn signals are inoperative, the driver cannot use them to signal intent to turn that could result in a crash.
I bought a 2004 Chevrolet Malibu in 2008, since that time I have had to replace the front turn signals approx. 6 times due to the plastic on the signal bulbs, melting and covering the wire S that go over the plastic that make contact with the plug the bulb goes into.
The contact owns a 2004 Chevrolet Malibu. The contact inspected the front drivers side turn signal, running lights, and hazard lights and noticed they were not illuminating properly. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer for diagnostic testing. The vehicle was not repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 60,000.
Rear turn signal bulbs burn too hot and melt bulb connection. Front turn signal bulbs burn too hot and melt lens housing, causing severe discoloration in headlamp assembly. Headlamp becomes very hot to touch, could possibly start a fire. I have read multiple complaints on this issue and cannot understand why this has not been a recall by GM. I am very frustrated.
2004 Chevy Malibu lt front left & right amber headlight assemblies are melted. Left side is 9 months old and already melted through. Right side looks like original, has plastic amber bulb melted on top. On left side bulb socket is burnt. I am using the appropriate bulbs required for the front and they were installed correctly. This can be a fire hazard.
My front seat broke on one side causing me to sit lop sided while driving. My mechanic repaired 3 times and said it had to be replaced. The front and rear blinkers continuosly go out. The bulbs are fine the connection is just loose.
12/24/2010 while driving a 2004 Chevy Malibu my engine light came on and then the steering wheel locked up while driving and it made a sudden jerking stop. This was the first time this happened but it scared both my daughter and I. then in addition to keep replacing my headlights and tail lights pretty much every other month they blow out and need to be replaced. For both incidents a local mechanic was consulted and he recommended that I contact a GM dealer ship to check for recalls. I did that and received information that there has not been a recall for the current situations but there has been many similar complaints with the same make and model car and was referred me to the nearest dealership to be checked.
Hazard switch is defective and causing the directionals not to work. The external lights, front and back fail to work also, and its creating a hazard where the cars coming in front us or the cars in back of us don't see our blinker. We thought they where working and they are not. If we turn on the emergency flasher and then turn on the directional everything would work only to fail next time you make a turn.
The front passenger bulb stopped working. After attempting to replace the bulb, noticed that the lighting assembly was melted and inoperable. Was advised by a mechanic that the entire assembly needed to be replaced.
The contact owns a 2004 Chevrolet Malibu. The contact stated that the light bulbs of the headlight assembly were too high in voltage that they were leaving brown burn marks. The dealer was informed of the failure and they stated that they could not assist with the failure due to the mileage and age of the vehicle. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 114,000 and the current mileage was 120,000.
2004 Chevrolet Malibu - both front headlights assemblies are melting from the heat coming off of the turn signal/marker light. The plastic bulb housing is actually melting enough to drip onto the bulb causing them to break and need replaced. This is definitely a fire hazard.
Purchased a used 2004 Chevrolet Malibu in April 2009 at a Saturn dealer. A month after the purchase the front left turn signal stopped working. I replaced the bulb with the part number identified in the owners manual. A few weeks later it stopped working. I continued to remove and/or replace the light bulb until it worked for a few days or weeks. After several times of replacing the bulb I took the car to the Saturn dealer in August 2009. They supposedly replaced the entire head light assembly which cost several hundred dollars. The issue seemed to have been resolved until June 1 2010 when the light bulb stopped working. After investigation I noticed the left turn light bulb was mostly white in color and the turn signal amber colored lens was melted with a hole in it. It seems that during the summer months when it is hot the lamp is overheating. My left turn signal light is currently not working. The Saturn dealer went out of business and closed. After research I found this is a common problem with the 2004 Malibu (url below). Please investigate to see if a recall exists for this problem and if this can be permanently fixed by a Chevrolet dealer. ?Q=turn+signal.
The front yellow signal light seen to get very hot melting the inner cover which is locate inside the headlight in both of them it seen that most of these car has the same problem.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Jackson, MI, USA