I have owned the car less than a yr. When the power steering first went out I thought the problem was a poor connection because when I messed with the fuse connections and started the car again the steering worked. The next time it happened I was driving in traffic, and I agree with the other complaints, this could be deadly in the right situation! The same problem with this many Malibus should definitely be recalled! I guess it's cheaper for GM to get sued a few times from someone getting killed than to pay to fix all of those cars!! I don't see how replacing the steering column can fix what is obviously some sort of electrical problem. I'm going to talk to my dealer tomorrow, whom I trust explicitly, and report back later.

For several months I'd be driving down the road and the power steering would just go out. I would have to put it in neutral, turn the car off and then on again and it would come back on for awhile. When I tried to call the dealership where I bought it they said I had to replace the column and the relay neither of which they would cover because my car was too old. I bought my car in 2009 with only 30,000 miles on it as a certified used from GM. Needless to say my warranty ran out 8 months after I bought the darn thing.

The power steering to my vehicle is intermittent. You never know when it is going to go out! I travel to Georgia most all weekends and after noticing the problem I stopped and wound up purchasing a second dependable vehicle, $19,000.00, because i did not trust the Malibu power steering problem. Then I had two car payments! I must think of my personal safety first, since Chevrolet is not. No guidance to handle and or compensate for the continuous problem with the 2004 Chevy Malibu has ever been an agenda for Chevrolet. The acknowledgement of any responsibility by Chevrolet would be a great step forward. So, I was forced to maintain two vehicle's during hard times and Chevrolet has yet to assume said responsibility or acknowledge the power steering problem with the 2004 Malibu. I will never purchase a Chevrolet product again in this life time. Thank You!

I've never had a car that had a problem like this, when it happens it scares the mess out of you. I've taken it to local dealers they say we cant fix it, you have to have it back to a chevrolet dealer because we don't have the machine to fix it. Chevrolet dealer on the easter nshore,VA. charges a hundred dollars just to put it on the machine to find out what the problem is. These people making these cars make them affordable to buy but expensive to fix if they break down. I guess someone has to die first before they put a recall on this car. What is this world coming to that people don't want to take responsibility for mistakes they make. I hate this car but cant afford to get a new one ,so i guess I'm stuck with it, I have to depend on God because I cant depend on chevrolet to help me. I wouldn't tell my worst enemy to buy this car!!!!!!!!!@!

Just bought this car for my daughter as her first car. She has been practicing driving for weeks without issue, then recently when making a sharp right hand turn the service engine light went on and there was no power steering. I had to help her turn the wheel to get it off of the road. When I turned the car off and turned it back on, it worked fine. If this happened on the freeway (or anywhere for that matter) this could KILL someone!!! After reading all of the other complaints and solutions that don't work or don't work for long, I imagine the dealer won't do anything so I plan on taking this up with our congressman and the NHTSA.

I am very appreciative to have found this information,although it wont solve the problem,when i bought my car in 04 I had a new steering column installed.now,here it is 7 years later i am having the same problem.i got stranded in an intersection,scared me to death i was not strong enough to turn wheel,it felt locked,had it towed,now it has happened again,when i restart the car i can drive again,until i can get the money to get it fixed ,i drive in constant fear of the first incident happening again.I'm sad ,i had planned on keeping it since its paid off ,but i might have to use it to trade since this is my 2nd. repair for the same problem!!!!!!

This problem just started this evening.I started the car and noticed that "power steering" flashed on the radio screen,and another on the dash.The steering was definately standard all of a sudden.After shutting off the car for a few minutes.I restarted it and noticed that it didn't come back on,and that the power steering was working.I do hope that this was just a freek thing that won't happen again,but I'm certainly open to any suggestions.I'm afraid to let my wife drive it if it acts like this.Very dangerous.

I BOUGHT THIS CAR NEW IN AUGUST 2004 . THE DAY I BOUGHT IT I NOTICED WATER IN THE HEADLIGHT-DRIVERS SIDE AND TOLD THIS WAS BECAUSE THE CAR WAS JUST WASHED. SINCE THEN I HAVE HAVE ELECTRICAL SHORTS IN THE FRONT AND REAR LIGHTS, THE BACK WINDOW REPLACED DUE TO IMPROPER RADIO RECEPTION, THE POWER WINDOW MOTORS ADJUSTED TWICE BOTH DRIVERS SIDE AND PASSENGERS, THE AIR BAG DISPLAY MODULE REPLACED AS IT WAS ALWAYS ON,ETC...

I WILL NOT BUY AMERICAN CAR AGAIN!!!!!!

BEEN DRIVING GM CARS OVER40 YEARS AND THIS WAS MY FIRST AND LAST NEW GM VEHICLE.

Started out with just the light comming on and the "power Steering" message on the radio but no noticable difference in the steering. Then in the past few months, sometimes when you start the car, you have no power steering. If you shut the car off and restart it, you were OK. Now in the past two weeks, The steering will go out just driving down the road. you have to pull into the emergency lane and restart the car. It has become dangerous now and my grandkids ride in this car. I have to fix it now but don't have the money. I could understand if the car had 200,000 miles on it like my truck but 60,000 miles. The thing isn't even paid off yet. I see there is a recall for exactly this problem on some 2005 - 2010 chevy vehicles. Aparently it started in 2004. I can't get GM to pay for the fix. At least go half on the cost.....Something....

Bob

Recurring sporadic problem...Service engine soon light comes on at random times.Has been checked for error codes but none in computer.Finally one day last week service light came on and "power steering" again displayed in DIC as before. However on this day the power steering actually QUIT WORKING and had to turn left at busy intersection by main force !!! If my wife had been driving it no way she could have kept it under control !! Hundreds of complaints about this problem and GM needs to ISSUE RECALL before someone is killed because of this !!!

Bought this car from my mother in law for my son and daughter to use. Just the other day my daughter had told me that the power steering light had come on in the car and the steering was very difficult to handle. Luckily she was just in our driveway when this happened. She said she turned the car off and restarted it and the problem went away. The problem quickly returned the next day while driving around town and she had to grab on for dear life, pull over and restart the car. I went searching on the web to find out about this problem and I immediately found this site and much to my surprise I was totally horrified to learn that this is an epidemic safety issue with this car. The car has about 65k miles on it and out of warranty. I would hope that Chevy would recall or pay for this problem but from the looks of it, they are not going to do so until someone gets injured or killed. If anyone knows of any additional info, I would love to hear about it.

I just bought this 2004 from my 91 year old Dad, who is in a nursing home. Low mileage (only 42K), looks great, plenty of space and power. I start it to drive home and the CHECK ENGINE light comes on, and the POWER STEERING message is displayed in the radio. Then the warning light goes out. This happens intermittently. I check the web, and find that this is a problem that epidemic among 2004 Malibus w. the electric power steering.

The dealer graciously gave me a printout, showing that the entire steering column was replaced under warranty at 5,100 miles and the rack at 31,000. Now, they want to replace the column again at a cost of $600, no warranty.

I bought my 2004 Malibu in June of 2007. I had done all the research online as far as safety features, and felt pretty confident about purchasing the car. I drove the car about a year and a half with no problems, but last year the power steering light started coming intermittently. I might be driving down the highway at 65 mph, and the light will just come on for no reason. The wheel gets heavy and hard to maneuver.

Other times I can be sitting at a red light and the light will just come on. Yesterday, while driving my teenager to driver's education, I was sitting at a red light the the steering jerked a few degrees to the left for absolutely no reason, then the l stinking light came one. I had a very hard time making turns to the right or left, and the steering wheel felt very heavy.

I hate this car, because I am 6 mos away from paying for this car and I'm having this constant annoyance. I have called several Chevrolet dealers and described the problem to them, and the responses I got ranged from "I don't know" to "let me call you back". My mechanic, who is honest, took a look at it and said that I could end up spending about $1,000 getting the problem fixed, and that he wouldn't be able to because these were factory parts that only the dealer would have.

HOW CRAPPY IS THAT!!! Nobody can fix the car except Chevrolet, and they don't know how. I'm trading this sucker in when I finish paying for it.