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.
Vehicles intermediate drive shaft was going out. Every turn you made it would make a clunking sounds. Occurred on the vehicle right after it was bought. Talked to dealer and they said it just needed to be lubed. Lubed vehicle ourselves and did nothing. After time the clunking would get louder and louder. Took it to different repair shop and it was the intermediate drive shaft. I had heard from a source that the 2006 Malibu's had a recall on the steering column but they did not recall the 2005. The vehicles structure behind them are exactly the same just different body styles. This is not safe if it were to have gone out if we had to have been making some sort of a turn or driving down a highway or interstate. I have seen numerous accounts of this happening to the same year and make as mine on www.autobeef.com. car did have the part replaced.
The contact owns a 2005 Chevrolet Malibu. The contact stated the power steering would sporadically fail. The vehicle would exhibit a warning chime before the failure. The failure progressed to a regular occurrence over a one week period. The dealer stated that the electronic power assist failed and was not under warranty or recall. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure and current mileage was 123,500.
The contact owns a 2005 Chevrolet Malibu. While driving approximately 10 mph, the contact turned the steering wheel and heard a knocking sound. The failure occurred whenever the steering wheel was turned. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer where the contact was informed that there was no grease lubricating the steering box. The vehicle was repaired. The failure occurred again a few months later and was repaired at the dealer. One year later, the failure occurred again and the steering wheel became difficult to turn. The dealer stated that there were no related recalls. The vehicle had not been repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 50,000 and the current mileage was approximately 120,000.
2005 Chevrolet Malibu car veered to left and crossed median. Driver of Malibu killed and also struck another car where passengers were injured. Witness stated Malibu braked and there were tire marks, no vehicle in front of Malibu at time of braking. Witness stated car veered to left and driver appeared to lose control crossing median and struck another automobile. Witness states driver was not on a cell phone. This information is in the police report. The Chevrolet Malibu had steering shaft replaced prior to accident. This was performed at GM dealer due to popping noise while steering, diagnosed at dealer. Repair paid for by owner. Chevy Malibu had 65,000 miles at time of accident.
2005 Malibu power steering suddenly stops working -- when we first the recall notice in December of 2007, it wasn't an issue (but was within the mileage limit). Know that we have the problem, it's out of the mileage range.
- Union, MO, USA
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TL contact owns a 2005 Chevrolet Malibu. While the contact was driving approximately between 10-15 mph, a chime sounded inside of the vehicle and the power steering warning indicator illuminated, followed by the steering wheel locking. The vehicle was driven into a parking space safely. The engine was turned off and restarted. The steering wheel began to operate properly for thirty seconds. Then the failure reoccurred repeatedly. The manufacturer was notified and they stated there was not a recall related to the defect. The manufacturer issued a 100,000 mile extended warranty pertaining to the steering column, however, the vehicle exceeded the required mileage. The contact scheduled an appointment with the dealer for the steering column replacement. The failure mileage was 100,009.
I have a 2005 Malibu that I bought new. It has always had a "popping" noise in the front end when you make a turn. At first it was intermittent, seemed like it did it worse when you made sharp turns. I asked the dealer to check it out a few times - always told they could never find anything wrong with it. It has gotten worse over the years, it seems to pop all of the time now and the steering wheel seems to vibrate a little - especially on rough roads. Still, the dealer says they can't find anything wrong--actually got tired of asking them & quit asking when I took my car in for service. Now I get a letter about something being wrong with the power steering and they will replace it for 10 years, 100,000 miles. Called the dealer-they argued that it was only 70,000 miles. Had to fax them a copy of my letter proving it said 100,000 miles. I asked if this was the same problem that I'd been having with the popping noise-they told me that this part wasn't going to fix that popping noise. Had to keep asking for the part to be replaced. I am hoping this part will fix whatever the popping noise is. My son drives this car every day and I'm worried about the safety of the car.
My 2005 Malibu started making a 'thumping' sound coming from the steering column when turning left or right. It seems to occur as the steering wheel returns to center. I have researched this enough to know that if it gets worse I probably will need to replace the steering column. I called GM customer service and told them that I considered this to be a very serious safety problem (based on my research of numerous vehicles with failed steering components) they were very sympathetic but totally unconcerned about the problem. I was told that they would not pay for any repairs because the vehicle was out of warranty. My car has just over 42,000 miles. I strongly believe that this is a safety related defect in the steering column.
The contact owns a 2005 Chevrolet Malibu. The contact stated that there was a popping noise in the steering when hitting a rough spot or bump in the road. The mechanic replaced the tie rods but that did not resolve the issue. A new steering unit was installed and this seemed to resolve the failure. The current and failure mileage was 20,000. Updated 12/22/10 the outer tie rod was replaced. Updated 12/30/10
I was driving at about 40mph and a warning "power steering "showed up on the drivers information center. The steering wheel became very hard to steer. I pulled over shut off the car and restarted it and everything worked fine. This has happened 2 other times under similar conditions.
Steering issues with the car since I bought it, brand new. Took it to a garage twice and was told that these particular cars were having electrical problems with the electronic steering. Today my power steering system failed as I was driving to work. I see numerous complaints about the same issue on the internet but still not recall.
I received a letter from Chevy about electric power steering loss on Chevy Malibu. The letter said that not to take to dealer unless you are experiencing problems. I wasn't until yesterday. While taking my children to school, there was loss of steering, it locked down, and power steering was displayed in the information center. I call Chevy and now they say it don't apply to me because my car is over 100,000 miles on it. This is a safety concern as after researching this problem online there are many reported cases of loss of steering but Chevy will not fix because of being over mileage. I thought with it possibly endangering the lives of people riding in the car that it would be fixed regardless. The steering locks down and the vehicle can not be controlled.
I have a 2005 Chevrolet Malibu and the electrical power steering went out on my car exactly one week after Chevrolet sent me a letter informing me of this exact problem. They are refusing to cover this repair because my car has 130,000 miles, although they are all highway miles because I work an hour away from my home and my car is only 5 years old. I am a loyal General Motors customer, despite the fact that I work for Ford Motor Company, and this is my third brand new General Motors car that I have purchased, my husband has as well purchased at least 10-15 brand new cars through General Motors. I am a very unhappy customer and I will no longer be purchasing any cars from your company in the future if this is how loyal customers are treated.
The driver owned a 2005 Chevrolet Malibu. While driving approximately 67 mph the steering wheel became very stiff resulting in a single car crash. The vehicle was destroyed. A police report was filed. The driver was injured. The vehicle was towed to an insurance company and she does not know if the vehicle was examined to determine the cause of failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure and current mileages were 109,000.
My wife has a 2005 Chevy Malibu. She was driving it the other day and the power steering went out on it almost causing an accident. She got the car under control and pulled to the shoulder. When she turned the car off and restarted it the problem disappeared. This has happened again since the 1st incident, but now the car pulls to the left all of the time. I have researched this online and there seems to many complaints about the same issue with steering. Something needs to be done about this before someone gets killed.
The car began shaking at speeds over 55 and pulled a bit to the left. The car was parked and a couple of hours we returned to the car to find that the power steering was not working. Tried it this morning and the power steering is now working but with dash board warning light. This should be the same issue with the eps that the 2005 cobalts are being recalled for. They should extend the recall to all eps vehicles during those year including the 2005 Malibu.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Manning, IA, USA