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 headlights keep breaking. The right side more often. I see these Malibu's on the road all the time with a headlight out. It's expensive to replace and shouldn't happen as often as it does.
Was driving during a rain storm with my windshield wipers activated on the highway and the wipers abruptly stopped working. Dangerous situation to say the least. Can it get them to work again.
The electrical randomly malfunctions sometimes the interior and exterior lights won't work and they randomly come on or go off while driving. While I was driving down the highway the headlights stopped working and it was almost dark out side I had to pull over and turn off the car and restart it a couple times before they came back on. There is a leak somewhere that causes the car to overheat. The motor blower for the heating and cooling will also randomly stop working. The windshield wipers broke and after replacing and fixing the part they broke again while I was driving down a crowded highway in the pouring rain. I fixed the windshield wipers 2 times and they still continue to malfunction and quit working. The exauhst has a leak. The transmission malfunctions and doesn't shift right while driving it takes forever to shift and one time while driving the vehicle started to lose power and would barely drive when I would give it gas and the brakes wouldn't work it was like that for about 8 minutes before it finally started to work properly. There is a piece that connects to the transmission that keeps coming undone causing the vehicle to not be able to shift gears. I started the vehicle and tried to put it in drive but it wouldn't work and I fixed the problem and upon arriving at my destination the vehicle went into park but continued to move I had to use the emergency brake to stop it. The warning light for the engine, traction control stability and the tires has been on for several months. The turn signals randomly quit working while driving when I first turn them on they don't work but after a couple seconds they start to work. The mid flap came off while I was driving 55 mph down the highway and almost caused me to wreck. The parts affected is the electrical, body, power train, lighting, wheels, suspension, brakes, visibility/wipers and the engine.
In 2015 wiper trans failed at heavy rain and new one was installed by bob bell Chevrolet dealer. In August 2017, on rainy day on I-95 toward wdc wipers stopped working and with life treating I drove the car to another dealership - pohanka Chevrolet that said that wiper trans failed. I got failed trans - looked as a new, but it is life threatening situation when on freeway driver looses visibility completely. Looks like that is persistently failing GM part needed to be recalled in order to keep us drivers safe.
- Vienna, VA, USA
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Back in April of 2013, the wiper stopped working during heavy rain and heavy winds. Took car to lou fusz Chevrolet of St. Peters, mo (which is where the car was first bought in June 2010). My wife and I were advised that wiper transmission/module loose at motor. The wiper module assembly was replaced. On 6/30/14, due to rain on the interstate highway, the wiper stopped working again, but due to this occurred over a year ago and 12,000 warranty expired, my wife and were told it had to be replaced again and we had to pay for it (mileage 92284). On 6/19/15, wiper again goes out due to heavy rain on the interstate highway (mileage 113245). It was then determined that the tech found the wiper transmission link bar was broken. My wife and I never had a problem with a car with wipers breaking down like this one has. Update on the problem: The windshield wiper motor occurred again to where it was taken to the lou fusz St peters, mo, location on 5/22/17 with a mileage of 158455. This time my wife and I first had to pay around $400 to repair it, again!! I have already contacted General Motors about these issue(s) to no avail at this time. My case# with GM is under #[xxx]. this is now a total of four times the same issue(s) with the windshield wiper motor on the same car!!! this need to be investigated and/or a recall needs to occur. I have also submitted previous occurrences of this on this website under #10735008, #10992948, and #10995266. This is safety hazard!! now I am asking someone from NHTSA to contact me by phone to discuss this situation. Information redacted pursuant to the Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).
On 6/30/14, due to rain on the interstate highway, the wiper stopped working again, but due to this occurred over a year ago and 12,000 warranty expired, my wife and were told it had to be replaced again and we had to pay for it (mileage 92284). This has also been filed under this website under 10735008 and 10992948. This is a safety hazard and it needs to at least be thoroughly investigated.
The contact owns a 2010 Chevrolet Malibu. While driving various speeds in the rain, the windshield wipers failed to function. The contact coasted the vehicle to the side of the road and waited until the rain stopped to resume driving. The failure recurred twice. The vehicle was taken to the dealer (lou fusz Chevrolet located on 5120 N service rd, St peters, mo, 63376) where it was diagnosed that the wiper motor was working, but the wiper transmission module detached and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired; however, the failure recurred. The contact called the manufacturer and was informed that the VIN was not included in a recall. The manufacturer did not offer further assistance. The approximate failure mileage was 158,000. Updated 07/27/17
During a torrential downpour, I switched on my windshield wipers. I was traveling at 65 miles per hour on the highway. After slowing my speed, I switched the windshield wipers to the highest speed. After about 30 seconds, I heard a loud bang, and the wipers completely stopped working. The entire wiper assembly needed to be replaced. The car has only 66,000 miles on it. I'm lucky to be alive. I was able to pull to the side of the road, but it could have ended in tragedy. This is not a problem with the wiper motor, but the part that connects the motor to the wiper blades.
The contact owns a 2010 Chevrolet Malibu. The contact stated that while driving at approximately 60 mph, the windshield wipers failed to function. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 70,000. Updated 05/03/16
While driving 65 miles per hour in a severe thunderstorm on the I94 tollway headed to Chicago the wipers came to a sudden stop. I was completely blinded and in the 3rd lane to the left. I immediately put on my blinkers and started beeping my horn. My daughter had to stick her head out the window to guide me to the right side of the road to pull over. We were struggling through heavy traffic and scared out of our minds! after we finally made it to the side, with my 18 month old granddaughter in the car we had to sit there for more than 2 hours to wait for the rain to stop. After researching the Chevy forum website I realized this is a common problem on Chevy Malibu's of various years and a major safety issue! it appears there was a recall on previous years of Chevy Malibu windshield wipers and I believe there should be a recall on this before someone is seriously injured or worse!
Back in April of 2013, the wiper stopped working during heavy rain and heavy winds. Took car to lou fusz Chevrolet of St. Peters, mo (which is where the car was first bought in June 2010). My wife and I were advised that wiper transmission/module loose at motor. The wiper module assembly was replaced. On 6/30/14, due to rain on the interstate highway, the wiper stopped working again, but due to this occurred over a year ago and 12,000 warranty expired, my wife and were told it had to be replaced again and we had to pay for it (mileage 92284). On 6/19/15, wiper again goes out due to heavy rain on the interstate highway (mileage 113245). However, phone service rep said to have the fuse box replaced because of internal short on power side of wiper motor on signal circuit. After the fuse box was replaced, the problem still existed. Yet, we still had to pay for the fuse box replacement! it was then determined that the tech found the wiper transmission link bar was broken. Please investigate this and let me know what the outcome is!! I find it very unusual to have something like a wiper motor break three times in three years. I am very concerned that my wife and I have been unfairly charged on the last attempt where we had to pay for a fuse box, yet that didn't solve the problem at first. My wife and I never had a problem with wipers breaking down like this one has. Please call me if you have any questions.
Wiper motor transmission just went out for the 3rd time yesterday, 1st occuranc was Jan 2013 an dstopped unexpectedly going down highway. Replaced at a cost to me of $325. Second occurance was Sept 2014 and occured on expressway going 70mph. GM would not cover as I was over miles and dealership woudl only guarantee part for 1 year. I again had to replace at a cost of $350. 3rd occurance was last night with my son! going 55-65 mph on Ohio turnpike in the pouring rain. Appointment tomorow. Everyone denies responsibility
Our Chevy Malibu was broad sided on the riders side at 10:10 am on the forth of April, 2015. This was at a yield intersection in aiken, SC. I have had several near misses with this car with vehicles coming from the left. This accicent was clearly my fault. However, a contributing factor is the width of the post between the windshield and the door on that side of the car. We own a 2005 similar Malibu and the width of that post is much narrower and we have never had a problem seeing vehicles coming at us from the left side. However, the 2010 Malibu has a much wider post between the windshield and the door and is sufficient to hide vehicles coming from the left. My wife has had the same problem with this vehicle. It is a design safety factor that should be corrected by the General Motors engineers.. I would imagine that there have been many more similar accident with other drivers of this make and model of car. However I do not have access to your data base to confirm same. Our car was still able to be driven after the collision and is currently in a body shop being repaired. However, I am not going to be comfortable driving it knowing that this hazordous condition still exists. Thought I should pass this information along to your Agency in case others have complained of the same condition and you might be able to convince GM that they have created a safety problem with the design of this vehicle. The width of this column on the 2005 Malibu is 4 inches. The width of the column on the 2010 Malibu has to abe a good six inches or more sufficient to block the view from the drivers seet of oncoming vehicles from the left. Thanks for you consideration in this matter. [xxx] information redacted pursuant to the Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).
The contact owns a 2010 Chevrolet Malibu. The contact stated that while driving at an unknown speed, there was an abnormal noise coming from the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to a dealer where it was diagnosed that the front brakes needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired but the failure recurred. The vehicle was taken back to the dealer where it was diagnosed that the rear brakes needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired but the failure recurred. The vehicle was taken back to the dealer where the technician informed that the front brakes needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. In addition, the contact stated that while driving at an unknown speed, the brake system warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken back to the dealer where the technician informed that the rear brakes, the rear rotors and the rear passenger side caliper needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The contact stated that after starting the vehicle, the windshield wipers failed to operate. The vehicle was taken to a dealer where it was diagnosed that the wiper transmission needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 25,000.
The headlamps provide poor visibility. The illumination of the low beams is only about 15 feet in front of the vehicle. This requires us to drive with the high beams on most of the time. However, when oncoming traffic are coming, we switch back to low beams. We have tried various light bulbs but that didn't fix the issue. My husband has physically tried to tilt the light bulbs, but that doesn't work either. There needs to be a redesign of the headlamps to provide better visibility. Poor visibility can cause accidents. We purchased this vehicle as a used vehicle in April 2012. I have always had this problem, just decided it was time to report it.
It was raining and my windshield wiper blades were on.immediately the blades stop working. L almost hit the fence because L could not see. My car is just 3years old, L do not understand why the blades will stop working.
The contact owns a Chevrolet Malibu. The contact stated that while parked, she activated the defroster and approximately fifteen minutes later the rear glass shattered. The vehicle was taken to the dealer for diagnosis. The technician stated the defroster wiring melted. The vehicle was repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 33,000.
The contact owns a 2010 Chevrolet Malibu. The contact stated that while attempting to turn on the rear defogger system it failed. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, who stated that the failure was caused by the fuse for defogger located in the trunk, which had burnt and melted. The fuse was replaced. The dealer was made aware of the failure. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure and current mileage was 33,000.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Howes Cave, NY, USA