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 2010 Chevrolet Malibu. After a complete stop with the accelerator pedal depressed, the vehicle failed to accelerate without warning. The vehicle was taken to a local independent mechanic, but could not be diagnosed due to no warning sensors. A day later, an unknown indicator illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent auto shop where it was confirmed that the transmission failed and needed to be replaced. The mechanic recommended the vehicle be taken to a transmission independent dealer. The contact called a local dealer (don brown Chevrolet, 2244 S kings highway blvd, St. Louis, mo, 63110) where it was determined that the vehicle was not under warranty. No further assistance was offered. The vehicle was taken to the independent mechanic and the transmission was rebuilt. The manufacturer was contacted and provided case number: 8-3433690388. The dealer could not assist and referred the contact to NHTSA. The failure mileage was approximately 65,505.
I purchased a brand new 2010 chev Malibu 2lt seven years ago. It's automatic, has low miles, well serviced, and excellent upkeep. Since ownership, I've not had any major problems. However, recently, while driving, and going from low to highway speed, I noticed the car intermittently "jerked". it seemed almost as if gears were slipping and getting stuck. I thought, this couldn't be safe. Unfortunately, I had to get my towed for service after the vehicle wouldn't move because it wouldn't change gears. After having the diagnosed, I was told the transmission failed due to some "internal defect" in it. I could not believe it! absolutely unconscionable! I did some research and learned GM had some recalls between 2008 - 2010 due to transmission problems. I loved my Malibu 2lt prior to receiving this news about the transmission. It appears, GM needs to take another look at the safety and performance on the transmissions of the 2010 Malibu.
While in motion on the freeway, my vehicle began would not speed up when I stepped on the gas. The car revved up but it would not speed up. I continued to slow down as cars approached me from behind. I was afraid they might hit me so I moved to the side of the road. I tried to accelerate while on the side of the road but it would only rev up and not move. I switched the gearshift several times between park, neutral, reverse and drive. I could only go a few feet at a time. The car was towed to my parents house and sits there today because mechanics said that I needed a new transmission.
I have 2010 Chevy Malibu I love my car it has never given me any problems the whole 3 years of owning it just the normal maintenance. One day I was driving at a speed of 25 mph and I crossed over an intersection and as soon as I did so I pushed to gas pedal to accelerate a little and I noticed that it wasn't going. This was very dangerous because I had my children in the car and another vehicle was right behind me and could have caused a car crash. I didn't realize that the car had shut off because everything was still work radio was on, lights were working. So I pulled over and turned the car completely off and when I tried to turn it back on it wouldn't start. The engine just kept turning over and not getting a good spark. And it also caused the battery to fail so I had to get a new battery. I changed the camshaft sensor, the crankshaft sensor and the car is still doing the same thing. This is a huge inconvenience for me because no one can find out what the problem is because the battery died O lost all diagnostic codes. Now what?
Driving on the freeway going 60 and the car started revving really high until I got my speed down to forty and it wouldn't go more than 40. When I stopped to let car cool and I restarted it, I drove it around the block a few times and it started the same revving and not going faster tnan 40. I tried to back the car into my driveway and it would not go.
- Redding, CA, USA
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The contact owns a 2010 Chevrolet Malibu. The contact stated that while driving at 25 mph, the accelerator pedal was depressed however, the vehicle failed to respond. The contact stated that there was an abnormal noise coming from the vehicle. The contact stated that the vehicle lacked forward momentum. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic to be diagnosed. The contact was informed that the wave plate in the transmission failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The dealer and the manufacturer were not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 76,633. Consumer stated on 9/17/11 car not getting power. Made loud noise drove appox. 15 miles. Took cat to menke motor, transmission failed had engine repaired for $2300 updated 7/24/18
Transmission completly went out with no warning crossing a busy intersection. No lights came on, no noises, would barely go then jerked and excelleration noise as if I reved engine up but I didn't then pulled into parking spot and it wouldnt go into gear and would not move. When started later that day it ran fine and 2 minutes from home it did the exact same thing but now will not move at all and just whines. I read this is an ongoing issue for this model car and GM will not cover bc warranty rums oit before the 5 year 60,000 miles. Something needs done about this. My car only has 57000 miles on it.
Power steering failed for the second time on September 10, 2017. I had to replace the steering column in November 2016 for the same condition. There is a recall for Chevy Malibu up until the 2009 model year and clearly there is a weakness in the 2010. This failure was while I was parked in a tight spot and couldn't get out. I restarted the car until it recalibrated, but it will undoubtedly go again. Repeat of previous problem. Also had to replace the transmission after complete failure at 48,000 miles in January 2017. That was a mere $4600. It failed while in motion, but fortunately I was uphill from my home and I was able to roll it to the curb.
Transmission shifter cable came loose from the transmission. Placed the car in park but it continued to move. Cable is missing center piece (clip?) that holds it to transmission lever. This car was recalled and "fixed" for this condition less than 4 years ago. Obviously their repair is inferior......if indeed it was done as they claim. Original recall number is 12V460000.
The contact owns a 2010 Chevrolet Malibu. While driving 60 mph, the gear shifted into neutral without warning and the vehicle began to slow down. The contact was able to coast the vehicle off to the side of the road. The vehicle was shut off and the contact waited for five minutes. The vehicle was able to restart and operated normally; however, the failure recurred another day. In addition, while at a complete stop, the contact depressed the accelerator pedal and the vehicle jolted as if it were going to stall. The contact observed that the gear shifted into neutral. The vehicle was taken to the dealer (fellers Chevrolet, 715 main St, altavista, va, 24517) where it was diagnosed that the transmission needed to be rebuilt or replaced. The dealer stated that the VIN was not included in an open recall. The vehicle was not included in NHTSA campaign number: 12V460000 (power train). The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not contacted and made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 152,000.
I purchased this car brand new in 2010 with 5 miles on the vehicle. The car was serviced regularly at my local dealership. I first reported that the transmission occasionally "bumped" when the vehicle had around 30, 000 miles. After checking out the car, I was told they didn't see an issue. I replaced the timing chain approximately 90,000 when I took her in for her 100,000 service. Within 4,000 miles of this complete check-up and very costly service, the transmission went out completely ! I contacted my local dealership and asked it there was a recall after discovering that numerous complaints had been made on the Malibu for this exact same issue. I then contacted GM and was told that there wasn't anything they could or were willing to do to help offset this cost etc. There is no way the transmission should go out completely in a 2010 vehicle that has only 100,000 miles on it that had just been checked over completely by the dealership. I realize that my car is 7 years old and would have loved for this to be covered completely, but honestly, I would have settled for a little compensation and genuine concern. I took my vehicle to aamco where is cost me in excess on $3,000 to have the broken wave plates replaced. I would like to know how many complaints have been filed against Malibu transmission issues and seek restitution if that is a possible outcome.
Since I drove this car off the lot in 2010, once every six months or so, this car will suddenly downshift greatly reducing the speed. It is the equivalent of engine braking. It was under an unfixed recall when I purchased it. The dealership, parkway Chevrolet, made multiple attempts to fix the problem, but it still persists to this day. Given the sudden deceleration that this causes, and the only resolution is to turn the car off and restart it, I feel this problem can cause death to the occupants of the car. The most common time that this happens is when the driver is changing lanes and they go over a raised lane marker - one of those little dots separating lanes in the southern states. The last time this happened was two days ago.
The contact owns a 2010 Chevrolet Malibu. While attempting to accelerate, the vehicle failed to respond. The vehicle was taken to the reichard Chevrolet dealer located in brookville, oh to be diagnosed. The contact was informed that the wave plate located in the transmission needed to be replaced. The vehicle was currently being repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 80,000.
Transmission suddenly failed while driving on a street. Car only had 70,000 miles. Later discovered it was due to a broken gear shaped part of the transmission. Shows bad quality, should not fail at 70K miles.
I took my car to the Chevrolet dealership to diagnose a check engine light. The car was suddenly losing power when accelerating and the reverse gear would, at times, fail to engage. The loss of power occurred at speeds above 20 mph. The dealership said that the problem is with the transmission's 3-5-reverse gear. After doing some research, I found that others have had this exact problem with this car. In 2015 GM issued a special policy (bulletin no. 14404, dated March 2015) for the 2007 to 2009 Chevy Malibu (6 speed model) that covers the 3-5-reverse wave plate repair for 10 years or 120,000 miles. Also, I noticed on the diagnostic sheet that the dealership omitted the production date of the vehicle but it was obviously manufactured in 2009. The 'in-service date' is 12/15/09. Based on the situation I have experienced with my car, they did not fix this defect when they introduced the 2010 model. I explained the above circumstances to the Chevrolet dealership and also to their corporate customer service representative but they refuse to cover the repairs for their manufacturing defect. Please help.
Almost caused a major accident when trying to accelerate into 65 mph traffic and RPM's red lined and I am not going anywhere and I almost get hit from behind with on-coming traffic. No 3rd or 5th gear. Also, found no reverse once I was able to get to safety. Turns out to be a failed 3-5-R wave plate. Scary stuff when you are red lining and going nowhere! sent information to Chevrolet as it turns out this is a known problem (cracked 3-5-R wave plate) for 2008-2009 and all these parts fail at less than 100K miles. Trouble I am having is that Chevrolet claims I do not have the defective wave plate in my 2010, yet the failure is exactly the same as the recall for earlier models. $4000 later and no help from GM. Yet, if you go on line, tons of people have the same wave plate problem at less than 100K miles for cars later than 2009. Very unsafe and dangerous situation. I was fortunate to not get rear ended by a car in merging traffic. Others may not be so lucky. GM needs to admit the transmission design flaw with the wave plate and recall all Malibu cars from 2008-2012 before someone gets seriously injured. My claim is if I have the same wave plate issue as the recalled vehicles then either I do not have the new/improved wave plate specification or it's an inherent design flaw. Either way, GM should recall this problem for safety reasons. I have attached the sb for 2008-2009.
While driving down the highway in traffic, the transmission started to act like it was going into neutral, slipping shifts without power in the flow of traffic. With intermittent transmission power this caused a serious situation in traffic. I was luckily able to get out of traffic and limp it home. This transmission has 94,000 miles on it. I took the car to the Chevrolet dealer, they took the transmission apart and the transmission suffered the 3-5-R wave plate failure, the plate has a flaw that causes it to break apart and just chew up your transmission, this part is a common failure that breaks and a full rebuild of the transmission is required. The mechanic told me this is an engineering flaw and the new parts that are used to rebuild the transmission are re-engineered to fix the problem. This is a 6T40 transmission, the bigger brother to this transmission the (6T70 and 6T75) has already been recalled for this engineering failure. Chevy know about this failure but is not recalling the transmission and refuses to fix it. It cost me 2500 dollars and its a driving hazard when the transmission goes out in traffic. This is a documented failure and hazard and needs to be recalled.
The contact owns a 2010 Chevrolet Malibu. While driving the vehicle, it lost power and shut off. An hour later the vehicle was able to restart, but shut off again after approximately three minutes. The vehicle was towed to the dealer where it was diagnosed that the clutch wave plates (3rd, 5th, and 10th) failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 40,006.
I was driving and then came to a stop to pull on a major highway. When I turned on the high way my Malibu wouldn't accelerate and acted as if it was in neutral, as a semi pulled up behind me I had to put it almost in a ditch so I wouldn't get hit. My mechanic says its the 3,5, R wave plate and that he looked at all the Malibu forums online and found out that many people have had this happen. I contacted GM and they told me there was nothing they could do. Never buying a Chevy again.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- St Louis, MO, USA