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10.0

really awful
Crashes / Fires:
4 / 4
Injuries / Deaths:
7 / 0
Average Mileage:
62,732 miles

About These NHTSA Complaints:

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.

2010 Chevrolet Malibu electrical problems

electrical problem

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2010 Chevrolet Malibu Owner Comments (Page 2 of 14)

« Read the previous 20 complaints

problem #257

May 162022

Malibu

  • miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

My daughter was driving back from school in a very busy road and a message came up on the dash board that said engine power reduced and speed droped to 5 mph. I told her to park somewhere and turn off car for like 15 minutes and turn it back on and car still didnt accelerate. Had to go get her and leave car there. I just purchased this vehicle on November 2021.

- Phoenix, AZ, USA

problem #256

Apr 012022

Malibu

  • miles
I purchased the car for my mother on 10/20/2015 from Mike Savoie Chevrolet in Troy, MI. At the time I had a concern because there was a message being displayed on the car -??Service ESC-??, I was informed by the dealer that it was a false message and there was no issue with the car, we should just disregard but if we had any problems to let him know moving forward. At that time we did not have issues with anything else. There was about 80,000 miles on the odometer when we bought it, there are only about 95,300 now. Recently the brake lights have been coming on when the brakes are not applied, we have taken the car to a mechanic three times for this issue but he has been unable to duplicate it, as a result he felt that the brake pedal sensor was at fault and replaced it, but the issue still exists, a wasted $200! My 17 year old grandson is now using the car, the issue occurred again today and I discovered that this issue may be associated with a recall which also includes the -??Service ESC-?? message which has been on the car since I bought it. However, when I enter the VIN it shows no open recalls. Apparently it was not fixed and the dealer should have fixed it before I bought it or I should have been notified of the recall. I AM VERY CONCERNED ABOUT MY GRANDSON-??S SAFETY AND WILL NEED TO SWITCH MY CAR WITH HIM SO THAT HE CAN BE AS SAFE AS POSSIBLE! Not only do the brake lights come on when not applied, but you need to tap the brake to turn them off at that point other drivers are not aware that the brake is being applied. Taking the car back to the repairman today. Please help. Thank you very much for your time and attention to this matter.

- Woodbridge, VA, USA

problem #255

Apr 202022

Malibu

  • miles
Car will not start. There is a recall for this, but my car seems not to be included. Turn the key over and over....battery is good....will not start.....after 50 or so tries, occasionally it will start, but when you get to your destination, you have to pray it will start again. Sometimes it will....most times it won't. This is a problem with a recall. Dealership will not fix it under the recall without the car being on the list. A little help from y'all would certainly help me. I'm 73, retired, on fixed income. Cannot afford to pay a Dealership to fix this when it is a known problem. Please help....

- Mcdonald , TN, USA

problem #254

Jan 312022

Malibu

  • miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

-??Engine Power Reduced-?? comes on suddenly, alongside numerous other lights (check engine, service traction, ESC, etc). This causes the vehicle to reduce speed in traffic, increasing risk of collision. Other models of Chevy Malibu have been recalled for this same issue (faulty throttle sensor).

- Rollinsford, NH, USA

problem #253

Feb 072022

Malibu

  • miles
While driving the power steering goes out and a warning message pops up that says -??Service ESC-?? and -??ESC Off-??. It is near impossible to turn the wheel when this happens. I was able to turn the car off and back on, and the power steering returns/messages go away, but the same problem happens on and off.

- San Antonio, TX, USA

problem #252

Nov 072021

Malibu

  • miles
Had test drove the vehicle everything was fine, picked the vehicle up and drove it home everything was fine, parked in the back of my house the car sat over night I go to pull it out the drive way, the power steering has gotten stuck and I mean it was STUCK!, the -??power steering-?? light came on the dash so I tried my best to turn to just pull it back in the driveway. It was so hard to turn I thought I would brake the steering wheel. Another thing whenever I ride over a bump my radio changes stations or turns off.

- Niagara Falls , NY, USA

problem #251

Oct 192021

Malibu

  • miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

Service electronic stability control light comes on and brake light comes on and off at times

- Howes Cave, NY, USA

problem #250

Aug 012021

Malibu

  • miles
The airbag don-??t work, I just payed 1200$ to replace the computer pc because the car wouldn-??t start and that didn-??t solve the problem the check engine light is always on, the car have electrical problems; if I run the Ac it blows hot and then the car go to engine power reduces within 4 minutes. If I drive the car it will go on engine power reduce after 6 minutes because the fan is not working due to the fact that that car has electrical problems and the fan is not getting enough power to warm the car up and the engine gets real hot and it go to making a loud rumbling noise and growling and I can only drive 10 mph and 40 mph the fastest but then the car go to shaking and wen I try to park the car it-??s shaking Nd rumbling which can cause an accident

- West Palm Beach, FL, USA

problem #249

Jan 062021

Malibu

  • miles
The passenger light beam will not come on it also messes with my radio it turns it to the aux I keep replacing the Bub in the harness and it's still not working not not to mention the car felt like a lost of power due to I guess the trance when turning a corner or pulling off. The air bag light comes on a few days and turn off.

- New Castle, DE, USA

problem #248

Sep 302021

Malibu

  • miles
brake lights sometimes they work sometimes they don't yes but they say the recall is 500 miles out of the recall miliage none of these have inspected it since i owned car yes service esc service transaction

- Saint Pauls, NC, USA

problem #247

May 142021

Malibu

  • miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

Brake lights illuminate without being pressed. Service ESC and Service Traction Control lights intermittently comes on. Dealer said recall issues has already been fixed.

- Woodhaven , MI, USA

problem #246

Apr 212021

Malibu

  • miles
Went to dealer to get a previous recall that was fixed but has since then failed again and they refuse to fix free of charge. The recall involved the brake system where brake lights illuminate while driving but not when actually pressing on brakes.

- Pensacola, FL, USA

problem #245

Apr 112021

Malibu

  • 220,000 miles
While driving the cruise control will be set and all of a sudden turn off. The gauges on the dash would sporatically jump up and down and sometimes flatline as if the car was off. When braking the cruise control would engage if my hand pressed the button llocated on the steering wheel causing the vehicle to speed up while trying to slow down. The brake lights would be on while driving without pressing the brakes and would turn on once brakes were pressed. Recall work was reported to be completed January 2015 but problems still persist. There is also a bulletin for special coverage that is limited to 150,000 miles which I don't recieve because my vehicle is over that mileage but the dangers of the vehicle still persist. These problems have been present since I purchased the car 2 or 3 years ago. The last incident happened just 2 days ago. I cantacted Chevy and they said they couldn't cover it because of the miles.

- Washington, NC, USA

problem #244

Apr 052021

Malibu

  • 103,923 miles
When making a turn at any speed, the power steering goes out and the dash says "power steering - ESC service". turning off the car and waiting a minute temporarily fixed the issue

- Northglenn, CO, USA

problem #243

May 152020

Malibu

  • 125,000 miles
Passenger side low beam fuse keeps blowing

- Nevada, OH, USA

problem #242

Feb 102021

Malibu

  • 122,370 miles
One day I was on the highway with my kids and the power steering light came on and my wheel locked and it was very hard to turn it. It was very scary going 50 mph trying to get off a exit and not being able to turn my wheel. I needed just have to let my car sit because I cld not afford the cost to get it fixed and I didn't do anything to cause that I called Chevy gave them my VIN number and they said there wasn't a recall but I see ppl with Malibu's have the same issue. This cld have been deadly me and my 2 kids could have gotten severely hurt that's not okay that this happened

- Harrisburg, PA, USA

problem #241

Jan 022021

Malibu

  • 27,000 miles
The contact owns a 2010 Chevrolet Malibu. The contact stated that when the vehicle was started, the brake lights would illuminate. The contact stated that the traction control and ESC warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was not taken to a local dealer. The brake pedal sensor was replaced however, the failure persisted. Upon investigation, the contact associated the failure with NHTSA campaign number: 14V252000 (electrical system, exterior lighting, vehicle speed control, electronic stability control) however, the VIN was not included. The manufacturer was informed of the failure and the contact was still awaiting a response. The failure mileage was approximately 27,000.

- Glen Park, NY, USA

problem #240

Feb 192021

Malibu

  • 170,000 miles
Third brake light sometimes works often does not work

- Gastonia, NC, USA

problem #239

Jan 012021

Malibu

  • 143,000 miles
It is the power steering and it shuts off no warning, locks steering wheel up I'm not strong enough to turn it when it does. The ESC light comes on and traction control goes off. It is triggered at times by cold weather but can cause an accident.

- Madisonville, KY, USA

problem #238

Jan 202021

Malibu

  • 123,000 miles
While traveling at 60 mph, lost power for a split second then regained. About 5 miles toward destination, at a traffic light I was attempting to make a right turn & when I accelerated, the car completely died with line of traffic behind me. Should this car have died in the midst of heavy rush hour traffic we could have caused a serious accident with a chain reaction of vehicles piling up behind me & possible injuries.. we were slowly creeping around the corner trying to catch a clear path to proceed when the car went dead. There have previously been problems when after driving for 30 minutes then returning to the car it would not start, cranked but not start with no warning lights present.. but after repeated restart attempts it would start maybe an hour later. But this time it died in traffic 3 days ago and we had to be towed home, it still will not start. I've read online about many other Malibu owners having similar problems with concerns of accidents. No engine or dash lights came on and a dealer could not get it to code. The unsafe problem is the car dying in the traffic with no warning in front of a long line of traffic.

- Paris, KY, USA

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