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.
Service airbag display message came on. The car has never been in an accident. Dealer said it needs a new SDM. $902 to fix. Dealer said it is a known problem but it is not covered under warranty.
My 2011 Malibu was recalled for a brake light issue. While the vehicle was at dealership, the air bag system developed a "malfunction." Dealer states that the SDM has failed. The dealer and GM are taking no responsibility for the issue. Their position is they did not cause the issue and it is just bad timing. A friend, who owns a 2010 Malibu, just had their car recalled for a recall regarding the SDM. More to the point, what incentive does a person have to bring a recalled vehicle in, when the vehicle can be returned in a far less safe condition. I think that any reasonable person would be doubtful that this is the appropriate response to this situation.
I was driving on the highway and my "service airbag" light came on the dash. There was no crash and nothing was hit. I pulled over and turned my car off. I turned the car on a half hour later and the airbag light and message were gone. 90 minutes later the light illuminated again and has stayed on. I called Chevy, the said there was no recall, and connected me to the service dept of a dealership, who said this happens all the time, but couldn't give me an estimate of the cost to fix it.
The contact owns a 2011 Chevrolet Malibu. The contact stated that the service air bag warning light remained illuminated. The vehicle was taken to a dealer. The technician diagnosed that the sensing diagnostic module needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 61,573... updated 02/19/15 updated 9/15/2017
The contact owns a 2011 Chevrolet Malibu. The contact stated that the service air bag warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer who stated that the air bag was deactivated. As a result, there was a wire connection that failed and the wiring module needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 59,356.
- Orlando, FL, USA
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The contact owns a 2011 Chevrolet Malibu. The contact stated that while driving at 30 mph, the service air bag warning light illuminated. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The VIN was not available. The failure mileage was 43,000.
The contact owns a 2011 Chevrolet Malibu. The contact stated that the air bag warning light illuminated continuously. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was unavailable.
As I was driving down the highway, my service air bag light illuminated. Onstar was called and they diagnosed the car as having an malfunction in the air bag, pulled off to the side of the road and had car towed to nearest dealership. As I was waiting for the tow company to arrive, I tried to start the vehicle after 2 hours to which all lights started flashing and car went completely dead. Note, car was just in the shop 2 days prior for oil change and recall on BCM. Dealership came back with a $1200 estimate for repair or replacement of an airbag. $858 for the airbag replacement and $241 for a new battery. Dealership would not cover this under warranty stating sometimes electronics have issues.
The service air bag indicator light remains lite and the words stay on the display window. Had a diagnostic done on the car on 11/29/2014 and was told that the computer module is bad and needs to be replaced. I was told that if in a accident that the air bags might not deploy. Could this also cause the air bags to deploy unexpectedly" if this is a saftey issue, shouldn't it be covered no matter if the warranty/extended warranty has expired"
Service airbag light came on when I started my car its been two days now and it hasnt gone away ive never hit anything nor have I been hit by anyone...
I was driving on the highway when suddenly the warning "service air bag" popped up on my dashboard message screen. I was not in an accident nor did I hit anything. With the recent recalls, I am very concerned.
I was driving and the passenger air bag light came on and will not shut off. I called the dealer and they want to charge me just to look at my car. I have never been in any auto accident for this to even happen. This must be a defective air bag> please check into this matter.
2011 Chevy Malibu LT2 with a 4 cylinder engine, 28000 miles, 3-1/2 years old, in excellent condition, out of the blue shows the "service air bag" and the air bag light stays on.
The contact owns a 2011 Chevrolet Malibu. While driving 70 mph, the contact drove over rumble strips and crashed into the guard rail. The vehicle spun around and crashed into another guard rail. The air bags failed to deploy. The passenger sustained a fractured sternum, injuries to the left shoulder blade and right knee. The driver sustained a wrist injury that required medical attention. A police report was filed. The vehicle was towed and declared as destroyed. The manufacturer was notified. The approximate failure mileage was 400.
The contact owns a 2011 Chevrolet Malibu. The contact stated that while at a stop, a vehicle crashed into the contact's vehicle. As a result the contact crashed into another vehicle. The air bags failed to deploy. A police report was filed and there were two injuries reported. The vehicle was destroyed. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure and current mileage was 140,000.
Light on dash console randomly comes on alerting that there is an issue with the air bag system and also reminding me that I need to put on my seat belt when my seat belt is already fastened properly. These issues have been present for almost the entire life of the vehicle but I have caught hell from the Chevy dealerships to have them corrected and am very dissatisfied and will never purchase another Chevy product as this seems to be a common problem.
I had just got the vehicle 2 years ago and I have had a continuous problem with the cars air bag sensors. I had take the vehicle to the dealers after only having the vehicle for 3 weeks so they can fix the problem the 1st time they had to me that this was a regular problem with this make and year. After about another 10000 miles later the light was on and off again and did not want to fix this again.
Service air bag light came on when vehicle was started. The next morning it did not come on. A couple months later, same issue, service air bag light came on when vehicle was started. It continued to come on every time the vehicle was started for a couple of days. We called the dealer, they said it would cost 400 for the new part and another 200 to "flash" the computer. They also said our airbag would not work as long as this light was on. A couple days later, the light went off and stayed off. Then on 3/26/14, the service air bag light came on again, and continues to come on every time the vehicle is started. Looks like this is a common issue and since the air bags will not work, it jeopardizes the safety of the vehicle and GM should be responsible for the fix.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Thousand Oaks, CA, USA