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.
While driving car instrument panel turns off, after which steering locks up and brakes become inoperable. Instrument panel turns off for seconds, then as the instrument panel turns back on, all messages on instrument panel flash (ie engine light, low battery, etc). Most common message is about stabilink. Even after instrument panel turns back on, the steering wheel will remain stiff and hard to move until you leave the car off for an extended period of time. There seems to be no rhyme or reason to the problem, other than driving it. I've had it happen in stop and go traffic where I'm going from not moving to at max 5 mph, I've had it happen on an empty highway going 65 mph, I've had it happen two minutes into my drive, and I've had it happen 40 minutes into my drive. Steering wheel does not always lock up in the middle of a turn, but most frequently it happens when making a sharp turn. I have video of the occurrence of the steering wheel and what happens to the instrument panel but am unable to upload it. I've tried to get the whole thing on video but it really just depends on if someone is in the car with me or if my phone was at the ready and I'm in a safe environment to record. It's scary enough to have the steering and brakes be useless to me, so my Focus is usually more on controlling the car.
The contact owns a 2013 Chevrolet Malibu. While driving approximately 35 mph and turning left, the vehicle stalled. A "service theft deterrent systems" message illuminated. The vehicle was coasted over to the side of the road and restarted. The vehicle was driven to an independent mechanic, but the failure was not duplicated. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was contacted about the issue. The approximate failure mileage was 50,000.
The contact owns a 2013 Chevrolet Malibu. The contact stated that the electrical system intermittently stopped functioning, which resulted in a loss of power steering, ABS functionality, and the windshield wipers operated independently. The failure occurred without warning. The failure occurred approximately eight times. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed that the solenoids needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired, but the failure recurred. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, but not repaired due to the manufacturer's denial of the claim. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The VIN was unknown. The failure mileage was approximately 60,000.
The check engine light comes on and stays on - when checked at the dealer they told me no code found for two years, then as time went on it started adding service power steering and ac/DC shut down. After numerous visits to the dealer and two major repairs, the check engine light still comes on, and the power steering locks up. On August 24, 2016, I was driving 50+ mph on a curvy road when the check engine light came on, followed immediately by the service power steering, followed by something stabilizer, followed by ac/DC shut down, to engine overheated idle engine. The power steering locked up and I was unable to steer the car and ran off the road. The car was towed to the dealer who had just worked on the car for the second time in a month, and they found no codes - no surprise! I complained to Chevy for the third time at corporate level and they had denied my claim as being safety related. I find it hard to believe that a car you suddenly can't steer isn't considered a safety issues. I also find it hard to believe that Chevy can't recognize that there is a problem with the 2013 Malibu. How many people have to die before they address this issue? also, why are they waiting on codes when the problem is most likely an electrical/computer problem. If the computer isn't working its no surprise that the warnings are not throwing a code! common sense! also, a car doesn't throw warning lights and check engine lights without something setting it off! hence you have a problem!
While driving down the highway first the windshield wipers quit during a down pour, the anti traction was malfunctioning on the screen then said anti theft system needed service then the steering went out and locked the car down. All of this happened while the car remained running. Was very scary. Have done some research and it appears GM is aware of a problem. The car is currently at the dealership. No known reason why yet although the dealership stated it did this to them when they were trying to pull it in the garage. GM needs to figure this out and issue a recall before there is serious injury including possible death the car was in motion on a highway when this occurred
- Mattoon, IL, USA
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I got my car 6 months ago, and now my car steering wheel locked, and lost battery voltage, I'm getting message to service wheel steering system ann battery charge system
While driving, all of the sudden the raio/ screen goes out, steering locks up! has happened right after started, day & night, may be fine for an hour to 4 or 5 hours, never know! has happened when turning, very dangerous! I've almost had 4-5 accidents due to this problem! Chevy says they haven't had any knowledge! dought this, complaints all over the internet. This started around 45,000 ruth just the radio /screen going off for a few seconds, by 60,000 started effecting the steering! I now have 80,000 miles on car. This needs quick attention from ntsb, wonder if any deaths from this? help!
My Chevrolet Malibu shut off on me in the mid of the way and I almost go into a accident with my children. Took it to the dealership and they can't find out why my car is doing this.
Our 2103 Chevy Malibu "loses electrical power and power steering" whuile being driven. This is now happening even more frequently. The dash and steering, etc goes blank and resets after a few seconds. This is happening more often and is dangerous. I see on the internet that dozens or hundreds of other 2013 Malibu owners are having the same problem. Some have had accidents as a result. My mechanic is not able to find an error code, nor to fix, and it seems like neither GM nor the other mechanics are able to fix either. This happens in a variety of movement settings, slow speed, high speed, turning and not, etc. This last happened 5+ times the evening of July 31.
While driving my vehicle on a highway going 65mph, it suddenly stopped, locked up, and would not turn on. The electrical panel goes off and on when it wants to. Sometimes the car will not steer and it gets really stiff. Have taken it to the dealership numerous times and they have told me that they find nothing wrong with the car. I know something is wrong with it and it is dangerous to operate a car that all of a sudden shuts down and locks up. This can kill someone. There needs to be enough complaints for GM to fix these cars. No one can fix them but we are stuck paying for them still and risking our lives.
My vehicle has 49000 miles on it while driving I loose power steering...the steering wheel locks up.. radio turns off...and the dash lights go off... after a second I get power back and control.. I have almost had head on collisions a 2 occasions.. I also had my steering completely lock while parked.. and as with before my radio went off and would not turn back on until I turned the car off and back on.... this is a hazard and someone will be injured or killed if this problem is not addressed... I have had it in the dealer for this and they informed me I had 13 plus warnings pop up on diegnostics, however, they found no problem and reset the computer... 3 days later the problem came back...
I have a Malibu eco boost. On June 23, 2015 I was driving on 96 and the charging system failure light came on the car began to shut down. The power steering went out. I was able to pull over on the shoulder but the keys could not be removed from the ignition. I had it towed to graff Chevrolet andthey said the only thing they could find wrong was a speedsensor. The guy tom said I could come get my vehicle at 8pm since thepart was enroute. I drove over 80 miles to get there AT8 and my car wasn't ready but the guy said I cold take it with me. I did not.they fixed that then said it was a right wheel hub.I know these two things havenothing to do with the charging system. Tookmy car home and the same thinghappened on the holiday July 4th.why didn't thecomputer or the mechanic detect a problem with the charging system.
The contact owns a 2013 Chevrolet Malibu. While driving approximately 40 mph, the vehicle stalled without warning. The failure recurred numerous times. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed, but the failure was unable to be determined. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 116,000.
When driving, the car will shut off for about 5 seconds and then come back on fine but the wheel and the brakes lock up. It will randomly do this. It happens on normal side streets as well as on the interstate. I have also had it happen while sitting still in park. The car was turned on but the radio would blink and the air stop and then after about 6 seconds it will start again like normal. However about 4 times it has had major episodes where all of the lights will blink (like I was restarting the car), the wheel locks up, the brakes lock up, the car acts as if it is in neutral and then about 6 seconds it will jerk like it's going into gear and once I pull over and restart it, it may happen again or it may be fine for a while. It has shown on the screen on these 4 times words of "check power steering or stabilitrak warning" it's very scary. I've almost wrecked 3 different times because the wheel locks up and I was in a turn when it did it. The last time it happened I was traveling with my young children and we were almost rear ended by an 18 wheeler on the interstate at rush hour traffic. I feel like I'm driving a death trap. I took it to the shop that the dealer advised me to take it to. They say it is the ECM. The dealership is not willing to pay for it since it's not covered under the manufacturers warranty. I've had this car since October and its been in the shop 5 times for this and overheating. I'm in the process of contacting GM about this issue because I'm not the only one having this trouble. It's extremely scary and it needs to be corrected before someone is seriously hurt. It's a hazard not only to me as the driver and the children that I carry in my car daily, but the other drivers on the road because when it happens its without warning and the car completely locks up.
Engine shutoff - electrical system issues: Noticed problems when turning left and engaging turn signal: The radio would turn off and turn back on. The interactive system would also turn off/on. A/C fan would speed up or slow down. Using bluetooth synced phone would cause interactive system to turn off/on and would kill engine. Power steering and brakes no longer would work due to engine cut-off. During warm weather (70 degrees F), one nuance that seemed indicative of the previous things about to happen, the outside temp on the interactive system would read in the 30's and the dash would let you know about possible icy conditions on the road. I was luckily driving 10 mph when engine cut-off and in a dealer parking lot. However, I did experience all of the other issues under normal driving conditions. I took the car to the dealer a week ago and they couldn't replicate my issues. Today, they saw them first hand.
Out of the blue car looses electrical power, radio, power steering, etc. Then comes back on. Car shut down completely will in parking lot. Brought car into dealer said they would update the programing per bulletin. Car was good for two days then happened again. This is a serious problem, hope they can fix. GM needs more scrutiny...
The contact owns a 2013 Chevrolet Malibu. The contact stated that the vehicle was taken to the dealer for a failure covered under the warranty; however, after the repair, the vehicle began to experience many malfunctions. The vehicle's bolts on both the front passenger and driver seats were detached. When the seats were adjusted, the uni body frame of the body moved. The contact stated that the uni body frame was able to be moved manually. In addition, the electrical systems failed without warning, which sometimes caused the vehicle to stall. The contact took the vehicle to the dealer, but they refused to assist. The manufacturer was made aware of the failures. The approximate failure mileage was 38,000.
The contact owns a 2013 Chevrolet Malibu. While driving approximately 15 mph, all the interior lights suddenly failed to function. In addition, the vehicle was making an abnormal noise coming from the engine compartment. The contact also stated that when the brake pedal was depressed, the accelerator pedal felt abnormally soft. Additionally, the ignition key failed to release from the ignition switch when the vehicle was turned off. The vehicle was taken to a dealer where the technician informed that the failure was unable to be determined. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 12,700.
Problem 1: driving car at 40mph (on a city street) it begins to overheat, the steering wheel seizes then stalls out repeatedly. Take vehicle to Chevrolet dealership, technician says need to replace parking brake control module (water intrusion) GM pays 50/50 payment assistance, I paid $417.23. Within a week's time several issues arise as indicated below. Problem 2: while car is in motion driving the city streets the dash lights and touch screen radio (entire electrical system shuts off) for about 5 seconds then comes back on. The brief box pops up for a few seconds, indicating check power steering, stabilitrak warning light on and parking brake says it's on. All this happened, eight times in ten minutes. Then I proceed to make a right hand turn and my steering wheel locks up and I nearly hit a vehicle that was stopped at a stop light. It happens randomly but I did notice when I had the A/C on it happened repeatedly. Again vehicle is at Chevrolet dealership and unable to recreate the problem, dealing with GM corporate at this time.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Fair Oaks, CA, USA