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10.0

really awful
Crashes / Fires:
2 / 2
Injuries / Deaths:
0 / 0
Average Mileage:
14,469 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.

2018 Chevrolet Malibu electrical problems

electrical problem

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2018 Chevrolet Malibu Owner Comments (Page 6 of 9)

« Read the previous 20 complaints

problem #69

Aug 022021

Malibu

  • miles

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

Car turns off and dashboard blinks. Assisted steering control not engaged lights up.

- Manchester, CT, USA

problem #68

Feb 012021

Malibu

  • 40,000 miles
The contact's daughter-in-law owns a 2018 Chevrolet Malibu. The contact stated that while driving various speeds, the vehicle would shut-off without warning. The contact stated that the vehicle would eventually restart after multiple attempts and would resume normal driving operation. As the failure persisted, the EVAP warning light illuminated on the instrument panel. Upon investigation, the contact discovered NHTSA Campaign Number: 19V642000 (Electrical System, Fuel System, Gasoline, Engine) which he linked to the failure. The vehicle was then taken to a dealer and the contact was informed that the vehicle was not included in the recall. The manufacturer had yet to be notified of the failure. The vehicle had yet to be repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 40,000.

- Hampton, VA, USA

problem #67

Jul 142021

Malibu

  • miles
The car is in park but a message shows, on the instrument panel, "shift to park". The car cannot be locked and the warning message stays on because the car thinks it's not in park. This is a recurring problem that was corrected by pushing on the shifter but now the message is staying on.

- Dearborn, MI, USA

problem #66

May 262021

Malibu

  • miles

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

Engine lost power on interstate highway. While this did not result in a crash/ rear end collision, the potential for such injury seems high. 1-2 days prior there were some warning lights (check engine light). Called a dealership Tuesday morning and earliest service appointment was in one week but they assured me that the car was drivable in the meantime. On Wednesday afternoon my son was driving on the interstate and there was a new message -??engine power reduced-??, and a sudden loss of power. Eventually got the car to nearest Chevrolet dealership. Their technician took over a week to figure out what was wrong; eventually they replaced the ECM but still had problems. After a software update to ECM the problem finally appears to be resolved. Please note that similar problem has been reported with other Malibu models, but my Malibu Hybrid was not recalled. Please consider a recall of all GMmodels similar to the Malibu

- Chestnut Hill , MA, USA

problem #65

May 272021

Malibu

  • miles
whenever i put my car in park, i get a warning message to put my car in park, even though it is already in park. i have to jiggle the shifter for the warning to go away. sometimes i can't even tell if the car is in park or not

- Hilliard, OH, USA

problem #64

May 272021

Malibu

  • miles
The car doesn't start when I press the starter button. It clicks, turns off, and then factory resets all the dash electronics. It's been doing it ever since I got the car and even when at a stop while the car was on, the fuel saving systems will shut off my car at the light but it won't turn back on when I start to lift my foot off brakes.

- Rosemont, CA, USA

problem #63

Apr 272021

Malibu

  • 76,000 miles

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

When I put car in park a message comes up on the dash to shift to park even thou car is already in park. Car has 100K warranty but dealer says this safety switch not covered or recalled. Reading online this seems to be a common problem. Should be recalled.

- King City, OR, USA

problem #62

Mar 172021

Malibu

  • 0 miles
2018 Malibu shift to park message. This issue is very common and people are being charged $700 plus dollars by dealerships to fix. There should be a recall for this problem.

- Phoenix, AZ, USA

problem #61

Apr 062021

Malibu

  • miles
I brought my car back in June. I've been having problems and thinking it's only my battery back to back. I've been stopped in the middle of the street where my car would just come off. One time jso police had to give my car a jump in the middle of the street at a left turning light. My car have stopped on beach blvd which was early in the day in the middle of the street. It got to the point where I had to get a portable jump starter. I looked into it & got brand new parts for so many things and one day it just wouldn't crank anymore. The lights and radio and everything come on and everything but it's not cranking anymore. I called many Chevrolet and was informed by that many 2018 Chevrolet Malibu's were recalled and no dealership in my town is trying to help me. The gas goes out the car very fast and everything. The car has been doing this for months but now it's finally to the point where it won't come on again. I'm only 19 and was just 18 when I brought my car on my own in the first place and now I'm stuck without anything to do.

- Fernandina Beach, FL, USA

problem #60

Apr 062021

Malibu

  • 48,000 miles
During auto stop feature of 20108 Malibu, car will pop up with "steering assist reduced, please drive with care" message and disappear. Car will also shut off at various times during auto stop. Chevy dealership will not calibrate car to fix issue.

- Daytona Beach, FL, USA

problem #59

Mar 282021

Malibu

  • 50,324 miles

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

When the left turning signal is on and foot on brakes the vehicle cuts off all lights on dashboard light up and when you put the vehicle in park and try to recrank a message stated no gasoline.

- Rex, GA, USA

problem #58

Mar 222021

Malibu

  • 51,000 miles
I turned on my car and it said 'reduced engine power' on the screen and I could only accelerate up to 35mph. I was going up hill it felt like my car was barely moving. Turns felt much slower going uphill when driving in residential areas.

- Los Angeles, CA, USA

problem #57

Feb 142021

Malibu

  • 14,000 miles
Drivers seat will not move forward or backwards. Seat is locked in the forward position and will not move backwards.

- Duluth, GA, USA

problem #56

Feb 022021

Malibu

  • 46,407 miles
The onstar system shocked my husband. The car won't start sometimes. The dash board reads different things when attempting to start car. The vehicle was parked in the yard with nothing plugged up to drain the battery.

- Houston, TX, USA

problem #55

Jan 162021

Malibu

  • 29,000 miles
When I'm sitting at a stop light awaiting my turn to proceed with my foot on the break the car is fine. After sitting at the light and it's time to drive, I remove my foot from the break and my car shuts completely off. When I apply a little gas the car turns back on and it malfunctions even more. My dash board goes haywire with different error messages. It says the fuel is low which it is not, I could have a full tank. The back door is unlocked, I've never seen that message before until the malfunction. My blinker tone even changes and my car is reluctant to accelerate. This has occurred twice now.

- St Louis, MO, USA

problem #54

Dec 302020

Malibu

  • miles
While going highway speeds on my 2018 Malibu, I received a notification on my dash that said my engine was losing power. After clearing the notification, my car dropped in mph and I couldn't go faster than 60mph. After a minute or two after that, my mph dropped again and I couldn't go faster than 25 mph while my rpms were spiking at 4000. I took it to a mechanic who said the acceleration sensor is bad and I had to replace my accelerator and was forewarned that this is is going to happen again because it's a factory defect. I know I'm not the only one with this problem given there's a class action lawsuit already out there. But I wanted to add to the masses so Chevy is forced to fix this issue before people get seriously hurt.

- San Diego, CA, USA

problem #53

Jan 032021

Malibu

  • 70,000 miles
When driving, message will appear on dash stating that engine power is reduced. My car will go in to limp mode, and will not increase higher than about 340 RPM, and cannot accelerate faster than 25 mph. Sometimes I have been I have been able to pull over to the side and restart my engine, and this error will go away. There were a couple times where this error did not immediately go away after restarting my engine and I was forced to drive home at 25 mph. Luckily I have no been rear ended yet, but this is a serious issue and is frequent with 2018 Malibu's according to several online articles.

- Pittsburgh, PA, USA

problem #52

Jan 032021

Malibu

  • 52,508 miles
Reduced engine power light came on while driving on highway and loss of power occured. The car was still running, but it slowed down to a stop on the highway. Battery and electric system was still on, but the dash and everything else dimmed out as well. There was no warning and vehicle was driving about 40 mph.

- Round Lake Park, IL, USA

problem #51

Oct 012020

Malibu

  • 57,900 miles
In may of 2020 I took my vehicle to a Chevrolet dealership in woodbridge, va for a ECM recall on my vehicle. After waiting for them to do the recall they stated nothing was wrong with my vehicle. From October to current my vehicle has been doing everything that was stated in the recall which lead me to believe that they never changed the part. My vehicle has shut off on me in the middle of the road almost causing me a accident and most days now it won't even start. I got my battery checked out and my battery tested 100% so I know that wasn't the problem. I called the dealership and they said I would have to pay to get that part replaced. Why should I have to pay when it's only been a couple of months since the recall, something isn't right. Please address this issue. -thank you!

- Landover, MD, USA

problem #50

Nov 012020

Malibu

  • 60,000 miles
The car says it's not in park when you shut it off. The fob seems to not respond sometimes. Sometimes it won't start and tells you to put it into the center console pocket but it still won't respond. It will say there is no fob in the car. I replaced the battery to make sure that wasn't the issue. Even with the fob in the car, it set off the alarm when I tried to start it. It took almost 5 minutes for it to respond to shut the alarm off but it would let me lock the doors while sitting inside it. So it registers the unlock and locking mechanism but nothing else sometimes.

- Apollo, PA, USA

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