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.
I was driving along a winding curvy road in my area and realized my seat kept rocking to the left and right every time I would go around a curve. It has never done this before. After getting home my husband took a look and could not find anything but it appears one of the bolts in the seat adjustment must be broken or gone as the seat will not move if lowered all the way down but rocks extensively the higher we raise the seat. This becomes a issue for me both ways as I need the higher seat to see clearly and if I do raise it then I am afraid I will get into an accident while trying to drive around corners etc due to the rocking of my seat. Trying to get into Chevrolet dealer to have them look and fix but service dept is backed up.
What can I say I have been writing about this car for the longest. I just want to say the other complaints about the bulbs burning out, the driver's seat breaking at the weld and the seat belt light constantly coming on is an ongoing problem I'm sure GM knew about this. I have complained to deaf ears both to NHTSA and GM. The last time I made a complaint was in May 2014 to both of them about the steering. GM and NHTSA says there is nothing they can do since there was no recall. Exactly 2 weeks later the CEO of GM comes out to say the Malibu maxx is included in the recall! I paid to have my steering wheel replaced in 2007 because of power steering failure, the dealer said I needed the steering column replace and I did to the tune of almost $800. Now a bulletin was sent out to dealers in 2005 about a key insert for any customer who came in to complain about power steering failure, but this was not given to me as a choice. They were sure I needed the steering column replaced, so I did. Now that my car is included in the recall and I paid, perhaps, unnecessarily to have my steering column replaced as anyone know this defective part is part of the steering GM still does not want to reimburse me my money back. I bought the Cadillac catera which was discontinued due to many recalls and because of all my complaints GM gave me $3000 toward a new GM car, which I applied to the Malibu maxx. I won't put my money or given credit toward a GM again, I'm through and since nearly half of my family members are GM owners I am getting them to make their next purchase something other than american made cars. I make sure I tell everyone about my experience so they will think twice about a company who didn't want to invest 90 cents topossibly fix a problem per car.
The seat belt do not lock in case of an accident. The drivers seat rocks while you are driving an adjusts by itself you can not keep the seat still. The welding has come apart from the base. The head lights are melting the bulbs for the signal and running light. I just caught that last weekend the lights stopped working when I look at the bulb it was melted which could have started an fire. I am waiting for the letter for the recall on the stern now. This would be the second time for it. I keep my car up to date with everything oil and whatever need to be done I am on top of it. But I have to many safety issue with it right. Seat belt, stern, drivers seat, headlights. Not only that the rotor warps every six months.
The seat belt do not lock in case of an accident. The drivers seat rocks while you are driving an adjusts by itself you can not keep the seat still. The welding has come apart from the base. The head lights are melting the bulbs for the signal and running light. I just caught that last weekend the lights stopped working when I look at the bulb it was melted which could have started an fire. I am waiting for the letter for the recall on the stern now. This would be the second time for it. I keep my car up to date with everything oil and whatever need to be done I am on top of it. But I have to many safety issue with it right. Seat belt, stern, drivers seat, headlights. Not only that the rotor warps every six months.
Up until all these recent GM recalls came out, I had never had the need to read what other owners have been complaining about. Now I am among those who now have a broken driver's seat frame that drastically leans toward the center console. I am the sole driver of this vehicle, so the seat does not get moved to accommodate other drivers. I weigh about 175#, so my weight should not be an issue either. Since this seat frame failure has happened to so many other Malibu owners, perhaps this should be treated as a serious issue. (my wife has a 2005 Malibu maxx lt as well, so now I'm wondering if this sudden potential breakage is going to plague her vehicle and catch her off guard as it did to me).
- Howell, NJ, USA
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While adjusting drivers power seat, heard a loud snap and the right side of the seat frame seemed to fall down as the left side continued upward...the seat frame broke, apparently at a weld, and now I cannot adjust the seat upward at all as it just tilts to the right as it raises. The seat belts are attached to seat frame and in the event of a crash, there is no reason to expect them to work properly either. I have read lots of complaints of this happening on all Malibu maxx's but, for some reason, the recall that I read about only covers 2005 and 2006 vehicles but the 2004 is identical and suffers the same problem....when is the recall going to be enlarged to cover this problem as the powersteering recall has just been? I just received notice of the power steering recall being expanded to the 2004 and just in time as the car has started alerts.
The weld on the support beam underneath my driver's seat snapped and broke. My seat is now tilted to the right and bobbles every time I go over a speedup or turn. I'm already dealing with the defective power steering failure in which the wheel becomes unable to turn for a few seconds. And parts under recall won't be available till October...worst purchase ever, get it together GM.
I sat down in the front driver's seat and heard a loud snap. The seat immediately dropped down and to the right. The weld on the seat frame just snapped causing the power seat functions to no longer work. Since the seat was moved as far back as possible at the time the frame broke, the bolts that remove the seat from the vehicle are completely covered and not accessible. I am stuck with driving a broken/ unsafe/ unmovable seat or paying over $1000 at the dealership to have this fixed. Because of the safety issue I would be willing to spend the money at the dealership for a new seat but I have absolutely no faith that the new seat will work for long, especially after reading about some people having their seat repaired by the dealership multiple times (spending over $2000 total) and they're still driving around on a broken seat. When are we getting a recall?? the posts describing this issue go all the way back to 2005 and it seems that GM just doesn't care.
Upon raising my power seat something broke. The motor is really loud and when it went up the left side did not go up right and the seat leans to the right into the center console, doesnt feel as though I have any support under right side of seat. I am short and I need to sit up to see over the steering wheel and I now cannot. Seat belt is connected to seat frame and if im in an accident I feel the seat belt will not help. This issue needs to be recalled! read other people have this same issue on this same year.
The drivers seat frame broke on my 2004 Chevrolet Malibu maxx causing it to lean and tilt back to the right toward the center console. It has the 6-way power seat. The 58,795 is less than average for the age of the car. I feel that this is a safety issue since the seat belt attaches to the frame of the seat. I feel that GM should have this on a recall to fix the problem.
I was driving on the highway and all of a sudden the right side of my seat collapsed. I pulled off the road and tried the up and down switch to no avail. The right side of my seat would not raise and I have to drive in an akward position. Went to the dealer and was quoted a price of $1050 which I could not afford. I am continuing to drive this way. I just recently looked on the computer and see that their are many, many compaints and I can't believe that you people, NHTSA, have not considered this a problem and issue a recall notice. Is GM too big or do they offer a good spiff. Terrible, terrible. Because of you many people may get injured or die.
In June the drivers seat began listing to the right and rocking. The dealer looked at it and said it is a broken weld and quoted me $800 to fix it. Then in Sept of 2012 I was trying to maneuver out of a parking lot and the power steering locked up. It was really scary, it took all my might to get to a safe place to stop without hitting anyone. When I restarted it was okay and my mechanic did not see any obvious problem with it. Also the cd player no longer will load up cds although the other functions and info on the little screen work. Also the side mirrors no longer can be adjusted in the vertical plane although they still move horizontally.
The drivers seat upon adjusting sagged to the left and the seat base moved unevenly causing the seat to rock. The seat was previously repaired for the same problem approximately 4 yrs ago. I believe that this is a definite safety issue I believe the seat would not hold up to even a small crash.
Weld broke on seat and fell to the right. Only way to drive was to put the seat all the way to the floor. Have been looking for 2 years for a replacement seat in the junk yard. I have found 4 matching seats over the 2 years, but every one had the frame broken. Problem is that in a severe accident the seat could come unhooked from the car. 2nd problem is that the safety belt hooks to the seat not the car or frame rendering the seatbelt useless. Had it welded 3 times and breaks in less than a month. It is shame that Chevrolet will not do a recall. Probably because they have no solution as it was a poor design. I own 5 Chevrolet vehicles including 3 Malibu's, 2004, 2005 and 2011. None with problems like this.
On Thursday October 17th while driving the seat all of a sudden dropped down on the right hand side, I brought to a repair shop on Monday October 21st to have the seat looked at it. The welds on the right hand side of the seat frame are broken, the cost to fix this is going to be over $1100 because in order to fix the problem I need an entire new seat. After a lot of research I have discovered that this is an issue in the 2004 Chevy Malibu maxx, I found a website that had over 50 complaints of the exact same issue. I feel this should definitely be a recall issue since the welding had broken and seems to be an ongoing issue with this model car this sounds like a manufacturing error since it has occurred frequently with this year and model.
Heard a thump and power seat sagged on right side. Checked under seat and found weld had broken that holds a tube to a bracket. I could see that where the weld pulled loose from the tube it pulled metal from the tube. The weld did not break but pulled metal from the tube. The tube was made from thin gauge metal.
While making a turn at 15 mph drivers seat dropped to floor. Now drivers seat rocks back and in towards center console. Adjusting the height twists the drivers seat to a dangerous angle. Upon inspection it was determined that the seat frame welds broke on the back right corner of seat. An internet search has provided a vast number of complaints regarding this issue. With the seat attached at the seat this will no doubt fail in a moderate impact crash and leave the driver unsecured. This needs to be a recall by Chevrolet.
On February 28, 2013 I took my 2004 Chevy Malibu maxx to a local dealer to have the power seat fixed. The frame broke at the weld during normal use causing the seat to rock, it could not be adjusted, and was a safety hazard since the seat was not anchored. I spoke with a local Chevy dealer before having this fixed and they confirmed that it was a problem, a safety issue, and that Chevy had decided to not take any action on it July 16, 2013--spoke with someone in customer service at Chevy. They said that the problem would have to be documented by a Chevy dealer, although documentation could be provided by the shop that fixed the problem. Chevy said they would of course want to know if there was a safety hazard with the vehicle. But they have no knowledge that this exists, even though the internet posts shows this to be quite a common complaint. Imagine if one were in an accident and the entire seat was ejected.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Mount Washington, KY, USA