Instrument Panel problems of the 2004 Chevrolet Malibu

Some time in December of 2007 the speedometer of my 2004 chevy impala began to malfunction. It is very erratic in that sometimes the needle doesn't move, sometimes it shows 100+mph, sometimes it appears to be accurate, and sometimes it just stays fixed on a speed and doesn't move. We had a mechanic look at it and he said only a dealer could fix it and it would most likely cost over $1,000 to do so. We have chosen to live with it in hopes that Chevrolet will put out a recall.

The contact is CO-owner of a 2004 Chevrolet Malibu maxx. The contact's daughter was driving approximately 55 mph when the instrument panel lights began to flicker and there was a loss of steering power. The vehicle veered to the right and then pulled hard to the left, entering into traffic and striking two vehicles. The passenger and driver of the vehicle sustained minor injuries. The two other drivers also sustained injuries, but the contact does not know to what extent. A police report was filed. The vehicle sustained approximately $2,600 worth of damage to the front end. The vehicle was inspected by the insurance company and towed to a dealer. Investigation number ea04018 was issued, but there has been no recall as of yet. The current and failure mileages were 37,000. Updated 12-12-07.

The contact owns a 2004 Chevrolet Malibu. Immediately after purchasing the vehicle in February of 2007, the exterior and interior lights would lose power intermittently. While driving approximately 50-60 mph, the exterior and interior lights lost power and caused the contact to pull over to the side of the road. She turned off and parked the vehicle for a while and eventually the lights illuminated again. The dealer was unable to duplicate the failure. Approximately a year later, she drove the vehicle back to the dealer due to the exterior and interior lights losing power intermittently. The mechanic replaced the entire instrument panel, but the failure recurred a month later. The vehicle has not been repaired. The dealer and manufacturer were notified and stated that they were not liable for the repairs. The VIN was unavailable. The current mileage was 112,000 and failure mileage was 47,000.

I went to the dealership and traded my Saturn vue for the 2004 Malibu maxx. When I test drove the car, after the acceleration reached 4rpms, there was a high pitched whine from the engine closest to the tire. They looked at it and said that it was a loose belt. So I bought the car and they said to bring it the chevy dealership to get it fixed. I took it in and they said they couldn't duplicate the problem so I had to ride with them. Also, my seat heaters were turning on automatically, car constintly pulls to the right, I have to turn the key over for a long time to get the car to fully start up. They couldn't duplicate any of the problems so I am still dealing with all of them. For the whining noise, they said it is a drive belt that needs to be replaced, but it is out of stock. How convienient.

When the vehicle was started with the remote control dashboard components failed to function when the key was turned in the ignition. The vehicle was taken to the dealership the following day a diagnostic test was performed, but no failure codes were found. The failure recurred 4 months later while turning into a parking space. Also, the steering column locked up. When this occurred, the instrument panel read steering column assistance needed. The consumer then turned the vehicle off, then back on. The vehicle started, but the steering wheel wouldn't move. The steering wheel unlocked when the vehicle was restarted 20 minutes later. The vehicle was taken back to the dealership the following day. The service person indicated that there was a technical service bulletin on this issue, and ordered a new steering column to be installed. The consumer was instructed not to drive the vehicle out of town, in addition, while driving at 1379 miles, the consumer smelled a strong fuel odor. This occurred because the fuel line clip came off, and fuel was leaking. The dealership reinstalled the fuel clip because it wasn't properly installed at factory. Ea04018_cat.