general problems of the 2004 Chevrolet Malibu - part 1

The driver side seat that is welded to the frame of the car has broke. The right side of my drivers side seat now collapses when driving which is extremely dangerous not to mention the seatbelt is attached to the right side of the seat and buckled into it which is now collapsed which could cause a major issue if I was to ever get into an accident. I have done some reasearch online and this appears to be a common issue amongsts most 2004 Malibu owners. I am the second owner and I get the car is close to being 20 years old but mine only has 60k miles the drivers seat weld should not just detach and collapse while driving on a practically brand new car. Not to mention I am an average sized man 200 lbs 5 foot 7 on top of that I enquired to fix it at my local Chevrolet dealer and it will cost well over 1000 dollars based on a verbal estimate. I can jerry rig the seat to not collapse but that doesnt stop the fact that god forbid im in an accident my drivers seat could potentially become detached hurling myself and the seat into the window causing severe bodly harm or worse death. Please look into this as im sure many other people have this same problem it is a faulty weld in the drivers seat and needs to be adressed by the manufacturer Chevrolet.

The 6 way front drivers seat has failed 6 times since 2006. The most recent incident was 3/15/2019. The first failure was in 2007. The welds that support the frame break and I have replaced the seat 3 times, welded 3 times. This is a significant safety issue as it has occurred while driving after hitting a bump and caused me to loose control of the car. I am reporting this now as the dealers ignore this as an issue and just want over a $1000 to replace the same defective part which will fail again. Nhtsa is my last hope that lives will be saved. This is not an unusual problem as there are many reports of this defect.

"takata recall" my 2004 Malibu does not have working cruise control , my wiring is barely working as in my locks won't work , my heat we only blows cold air on defrost my defrost barely clears my windows , my t\c light is the only light that stays on all the time and I barely have traction while driving if I'm trying to accelerate getting on the highway my wheel will lock or barely move and I have to let completely off the gas to free the wheel I get any alerts on my spedometer.

Had been noticing progressively worsening sag in seat over past week. Got in car this evening and felt seat kind of pop. Seat now sags to back and to right. Found broken bracket on right front of driver seat frame; partly broken weld and partly "ripped" metal.

The driver's seat frame is broken. The adjuster only raises the left side. In speaking with other Malibu owners, this is a very common problem in both the sedan and maxx versions of this vehicle.

Side of the seat frame is broken. Happened while car was in motion.

The front driver electric seat sags to down and to the right. Bar across the bottom of front seat near motor as broken right near the weld. Right before where it bolts down. Car was purchased and they this issue was found.

Tl-the contact owns a 2004 Chevrolet Malibu maxx. The contact stated that the driver seat frame welds fractured. The vehicle was taken to the dealer. The technician verified the failure and replaced the seat frame. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 134,360. Pm.

Attempting to adjust the driver's seat back it snapped and dropped on the right side, closest to the center column. Driver;s seat now tilts towards the right. Mechanic said it will not pass a safety inspection. Upon reading NHTSA reviews by other owners of the same model there are multiple reports of the same incident. This really should be recalled.

The driver's seat frame weld on the front right corner has broken and the seat tilts to the side.

Underneath the front seat where a small pipe connecting the seat to the rails broke off at the weld. This made the driver seat to lean to the right and moves from side to side while driving. It's very unstable! it will be a cause of death or injury since the seat belt is part of the system. Upon closer look, it appears the job was not done properly. Poor welding and poor workmanship is very obvious upon inspection. A quick search in the internet shows it's a common problem on chevy Malibu. This needs to be recalled as it poses danger to the driving public.

While driving i5 north I adjusted my electronic front seat for more comfort, and when I did I found the seat moving closer to the dash board, I couldn't stop it or reverse it so I frantically went from the fast lane to the shoulder of the road almost crashing into someone. When I stopped I found myself almost trapped between the steering wheel and the seat my legs were almost jammed into the underside of the dash board and the electronic seat non responsive. What I found out was that the switch had come off the control knobs and when that happens the seat went all the way forward and you have no control over it. Somebody should look into this matter. There is no recalls for this but there should be.

I sat down in the vehicle and found that the drivers seat was leaning. I looked on line to see if I could fix it myself. I found a lot of complaints that the welds break and this is a common problem with these vehicles. I contacted Chevrolet and they told me I had to have the vehicle checked by a chevy dealer. I brought the vehicle in and they told me that the seat welds did break. I am not an overly heavy person, so I thought that even though the vehicle was older, that this is a design problem, and not an age or neglect problem by the owner. Chevrolet told me that since the car was too old, I was responsible for getting it fixed. This is a safety issue, as if I get in an accident with the vehicle, the fact that the seat belt is attached to the seat, and the seat is not secured, I can be hurt badly. If I were the only person with the problem, I could see why I should fix it. Since this is a known problem with these vehicles, it appears that it is a design flaw, and poor quality workmanship from Chevrolet. I have attached the web site that I saw the complaints on. . Read more...

Noticed the driver's seat no longer aligned properly: right side is down and back. Inspection shows a seat frame weld broken at the forward cross bar where it is welded to the side frame. The metal crossbar tube broke away leaving the weld intact on the frame, indicating insufficient strength in the design and materials, based on my professional mechanical engineering background. Internet research indicates broken welds on these driver seats to be a growing problem, often leaving the seat unstable, and negatively affecting the driver's control on the vehicle. This should be a prime safety recall issue!.

Noticed the seat tilted to the right and looked underneath to discover a broken weld on the front cross member of the seat frame. My wife is a petite woman and drives it most of the time. There was no accident or incident, it was just a poor weld.

Possible defect in the construction of the front seat. Seatbelt attached to seat; now useless. Noticed other drivers have posted the same issue. Front seat tips to the right. While driving ,the seat wobbles; seat appears to move as accelerating and moves when braking. Possible defect in seat. Have read other complaints; same issue; where is the recall letter?.

The contact owns a 2004 Chevrolet Malibu. While driving at various speeds, an abnormal noise emitted from the driver side seat. The contact also stated the driver side seat moved intermittently and leaned to the right. The vehicle was taken to a dealer who diagnosed that the frame section needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 130,000.

The contact owns a 2004 Chevrolet Malibu. The contact stated that the front driver's seat wobbled and was unstable while operating the vehicle. The failure occurred constantly. An independent mechanic stated that the brackets needed to be welded and re-mounted on the frame to fully secure the seat. The mechanic stated that the frame and brackets were entirely rusted and the seat needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 100,000.

I was making a right turn when something under my seat popped and flung me to the passenger's side. When I got to my destination, I looked under the seat to find the horizontal metal bar on the seat frame snapped at the weld.

Tl- the contact owns a 2004 Chevrolet Malibu. The contact stated that while driving 60 mph, the driver¿s seat moves back and forth independently. The contact mentioned that after inspecting the vehicle, it was found that drivers seat only had three metal brackets instead of the four it suppose to have. The vehicle was taken to the dealer. The manufacturer was made aware of the defect and did not offer any assistance. The VIN was not available. The failure mileage was 120,000. Pam.

While driving down the expressway at approximately 70mph I hit a dip in the road heard a loud pop from under the front driver's seat. The seat dropped to the right causing me to nearly lose control of the vehicle. I really think that there should be some sort of recall on this vehicle as there have been numerous complaints about this seat incident. First search on google brought up this website which may be of concern to you. Please look at this sincerely and consult with gm and issue a recall or something. This is going to get someone killed if its not fixed now. This is an obvious design flaw as when I inspected the support bar it was only welded on either corner of the bracket holding it on. There should have been a full and proper weld placed in this location as they had to know it would be a heavy stress point.

The driver side seat fell down off the track on the right side. Like where it should have been welded better.

Frame on drivers seat failed while adjusting seat. Seat no longer firmly attached to frame, risk of going through windshield in front end crash since seat no longer attached.

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).

Something in the support brackets of the front seat snapped, and the seat now tilts to the side and rocks when turning in corners.

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.

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.

Driver seats tilts to the right and can not adjust forward or backward. Had it repaired at my local mechanic (re-weld) at a cost of $214. 00. Now it is broken again.

The contact owns a 2004 Chevrolet Malibu. The contact stated that an unknown bar that was under the driver¿s seat became fractured and caused the seat to become unstable and wobble while the contact was driving at unknown speeds. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The VIN was not available. The failure mileage was unknown.

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.

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.

While making a turn at 15mph 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.

First off, everwhere I look online somone has problems regarding the Chevrolet Malibu maxx's seats. I was going about 30mph and I heard a pop cone from the drivers side seat frame when I turned a corner. The weld on one of the supporting bars poped off again after trying to weld it again which leads me to believe that the metal bar that broke was to weak and should not have been put in at the factory. I believe very strongly that these seats should be fixed because it is a major safety hazard and a financial burdon on those seeking to get it fixed. Thank you for reading my concerns.

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. 00 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.

I purchased this vehicle in 2006 with 17,000 miles at the carmax superstore in naperville illinois and have had several serious issues since. The leaking sunroof with the innumerable failed attempts at repair. The leak has never been resolved and I have resorted to covering the vehicle with a tarp during inclement weather. The constant clicking noise in the steering when moving the steering wheel back and forth and the severe stiffness in the steering wheel when curb side parking between parked vehicles. The intermittent ignition failure, the vehicle will not turn over unless you depress the accelerator slightly. There were countless futile attempts at repair for all these defects through out the years of warranty and extended warranty coverage. The failed attempts of correctly diagnosing and properly repairing these defects by the englewwood auto group in englewood new jersey have left me unsatisfied and super frustrated. Today I am writing because the operators seat has now tilted to the right and is leaning against the center console. There was nothing of significance that occurred while driving that immediately alerted me of this problem, I was simply adjusting the seat when I noticed that the seat was rubbing against the center console. Upon inspecting underneath the seat I observed that the right rear corner does not rise when engaging the electric seat controls. The angle of the lean is so bad that it affects my posture and pains my lower back. I am also afraid that the seat will completely collapse while I am driving. When the seat is lowered all the way down it does level to its acceptable norm, but at 5 feet 4 inches tall I cannot operate safely that low to the floor. For a vehicle that is driven on average once a week it is plagued with some serious manufacturer defects that the dealerships' service department is unable or unwilling to repair.