Owners/service Manual problems of the 2008 Chevrolet Malibu

I was parking my car and I proceeded to put my car in reverse "r" but the gear control would not stay locked into position, nor would the car reverse. It was moving freely between gears but would not lock into position. I then placed the gear control back into park "p" where it would stay push the emergency brake down and turned the car off. When the tow company arrived he manually put the car "shift cable" back where it needed to go in order for the car the gear control to function properly, but once again it would not stay into place. Thankfully I was in a parking lot when this occurred, but this is extremely dangerous, because if the car were to stop in the middle of the road and the shifter cable came loose I would have no way of putting the car into neutral or anything to get the car to a safe place. I had the car towed to my mechanic and he was able to partially rectify the situation.

Turn signal isn't operating correctly, it no longer cuts off automatically, three of my four door latches aren't working--don't respond to key fob (the one that works), have to lock all three doors manually. Check engine light comes on after filling up car and has been on for about 7 months with no one at the dealership knowing why. Also have a problem with water settling in my car every time it rains. Key fobs both went out also but only one is now working at 75%. All of these problems have been going on since I first got the car with the dealership either pretending as if I did it or that they do not have enough staff to correct the problem. I know this was only done because I am a female and the car was under warranty. I am so disappointed!!! I bought this car brand new with only 100 miles on it and it seems as if gm wants their dealerships to do this. I know so many people with the same problems from the same parent manufacturer (tahoe, enclave, impala, Malibus) this car seems to have a lot of minor/major problems that all rear their ugly heads at various times of ownership. . Thinking about getting rid of it even though it was my dream car and almost paid for!!!! gm needs to get on the ball!!!.

I am having the same issue as many on the chevy. Com website. The issue has to do with the door locks not locking. The power door locks attempt to pull the lock down but have lost the ability to consistently do so. It is tot he point where the only way to lock the door is to manually do so. This wouldn't be an issue if the car hasn't already trained you to be use to the doors automatically locking when the car is put in drive and lock with the key fob while walking away from the car with a click and a honk. There are some safety issues here as you aren't quite sure when you car is locked or not. The number of complaints of this same issue was disturbing when I logged onto the chevy. Com forum which discuss such issues. A recall seems inevitable and very much needed for safety reasons.

Rear doors will not lock when put in gear or at highway speeds or unlock when put in park. Only will lock or unlock manually. The dealer told me that there is no recall on this problem. The rear lock solenoids go bad. And that they have been selling and installing a lot of them. The solenoids are part of the rear door latch. I paid for two new solenoids and installed them . Problem fixed. The parts number has been updated four times? I feel gm should have repaired this at no charge. Why is this not a safty problem ?.

Passenger doors will not lock (or unlock ) with the remote or manual push button switch on drivers arm rest. The only way to lock (or unlock) rear doors is crawl over front seats to manually pull up lever on back side of door. Or. . . . . . . Use the electric windows and lower rear windows to reach in from outside. . . . . . Which anyone that lives in a cold climate knows you don't lower an electric window in cold weather. . . . . Have been to the dealer numerous times and they refuse to cover anything. . . . . What if I have my grandson strapped in a car seat in the back seat and an emergency arises ? how do I "quickly" get him out??? this is a very common situation with the chev. Malibus. Plus there are numerous issues with the front end and steering components.

The power door locks do not lock or unlock when the vehicle gear shift is put in park or drive. The first lock became disabled while under warranty and was repaired. . Now the remaining (3) three power locks do not function. . They stopped functioning when the warranty ended. . . I did not repair them because the cost is a few hundred dollars per lock. . I have to turn the car ignition off while the transmission is in drive and then put the shifter in park. Otherwise I have to go around to each door and lock them manually. . Very embarrassing. . Not certain of the possible safety hazard though.

The driver door locks stopped working. When I brought to the dealer to repair, it was determined the actuator no longer worked properly and it was repaired under warranty. After another six months, the passenger side went out, the unit was no longer under warranty. The following year the same problem recurred on the driver side. Today, neither side works nor do the key fobs. The cost to repair is $350 per lock. After reseraching this seems to be a recurring and noted issue with gm. The manual states "unlocked doors can be dangerous". Many Malibu owners have lodged complaints on independant sites including Chevrolet Malibu forum.