general problems of the 2011 Chevrolet Malibu - part 1

This car will start and as you are driving, the car shuts off. No power, no steering. . . Nothing. I was out driving to work and the car died right in the middle of the road in rush hour traffic. I have takent he car to the shop and they had it for over a month, changed the fuel pump and it was still doing the same thing. The mechanic said he can not fix it, that it is an electrical issue. Several people have posted online that this is a manufacture issue and the year of the car is known to have this problem. I own three chevy vehicles and there is something wrong with all three. Absolutely ridiculous! no one stands behind their work. You pay money for a vehicle and the makers want spend a dime to recall something that can kill someone.

My electrical power steering is going out. A “power steering” flashes on my dash. I turn off my car and turn it back on and is able to be steered. However, my steering wheel read only moves/jiggles on its on at idle and in park. When I drive I feel the steering wheel jiggling on it’s on requiring to constantly correct so I stay in the lines.

Hood support strut failed suddenly allowing hood to close forcefully nearly hitting me while working in the engine bay. Vehicle has no positive latch or prop mechanism to prevent hood closing in event of gas strut failure.

My timing belt snapped which broke my gaskets and messed messed up my engine.

I have supposedly had the recall fixed. But when using the cruise control my car will not shut down the cruise unless I stomp on the brake or use the off button on my steering wheel. So I am wondering why I should have to pay big dollars for something that was supposedly done???.

Several times now my 2011 Malibu goes into limp mode, at the same time the esc/tsc lights come on. It has left me stranded in the middle of intersections. Sometimes I can turn the car off and start it again and it sees to reset something because it begins to work again. It happens mostly at lower speeds or sitting in idle at light. Sometimes when I feel it stat to happen I put the car in neutral and rev it to 1500-2000 rpm, then I put it in gear and I can get going. Now I can't get the car to stay running. Shuts off as soon as I start it.

I was driving on the free way going 65 mph. When I got a message saying traction control and that the engine was losing power. The car then stopped accelerating until it can to a complete stop in a matter of seconds. It almost got me rear ended since the cars are going fast and it lost al speed and power.

Multiple front head light replacement in short period of time within 3 to 4 months replaced 3 times. Noticed warping of faceplate by audio equipment so had to replace that. Then came back from vacation and drove my car for about 20 minutes, parked I went inside store and my daughter was in the car when she said it jumped and then turned off. When I turned it on it said "engine power reduced" "service traction" "service esc" I drove it to get home. Next morning it was fine to get to work short distance, on way home in hotter time of day (live in arizona) it did it again. Only 20 miles an hour maxium and gulping gasoline. I was in my car with my 13 year old and it was dangerous as we were driving and all of a sudden we were reduced to 20 mph or less and were almost rear-ended various times, caught mid transition from yellow to red light while making left turn. Very scary. Mechanic drove it and said after only 10 to 20 minutes of driving it did the same thing. Mechanic he ran tests and found relay fuse box issue. Tried to order and was told it was on "national back-order" because this was the same problem many of my vehicle year make and model were experiencing. I had to get rental for 20 days which cost in excess of $500 and wait for part. Pay for parts $223 and labor. These expenses cause incredible financial hardship and stress. Recepts did not go through and screen shots of panel because of size, please reach out so I can provide.

My vehicle has approx. 91,500 miles. Upon starting the car recently, an error appeared saying "service traction" and "engine power reduced. " the vehicle could not go above 35 mph and the traction control system was disabled. Upon inspection by the dealership, they discovered the sunroof drain tubes had shrunk and water had accumulated in the floorboard, eventually leading to corrosion. I have researched this issue and found several other drivers reporting issues with the drain tubes becoming disconnected and causing leaks. I have also found several instances where drivers lost engine power on the highway. If this were to happen, it could easily cause a crash.

The esc turns off pretty much every time I drive the car. Last Monday the check engine light came on when the transmission was slipping m. The the transmission would no longer shift and the solenoid is stuck open while driving home from work. Prompting the dealership to try and sell me a whole new $5,000 trans. When the car only has 130,000 miles on it. The transmission has been running slow on acceleration but has never been stuck in first gear leaving me left on the side of the road waiting for help to come get me. The headlight burn out like every 6 months resulting in taking off the bumper or paying $200 from the dealership for a $5 bulb. I have no pictures since my car is at the dealership waiting for me to either go get or pay for the transmission.

My 2011 chevy Malibu burning oil I keep having add oil to car on top that timing belt broke chances out exhaust camshaft possible sensor out 2-3 times and code remain later chain guides broke seen 2. 4l equinox had recall due to burning oil not sure timing chain brake but heard alot complain about chain guides breaking also seat backing keep calling off latches for them fail every time car just gave me alot of problem control arm going out. Car was made cheap and wasn't meant to last. Car broke down timing chain snapped. Burnt oil smell when turn car on coming throw ac when on. 2. 4 l ecotec motor is problem as well power train transmission break reverse wave gear making it a costly repair.

Stabilitrak control turned on change all spark plugs and wires plus coils. Ran fine 1 week again stabilitrak flashing engine in limp mode. Took ro mechanic replaces lifters cam shaft. One week later again. Rebuild complete motor and still displaying same issue!!!! truck is a lemon.

My passenger side headlight keeps going out. I have changed the connector and bulbs multiple times same problem keeps occurring for the past 2 years. It turns on if I hit a bump and goes right back out. I changed the bulbs again today stayed on all day until I moved my car. My car was stationary.

Financing a car through dealership and found out the odometer has been rolled back odometer reading 62,634 when purchased 2 months ago and it still reads the exact same now. Looked up VIN number and in may 2019 mileage was reported as 63,789.

When we are driving the car it will start shaking, the esc light comes on and the car completely dies. This has happened while driving 15 mph and 70 mph on city streets and highways. We have had it in multiple shops and been told this is a common issue nobody has found a resolution for. Very dangerous and afraid to put our kids in the car as we don't know when it will do it, there hasn't been a common variable.

My car suspension system is bumpy and shakes very bad when I am driving it in the city streets and brake is poor does not have a light brake to step easy for a slow stop I am having a problem driving my car its not smooth ride I am afraid of my car its going to give me a problem.

While driving service traction and service esc lights come on and car starts driving weird and doesn't feel safe!.

Car continues to go into reduced engine power and will not drive/run longer than five minutes. I have already had all recalls fixed on the vehicle including the one that supposedly fixed this problem.

I was driving down troy Ave in illinios when my car all of a sudden lost power and said engine reduce and and steering wheel got stiff. I went all the way from 60 to 20 mph and almost crash and got hit from behind. I have had this problem non stop after fix after fix. But nobody seems to know the problem. Then my head light go in and out on the right side ever since I had it fixed over and over.

Driving car and the service ecs and service traction light came on. Then the engine light came on. Had car towed and repaired then 3 weeks later all the same lights came on along with engine power has been reduced. I was driving the car when this happened, once again got car to dealer. Repaired it, the a few days later the car stalled. Would start but would not stay running.

I brought this vehicle three years ago from the original owner with 60,000 miles kept up with all the maintenance etc. And today the vehicle left me stranded a few blocks from my house . I currently have a no start no cranking issue all the diagnostic from fuses, relays , fuel pressure, ignition switch, battery, etc where done leading us too believe its a bcm issues as too seeing that many other chevy Malibu and other gm products are experiencing these same issues.

Passenger side headlight continues to come on and go out. Replaced the harness and bulb 5/2018. It may be on for 1 or 2 days and is out again. Especially if the road is bumpy.

When I start the car the traction control light comes on esc comes up and says it turned off . When stationary it will just die, when driving it will just die doesn't matter if I'm going 75mph on the highway or in the middle of an intersection of city streets!!!!! took it to the dealership they have no clue what's wrong with it I've add mechanics tell me it's my computer but they don't work on my make of a car. The car may start up or not. I've read of a recall for this particular problem back in 2014 for this make, model, and year. They said they fixed? and this happened when I first bought the car in 2016 after they kept it for 90days for the seat belt recall.

Driving on the expressway at 55 miles per hr car lost all power and came to a stop on the highway. This happened twice 8 months apart. First time car was still under warranty and they replaced a rear fuse box thinking that was the problem. Apparently it wasn't because it happened again they kept the car for two weeks and could not find the problem and returned the car to us. We tried to escalate this issue gm headquarters who refuse to help us.

While driving, a notice of reduced power, service traction and the check engine light came on. Pulled the car off the side of the road and shut it off, upon restart the whole car started shaking. I then shut it off for a few minutes, this time when I restarted only the check engine light was one. There are several reports of this issue and no fix from gm. This is a major risk when a car stalls out on the highway with a small child on board.

My son was driving his vehicle and the computer assisted power steering went out. Fixed at doug Chevrolet 1-12-2018. Now (after the warranty repair of a steering shaft torque sensor) when driving four days later he lost power, vehicle flashed service traction and reduced power and slowed immediately from 45 to 5 mph and he was able to limp it home. The loss of power while driving was immediate and drastic and cars behind him were able to slow down but it could have caused a severe accident.

My chevy Malibu has had two leaking steel rims. The first time one of my rims was leaking it was while it was parked. I kept putting air in my tire and would not stay for long. I had to add air at least 2-3 times a day. The second time this happened the vehicle was moving. I was on a road trip when my tire started to slowly loose air and I had to fill it up a few times just to make it home since steel rims for my chevy Malibu are so hard to find since its a very common problem that Chevrolet has yet to address.

Ever since purchasing my 2011 chevy Malibu, it has always had a problem shifting. I took it back to the dealership and they tested it saying nothing was wrong. I told them it seemed like it had a hard time shifting gears especially going from 2nd to 3rd. I could be at a stop light and it acted like it didn't want to go. I was driving to work and it started to over heat and stopped shifting gears. It wouldn't shift until I got the speedometer up to 95. Imagine being in the middle of the highway and your car just stops shifting gears. I went to three different places to be told nothing was wrong just to have this happen. After taking it to my mechanic, I was told that it needed a wave plate repair which would mean rebuilding the transmission. I took my car to 3 different places all quoting me the same amount of $3000. While at two of the auto shops I ran into 3 other people with Malibu that are having the exact same problems and my car and theirs has less than 100k miles.

Transmission failure at 55,000 miles.

The sensor for airbags does not recognize me all the time sometimes it will but most the time wont.

The service esc and traction sensors flash, check engine light flashes. The car loses power and lurches and bucks. The car runs really rough and sounds horrible! the dealer said the fuel injectors needed $1700 worth of cleaning, but didn't mention any of the stuff we found from our research.

Heating/air doesn't want to blow unless a window or sunroof is open and car is in motion.

This is not a complaint about a vehicle. It is to point out something that NHTSA should address, and that daytime running lights. My question why doesn't NHTSA require them on every vehicle. Just open your eyes on a rainy day, or any day at dusk, and notice how many drivers forget to turn on their lights. Especially when they come out of a well lighted shopping center onto a highway and haven't realized they haven't turned their lights on. If you don't think this is a problem, I can cite four instances where it has resulted in crashes resulting in death and that is only in my small part of the world.

1. My car is 5 year old and 73,000 miles. We use it for commuting to work and grocery. And we do all the maintenance at dublin Chevrolet dealership. On Nov 11th, my car broke down on the highway and blocked the traffic. The front trunk was smoking. The car was towed to dealership. They said possible engine problem. Although the car is just out of warranty, it is hard to believe that this car has no quality problem with such few years and relatively low mileage. 2. A few months ago, I received a recall notice from the car making company and took the car to the dealership to get the recall done. But they said the part has not arrived and asked us to wait until they call us. We never get call from them. This time, I called their recall department and left a message. Never hear back from them.

Car turns itself off when it feels like it. Put in park to restart and will not even turn over. May last as long as 5min. To 40 min. Then ready to call tow truck, try once more. . . Starts right up. Happens more and more the last week. Have had complain to customer service, had voucher to put on computer to check that. Was told car working fine. Happened 5 times on trip, turned off going around a corner, at a stop sign 3 times, and in garage, would not turn over. It locks itself in park. Last time my husband just put it into neutral as rolling down a hill, and not park and it started up. The worse time was at a stop sign in 90 degree weather and it turned itself off, put in park to start, and no turning the over at all. Locked in park with no way to get it out of park. Lots of angry drivers behind me. Have no pictures, and have been keeping in touch with dealership with the on-going problem. I think it is the ignition or sensor somewhere to the shift lever. So afraid it will stall on the highway doing the speed limit. All this started around 30,000 miles to date of 43,000 miles, only getting worse.