general problems of the 2011 Chevrolet Malibu - part 2

The vehicle was in motion going about 40 mph and hit another moving vehicle. Most of the damage was done to the headlight area on the left side of the Malibu. Moderate damage to the Malibu but the drivers side airbag did not deploy.

Transmission parts internally broke causing transmission to fail while driving and losing ability to move. Transmission was rebuilt at a specialty shop for over $4600 in repair costs. Only 73k miles on the car when transmission died. Vehicle was in motion on a city street when this happened. Transmission specialists said this is becoming a known issue with newer gm vehicles.

Sloshing sound in dash. Repairs-water pump,thermostat and thermostat housing, $850. 00 August 2015, loss power steering and traction. Sdm(air bag module) replaced $965.

Bought the car in February 2013. In June 2014 while driving on the highway it started saying service traction control . Car stalled and stopped. It did this 3 times on the highway. Changed tires . In July 2015 on the highway it did the same thing. Got the full body throttle changed. In November 2015 had taken to another shop. Langs tire and automotive. They changed the full body throttle again. Now January 4, 2016. The car is stalling try push gas when this happens and doesn't accelerate. The service esc light is on now. . I also have 3 kids and a grandbaby that rides in this car. I'm just so irritated. Then to see how many other people are having same exact problems. They should refund everyone their money back on these cars. Evidently they were not made right in the first place.

Car lost power at 65 mph than reduced power and engine light came on turn car off after trying to coast to ta stop with cars and trucks flying by honking there horn and flicking me off and I was helpless the cars motor was shut off because of the power reduce and esc than the traction control can on too all need to be serviced fine but than it did it all again after I got everything fixed and then the throttle body had to replaced again and peddle sensor and traction control sensor and still does it the car is trying to kill me and the new mechanic I took it to said he sees this a lot and its sometimes hard to fix because it comes back and than I read online the same thing I thought he was trying to get more money out of me why wont Chevrolet help gm help government needs to step in and make these car places fix this stuff befor a lot of people get killed.

I was driving down a side residential street, when I went to park noticed that the car was stuck in reverse. I wasn't able to put the car in park. The shifter began shifting into different gears and felt as there was no catch. I turned the car off because I didn't know what had happened. The key was stuck in the ignition, because couldn't put the car in park. I exited the car and the car started to roll backwards and hit the car behind me. I applied the emergency brake and the car still rolled in reverse. So I unhooked the battery cables and applied bricks behind the tires. I had a mechanic come to see what happened and he stated that this had been a recall on prior years of this model, but not the year of my car. I am afraid to drive the car and I went to the chevy dealership in which they nothing about this part, but state many people have complained and nothing has been done. It is unsafe with this defect. The cable comes off the hook and you will not be able to apply a shift to any gear and the car will accelerate regardless. I don't want to put my infant in this car knowing that is a defective part that chevy should fix. Not to mention the car seatbelts are a malfunction. Chevy this really needs to be looked at for this year make and model.

Takata recall. . . I have had problems with this electronic stability control/traction control for almost 2 years had it repaired once and now its doing the same thing also my head light on the passage side keep going out.

Took my car in to dealer because it started shaking violently going 20 mph, needed a new transmission is what I was told, had the transmission put in and now the esc, and other lights are on!.

While driving the vehicle I suddenly felt a light jerking sensation. The service esc and service traction control lights immediately came on. The vehicle jerked to a stop. Once the vehicle was turned off and then restarted the indicator lights are gone. I've had this problem several times in the past two months and have had it in the shop. The certified Chevrolet dealership changed the front wheel bearing. The car did well for a little over a week. Now the problem is reoccurring. The dealership also found codes for a fuel injection failure but were not able to "duplicate" the codes so no repair was performed on that. The service esc and service traction control problem is dangerous. If I didn't have to go to work I wouldn't drive the car. It's a safety hazard as I am a long distance commuter. I have had all service and recalls completed since purchasing the car a little over a year ago. Dangerous!! I'm hopeful that our government officials will force gm to issue a recall to remedy the issue before people lose their lives.

Fuel pump failed(stopped working completely) while parked at the community center. Luckily I was not driving when this occurred. This is as serious an issue as the ignition switch problem if not more so. I,see more complaints about the same problem, and they are driving at the time of failure. Cars should not be having this many fuel pump issues at the time they are occurring. The problem is compounded when the vehicle runs poorly and is misdiagnosed for another problem and unnecessary repair. Please make gm acknowledge this problem.

On 3/28/15 I purchased a 2011 chevy Malibu from rainbow Chevrolet in laplace louisiana. When test driving the vehicle, I noticed a very small and hardly noticeable jerk when the car changed into 2nd gear. I was told by the salesman that it was normal and I took his word for it. Almost 7 months later, the issue has gotten 1000 x¿s worse and the engine light is now on. I know for a fact that this is not normal now. The jerk is violent and it now jerks when putting the car in park, drive and reverse. Pulling off slowly, makes the car jerk very hard. If you apply more gas when taking off,the jerk is not as bad but it's still bad. The car did not come with a warranty but I was ok with that because I was told that car had been inspected thoroughly, that an elderly couple previously owned the car, that there was nothing wrong with the car and I had also just gotten rid of a 2005 Malibu that I bought brand new in which I had no serious problems with. I purchased this car for my daughter in college. This car is not safe. I have read hundreds of complaints online and on the Chevrolet Malibu forum in regards to the same problem as well as other problems. The car currently has 53,803 miles which is not very much in car years and I do not feel that I should have to pay for this problem since there are so many issues documented that I am having. Last but not least, I am unable to fill up the car with gas. It stops at about ¼ tank and starts to spill out. This was noticed shortly after I bought the car also. I bought this car for my daughter who is in college and it is definitely not safe to drive. I am a single mother and I do not have the resources to repair a vehicle with issues that should be part of a recall list.

Service air bag light turned on and has remained on when car was started one day. It was not involved in any accidents, collisions, etc. Coincidentally, the light appeared after the oil was changed and the computer reset for oil change.

2011 Malibu. I have multiple instances of the service esc, service traction control & engine power reduced messages appearing. It happens at various times. The car will start sputtering and jerking then the different codes start flashing on the console. The car reduces speed and will not go over 20 mph. It's happened multiple times on side streets and highway going speeds in excess of 65 mph and when taking my daughter to school. You never know when it's going to happen an d is becoming extremely irritating and an inconvenience. On the first incident, I took the vehicle to the dealer which they replaced the throttle body. Less than two months went by and the problem started again. Went back to the dealer in April, 2015 and in may 2015 in which they told me nothing was wrong and they couldn't replicate the problem. As of 5/24/15 the problem is still not fixed. Out of 265 complaints on here, I find that 103 of them is this exact problem therefore there is obviously a serious issue with the manufacturing of this vehicle. This is very dangerous and gm needs to address this issue before someone dies or is seriously injured.

My car will not start. It turns over but won't start. Battery is fully charged, gas tank full, wiring is good, spark plugs are brand new, just won't start and I don't know why.

I was slowing down at a very busy intersection, traveling at about 10mph. Suddenly the car started to shake violently and when I pressed on the gas as traffic started to move again, the car would barely crawl forward. The reduced engine power light and traction control light came on. I managed to pull into a parking lot and turned the engine off. I turned it back on and the same problem occurred. Again, I turned the engine off and on and this time the car seemed to drive as normal, however the check engine light remained on. I'm just happy that I wasn't travelling at a higher speed and that no one hit me from behind when this occurred. I have read on chevy forums that many people are having the same problems. Hopefully chevy can find an answer to this problem before someone gets seriously hurt.

Since I purchased my vehicle back in 2015 (used) I have had ongoing steering issues. The steering feels much looser than most vehicles. It has almost taken me off of the road several times. I have had mechanics look at the car and they have all suggest I take it into chevy for diagnostics since it is electrical steering. There is a recall for the steering on this exact year, make and model, though it says my VIN was not affected. It is a huge concern for myself to have this steering corrected as I have a toddler in my back seat. When roads are wet, uneven pavement, or the weather windy. . My car pulls off the road drastically I have to grip my steering wheel so hard to the point my hands turn red from grabbing so tightly in order to maintain somewhat control of this vehicle. . With this year. Make and model having steering recalls, I request chevy honors my request to have my vehicle inspected by a licensed chevy dealer to determine what the issue is. This has been an issue since purchasing the vehicle and I find it unlikely that I have the same exact issues as the recall though a completely different issue. I am afraid this will cause me to lose control of my car and wreck. Higher speeds (for example on the freeway) make the steering almost unmanageable and difficult to control. I have spoke to numerous chevy Malibu owners who have had this exact issue with their recalls. I have reached out to Chevrolet directly to express my concerns and it was disregarded, they said my VIN was not effected so it couldn't be the issue.

This has happened 3 times in 1 year. I'm driving at low speeds between 25-50 when my engine almost cuts off completely. A loud thumping (like a mis fire) and my dash lights come on and read service svc, engine power reduced. Both times the car has done this it has left me stranded. I had my car in the shop they said they tightened the "wiring harness" well how convient that now that my bumper to bumper is gone they wanna replace the throttle body. This is unsafe and is going to cause a wreck and kill someone. If I would have been pulling out into major traffic and this happened I would have gotten hit and killed.

I have a 2011 Chevrolet Malibu and when it rain the driver side on the inside always gets wet. Its the left side only that has water on it. This is becoming a problem because I only have has this car for a year. Yes it does have a sunroof but no water is coming from the sunroof. I have heard several of times it could be the drain tube.

Ac / heat was working fine then all the sudden it quit working without warning. No noise, no indication what so ever it was bad. I took it in and the relay was bad so it had to be replaced. Now 7 months later, all the sudden went out again. Hard to believe that this happened again. There has to be a reason it keeps failing. This is an expensive part to be replacing so often,can't defrost or defog windows when neededd.

2011 Malibu was acting like it was not getting enough gas or bad spark plugs. Then the check engine light came and other indicator lights. Had a diagnostics ran and said that the fuel pump had a pin hole. Replace the fuel pump, got a tune-up ran good for a couple of days. Went to start the car again and it once again started acting as if it was not getting enough gas and engine light once again came on, service esc, service traction. When driving on the highway it will sometimes slow down from the current speed. Found a recall concerning the service esc, but the dealer said they do not think it has anything to do with that. This started when all of the code started popping up.

Power locks don't work! the remote key chain button will unlock the doors but will not lock the doors. I can't even use the power locks on the driver door to lock the doors on the inside. I have to lean over to the passenger side to lock the doors then get out of the car and check the handle to make sure my doors are locked. The remote key chain will not lock the doors! also, the trunk release will not work on the remote key chain or in the car. I have to use the key to unlock the trunk. . .

Since March 2014, I had instances where the chevy Malibu I was driving warned me on the dash that I needed to service the esc. It would tell me esc turned off and traction control turned off. This message would disappear when I turned the car off and restarted. It started doing it more frequently so I called GMC on August 2nd. I had to wait 2 weeks until they could get me in to the dealer. This whole time my car was shutting of my traction control. The malfunction indicator light came on solid and stayed on for 3 days on September 12th. They paid to diagnose and found that my 4th cylinder was missing and was leaking 45%. On September 17th, they suggested $140 for a carbon coil flush to see if it could possible fix the problem. On September 25th they did the coil flush at 10 am. At 1:06 I got the message that esc active. I went on a 2 week vacation and did not drive my car. On October 12th, at 2:08pm esc warning and shut traction control off. October 13th, at 5am the warning indicator light came on solid. On October 27th, they replace my intake/exhaust valve on the left side. I have not received any warning lights since then, but I drove from August to the end of October with the car shutting off the traction control. I can imagine trying to drive in heavy rain and dying because I didn't have traction control when I needed it most.

During the deep winter we had in detroit starting last Jan - the car reduces speed and engine power reduced/service esc/service traction message comes- this happen endless times and stopped in Feb 2014 then began this past week Jan 8th, 2015 and continues to do so. The car will start shaking violently and drops speed and power eng reduced message comes - even travelling at 70 miles with 2 children inn the icy, snowy roads of mi . I have been lucky nothing happened yet but looking at the chevy forums and others, this is a Chevrolet/gm defect that needs a recall. The dealerships are aware that there is a throttle body issue but we all can do is incur the cost to diagnose how exactly to solve this issue. Gm needs to be held accountable before someone dies on the roads.

This has happened to me 6 times now. The first time this happened, I was about 70 miles outside of atlanta going 70 mph on the highway surrounded by 18 wheelers. Suddenly my traction light and service engine light came on and the reduced power notification came on, the car slowed to about 10 miles an hour very suddenly and the car was shaking violently. The 18 wheeler behind me could not stop fast enough and the only reason I was not hit was because I was able to veer onto the shoulder. Terrified, I sat on the side of the road for several minutes after turning the car off. I started it again and it began driving normally, but the service engine light stayed on. Since I was pretty much in the middle of nowhere and it was extremely dark, I got back on the road again to get home. I made it to atlanta, but the same thing happened again when I was entering the city on the loop. I basically coasted home. Since then, this has happened 5 more times. My car is currently at jim ellis Chevrolet in atlanta where I left it last night. Need immediate help. My entire story can be found on this forum. . Read more...

Once last winter I started my car at 4:30 am to travel to work. I noticed my defroster was not working. My car had been running for 15 minutes and was warmed up. I chose not to drive my car since I could not see out of my windshield. This summer, my car did the same thing after work one day. The blower motor was not working. I got a mile down the road and it started working. It grew more frequent and I asked the dealer to diagnose it. We paid $90 for that. They told me that my blower motor needed replaced and that it would be $500 since it had to have a specialized kit installed. I have driven my car the last 2 days with no heat whatsoever in 15 degree weather. It has not snowed or sleeted so I am able to do so safely except when my windshield starts to fog up. GMC installed a faulty motor blower in my car and now I cannot defrost my windshield while driving which could cause me to wreck and die.

As I was driving my esc popped on my message board along with check engine light and reduced engine speed. So I took it to autozone and they said it was my throttle sensor. So I turned the car off and on and it stops the messages from popping up for about 5 mins. The car won't idle and it sounds like it wants to cut off. Now normally I wouldn't think anything of it but to go get it fixed. Me and my mom have the same Malibu she just had the lt edition well hers started doing the same exact thing! you can't tell me that both of these cars was just gonna start doing the same thing at the exact same time!.

The manufacturer forgot to install a clamp on the moon roof drain. The tube fell off and flooded the interior of the car with 3 inches of standing water on July 12, 2013. The entire passenger side including ceiling, dash (in front and behind), seats, flooring, and electrical componets have water damage. It then happened again on July 14, 2013. Contact was made to the dealer on July 16, 2013. After numerous, meaningless phone conversations with Chevrolet, they would only replace some cosmetic parts. Only the flooring was replaced at first. After more complaints, the seat covers and head liner were replaced, but not the factory carpeted floor mats. They refused to replace or inspect anything else that water came in contact with including electrical components, seat cushions, safety restraints, wiring harnesses, or airbag system behind the dash. Our 10 year old son had a kidney transplant two years ago and has a suppressed immune system. Due to this, he cannot be around mold which Chevrolet is refusing to test for. Being that only 50% or less of the components have been replaced, we are concerned of the presence of mold. Our physician has requested that the car be tested and signed off that no mold is present before our son can ride in the car again. Our son's health depends on having a safe, clean car to be transported in. Cevrolet has no concerns for his saftey or life threatening issues. Unknown electrical safety components may or may not have been compromised with this much water or moisture in the vehicle. These parts were not checked, tested or replaced.

I started to experience a vibration in the front end. I took it to the dealer and was told they could find nothing wrong. The problem persisted and then a noise started as well. I took it back to the dealer and the determined that it was a broken axle shaft that they ordered and then replaced. The noise went away but the vibration has persisted. I have taken it to the dealer 5+ times to be looked at and they tell me something different each time. I need tires rotated (did that), need new tires (bought them), need tires balanced (did that), need tires balanced on the rims (did that), and now that the tires must be cold. I explained that the problem persists after being driven over 30 minutes and that the tires should be warmed up by then. I have contacted Chevrolet in regards to this several times and all they want to do to correct the problem is to have me return the car to the dealer to be looked at. Each time I do this, I am left with no vehicle and fending for rides. I am currently commuting nearly 100 miles per day for work until I am able to relocate and cannot be without a vehicle. Chevy refuses to pay for a rental for an error that is clearly related to their product. I am not sure what else to do at this point to correct the problem. I will be filing a complaint with the bbb and anyone else of significance.

This is exactly what the dealership wrote on the purchase order it reads as follows; dashboard panel insert towards winshield was detached at time of car purchase we owe heat cold checking- insert was detached concerned it may happen again. I assured her it will not. Nothing is broken on it. If it occurs again, we will reattact at no charge. That is only the first of many incidents that has occured was this vehicle that is still under warranty and three recalls that have yet to fixed. If the problem dosn't get resolved as so as possible and compensation as well I will assume this is a lemon law concern or problem with the gm/general motors or with the dealership that has been bought out not once but twice and they are so hateful and I'm rude back to them. I hope to hear from someone soon I hope everyone has a wonderful afternoon.

I have a 2011 Chevrolet Malibu and had to replace the heating core and now the hvac system is leaking and damaged all the carpets. I am also hearing a thumping noise in the rear of the car. I have recently brought it back to the dealership and I have to wait for my carpets to dry and we have been having rain showers for days. The only way the dealer is able to dry the carpets is to place them outside. I now have to pay for a rental because my bumper to bumper warranty is expired.