general problems of the 2011 Chevrolet Malibu - part 1

Multiple times while driving this vehicle, get the message loss of engine power, abs light displays, and steering becomes difficult. Will be calling the dealership for repair. Once it resolved itself enough to drive over 100 miles after changing the battery, but the issue occurred again. Many searches online point to abs, or wheel issues. There are youtube videos but this is a safety issue that should be recalled and fixed. As a loyal chevy owner, I would love to have chevy back their vehicles and recall when there are some many instances of this widespread safety issue they would prioritize the safety of their vehicles.

To begin with cd player stopped working the service tire light stays on the seat adjuster went out this is used to support your back while driving while driving on a residential road the car would not go in drive. The car just suddenly stopped while in drive. It goes in reverse and stays in park but the other gears do not work. It was a good thing that I was on a residential road and not the freeway. I keep having to repair the headlights left and right they keep burning out for some reason. Gets frustrating. And I have been pulled over for a burned headlight but the officer was aware the the make and model of my car have defects with headlights. He didn't site me but said to get it fixed.

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

While driving at highway speed, vehicle stated to shake and the "engine power reduced" and service esc. I was able to move to a safe zone and drive the vehicle home. The following day started normal and drove it, same problem occurred.

My 2011 Malibu has approx 170000 miles. Was driving on the highway when one by one, low fuel range, tire pressure, and antitheft lights illuminated blinking in dash. The radio flickers like loosing power, the car jerks pulling hard to right side and the power steering goes out and the car literally shuts down in drive on the highway not even giving me time to get off road. Pushed car to side of road. When I try and restart engine turns but sputters like out of gas. Again and again I try until the battery is dead but car wouldnt stay running. I check battery terminals and fuses, a friend brings gallon of gas and jumps car. Same result. I have towed home. I put battery on charger put battery back in car and it starts immediately and stays running. Again I try to go to town. The same thing happens 2 miles further from where it previously did, this time the esc was added to the others illuminating on dash. I tried the same things I did before getting same result. I take battery call a ride and go home to put battery on charger. When I return 48 hours later and put battery in, it cranks right up.

The transmission has a rough shift in third and fifth. It won't down shift when slowing down. It was confirmed from a independent service center. There was no warning when it did it the check engine light came on. There is many people with the same complaint with the transmission being faulty. My safety and others was at risk because the car would not down shift and come to a stop.

Warranty policy 15356 on torque sensor steering wheel. Replaced and repaired by Chevrolet dealership in 2018. Reocccured problem started again on April 13th, 2022. Code esc power steering started may 6th, 2022 but shaking, vibration, and "twitching" started April 13th, 2022. When turning on the vehicle now the code will show and the steering wheel will lock not allowing power steering. In 2018 this code would show up during driving and lock up not allowing you to use power steering.

I was driving up a hill and my service esc power steering came up and I suddenly couldn’t turn my steering wheel so it had locked up… I slowed down and drove closes to the side of the road as I could safe as possible … after research online I notice this has happen to several others at this mileage and that there was a recall on esc system.

While driving down a highway at 60mph, the transmission failed, at just over 118,000. It started surging without moving forward any faster, and reverse doesn't work at all anymore. My son was in the car, and we were miles from home. I was lucky to be able to get off the highway fairly quickly before we got run over, or hit along the side of the road. This particular transmission failure is a well known issue for gm, it is covered for older vehicles up to 2010, and fixed in newer vehicles in 2012, but dealership (paul richard's peru, in) said "these things happen" and it could cost $3000-$5000 to replace. They will do nothing to help, because they won't acknowledge that this model year needs extended coverage, too. (actually a recall!) this is completely unacceptable, I've only put 30,000 miles on this car. I had the fluids lab tested when purchased, and it in no way indicated any failure imminent! in fact, it said everything was in fantastic condition for the mileage. We also flushed and filled the transmission ~25,000 miles ago, as recommended by the maintenance schedule. We shouldn't be on the hook for thousands of dollars, when we in no way caused this failure, especially after it could have killed my son and I. Our old 2005 Malibu has 170,000 miles on the original drivetrain, and it's still going. There is no acceptable reason that our 2011 should only last 118,000 miles before needing major repairs, or the transmission replaced already, 100% on our dime.

On busy city 3 lane highway transmission failed to engage. I managed to drift right to immediate side street, emergency blinkers on, horns blowing. Turned corner and stopped. No warnings, lights, sounds. 59,908 mileage! insurance CO towed to transmission shop. Mechanic had to completely rebuild $2,132. Insisted not normal problem for such low mileage. I will be contacting chevy dealer, ect. This car is available for any inspection. I have 0 confidence in the safety of this car. When I picked up the owner of shop pointed out an identical vehicle in his lot, yes, waiting for another transmission replace/repair.

Car quit shifting into 3rd, 4th or 5th gear and reverse. Exiting the highway when it downshifted very suddenly and very hard. From there stopped at red light. Went to take off and it slipped in 2nd gear. From there progressively got worse. Next time I tried reverse it would not go at all. Leads me to believe it's the transmission.

While my seatbelt is fastened the seatbelt notification goes off as if its not fastened. Also as I'm accelerating it's like my car struggles to get to 40 mph. Sometimes I have to give it a little more gas for it to go over 40.

I bought my 2011 chevy Malibu in March of 2017. Only put 30k miles and it's April of 2020. My car won't crank up sometimes or when I'm idle, it'll start to shake and I haven't drove my car in a week but when I put the key in and try to turn it, nothing comes on. No lights or anything.

I have a 2011 chevy Malibu ltz with 44,589 miles and I have an issue with my screens reading that my esc system is bad and will reduce my engine power, I took it in to airport Chevrolet in medford, oregon and they pluged my car in and told me he has seen this issue countless times, and has seen people have to replace things as simple as a sensor all the way to it being an issue in the wiring harness and people will bring their car in and do the small repairs first ( economically makes sense) and it will not fix the problem. . Until they fix this huge expensive issue all because. Chevy has an issue with a system they put into a car that doesn't work properly! I have read other reviews very similar to mine where people have been hit in traffic . Now luckily I caught mine before a wreck. This needs to be fixed!.

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.

Tl-the contact owns a 2011 Chevrolet Malibu. The contact stated that while driving the vehicle decelerated and the rpms reeved up but the vehicle lost power and the engine light for a speed sensor came on. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic. They stated that they diagnosed a code said a speed sensor which they replaced. The issue recurred again and the contact spoke to the dealer priority Chevrolet 1495 s military hwy, chesapeake, va 23320 (757) 424-1811 who said there were no recalls . They contact researched and found that there were a lot of the same model vehicles that were having the same issues even with the transmission replaced around 90,000 to 95,000 miles. The manufacturer had not been contacted yet. The mileage was 103,000. Tf.

81k miles on vehicle. Driving at residential speeds (~ 30 mph), vehicle started suddenly downshifting, engine revving, then refusing to get out of 1st gear. I would hate to think what would have happened on a highway or crowded city street!.

I was driving in the city. Stopped at a red light, and when I accelerated, the vehicle began to jerk, rev loudly, and seemed to kick into high gear while only going about 20 miles an hour. I got to a place where I could stop, and tried to put the car into reverse, but this gear did not work. I had it towed and my mechanic said that the transmission would need rebuilt. I took it to a dealership, and they said that they would recommend a replacement of the transmission.

I recently obtained my 2011 Malibu lt from superior auto in bedford, in. It is a truly outstanding machine. I was pleased with the entire ecotec 2. 4 engine and fuel economy. The drivetrain is a little different topic. I was looking forward to trying the new push button shift setup. It was smooth for the first 3 weeks or so. Oh by the way it barely turned 105,000 on the odometer. It started with 3rd shifting late and hard. Then it was reverse not catching once shifter was engaged, making me use my brake to stop the vehicle. All of a sudden it completely stopped pulling forward or reverse. Initially I assumed transmission just burned out. Waited until the next morning, trying again and it engaged gear. It was ultimately short lived, once transmission warms it starts to fail completely. I'm very disgruntled and disappointed in the car company I was raised on. As well as my family for generations. Not to mention, this my very first chevy buying on my own. Please return my concerns please. I purchased the Malibu from a local buy here pay here. This leaves me on a most aggravated note, due to me being absolutely hustled into paying for a operationaless motor vehicle from what I once thought was 2nd to none, Chevrolet and gm in general. I am very disappointed and will most definitely never buy this brand again, as well as my family of 80+ years of business. Gm, has lowered itself to an all time low! please return my submission ASAP. I need transportation for my union career I drive a very large amount for as well. Minds blown by the utter laziness of this massive auto titan. Disgusted!!.

Takata recall*** at 80000 miles I was driving and then my car would not move tried reverse with no luck ended up having to call tow company to get me out of traffic with almost being hit several times . With research found out this is common and gm refuses to fix problem witch is not right should be held responsible for making and putting faulty transmission in 2010 and 2011 Malibu's.

Takata recall we were in motion going down a highway when the car just stop, we put it in reverse it moved when we put it back in drive would not move. The car is nine yrs old I was scare to death.

The vehicle started to have problems in 2016 and the check engine light would come on and off randomly and would not completely stay on to diagnose the vehicle correctly and when it would come on it kept saying it was different sensors. After replacing several sensors that were diagnosed to be incorrect and changing spark plugs and all filters and flushing several parts out the vehicle was still not running correctly. The vehicle did not have as much power as it did in the past and seemed to be shifting differently. The car progressively kept getting worse and loosing power and not shifting correctly. I had taken it to 3 mechanics in the nashville area and each of them could not figure out the problem also but all had experience with the issue and had relayed that they believed it was the timing chain from previous clients with similar issues. I then took it to the chevy dealer because it had gotten to the point that the vehicle seemed unsafe. The vehicle would not shift correctly and I would be sitting at a red light and when I went to take off the vehicle would idle until catching and it would sit there idling and almost stall out and then after 60-160 seconds the vehicle would finally catch and take off. This also happened while on the interstate when trying to get up to speed with the rest of the traffic. Anytime the vehicle really needed to shift it tended to just sit and idle until the chain caught exactly where it needed to which is what caused the safety issue. The chain was missing in certain spots so once it finally caught the correct spot it would take off but made it dangerous to drive as you never knew how long it would take to catch on and take off or if it was going to completely break at some point and just not move at all. The vehicle also did not want to start kept rolling over multiple times by the time I was able to get into chevy to fix it.

While driving on the road, the car will just stop moving forward although the engine is still running. We have to immediately pull off the side of the road, which is very difficult to do in heavy traffic. The indicator lights for power steering / esc come on and the chimes ring 3 times. Upon stopping the car, if the engine remains off for approximately 5 minutes, then the car will start back up and run normally for up to 2 months before it has the same problem again. This has happened at least 6 times over the past 18 months. We have had the car to the local Chevrolet dealer in st. Louis 4 times but they have been unable to determine the source of the problem. They have replaced a number of parts related to the power steering but this has proven to be ineffective. We also replaced the battery and cleaned the cables with no results. This is a real safety issue and the mechanics at the dealer have no idea how to fix it. We cannot believe our 2011 Malibu is the only car with this problem.

Timing chain and engine malfunction. Reviewed the internet and there are thousands of complaints regarding the same thing. The 2. 4 ecotech engine was in a class action suit for equinoxs but not Malibus and they have the same issue.

Broken part in transmission that clogged the filter. Car only has about 85,000 miles and has been taken care of since the day purchased new on 10/23/2010. Car was in motion when it quit moving. Was still running but I was stuck on the side of the road.

I have a 2011 Chevrolet Malibu with 91963 that hasnt moved since April 26 2018. There is a known defect in the 3-5-r wave plate in chevy Malibus from 2009-10 that they fix in 2012 but did nothing for 2011. Mulitple repair shops have told me they have seen alot of 2011 Malibus with the same problem. Gm will not aknowledge this defect. I need help.

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.

The contact owns a 2011 Chevrolet Malibu. While driving various speeds, the vehicle hesitated to accelerate. The vehicle was taken to wymer Chevrolet in cumberland, MD where it was diagnosed that the transmission was faulty and needed to be replaced. The transmission was replaced and the failure was remedied. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 30,654.

My engine light has been on since I purchased the car back in 2014 the dealership said it was no big deal that the light would evenually go out. Upon purchase it had 51,000 miles on it, because they had it for a few weeks due to it having hail damage the finance company wouldn't approve the loan because of problems. The car was riding ok up until a few montha ago I noticed I was loosing power it was driving slower, I started feeling it tugging when I wanted to pick up speed. Then 3 days ago it just wouldn't go in reverse, when I tried to switch back to driving it wouldn't go into drive ultimately I had to have the car towed because the tranmission went out on it. The car only has 71,000 miles on it. I barely drive it anywhere. The engine to look at it is very clean. I looked up all the recalls on my car and none of them I was notified for and there are many. So why am I not getting a letter about this transmission that has obviously gone out. Up until now I was in love with this Chevrolet Malibu and was a devoted customer advising people this was a good car, now I'm not so sure. Looking at all these recalls are alarming.

According to dealer, a product failure occurred. A plate within the transmission broke and damaged 3rd, 4th and rear gears. Car is only 6 years and 78,000 mikes with a yransmission flush at 60,000. Dealer states it couldnt be a bad flush.

A known Chevrolet issue on their 2. 4 l engine caused failure in my automobile while travelling 70 mph on i94 in minnesota. If the engine would have locked up we may have died. This issue is known to gm and has been addressed in other vehicles but the Malibu they left out. Gm will not stand behind this. The timing chain, or chain tensioner, or chain guides failed causing the chain to break and lose power while travelling down the road. Every gm mechanic I have talked to after this happened has said that these vehicles require an oil change every 3000 miles but gm states differently. They say if you follow gm standards this will happen almost every time. Vehicle had under 100,000 miles on on when this happened and could have caused mass casualty. Again this issue is known on gm vehicles and they refuse to address it until more people with a Malibu come forward. This need to be resolved as this is a major safety issue travelling down the roads in mn. I was lucky enough to be able to control it to the side of the road.

Reactor gear broke, blowing into all parts of the transmission. Broke with no warning while driving on a city street, wasn't able to speed up or move out of first gear. Also was not able to reverse. Resulted in a need for a total new transmission.

The drivers side seat has broken. It is the right side and it is sitting lower than the left side. I have never had this happen in any vehicle I have owned. The other issue is intermittent problems with the shifting of the transmission. It is very worrisome. When you are sitting at a stop sign/light or anything and you go to take off it feels like car shuts down briefly and then it kicks in. The problem can never seem to be replicated at a dealership imagine that.

The contact owns a 2011 Chevrolet Malibu. While attempting to place the gear shift in reverse, the vehicle failed to reverse and the check engine indicator illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, but the cause of the failure could not be determined. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 103,000.

Late last week, after getting off the freeway, onto the city street, my front wheels completely locked up at 50 mph (as if the transmission had a catastrophic mechanical failure). This ended up in someone rear ending me, causing injuries and several thousand dollars worth of damage to the cars.