general problems of the 2012 Chevrolet Malibu - part 1

The contact owns a 2012 Chevrolet Malibu. The contact stated that while driving at 55 mph, the temperature gauge began to indicate the vehicle was overheating after which the vehicle lost motive power. The contact was able to pull to the shoulder of the roadway, where the vehicle failed to restart. The check engine and air bag warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic, who diagnosed a failure with the oil pan gasket; resulting in damage to the engine, and abs control module resulting in the air bag warning light. The contact was informed that the engine would need to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired, but the failure reoccurred. The vehicle was taken back to the independent mechanic, who again diagnosed a failure with the oil pan gasket. The vehicle was repaired, but again the failure occurred for the third time. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 113,000.

For 4 years the car intermittently would turn on all warning lights, shake, become hard to steer and steer in unintended directions. We paid $1500 for the dealer to fix it and we still had the problem. Today, the car will drive less then a mile and die. When we start the car all warning lights come on, the vehicle vibrates and struggles to keep speed of 5 mph or so then will die.

Driving down the freeway and suddenly I get reduce engine power. I had to wait on the freeway until the car started up again.

As your driving along vehicle will shut off abruptly and have to remove and replace fuel pump relay until it shuts down again.

The electronic stability control activates under normal driving conditions. Power to engine is reduced, car does not brake or accelerate appropriately with this happens. It appears to be a problem that is reported frequently and one that has been a recall on some vehicles but this VIN does not show that recall. It puts me and others at risk because the car suddenly stops going at speed and lurches when trying to stop. Scans were done at a local auto shop which indicate issues with esc. Warning lights include esc activated, engine power reduced.

To whom it may concern: my 2012 Chevrolet Malibu LS hasn't been involved in an accident but I feel it necessary to report it! due to issues involving my electrical system and other components of the vehicle that aren't working properly, the vehicle is inoperable! beginning in April 2022, I have experienced issues with the vehicle starting (one day it will start and drive normally, another day it might not). Then it started stalling unexpectedly. Granted, I've had the car 10 years but I've never had these problems! it's been serviced and the problems still exist! these problems could easily cause an accident; I'm grateful I've been spared from tragedy! these issues need to be addressed and I'd greatly appreciate hearing from NHTSA!.

The contact owns a 2012 Chevrolet Malibu. The contact stated that while driving approximately 65 mph, the esc traction warning light, service traction warning light, and the reduced engine power warning light were illuminated. The vehicle lost motive power and stalled. The contact was able to coast to the side of the road. The vehicle was towed to the dealer however, the vehicle was not diagnosed. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 140,000.

Esc reduced power reads across my monitor's screen. It could be numerous of these that cause this. I've done what I can afford, but no luck. I've done research & it's very common for this to happen among these. Please help me out with at least pinpointing the problem, thanks!.

The contact owns a 2012 Chevrolet Malibu. The contact stated while driving approximately 60 mph the vehicle suddenly began to lose forward motive power. The contact was able to stop and turned the vehicle off. When the contact attempted to restart the vehicle the starter motor made noise but the vehicle would not start. The contact stated that the check engine and several unknown lights were illuminated. The contact stated that he was able to restart the vehicle after an hour wait and drove to his residence. The contact stated that later the failure occurred and this time had to have the vehicle towed to a dealer. The dealer diagnosed the vehicle had an electrical engine sensor failure and it needed to be replaced. The vehicle had not been repaired. The manufacturer had not been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 137,000.

The catalytic converter and exhaust manifold are suspected to be malfunctioning. These components are part of the vehicle’s exhaust system, and their failure is believed to be contributing to hesitation and skipping during operation. Both components are available for inspection upon request. The hesitation and skipping reduce the vehicle’s responsiveness, creating a safety risk in traffic. This issue could hinder safe merging, overtaking, or maintaining consistent speeds. Additionally, malfunctioning exhaust components may lead to increased emissions and pose a risk of toxic gases entering the cabin if leaks are present. Check engine light displays. The problem has been confirmed by a professional auto mechanic during their inspection and diagnosis. The components have been inspected and diagnosed by an independent service center (the auto mechanic). They have not yet been inspected by the manufacturer, police, or insurance representatives. No warning lamps or error messages were displayed on the dashboard prior to the diagnosis. The symptoms, including hesitation and skipping, began approximately [insert timeline, e. G. , two weeks ago] and have been recurring during normal driving, particularly during acceleration or at lower speeds.

I been having the same problem for a year now. . Constantly putting it in and out the shop and no one can find out what’s wrong with it. . The engine will loss it control and stop working in the middle of traffic which almost caused me a wreck several times. The Chevrolet dealership hasn’t done anything to help but charge me to look at it and they didn’t fix the problem. I have three kids and it has been a safety issue which is our only way to work and school. The car will skip constantly in the middle of traffic and several times someone almost ran into the back of my car. It will say engine power reduced, service traction and service sec I have spent ton of money trying to fix the issue and I have read several people have had the same problem.

This car will not start!!!! it starts when it feels like it. I’ve been stranded after work so many times for unknown reasons. Multiple mechanics have inspected car and cannot find the issue. Go on youtube and search for this year car and you’ll find so many people in the same situation as me. The car has battery but the engine will not start. Gm cars have this issue in common and it’s ridiculous gm cannot stand behind their brand. Please help us!!!.

My vehicle fail to restart vehicle, but vehicle was running good before. Once I turn off the vehicle for couple of minutes when I returned back to my vehicle and tried to turn vehicle on it would not allow me to turn on lights on vehicle would stay on when taking key out of ignition. I kept trying couple of time until I open the hood to check battery move battery cables tried again until vehicle turn on. Once vehicle had turn on and put vehicle in reverse dashboard lights started turning on check engine a service warning message display and speed meter would go up and down. When going forward the steering wheel became hard to control while vehicle would go toward slowly then stop go fast and slowly again until I got home turn vehicle off. Didn't drive it anymore until two days later. The second time I was on the freeway when my vehicles speed started to significantly reduce speed very quickly. I became concern with my safety until I was able to pull over on the side of freeway car turned off. When trying to restart vehicle would fail to turn back on had to tow vehicle back home. I tried turning vehicle back on failed at first on the last try vehicle turned on but when putting on reverse or drive vehicle became undriveable thier was no movement on vehicle and speed meter would not move . I just purchased this vehicle only had 8 months with it I payed $5000 plus $600 on plates. I do make my vehicle available for inspection it is very dangerous going through this specially on highway. I checked my onstart vehicle report but it does not show that anything is wrong on the report. My insurance provider geico car details only show it needs and oil change. I also notice that in the vehicle history shows it has an oil leak. I can not afford to pay for a mechanic at this moment my vehicle is just park at home now.

I was driving on freeway and car went into engine power reduce mode, rapidly slowed down to 35 miles an hour.

Engine losses power shuts off wont restat.

I was driving and it said engine power reduced . Couldnt pick up speed.

Vehicle has died on me 5 times while driving. In motion one moment and dead the next, so far it has died on city streets, ive gotten lucky with it not being on the highway as I travel that frequently for work. It has been in and out of repair shop for multiple repairs and still not corrected.

Was driving on the interstate and car message center displayed engine speed reduced then it displayed within 5 minutes of the first message engine disabled . Car while not start.

"power steering" message comes on randomly and the power steering goes dead while I'm driving. This seems to be a known issue with this Malibu and should be a recall. There are many complaints online about this issue. This has occurred multiple times. This is dangerous and should be a recall purchased vehicle in 2013 since than has happen close to 10 times.

164,00 miles. Temp 34 f. Drove car 3 miles and stopped at intersection. Put signal on and attempted left turn. Steering became locked. Break and accelerator went to lowest position nearest floor. Engine stayed on but car would not move even after lifted foot off break and attempted to push accelerator. . Put in park. Stopped engine. Restarted. No change after start. Again put in park pushed on break turned ignition it started. Was able to drive and steering back to normal. No noticeable problem after that.

Timing chain just came off at 86000 miles. Driving fine until engine rpm slowed to idle speed then shut off. Was unable to start and stranded. No codes or warning. Luckily this happened in a parking lot but could have easily happened on a highway.

Timing chain came off @ 75k miles. Called gm. They will not stand behind their product. Kept telling me to take it to a dealer. I already had it towed to a mechanic and can't afford to tow it somewhere else. Just driving down the road and the chain came off. I will never buy another chevy.

The car seems to run fine once it starts. The problem is getting it to start. Sometimes the car starts without any problems and then sometimes it won't. It has left me stranded multiple times. We replaced the fuel pump, which seemed to fix the problem for a few days and then the same thing started to happen. We replaced a couple of fuses. Again this seemed to fix the problem for a few days and then the same thing started to happen. My husband and I noticed that there is some wiring that is always hot leading from the fuse box to the fuel pump. Basically we believe that Chevrolet used cheap crappy thin wiring. Because of this, the car won't start. We did some research online and it seems that everyone who owns a 2012 chevy Malibu has had a similar problem that has cost consumers hundreds of dollars. We have always owned a chevy and this is the first vehicle that we have ever had a problem with. We are seriously considering switching to Toyota or Nissan since Chevrolet has been receiving complaints and thus far has chosen not to do anything. Chevrolet manufactured the 2012 chevy Malibu and was aware of the issues surrounding the fuse box, fuel pump, and the wiring. One of these days, the car is going to catch fire because of the faulty system. It is extremely frustrating to see all of these chevy Malibu owners experiencing the same issue and Chevrolet does nothing. We never know if the car is going to start; it's literally a guessing game. Sometimes we tap the fuse box, sometimes we kick the side of the rear passenger door, and sometimes we have to sit and wait 15 minutes and then the car will start. Chevrolet needs to have a recall and fix the issues surrounding the 2012 chevy Malibu. Eventually the wiring is going to catch fire.

Was driving and my car stopped accelerating. I pushed on the gas and it would not go. I was on the free way and almost had an accident. Also car would no longer start after stopped. Would act like it was going to start and does not. I've had several toes with my children in the vehicle. A huge safety concern.

My car dies when driving down the road. Electrical problem to the fuel pump.

Timing chain needed to be replaced. Vehicle has 102,000 miles on it.

Takata recall it constantly shakes and my car is constantly pulling and random codes pop up all the time . Not to mention it's a 2012 and it's rusting majorly. I am driving when my car seems to be missing a beat it wants to jerk on me like it wants to stop running. I was on a city street it happens a lot .

One day, driving on a freeway my car all of a sudden accelerated out of nowhere, then on the dash showed �service esc� then immediately after �reduced engine power� and shut off. It would not turn back on and I was on the middle of the freeway. I had to have it towed to a nearby shop while I waited for hours to get the throttle body replaced- total of $560 and my car worked for the next two days then did the same thing, this time I was on a side street so it was mostly just annoying. This has happened more times than I can count since I've had this car (for 6 months) and chevy dealerships won't do anything without charging me a ton of money and I've read hundreds of other complaints about the same exact issue I'm having online, in their testimonies, they've gotten multiple things �fixed� because of the code that shows up, but then days later it's the same for every single one, it reverts back to the original problem. This is unacceptable of Chevrolet, and I'm very upset that I personally have put so much money, not to mention everyone else that has, into a seemingly unsolvable problem, caused by a mistake on Chevrolet's part. Please do something, thank you.

"takata recall" if I hit a bump small or any size actually my engine reduces and I have to pull over. . . And turn the car off for up to 10 mins sometimes. . . I cant drive on the freeway at all because I dont want the engine to reduce while doing 60 mph lately it will go into engine power reduce while im parked in a driveway so I dont get it.

Heater core was replaced in October 2017 due to anti-freeze leaking inside of car. The entire dashboard was removed ($1050). In October 2018, the traction control light began to appear so I had my mechanic use the gm testing equipment. Two valve timing solenoids were replaced. The traction control light issue continues and when it does, the brake lights remain on. The lights only appear when driving or if the radio is on.

P2138 throttle/ pedal position sensor second time same problem the power was reduce when I was driving in the highway.

Tracking control light comes on and slows the car, the the engine will disable . The car will do this while in motion. Today on the freeway engines disabled and almost rear ended. No machanic know how to fix it without changing and replacing multiple parts and still happens. We purchased the car in March 2018.

Cylinder 2 keep miss firing and service traction light keeps coming on. I have taken the care to 3 repair shop and spent over $2500 in repairs over the last year.

Misfire cyl #1 and eng lt. With misfire code, attempted chev dealer warranty repair with removal of cyl head and replacemnt valves [the cheap fix instead of replacing cyl head, in retrospect I believe chev should have replaced the cyl head for a permanent repair, now the car is out of 100k powertrain warranty] but recurrence 22k miles later. I suspect a design flaw. Iternet shows many owners with same complaint. Traction control light continues to come off and on.

Vehicle started idling rough but ran good on the interstate or speeds above 40 mph. Checked timing chains. Chains were loose and jumped time.