general problems of the 2017 Chevrolet Malibu - part 1

146 problems related to equipment have been reported for the 2017 Chevrolet Malibu. The most recently reported issues are listed below. Please also check out the statistics and reliability analysis of the 2017 Chevrolet Malibu based on all problems reported for the 2017 Malibu.

1 Equipment problem

Failure Date: 12/30/2025

The reduce power to engine keeps happening. It shuts my car down and lights up the traction control light, check engine light and its a serious hazard because I travel highway to and from work and its very dangerous when you loose power to your vehicle at high rates of speed. Also my emissions is bad due to a supposed fixed recall for the catalytic converter.

2 Equipment problem

Failure Date: 12/16/2025

I have had experience with the "shift to park" error and I have had the "reduced engine power" error message resulting in an uneeded $2200 dollar repair only for it to break down 2 months later, same message this time with fuel spraying under the hood. I nearly blew myself up trying to start my car! how is it that I cant find this dangerous defect on the recall list when I easily found the recurrent problem online? help.

3 Equipment problem

Failure Date: 12/11/2025

Lose power while driving.

4 Equipment problem

Failure Date: 12/05/2025

Was driving on highway and starting to exit and my engine light came on and it alerted reduced engine power. I had to slam on my brakes but they were very hard to press and almost non existent and steering was also difficult. Managed to get car to side of road but due to very hard to non existent brakes I did graze a truck and damaged my rear drivers side fender. I am very lucky I didn’t get injured and was able to mostly miss the cars stopped in front of me. I also have the shift to park issue happen at least 4 times a week.

5 Equipment problem

Failure Date: 09/24/2025

I tried to shift the car from drive to park but a message appeared saying I needed to put the car in park. The lights and radio were still on and I could not get the message to disappear even after several attempts to start/restart the car and moving through the gear shift. I will be taking the car to a dealership ASAP. There wasn’t any prior error or problem before this message started appearing. After numerous attempts “park” is recognized and the car shuts off completely.

6 Equipment problem

Failure Date: 09/14/2025

The car smells strongly of gas. And has a problem accelerating. Check engine light came on and I got a code p1101 which is a code for the maf sensor. This is not the first time that this has happened. It happened less than a year ago maybe 9-10 months ago. I don’t drive the car in fear of it catching a fire. The car has stalled before in the middle of a turn. I had to turn the car off and turn it back on. I called onstar who have no idea what was wrong with it.

7 Equipment problem

Failure Date: 08/11/2025

Currently I am having issues putting my car in park. Even when it shows that it is parked there is an “action required” that pops up saying “shift to park”. This has been happening all week and as I am able to toggle the shift stick it is no longer allowing me to which leaves my car somewhat on when I leave. I’ve contacted the dealership for repairs since I’ve seen this is a common recall issue with my model vehicle. However, they informed me that it would be an out of pocket expense even though research shows that this should be an expense paid by the dealership since they’ve had many complaints on this issue and can cause certain safety issues for members. I’m getting ready to pcs soon and need to pay out of pocket expenses for my move so trying to pay for something that the dealership should pay for is truly inconvenient.

8 Equipment problem

Failure Date: 08/11/2025

Shift to park issue. While is in park after driving. I turn vehicle off and action required message pops up on dash stating shift to park but it’s in park.

9 Equipment problem

Failure Date: 07/13/2025

I shift the car in park I then turn off the car and then an alert comes up on the dash saying shift to park I then shift it back and forth nothing happens and then it automatically goes off after I wait awhile with it in park. This has occurred several times in the past year. I’m not sure if it is in park it does roll slightly then catches.

10 Equipment problem

Failure Date: 06/29/2025

In the last 6 months I’ve had to put 3 brake boosters on my 2017 chevy Malibu and it’s not cheap…. I don’t know what else to do.

11 Equipment problem

Failure Date: 05/19/2025

The shift to park won't turn off but allowing vehicle to turn off it killed our family.

12 Equipment problem

Failure Date: 04/29/2025

Hundreds of times since I purchased the car in July, 2017 I've had a "shift to park" problem. Here is what happens. I go to park my car. I put the car into park. I go to turn off the engine. The engine will not turn off. A sign on the screen says, "shift to park". Apparently as gm explains it, the car is not recognizing that the car is put into park and therefore will not turn off. This first started happening around 2019. The chevy dealership said it wasn't a big deal and replaced the shifter control assembly. The problem went away for a few years and then popped up again around 2021. Since then it has been an ongoing problem. I end up stuck in the car until the engine turns off. I obviously can't leave the engine on because then the battery will go bad. Most recently I actually spent 30 minutes trying to park the car before I was able to get it to recognize it was in park and turn off. Every time over the years the dealerships have shrugged me off. They refuse to fix the problem and recently asked me for $1,250 to fix it. It was not fixed right the first time when it was under warranty. Here are a few links about many others experiencing these same problems: [xxx] [xxx] [xxx] information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u. S. C. 552(b)(6).

13 Equipment problem

Failure Date: 04/01/2025

The shift to park is defective. Having a hard time to turn car off constantly. It takes more than five minutes or more for the car to turn off without the shift to park ringing. This needs immediate attention. This part is defective so why is there not a recall on this?.

14 Equipment problem

Failure Date: 03/25/2025

When I came to a complete stop, the car stalled out and completely shut off.

15 Equipment problem

Failure Date: 03/23/2025

When you put it in park, you will get the "shift to park" message and it can be very difficult to get it to go off.

16 Equipment problem

Failure Date: 02/10/2025

When shifting into park, the car doesn't think it's in park and remains on.

17 Equipment problem

Failure Date: 01/03/2025

When driving down a major highway going 70mph, my 2017 chevy Malibu speeds decreased, the brakes locked up, and the vehicle would not accelerate. Eventually the car came to a complete stop and an “engine power reduced” notification came up on the dash. I was able to pull off to the side of the road but I was traveling at a high rate of speed on a busy road, I almost got hit multiple times by people behind me who also had to swerve out of the way to keep from getting hit. After turning the car off and on again it seemed to run fine for a few months until the issue happened again going down a busy highway (65mph) again putting myself, my kids and others on the road behind me at risk. Now the car won’t move more than 5 feet before shutting off with “ engine power reduced “ still displaying on the screen.

18 Equipment problem

Failure Date: 08/01/2024

A "shift to park" message occasionally appears on the dash of my 2017 chevy Malibu. I currently have 56570 miles on this vehicle. This is the second time that this issue has occurred in this vehicle. The first time it occurred I had 21849 miles on the car. On Dec. 20, 2019, a local chevy dealership replaced the shifter (8460140 transmission electronic control replacement) at no charge since the car was still under warranty. My warranty is now expired but the same problem has occurred after putting less than 35000 miles on the car. Since this problem started, my back driver's side door will not always lock. This problem may be related to the shift to park issue. I have my invoice from the dealership where I first had this problem fixed and am hoping they will fix it again at no cost to me. When I searched this issue online, it appears to be a problem with many 2016-2019 chevy Malibus. There should be a recall issued by gm for this problem. This is a safety issue because the problem will cause the battery to continuously die and the vehicle to remain running although the shifter has been placed in the park position.

19 Equipment problem

Failure Date: 07/25/2024

Vacuum pump exploded, my breaks went out on the freeway. Metal pieces from the pump went into engine. Broke the camshaft. Now having to pay hundreds and hundreds of dollars to repair. I am missing out on work u til this can be fixed.

20 Equipment problem

Failure Date: 06/27/2024

Vehicle shut down completely while at intersection with no warning including no dash board warnings, recently had vehicle repaired at dealership computer was replaced, injectors cleaned, fuel system flushed. This car is unpredictable at times and not safe if turning off with no warning, if I did get a warning it's after the vehicle shut down then started back up with "stabil break" code and reduced steering. I have kept up with the maintence on this vehicle since purchase had no wrecks and it's money gone down the drain. I'm not understanding why there hasn't been a recall on this cars electrical component's there seems to be some time of communication issue between the computer & parts causing the car to completely shut down.

21 Equipment problem

Failure Date: 05/03/2024

Shift to park light com s on after I am parked and the the car is parked. . My son got out of the car thinking it as off. It since has happened to me at least 8 times the last week.

22 Equipment problem

Failure Date: 05/01/2024

Shift to park error. Then the battery goes dead.

23 Equipment problem

Failure Date: 03/29/2024

Engine power reduced while driving on i83 on my way to work. I was driving at 65mph and it was reduced to 25mph. The check engine light is on. Since there is no safe way to drive the car home, ( I have to cross the susquhannah river which is only done by highway) I am having it towed and dropped off at my local mechanic. I already had the gas pedal sensor replaced in 2019 at faulkner chevorlet in lancaster, PA. I also have another issue with the car since early 2018, when I park the car, it says shift to park, even though it is in the park position and the electronics in the car do not shut off. When I told faulkner abouth this they said that there was nothing they can do since it wasn't happening when I was at the dealership.

24 Equipment problem

Failure Date: 03/18/2024

On March 18, 2024, I noticed that water began to enter the car when it was in the carwash. I opened a claim with the insurance company and an investigation was carried out that lasted approximately 3 months. On June 11, the body shop received my car to diagnose and provide a quote to the insurance company for the necessary repairs due to this water damage. The workshop considered it to be a problem in the upper rear brake light and mentioned that this is a Chevrolet recall on these cars. The insurance company called me and told me that I had to go directly to the dealer to have the necessary repairs made to my car that were caused by this water problem. However, I cannot find information about this recall online.

25 Equipment problem

Failure Date: 03/07/2024

The warning light comes on and off and is showing (p0498/p0449) which is the evaporative emission system vent control electrical circuit signal has low voltage for a predetermined period of time. Its calling to replace the evaporative emissions canister vent solenoid and I have seen 3 vehicles the same as mine needed the same thing fixed. When the vehicle is in park you can feel it jerk and also while pressing gas when you pull off it stalls. When cranking you can smell fumes .

26 Equipment problem

Failure Date: 02/09/2024

Car will not recognize being shifted to park so transmission stays engaged, lights stay on you are basically trapped in your car until it recognizes the shifter is in park.

27 Equipment problem

Failure Date: 12/30/2023

My car displayed "reduced engine power" and slowed down on the highway while I was doing 65mph. My car would not accelerate past 20mph. There were no issues with my vehicle, and this happened out of nowhere. It caused a lot of other drivers to have to swerve around me, and drastically reduce their speeds as well in order to avoid collision. This was highly unsafe and now I can not safely drive my own car.

28 Equipment problem

Failure Date: 11/01/2023

I receive a "shift to park" warning when putting the 2017 Chevrolet Malibu I just bought into park. The car will not shut off and if I exit the car it will sound the horn at me 4 times and still not shut off. It's done this at least 6 different times in the 3 days I've owned it. I bought it used on 10/31/23 with 86,741 miles and have only driven it 200 miles. If the car is not actually in park then it is still able to move and can hurt someone. This is clearly a known defect spanning multiple models and years and likely many thousands of cars and it's criminal there's no recall for it with a proper solution.

29 Equipment problem

Failure Date: 09/27/2023

Upon turning off car, throws shift to park error driver message. Have to restart the car, then shift to various conditions - r, d, l several times then p then turnoff car again. Repeat unto message no longer appears. Sometimes I cannot restart the car because it’s not sending the ke fob. I read online several complaints. Took car to dealership - they confirm that this problem exists in both older and several new chevy model. My costs will be around $1k by replacing the gear shifter which I find scary. What if this car had jumped out of gear. What is the life of the replacement shifter? why isn’t gm doing anything when this condition exist in brand new vehicles?.

30 Equipment problem

Failure Date: 09/11/2023

When the car stops the auto stop turns on, but when the car is ready to move the auto stop will turn the car off or lose power. Another issue is that when the car is in park an error message says shift into park. This will not allow you to turn the car off. The car is in the park.

31 Equipment problem

Failure Date: 07/15/2023

Shift to park.

32 Equipment problem

Failure Date: 07/07/2023

Intermittent shift to park message displayed while vehicle in park. Frequently when I shift the car into park and turn off the engine, a "shift to park" display appears on the driver dashboard. The "shift to park" display doesn't clear unless turning the car back on and turning it off again.

33 Equipment problem

Failure Date: 06/12/2023

Driver door will not unlock from outside of car when car is sitting out in the heat and sun. Yes car is available for inspection if I need to get in car while out somewhere I can’t in a hurry. I went to dealership in November 2022 when it happened 3 times it was hot outside. No warning message or symptoms before failure. Hot weather when sitting in sun lock will not work. Now that it is very hot lock is not working again june12, 2023 happened 2 times today.

34 Equipment problem

Failure Date: 06/09/2023

Car is indicating I need to “shift to park” when it’s in park.

35 Equipment problem

Failure Date: 05/21/2023

Shift to park message appears most often.


Other Equipment related problems of the 2017 Chevrolet Malibu


Malibu Service Bulletins
Malibu Safety Recalls
Malibu Defect Investigations