general problems of the 2018 Chevrolet Malibu - part 1

The vehicle shut off in the middle of the street. I had to get it jumped to start again. There was a fuel leak. Car is still smelling like fuel after getting it repaired. The vehicle doesn't alert if your close to a car or anything.

Every so often I get an indication of engine power reduced, but every time I go in to get it checked it's off. I have recently just learned through research online that the issue is caused by a certain condition that gives false reading to the electronics. I have contacted gm and gm financial about the recalls on my cars of the same year. I have not been in a wreck but I have had the issue of engine reduced power in the middle of traffic. Cox Chevrolet in bradenton has turn me away about the issue gm financial is giving me the runaround neither one mention anything about a recall instead I get a estimate $400 /$808. 50/1900. 41 all to fix ecm as I told the mechanic I was driving with no problem through the day me and the kids at the park when it was time to leave the car sounded like it just didn't have no gas. We was stuck tell 10:45 we waited two hours for the tow truck. I have onstar and get monthly reports on my car. When the check engine light comes on onstar has no indication that's why I believe it is the same ecm. I was told by Chevrolet maher service manager of st pete to get my car off their lot as I said before I got a estimate of 400 that went up to 800 and all I did was ask why.

I have searched the prior recalls and I’m having the same problem that were said to be fixed. I would like the car check again for the recalls that said to be fixed and checked for all reacalls . The car turns of unexpected without warning . At random times the low power mode is always on and when I push down in the pedal it doesn’t respond well at all . I have invested countless money into fixing issues with this car .

I was going about 75 mph on the express way with one lane open due to construction. My car started losing power. I heard the chime and upon the dashboard were the words power reduced. My car slowed down in a matter of seconds to around 45 mph. A 18 wheeler was trailing behind me. I quickly jumped in the emergency lane to my right and took the next exit while riding the emergency lane. I shut the car off at the gas station, sat there for about 10 minutes, restarting my car helped temporarily. I was 3 hours away from home and had to drive back unknowingly if I will make it or not. I reached out to Chevrolet and was told to bring it in and leave it but they had no loaner cars for anyone at that time. I have replaced 2 sensors and now my start /stop has quit working. I spoke with 5 visitors at Chevrolet and we all were having the same issues. This is something ongoing according to my research on this particular vehicle and should be recalled ASAP.

One of my first problems with this car is the “shift to park” error message. This message on the dashboard indicating that my gear is not in p (park) when in fact it is . This error will not allow me to turn off my car even though I am parked. My second issue is just recently I have been experiencing from idle noise and small leakage looks as though it’s coming from the fuel injectors and I was stuck on the road at night because my car decided to stop and the “shift to park” message came back up and my car started to loose acceleration in the middle of the road on a busy street with no stop signs visible. (car accident waiting to happen). My steering wheel locked up on me and my car completely stopped. I tried to turn it off and back on but this did not work as I tried to mash on the gas with my car in drive . As I did some research I see recalls on my car that I was not aware of which is very accurate to the issue I’m experiencing. Only having this car for one year now and the first issue started way before a year in. Dealership has not fixed my car and the problem has left my car undrivable.

Started car after acceleration, car started shaking , check engine light came on , acceleration decreased and message saying service stabilitrak. 6 hours later started car and message no longer, check engine light off and car not shaking anymore. Chevy dealership diagnosed misfire, fuel injector needs replaced and damaged ecm.

Car has "check engine light" mechanic says vapor canister vent solenoid is bad. Part number: 2282618. Also said they have been seeing this a lot on chevy Malibus and other gm cars. Part was not available from chevorlet for oven two months.

When parking it says shift to park even when I’m already in park. The dealer says it’s the shifter however after seeing numerous other vehicles with this issue I believe it’s electrical.

Purchased a car for financing from barret motors and 2300 lakeview pkwy, rowlett, TX and as soon as I drove it off the lot on [xxx] the engine light popped on. I immediately called and was told to just take it to chevy/GMC for servicing but was not told why, but just because the engine light was on I was told to go. I couldn’t take an appointment ASAP because I just started a new job which they also knew. The car has had a recall since 09-06-19 for an engine control module. Which is a serious issue and this car never had it completed and sold me a car with possible engine issue and did not inform there’s a recall on the vehicle for almost 5 years now. I took the car to get serviced at chevy for the recall on 09/09/2025 and now I am facing multiple issues with the car from it not being done years ago. The recall was n192221960 and it’s major so to sell a car before getting the properly service and I have been financing the vehicle for a year now. Never not once late and I am now being told there’s nothing can be done. I have photos of the car having the engine light pop on the same day u financed this vehicle. Barret knew a serious engine problem was effecting this car for 5 years and still deciding to sell it to me for financing on [xxx]. I need immediate assistance. Information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u. S. C. 552(b)(6).

Car pauses after stopping at lights and stop signs and in stop-n-go traffic and won't go as soon as gas pedal is pressed. It hesitates then jerks forward once the gas is activated. Check engine warning is for stop/start transmission accumulator sensor! cost to repair over $1300 and seems to be the same issue seen in thousands of 2018 Malibu's that have been recalled??? my car does not show an active recall??? chevy rep andrea at 1-800-222-1020 said sorry no recall for your car and to contact you with complaint? this issue almost caused my wife to have accidents after the car lurched forward after stopping. We were also beeped at many times as cars behind us were frustrated we could not move for 10-20 seconds after stopping! [xxx] [xxx] [xxx] car is being repaired now by belise Chevrolet warwick ri 877-553-0957. Information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u. S. C. 552(b)(6).

My car does not register when it is park. I cannot disable the car when this happens. I have been that my car is not in the recall that has already been issued for this issue.

Underlying fuel pump went out.

Car hesitant to crank, once the start/ stop button is pushed, the car will start, run smooth for a second or two then start to shake and putter like it’s not getting fuel and loses it power and cuts off. I have to go through this process 5/6 times before the car will stay crunk. While driving car will out the blue say reduced engine power and acts as if it does not want to pull or it is losing power! the car also has the eco saving feature where it cuts off at every stop and there is not an option be turned off and car is hesitant to start back up after it cuts off. Car is now starting to smoke from the tailpipe. The vvt intake and exhaust solienoids have oil getting into them and the pcv valve is about to crack open. The car throws codes like rich fuel intake, something to do with the catalytic system (in which I’ve put a brand new catalytic converter on the car and it did not solve the issue) it also throws codes about a throttle and cam sensors and a few more codes. . I see where there are recalls for the (same make, model,year, and engine size) but my cars VIN is not included with the recall! can we please get this as I need my car and need this issue fixed as soon as possible as it is dangerous for me and my 2 year to travel in this vehicle.

Brake power booster, vehicle not starting. Not catching, brakes when completely out couldn’t stop.

Motor died going down the road car is available for inspection if I had been crossing the street without the aid of a stoplight, I would have been t-boned vehicle problem has not been reproduced or confirmed by the dealer. Vehicle component has not been inspected by dealer or anyone else. The check engine light and logo came on as the engine was shutting down. I went into the trunk on the passenger side and shook and twisted the wires going into the control module mounted to the trunk wall. This was suggested for the 2016 Malibu which had a recall. There should be a recall on the 2018 also. After repeated shaking and attempting to start the motor, it finally started. I drove it home and parked it. When I went to read the code, the engine started and ran for a couple of minutes and stalled again. The code was p2bb3.

My car just stopped in the middle of the road , and would not start again for a few minutes. Then is was in low power mode , no brakes either after that , found that problem to be a bad vaccum pump , which g m didn’t even have , and a faulty accelerator pedal sensor !.

I was driving around 50 mph and the car began to sputter and it wasn't getting in gas. It slowed down to 20 mph and I had to stop on side of road. It behaved as if it were out of gas, but it had a qtr tank of gas. It would not start after I stopped it. I took it dealership and they still do not have an answer. There should be a recall on this. Numerous reports that are similar to my scenario.

I was driving 35 mph when the message "reduced engine power" and it noticably slowed down. The check engine light is still on. I researched recalls/problems with the 2018 chevy Malibu and this is one major one I found.

Son was driving my 2018 Malibu with 90,000 miles. Check engine light came on and car reduced speed from 75mph to 40mph on interstate! autozone reading says replace variable camshaft timing solenoid. Very dangerous situation. Chevy should have to fix this.

Experienced electrical issues and engine issues since car was purchased in 2019. The car will stall randomly if stopped at a light or moving slowly in traffic. The breaks also skip when slowing down, I taken by break check and they advised the breaks where good, just had them done 2 years ago, max. I had the batteries replaced twice in the last 2 years,there is no faulty in the battery. Right now my car is not working at all, the breaks became stiff while driving, constant error saying "reduced engine power". The car would turn over but it will not hold. I took it to my local mechanic, who advised he replaced all parts that could be the issue but the car still will not run right. He states it's and engine or computer issue. There are a few recalls already issued by chevy, my car was made in July of 2017, and the issues described is the exact same issues I'm having.

Certain @018 chevy Malibu models has a recall for asoftware problem could disable the fuel injectors and im currently having this issue where my vehicle will not start all of the time and is misfiring.

Warning: reduced speed, car stalled in the middle of traffic. Took to dealer ship and they charged me $279 and said it was the battery, from the looks of everyone else’s complaint, which we have the same complaint, I got ripped off. I deserve a refund and we all deserve our cars serviced.

Reduced engine power occurs while driving and will indicate a traction control issue and the check engine light will engage. The first time it happened, it was during a snowstorm on 2/24/2022, but it has occurred two other times while driving on a highway on sunny days (3/3/2022 and 3/8/2022) with no snow on the ground, road completely dry. Car speed dropped from approximately 55-60 mph to 20. I have to pull the car off the road, turn it off, and let set for at least one minute turned off before it will have engine power restored. Code for car was checked, and it was p2138, throttle/pedal position sensor switch.

Engine shuts off with out warning. Shuts completely off sitting a stop light and has to be put in park and restarted. Shuts of in drive through and scared it will begin doing while traveling down the highway. No warning lights or nothing on. Was told at dealer if not doing all the time or there was no light on indicating a failure that there was nothing could be done. Very dangerous problem.

The car is going slow when you put it on drive a jumps then when you press on the gas it goes real slow then it kicks in at a faster level but when am at like 30 mlp it jenks as if it wants to lock on me.

My 2018 chevy Malibu has been working fine then all of a sudden the warning light came on and the message warning light read engine power reduced while I was driving on the freeway at 60 mph dropping my speed to 25mph instincts told me to pull over, so I did! then I tried to drive again still no power it was like a strong pullback! so I again pulled over and turned my car engine off! let it sit a few hours before driving up to local automotive parts store to use the odii code reader and it read the code p2138 throttle/ pedal position sensor correlation the part to order is $120. 00 I am not able to get it today so I googythe problem and found out that this is a possible recall ??!!??.

Vehicle jerks when accelerating. Loses power. Usually will stop after turning the car off for a few minutes. Different engine codes have came up (camshaft position timer, air intake system) no one can seem to find the problem.

While driving engine warning function low power. Would not accelerate above 20mph. Defective accelerator pedal assembly and sensor.

Fuel injectors went out on my car I had no power to drive.

Reduced power mode came on and the fuel injectors arnt going to the emc.

Vehicle slows way down and loss of power. Engine power reduced. On heads up display. Seems to use alot of gas when this happens. I need to pull over and shut off car. Wait a bit and then restart. And get back on road. It did this 3 times in my commute to work. Also was snowing that morning and was slippery out so very dangerous almost was involved in an accident but luckily not. Seems to do this more in the colder temps. It has happened however in summer also but not as often. I have read many complaints about this issue. I am not sure why gm has not figured this issue out yet. Very concerned.

Driving on i20 in heavy traffic all doing 75mph the car lost all power. Although I had plenty of gas it did no good pumping the gas pedal . Fortunatly I was in the left lane and coasted to the shoulder before anyone collided with me. If I was in the right lane I am sure a collision would have occured as traffic would not have allowed me to get to the shoulder. After several hours I got towed 70 miles to the dealership. There was absolutely no warning of a problem prior to the incident. According to the dealership the fuel pump sensor shorted out and no gas could get to the engine. The car is still at the dealers as they have not gotten the backlogged part to repair the vehicle.

Car suddenly stops and takes several minutes to turn back on. During the time the car is off there is no electrical power. After a few minutes (5-10) electrical power returns and car is able to be started. This has happened everywhere from our driveway to a highway ramp and happens without warning.

Water leaking from under the glove box. Has passenger front and back floor soaked. Foul smell car losing power in fuel injector. Stalling while driving. P0317 and other codes. Has been inspected by gateway Buick in past, they charged me 200 dollars and the NHTSA issue said they would not. The vehicle is not running and will not crank.

Car powered down while driving all the lights lite up on the dashboard. When driving it either speeds up on its own or while driving it will just go slower without me letting up off the gas.