Sedan, hybrid, FWD/Front-Wheel Drive, built in United States. Owner complaints on file from Jan 16, 2020 to Jun 29, 2025.
Owner complaints about this model year, by the year they were filed with NHTSA.
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The full text of every complaint filed with NHTSA about this model year, newest first. Complaints are filed by owners and are not verified by NHTSA; NHTSA removes personal details before publishing.
11 complaints on file, page 1 of 1.
To Whom It May Concern, I am writing to report a serious issue concerning the recall history of my vehicle and to request an investigation into what appears to be unresolved and inaccurately closed recalls. Vehicle Information: •Make/Model/Year: 2018 Chevy Malibu hybrid •Date of Purchase: 2018 (I have been the sole owner since) Several safety recalls were previously listed for my vehicle on your website and through the manufacturer, but I recently checked again and now it states there are zero open recalls. I have never had these recalls repaired, and no dealership has performed or contacted me regarding these repairs. Furthermore, my vehicle is currently displaying check engine lights related to the same issues previously associated with the recalls. This suggests the issues were never addressed, yet they no longer appear in the recall system. I am concerned that: •These recalls may have been falsely marked as “completed” •There may be an internal data error causing safety risks to be hidden •I am being denied free repairs due to incorrect closure of these recalls Please investigate this matter as I believe it affects not only my vehicle but possibly others. I can provide any documents, error codes, or additional details upon request. Thank you for your time and attention to this urgent safety concern. Sincerely, [XXX] [XXX] [XXX] [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
NHTSA complaint 11670074One 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
NHTSA complaint 11647214The car has a reoccuring problem where is stalls in the middle of driving the vehicle. A warning comes up to shift to park. The car then restarts, runs extremely rough and stalls out. It then signals to shift to park again. The car is extremely unsafe. I took the vehicle to GM dealer and they said the car is "confused" between running on the battery and combustible engine. I have seen several similar issues with the Cheverolt Malibu Hybrid. I think GM knows they have an issue and one of the reasons they discontinued the model.
NHTSA complaint 11626907The contact owns a 2018 Chevrolet Malibu. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle lost motive power and failed to restart. The contact stated while restarting the vehicle, the contact heard a rattling sound. The vehicle was driven to the shoulder of the road. The vehicle was towed to the residence and then towed to the dealer but was unofficially diagnosed with failed fuel injectors. The contact was informed that the battery and the fuel injectors needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and a case was filed. The failure mileage was approximately 53,349.
NHTSA complaint 11590593The contact owns a 2018 Chevrolet Malibu Hybrid. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle lost motive power. The shift-to-park warning light was illuminated. The contact could pull to the shoulder of the roadway, where the vehicle failed to restart. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic, who was unable to determine the cause of the failure; however, the battery was replaced. The vehicle was repaired, but the failure reoccurred. The vehicle was towed to the dealer but was not yet diagnosed. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 80,000.
NHTSA complaint 11553392Noticed the rear center mounted stop lamp was cracked on the left side and found there was a substantial leak of water into the trunk from said lamp. This particular vehicle is the hybrid which makes this dangerous as the water is dripping over the high voltage battery. Vehicle has not yet been inspected.
NHTSA complaint 11539968Shift to park message comes up when driving and car turns off. Also check engine light comes on for code hybrid/EV powertain control module. The car was towed to a dealership and has been in service for 3 weeks and they can't figure out problem. I did pick car up once due to not being able to diagnosis problem and check engine light with same code and shift to park message came on hours later and took it back next day.
NHTSA complaint 11536255As I was driving with cruise control on a freeway at 70 mph the car suddenly displayed a warning to reduce speed. I continued to try to get to the next exit but almost instantly it started reducing my power and slowed me down to a crawl. I pulled over on the freeway and it would not restart. The tow truck to it to a chevy dealer and the next morning they called asking for details as the car started right up and they drove it around for 10 minutes without issue. They kept the vehicle all day but were unable to recreate the problem so they told me there was nothing they could do. They pulled 17 codes and said that's too many to diagnose so nothing to do. I drove 15 miles home with no issues. The next day I went to get the oil changed and they tested the 12V battery and told me it failed. I went to buy a battery and drove home. The next day I drove around 10 miles and then it dies again as I was slowing down to a stoplight. I pushed it to a parking lot and installed the new battery. I took the old battery back to the store to get my core deposit back and asked them to test it. They said it tested fine but I went ahead and gave it to them as I already had the new battery installed and it's a pain in the rear to do. On the 3 mile trip home they car jerked/slipped shifting briefly and the check engine light came on. OnStar sent me a notification the first time telling me the battery was drained and I needed to charge it. The second time I received a notification that there was an issue with the "electronic drivetrain" and needed to take it in for service. I'm taking it to the dealer I purchased it from tomorrow to see if they can figure it out.
NHTSA complaint 11450678Engine lost power on interstate highway. While this did not result in a crash/ rear end collision, the potential for such injury seems high. 1-2 days prior there were some warning lights (check engine light). Called a dealership Tuesday morning and earliest service appointment was in one week but they assured me that the car was drivable in the meantime. On Wednesday afternoon my son was driving on the interstate and there was a new message “engine power reduced”, and a sudden loss of power. Eventually got the car to nearest Chevrolet dealership. Their technician took over a week to figure out what was wrong; eventually they replaced the ECM but still had problems. After a software update to ECM the problem finally appears to be resolved. Please note that similar problem has been reported with other Malibu models, but my Malibu Hybrid was not recalled. Please consider a recall of all GMmodels similar to the Malibu
NHTSA complaint 11421044THE CAR SAYS IT IS NOT IN PARK WHEN IT IS. IT WILL NOT SHUT OFF BECAUSE IT IS NOT IN PARK.
NHTSA complaint 11373457THE CAR LOST POWER WHILE I WAS OPERATING IT. I HAD TO PUT IT IN PARK AND RESTART IT. I WAS IN THE MIDDLE OF PARKING IT ON A CITY STREET.
NHTSA complaint 11299931Technical service bulletins and other notices the manufacturer sent to dealers. A bulletin is not a recall; the 60 most recent are listed.