2017 Chevrolet Malibu
Problems, recalls and owner-reported issues
Engine is the leading concern among 724 owner complaints filed for this model year. This is the 14th highest complaint count among 26 Malibu model years with reports.
Of the 2017 reports, 17 involved a crash and 4 involved a fire. 16 people were injured.
What owners report most often
Recalls and investigations
Seat belts, critical fastenersAug 20, 2021
General Motors, LLC (GM) is recalling certain 2016-2021 Chevrolet Malibu and 2019-2021 Cadillac XT4 vehicles. The rear seat belt retractors may be improperly secured with loose or missing fasteners.
An improperly secured seat belt retractor may not function properly in a crash, increasing the risk of injury.
Dealers will inspect and tighten the rear seat belt retractors, as necessary, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed on September 17, 2021. Owners may contact Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020 and Cadillac customer service at 1-800-458-8006. GM's number for this recall is N212333380.
Campaign 21V649000 on NHTSA.gov
Air bags, sensor, occupant classificationJun 14, 2018
General Motors LLC (GM) is recalling certain 2016-2018 Chevrolet Malibu vehicles. During servicing, a Passenger Presence System (PPS) may have been installed that was not correctly calibrated to the vehicle's seat type. As a result, the PPS may not properly identify an adult passenger from a child passenger in the front passenger seat, potentially causing the air bag to not deploy when it should, or causing the air bag to deploy when it shouldn't.
In the event of a crash, improper air bag deployment can increase the risk of injury.
GM will notify owners, and dealers will replace the front passenger PPS seat service kit, free of charge. The recall began August 7, 2018. Owners may contact Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020. GM's number for this recall is 18208.
Campaign 18V400000 on NHTSA.gov
Fuel system, gasoline, delivery, fuel pumpMay 31, 2018
General Motors LLC (GM) is recalling certain 2015-2018 GMC Canyon, 2016-2017 Buick Envision, 2016-2018 Chevrolet Colorado and Malibu, 2017-2018 GMC Acadia, 2018 Buick LaCrosse, Cadillac ATS, Chevrolet Equinox, and GMC Terrain vehicles. The high pressure fuel pump may detach from its mounting flange, possibly resulting in the pump damaging the high pressure fuel line.
A damaged fuel line can create a fuel leak, increasing the risk of a fire.
GM will notify owners, and dealers will replace the high pressure fuel pump, and high pressure fuel pipe, free of charge. The recall began July 2, 2018. Owners may contact Buick customer service at 1-800-521-7300, Cadillac customer service at 1-800-458-8006, Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020, or GMC customer service at 1-800-462-8782. GM's number for this recall is 18188.
Campaign 18V358000 on NHTSA.gov
Air bags, side/windowDec 2, 2016
General Motors LLC (GM) is recalling certain 2017 Malibu vehicles manufactured on November 10, 2016. The right-hand rear side air bag inflator manifold may have insufficient welds.
Insufficient welds could cause the inflator to separate and propel air bag debris into the cabin during a crash. Also, the inflator could fail to inflate during a crash, increasing the risk of injury.
GM will notify owners, and dealers will replace the rear side air bag modules, free of charge. The recall began on January 25, 2017. Owners may contact Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020. GM's number for this recall is 16146.
Campaign 16V870000 on NHTSA.gov
Representative owner complaints: other or unspecified
150 reports, newest first. Show all
Electrical system, Other or unspecified, Jun 28, 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.
Other or unspecified, Jun 27, 2024
Shift to Park Error. Then the battery goes dead.
Exterior lighting, Structure, Other or unspecified, Jun 17, 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.
Other or unspecified, Jun 8, 2024
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.
Other or unspecified, May 28, 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
Other or unspecified, Mar 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.
Other or unspecified, Fuel/propulsion system, Mar 7, 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 .
Other or unspecified, Back over prevention, Feb 10, 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
Vehicle speed control, Other or unspecified, Engine, Jan 11, 2024
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.
Other or unspecified, Nov 3, 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.
Electrical system, Other or unspecified, Jul 28, 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.
Seat belts, Seats, Other or unspecified, Jul 16, 2023
shift to park
Electrical system, Other or unspecified, Jun 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
Other or unspecified, May 21, 2023
shift to park message appears most often
Power train, Other or unspecified, Engine, May 11, 2023
My car Engine failed on me and I have Taken this car Back to dealership over and over again and they kept telling me nothing was wrong and kept clearing my codes on the car and now out of a car I have to still pay on this car cost me 22,000 dollars I bought the car with 34,000 miles in Dec of 2019 and have had problems since the first power loss i cant remember exact date I found out this car had a recall and at 3,300 miles with the valve and gotten fixed I had loss of power with the gas pedal which was also recall car felt like it was gonna stop on me multiple times with power loss engine was riding rough I wold smell a burning smell at times my shift into park as well needed fixed the dealership said I needed a new computer and they couldn't do nothing about it I even Contacted GM and nothing was done before my car engine went out on me every time I took the car in the codes that came up was in the car history which i asked why do codes keep pop up in history if you keep clearing them that means something wrong and they couldn't give me a answer My extended warranty denied my claim they had a inspector come out and take a look due to consumption of oil and bent valve is a part in the engine they wont cover and I even asked my advisor all the times I brought my car in this could of been issue and he said possibly I have all my invoices as well have I dont have a way to upload them at the moment
Other or unspecified, Engine, May 1, 2023
I purchased a 2017 Chevrolet Malibu LT for my son Memorial Day weekend in 2019. The first night we got the vehicle home it rained overnight. We checked the trunk and found water in the trunk. After a search online we found that this was a known issue for the Malibu yet Chevrolet/GM did not issue a recall. After putting pressure on the dealership that sold the vehicle to us they agreed to send us to a Chevrolet dealership to have the issue fixed at no charge. Last Monday, April 24, 2023, my son was driving his vehicle and the StabiliTrak came on and his car would not accelerate. He took the car into the dealership and they determined his pistons were cracked and it would be $6,900.00 to repair the pistons/engine. After doing an internet search I found a letter on a commercial attorney's website and on the GM website that was sent to Malibu and Cruz customer's in 2017. The piston damage was a known issue. The letter from 2017 stated it was a misfiring of an ECM module that could lead to piston damage. Owners of the Malibu and the Chevy Cruz were given to March 31, 2019, to come in and have the module reprogrammed and new oil placed in the vehicle. We bought the care at the end of May 2019 so there was no way to know of this issue. There was no recall so the information was not readily found. I did not find out this was a known issue until I did the Google search last week. I have reached out to Chevrolet and filed a claim. Chevrolet at first said they could maybe pay 20% for the repairs. They should be paying 100% due to the fact they knew of the issue and should have issued a recall.
Steering, Vehicle speed control, Other or unspecified, Mar 15, 2023
I was driving at 70 MPH on the freeway when off a sudden my car haulted back and said engine power reduced. I had my kids in the car and traffic behind me when my car went into an auto decline in MPH reaching 30 MPH before I could quickly pull over. I called the company I bought my car at the next day. They told me I needed an inspection but my check engine light only stayed on overnight and was off by the time I went in. In the last year this has happened over 10x. It’s manageable but incredibly dangerous if going at a fast speed. The weird part is if you turn your car off for 1-2 minutes, you turn it back on the there is no longer a power reduction and all is back to normal.
Vehicle speed control, Other or unspecified, Engine, Feb 23, 2023
2017 Chevy Malibu over 15 times this happens since we owned buying it brand new it has "Reduced Engine Power" error come on and the car can't accelerate over 30 miles per hour. This is a continued problem all the time and very dangerous when we are on the tollway that has a 70-mph speed limit, and you can't get the car to over 30 mph. This same problem happens on our 2018 Chevy Malibu over 5 times since we owned it too and it's getting worse! This is extremely dangerous and takes you a long time to get home when you can only go 30 mph or less because of the "Reduced Engine Power" Limit. Same 2017 Chevy Malibu also has the "Shift to Park" Error so we can't shut off the engine because the car won't go into park, you have to back up and keep trying to get the shifter to let you put into park if you're lucky it will finally after many shifting attempts back and forth to get rid of the error so you can shut off the engine to exit your car. GM should be responsible for a recall on these two very important errors that these Chevy Malibu cars are having on both of the problems are very dangerous "Reduced Engine Speed" and "Shift to Park" can't shut off the engine is dangerous.
Other or unspecified, Dec 22, 2022
Loss of power while driving, have to pull over because it won't go above 20 mph, traction light comes on
Vehicle speed control, Other or unspecified, Engine, Dec 12, 2022
The check engine light came on and the stabilitrak came on. I went to nearest car mechanic and the mechanic told me it was safe that’s normal and it was safe so I proceeded to goto work the next day. The next day I’m on my way to work and 30 minutes on the highway my check engine light come on this time saying engine power reduced I went from driving 60mph to 20mph with four wheelers speeding pass me . Being far away from home I pulled over side of the highway to not panic. I turned on my hazard lights and proceeded driving and made my way home because I didn’t want to be stranded.
Vehicle speed control, Other or unspecified, Engine, Sep 28, 2022
I have taking my car to Chevy 8/2021 twice and now 9/28/22 for what I believe to be throttle body control and accelerator pedal issue. The engine reduce light and check engine lite continues to come on causing my car to lose speed while driving. Chevy keeps telling me its a oil pressure issue now their saying it may be a oil gasket. At this point I feel like there is a lot of complaints of the same issue. I'm hoping someone can look into this further as it's costly and seems to be a chevy issue nation wide. I see there has even been a lawsuit : Jun 9, 2022 — A class action lawsuit against General Motors alleges the company hid a defect in its Chevy Malibu that can cause a sudden loss of power. https://topclassactions.com/lawsuit-settlements/consumer-products/auto-news/chevy-malibu-class-action-alleges-power-defect-cover-up/ I feel like this is very dangerous and I don't want to get hurt or hurt anyone in the process.
Vehicle speed control, Other or unspecified, Jun 26, 2022
For over a year now my car has a weird hesitation when I press the gas and fully have the pedal down it just crawls no more than 8mph then all of sudden it will jump into speed and take off. The shop has had my vehicle for over 3 months and couldnt figure it out just told me to put premium gas in and that still hasnt solved the problem. This car has been NOTHING but problems. Havent even had it three years and its been in the shop for almost 6 months in total
Electrical system, Other or unspecified, Engine, Jun 17, 2022
Since purchasing this vehicle I have had to take to repair shop several times due to the automatic shut off when at a stop light but car cuts out completely and sometimes will not start back up. I have had to be towed to the shop I have had to replace the battery once already because of this and looks like will have to replace battery again because it has started doing the same thing again. I have only had this car a year and am ready to give it back to the dealership.
Other or unspecified, Jun 8, 2022
The vehicle has just over 51,000 miles on it. When shifted to park and turned off, it gives an error message "shift to park" and will not shut all the way off. This requires the car to be restarted, shifted out of park and back into park and shut down again, often multiple times. The car is currently at the dealership having the shifter assembly replaced, which will cost over $600 in parts and labor. Online research indicates this is a common and known problem, with bulletins issued in all 50 states. If the shifter assembly becomes obstructed from proper functioning by debris, as these bulletins suggest, it would appear that this could eventually result in the inability to put the car in park at all, which would be a major safety concern. GM states it is not under recall at present.
Other or unspecified, May 18, 2022
I have a 2017 Malibu and I pulled into my driveway to park and the car would not shift into park. The car’s stick shift malfunctioned and it was stuck in reverse. The vehicle would not shut off and the brakes would not work. It began rolling backwards out into a busy street. I was able to find the emergency brake to stop it from rolling too far out into the street but the car would not turn off or switch out of gear. I was unable to exit, lock, or turn off my vehicle due to the shifting malfunction, which was draining my battery. The vehicle was unable to physically shift into the park gear, but the car was also incapable of detecting the shift. No warning lights or shift to park warning came on the dashboard. I immediately called AAA to tow my vehicle to a repair shop. I was without a vehicle for 4 days and had to pay a costly repair of $444.95 for a known defect with Malibu vehicles. The repair shop replaced the automatic transmission shift cable and the GM/automatic transmission range selector lever. General Motors needs to recognize the problem and resolve it by recalling these vehicles, and notifying vehicle owners of this defect before someone gets injured or killed and should also reimburse customers for the repairs which they had to pay out of pocket! Had this defect occurred while I was driving I could have been injured or killed or could have been parked somewhere in an unsafe situation unable to drive away or my vehicle could have rolled out into the busy street and hit a pedestrian, damaged someone’s property or hit another vehicle causing damages, death or injury to others.