IllustrationNoticed 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.
2018 Chevrolet Malibu Hybrid
Owner reports · Recalls · Investigations
Limited comparison data
There is not enough comparable history to draw a useful model-year comparison.
About this comparison →How this year compares
Owner complaints by model year
Compare all Malibu Hybrid years →Counts vary with age, sales and reporting. They are not failure rates.
What owners reported most
All reported categories
Tap a category to read its complaints. One report may name several components.
When problems were reported
Mileage at the reported incident
Limited mileage data: 4 of 11 reports include usable mileage. There isn’t enough coverage to show a useful chart.
NHTSA’s mileage field refers to the reported incident, not necessarily the filing date. This shows report counts, not the likelihood of a failure.
What to inspect
Issues worth paying extra attention to based on owner reports.
- Electrical System. Review the 4 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →
- Power Train. Review the 4 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →
- Engine. Review the 3 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →
NHTSA owner reports · September 18, 2026 snapshot.
1 crash reports0 fire reports0 injury reports
Unknown Or Other complaints
3 reportsShift 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 l…
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Shift 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.
Engine 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 wa…
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Engine 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
Official recalls
0No recalls in this snapshot.
Model-level recall history does not show whether a particular VIN is affected or has received a repair. Check a VIN with NHTSA ↗
NHTSA investigations
1DP22005 · Pedestrian Alert Sounds
Opened Jan 27, 2023 · Closed Aug 7, 2023
Status: closed (inferred from source dates) · Electrical System:propulsion System
NHTSA received a petition on or about July 18, 2022, requesting that Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) 141 be applied to all electric and hybrid vehicles operating in the United States. The petition can be reviewed at NHTSA.gov under ODI Number 11486072. FMVSS 141 establishes performance requirements for pedestrian alert sounds for motor vehicles. The standard applies to hybrid and electric vehicles that have a gross vehicle weight rating of 4,536 KG or less or are defined as low-speed vehicles. The standard became fully applicable to all such vehicles manufactured on or after March 1, 2021.On January 27, 2023, NHTSA opened Defect Petition (DP) 22-005 to evaluate the subject matter described in the petition. On June 24, 2023 and as supplemented on June 25, 2023, the petitioner notified NHTSA he was withdrawing his petition. The petitioner indicated that, based on his review of data, there is no justification for asserting potential benefits that could be derived from actions sought by my petition. Based on the petitioner's withdrawal, DP22-005 is closed. Closure of this DP does not represent a determination by NHTSA regarding the subject matter of the petition.