NHTSA owner reports · September 18, 2026 snapshot.
Power Train complaints
139 reportsClear category filter22,000 miles · Aug 25, 2022
Power Train
The contact owns a 2017 Chevrolet Malibu. The contact stated that while coming to a stop, the vehicle lost motive power and electrical power. The contact stated she was able to jump start the vehicle and the vehicle operated normally. The battery was replaced and the stability trac warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was …
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The contact owns a 2017 Chevrolet Malibu. The contact stated that while coming to a stop, the vehicle lost motive power and electrical power. The contact stated she was able to jump start the vehicle and the vehicle operated normally. The battery was replaced and the stability trac warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was not diagnosed. The manufacturer was contacted and stated that the vehicle was not under recall. The contact was referred to the NHTSA Hotline. The failure mileage was 22,000.
NHTSA ODI #11481183
Mileage unknown · Aug 22, 2022
Power Train
The car will show shift to park. It has been repaired before. GM is aware of this but it can happen multiple times. It will cause the battery to drain faster, the starter to go faster due to starting the car over and over.
NHTSA ODI #11480660
18,000 miles · Aug 11, 2022
Power Train
The contact's mother owns a 2017 Chevrolet Malibu. The contact stated that while parking the vehicle, the gear shifter was shifted into park(P) however, the “Shift to Park” message was displayed, preventing the vehicle from turning off. The contact shifted the gear shifter back and forth and then shifted into park(P) before the …
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The contact's mother owns a 2017 Chevrolet Malibu. The contact stated that while parking the vehicle, the gear shifter was shifted into park(P) however, the “Shift to Park” message was displayed, preventing the vehicle from turning off. The contact shifted the gear shifter back and forth and then shifted into park(P) before the proper gear was recognized. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed that an unknown switch needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 18,000.
NHTSA ODI #11478767
Mileage unknown · Jul 19, 2022
Power Train
When the vehicle is in park and turned off, there is a message that appears on the dashboard that reads, "Shift to Park," despite the gear shift in the park position. This is a safety hazard because the vehicle will not turn off and will continue to use the vehicle's battery unless the "Shift to Park" message is cleared from the…
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When the vehicle is in park and turned off, there is a message that appears on the dashboard that reads, "Shift to Park," despite the gear shift in the park position. This is a safety hazard because the vehicle will not turn off and will continue to use the vehicle's battery unless the "Shift to Park" message is cleared from the dash board. To clear the message, one must press the gear shift button several times or wiggle the gear shifter. My spouse spent 10 minutes doing this earlier today and was almost late for a doctor's appointment. If my spouse did not clear the "Shift to Park" message, my spouse would have risked having a dead battery after the doctor's appointment and would have had to call for a ride home or walk in weather with heat indices in the mid-90 degree F. The "Shift to Park" message has showed up on the dashboard with increased frequency over the past several weeks and Chevy should issue a recall to remedy this issue at no cost to consumers. This is a known issue by Chevy, according to GMauthority.com, as a class action lawsuit has been filed because Chevy has not acted to fix a known problem in their vehicles. I am writing to add my complaint to the list complaints this agency has received regarding this issue. Please promptly issue a recall to remedy this issue.
NHTSA ODI #11474833
Mileage unknown · Jul 18, 2022
Power Train
For the past almost year, my vehicle states to shift to park b ut it is in park. This is happening on a regular basis. I should not have to sit there and wrestle with the transmission shifter to get this to turn off. This has caused my battery to die and now my transmission is slipping. This is a known issue for several models a…
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For the past almost year, my vehicle states to shift to park b ut it is in park. This is happening on a regular basis. I should not have to sit there and wrestle with the transmission shifter to get this to turn off. This has caused my battery to die and now my transmission is slipping. This is a known issue for several models and is becoming a serious issue for me.
NHTSA ODI #11474600
Mileage unknown · Jul 11, 2022
Power TrainVehicle Speed Control
Shifting delays that cause loss of power for the past 2 years. I would have reported sooner but did not know how until now.
NHTSA ODI #11473321
Mileage unknown · Jul 10, 2022
Power Train
PROBLEM WITH THE SHIFTER. PLACED IT IN PARK. MESSAGE CENTER SAYS TO PUT IT IN PARK. HAD TO JIGGLE THE SHIFTER A FEW TIMES, THEN THE MESSAGE WOULD STOP. SOMETIMES, I HAD TO RESTART THE CAR AND TAKE IT OUT OF PARK AND BACK IN. IT WOULD HAPPEN ONCE IN AWHILE AND NOW MORE FREQUENTLY . TOOK IT TO A CHEVY DEALER AND THEY HAD TO …
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PROBLEM WITH THE SHIFTER. PLACED IT IN PARK. MESSAGE CENTER SAYS TO PUT IT IN PARK. HAD TO JIGGLE THE SHIFTER A FEW TIMES, THEN THE MESSAGE WOULD STOP. SOMETIMES, I HAD TO RESTART THE CAR AND TAKE IT OUT OF PARK AND BACK IN. IT WOULD HAPPEN ONCE IN AWHILE AND NOW MORE FREQUENTLY . TOOK IT TO A CHEVY DEALER AND THEY HAD TO REPLACE THE SHIFTER.
NHTSA ODI #11473219
Mileage unknown · Jul 8, 2022
Power TrainService Brakes
First incident, vehicle in motion moving about 45 MPH approached red light vehicle started making loud tick noise when to start to slow down and break pedal was solid not able to slow the vehicle down. Panicked, 3 children in my car in fear for their safety. Was able to put both feet and press as hard as I could to attempt to st…
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First incident, vehicle in motion moving about 45 MPH approached red light vehicle started making loud tick noise when to start to slow down and break pedal was solid not able to slow the vehicle down. Panicked, 3 children in my car in fear for their safety. Was able to put both feet and press as hard as I could to attempt to stop the car. Car thankfully came to a stop and was able to pull over exit the car and have towed to dealership. Dealership inspected vehicle and decided that the vacuum pump had locked up and the case and gear had broken apart. Replaced part and everything was working. Second incident, noticed fluid on driveway, took car to dealership and they stated the vacuum pump was leaking, changed gasket. Third incident, driving car down the highway, vehicle lost speed (jumped) and check engine light came on. Exited highway and car shut off and breaks were again solid had to again use two feet to press as hard as I could in order to not blow through an intersection. Was able to get off road call tow truck and tow to closest shop. They inspected vehicle and found the vacuum pump locked up again and broken pieces where sent into the engine and destroyed the cam shaft.
NHTSA ODI #11472909
Mileage unknown · Jul 1, 2022
Power Train
The vehicle displays “Shift to Park”. Cannot turn off car and most recently we needed to turn the car on/off 12 times to get the vehicle to park. We’re worried we will not see the error message and exit the vehicle with the possibility of the car moving as it doesn’t recognize that the car is in park.
NHTSA ODI #11472052
67,000 miles · Jun 8, 2022
Electrical SystemPower Train
The contact owns a 2017 Chevrolet Malibu. The contact stated that the automatic START/STOP feature intermittently failed to operate as needed and the vehicle would shut off while at a complete stop. There were several unknown warning lights illuminated. During the most recent failure, the vehicle failed to restart after several …
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The contact owns a 2017 Chevrolet Malibu. The contact stated that the automatic START/STOP feature intermittently failed to operate as needed and the vehicle would shut off while at a complete stop. There were several unknown warning lights illuminated. During the most recent failure, the vehicle failed to restart after several attempts. A fellow motorist assisted her in jump-starting the vehicle and the contact was able to resume normal driving. The contact then took the vehicle to a dealer where it remained in their possession while awaiting a diagnostic test. The manufacturer had yet to be notified of the failure. The vehicle had yet to be repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 67,000.
NHTSA ODI #11468223
Official recalls
4Aug 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.
Consequence & remedy
Consequence: An improperly secured seat belt retractor may not function properly in a crash, increasing the risk of injury.
Remedy: 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.
Additional source detail variants (2)
Seat Belts:rear/other:retractor
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.
Consequence: An improperly secured seat belt retractor may not function properly in a crash, increasing the risk of injury.
Remedy: 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.
Seat Belts:critical Fasteners
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.
Consequence: An improperly secured seat belt retractor may not function properly in a crash, increasing the risk of injury.
Remedy: 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.
Jun 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.
Consequence & remedy
Consequence: In the event of a crash, improper air bag deployment can increase the risk of injury.
Remedy: 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.
May 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.
Consequence & remedy
Consequence: A damaged fuel line can create a fuel leak, increasing the risk of a fire.
Remedy: 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.
Dec 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.
Consequence & remedy
Consequence: 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.
Remedy: 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.
Model-level recall history does not show whether a particular VIN is affected or has received a repair. Check a VIN with NHTSA ↗