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2019 Chevrolet Malibu

Owner reports · Recalls · Investigations

Similar to other model years

Owner complaints for the 2019 Chevrolet Malibu do not stand out strongly from the model-year median of 310.5.

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When problems were reported

Mileage at the reported incident

56 reports with mileage · 134 unknown

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.

  • Power Train. Review the 66 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →
  • Engine. Review the 63 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →
  • Electrical System. Review the 61 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →

NHTSA owner reports · September 18, 2026 snapshot.

8 crash reports1 fire reports4 injury reports

What owners actually said

190 reports
Mileage unknown · Jul 14, 2025
Unknown Or Other

GM has issued a known defect for the 2019 Chevrolet Malibu. My VIN is not on the recall list for the Shift to Park issue. The Chevy dealer will not fix the defect for free. I would like to add my VIN to the recall list.

NHTSA ODI #11673263

Mileage unknown · Jul 12, 2025
Unknown Or Other

My vehicle will not sense that it is in park when it is in park and therefore will not allow me to shut off the vehicle. This is become a problem multiple times and does it consistently enough that it could be a danger. What if I needed to exit the vehicle quickly and it will not allow me to.

NHTSA ODI #11673012

Mileage unknown · Jul 7, 2025
Unknown Or Other

When car is shifted into park the info system reads “Shift to Park” and the car continues to ding.

NHTSA ODI #11671745

Mileage unknown · Jul 6, 2025
Engine

The part in the linked article which was recalled, was never replaced. [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

NHTSA ODI #11671403

100,000 miles · Jun 30, 2025
Power Train

The contact owns a 2019 Chevrolet Malibu. The contact stated while driving or while the vehicle was parked, the gear shifter failed to shift into drive. The contact had to shift into neutral, depress the accelerator pedal, and the vehicle responded as intended. The check engine warning light illuminated for 45 minutes and then s…

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The contact owns a 2019 Chevrolet Malibu. The contact stated while driving or while the vehicle was parked, the gear shifter failed to shift into drive. The contact had to shift into neutral, depress the accelerator pedal, and the vehicle responded as intended. The check engine warning light illuminated for 45 minutes and then stopped being illuminated. A dealer was contacted. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed and determined that the transmission needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified on the failure but offered no assistance. The contact was referred by the manufacturer to report the failure to the NHTSA Hotline. The approximate failure mileage was 100,000.

NHTSA ODI #11670197

Mileage unknown · Jun 27, 2025
EngineService Brakes

The vacuum pump has a tendency of breaking and when it does it affects the exhaust camshaft making the car completely inoperable. When this happened my vehicle lost all brakes and power and would not start. This happened suddenly with no warning and left me stranded in the middle of lanes of travel. This is a well known issue wi…

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The vacuum pump has a tendency of breaking and when it does it affects the exhaust camshaft making the car completely inoperable. When this happened my vehicle lost all brakes and power and would not start. This happened suddenly with no warning and left me stranded in the middle of lanes of travel. This is a well known issue with the Chevy 1.5 L and is documented in the TSB Bulletin #21-NA-268. The vehicle was inspected following the TSB number provided and diagnosing via the information provided.

NHTSA ODI #11669802

Mileage unknown · Jun 26, 2025
Unknown Or Other

My car constantly gives a warning of shift to park even when the car is in the park position. The will constantly give the alarm. I move the shifter from drive to park several times before it stops. I have replaced the battery due it being drained by this faulty shifter.

NHTSA ODI #11669578

Mileage unknown · Jun 26, 2025
EngineUnknown Or Other

This model of 2019 Malibu, does not have the function to shut off the auto start/stop feature. I have had the car for a few years and in the past year this feature has begun to malfunction multiple times at random. When in drive and approaching a stop sign or red light the Malibu will engage in the auto stop feature. There have …

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This model of 2019 Malibu, does not have the function to shut off the auto start/stop feature. I have had the car for a few years and in the past year this feature has begun to malfunction multiple times at random. When in drive and approaching a stop sign or red light the Malibu will engage in the auto stop feature. There have been occurrences when after this is engaged and I lift my foot to continue to drive that the vehicle will not restart and be completely shut off. The dash will tell me to “shift to park” as if believing that I am in drive but that I shut off the vehicle. I will have to shift the vehicle to park and then push the on/off button to restart the vehicle several times. It has taken upwards of a whole light change cycle for it to be restarted. It is exceptionally dangerous as I am often in a busy intersection light with my vehicle unable to go. There is no obvious trigger and it occurs at random intervals. There is no option to turn off the auto start/stop feature and it is the only thing that causes it to occur. No warning lights or indicator has occurred. I have taken the vehicle twice to the dealership as well as another mechanic and they were unable to diagnose any problem or replicate the issue. Since it occurs at such unpredictable times they were not able to identify anything, however I do have a video taken of it occurring to me. The dealership said that GM has not seen anything like this, yet I have read about other similar issues online with this model. Safety is extremely at risk for myself and others as the car is essentially turning itself off while I’m in the middle of a drive and takes several moments to be able to drive again. This has occurred about 10 times since it begun and seems to be more frequent. I’ve replaced the battery and reset the BCM as two cautionary measures and neither has resolved the issue. I have a video of it as well but I can not attach to this form.

NHTSA ODI #11669429

50,000 miles · Jun 11, 2025
Power Train

The contact owns a 2019 Chevrolet Malibu. The contact stated that on several occasions while shifting into park(P), the message “Shift to Park” displayed on the instrument panel. The driver was forced to shift the gear shifter several times before the vehicle recognized that park(P) had been selected. The dealer was notified of …

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The contact owns a 2019 Chevrolet Malibu. The contact stated that on several occasions while shifting into park(P), the message “Shift to Park” displayed on the instrument panel. The driver was forced to shift the gear shifter several times before the vehicle recognized that park(P) had been selected. The dealer was notified of the failure and the contact was provided an estimate for a diagnostic test. The contact stated that the vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and informed the contact that there were no recalls associated with the VIN. The manufacturer then referred the contact to the NHTSA Hotline to report the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 50,000.

NHTSA ODI #11666276

96,000 miles · Jun 10, 2025
EngineFuel System, Gasoline

The contact owns a 2019 Chevrolet Malibu. The contact stated that on two occasions while driving 35 MPH, the vehicle lost motive power. There were no warning lights illuminated; however, the contact determined that the failure was due to the throttle body. The vehicle was repaired. The local dealer was not contacted but had not …

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The contact owns a 2019 Chevrolet Malibu. The contact stated that on two occasions while driving 35 MPH, the vehicle lost motive power. There were no warning lights illuminated; however, the contact determined that the failure was due to the throttle body. The vehicle was repaired. The local dealer was not contacted but had not diagnosed or repaired the vehicle. The manufacturer was contacted, and informed the contact that the VIN was not under recall. The failure mileage was approximately 96,000.

NHTSA ODI #11665970

Official recalls

1

21V649000 · Seat Belts:critical Fasteners; Seat Belts:rear/other:retractor

Aug 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.

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

0

No exact-year investigations in this snapshot.