2013 CHEVROLET MALIBU Complaints

MY 2013 CHEVY MALIBU LT1 ECO IS A HYBRID. ONE DAY DRIVING TO WORK MY POWER STEERING STARTED GOING OUT. AS I KEPT DRIVING, BECAUSE I WAS CLOSE TO WORK, MY CAR WOULD GRADUALLY START DYING. SUDDENLY WHILE DRIVING MY CAR DIED ON ME AND MY POWER STEERING WAS COMPLETELY GONE. I HAD TO STRUGGLE JUST TO GET OFF TO THE SIDE OF THE ROAD. I ALMOST GOT HIT TRYING TO PULL OVER. SEEING HOW ITS A NEWER VEHICLE AND WELL MAINTAINED I DON'T SEE HOW THIS ISN'T A MECHANICAL PROBLEM WITH A FAULTY PART. CALLING AROUND TO THE CHEVY DEALERSHIP MECHANIC SHOPS THEY ARE SAYING ITS THE ALTERNATOR GENERATOR THAT COMES WITH HYBRID VEHICLES. AFTER LOOKING ONLINE I'VE SEEN A LOT OF PEOPLE ARE HAVING THIS SAME ISSUE WITH FAULTY PARTS AND EVEN SOME WERE RECALLED, I DON'T SEE WHY CHEVY IS NOT RECALLING THIS VEHICLE TO GET THIS PROBLEM FIXED. IT'S JUST PUTTING DRIVERS AT RISK. I DRIVE ON A HIGHWAY THAT HAS HEAVY TRAFFIC FROM LOGGING TRUCKS. IF MY POWER STEERING WOULD HAVE WENT OUT WHILE A LOGGING TRUCK WAS COMING TOWARDS ME, I COULD HAVE BEEN KILLED ALONG WITH MY PASSENGER.

THE ENTIRE ELECTRICAL SYSTEM WILL RANDOMLY SHUT DOWN CAUSING LOSS OF POWER STEERING, POWER BRAKES, ENTIRE DASHBOARD, ALL LIGHTS, HAZARD LIGHTS ETC. THIS CAN HAPPEN AT ANY TIME, ON THE FREEWAY, STOPPED AT A LIGHT, PARKED ETC. SOMETIMES IT GOES DARK AND RESTARTS ITSELF WHILE DRIVING....SOMETIMES IT GOES DARK AND WON'T RESTART FOR MINUTES OR LONGER WHILE IN TRAFFIC WITHOUT WORKING HAZARD LIGHTS. IF PARKED, IT CAN'T BE TAKEN OUT OF 'PARK" TO PUSH IT OUT OF TRAFFIC OR TRY TO START IT IN "NEUTRAL" AND THE KEY CAN'T BE REMOVED FROM THE IGNITION.THERE ARE NO ERROR CODES TO DIAGNOSE THE ISSUE AND IT WON'T EVER HAPPEN WHILE IT IS IN THE SHOP (OF COURSE) THIS IS THE ULTIMATE SAFETY HAZARD TO ME AND MY FAMILY.

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2013 CHEVROLET MALIBU. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE INSTRUMENT CLUSTER WARNING INDICATORS WERE FLICKERING AND THE VEHICLE FAILED TO START. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO AN INDEPENDENT MECHANIC WHO STATED THAT THE DIMMER SWITCH AND BATTERY WERE DRAINED AND NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. THE CONTACT CALLED RICK HENDRICK BUICK (3244 COMMERCE AVE NW, DULUTH, GA 30096, (770) 954-8718) AND INFORMED THEM OF THE FAILURES. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOT CONTACTED. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 85,000.

WHILE IN MOTION, THE FRONT DEFROST STOPPED WORKING AND ALL AIR STARTED BLOWING FROM OTHER VENTS. THIS CAUSED THE WINDSHIELD TO FOG OBSTRUCTING VISION. MULTIPLE ATTEMPTS WERE MADE TO TURN THE DEFROST BACK ON WITHOUT ANY SUCCESS. AIR CONTINUES TO BLOW FROM ALL OTHER VENTS. IT APPEARS AS IF A RECALL HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR THE 2014 MALIBU FOR THE SAME PROBLEM.

WHILE AT A STOP LIGHT ON A VERY BUSY CITY STREET THE ENGINE STOPPED RUNNING AND THE CAR SHUT OFF. MY FOOT WAS STILL ON THE BREAK AND THE CAR WAS IN DRIVE. I PUT THE CAR IN PARK THEN RESTARTED THE CAR AND IT STARTED RUNNING LIKE IT SHOULD, THERE WAS NO WARNING LIGHTS DISPLAYED BEFORE, DURING, OR AFTER THIS HAPPENED. IN ANOTHER INCIDENT WHILE I REVERSED THE CAR THE ENGINE SHUT OFF WITHOUT ANY WARNING LIGHTS, I HAD TO PUT THE CAR IN PARK AGAIN AND RESTART IT TO GET THE ENGINE RUNNING AGAIN.

MY BATTERY COMPLETELY DIED AND I NEEDED A JUMP. THE JUMP ENDED UP NOT WORKING SO I PURCHASED A NEW BATTERY. NOW THE AIRBAG LIGHT IS ON AND WILL NOT GO OFF. AFTER RESEARCHING THIS PROBLEM I SEE THAT THIS IS A KNOWN ISSUE AND STILL NO RECALL ON THIS PROBLEM. I HAVE A 2013 CHEVROLET MALIBU ECO. THE FORUMS ARE SAYING IT'S A PROBLEM WITH THE SDM COMPONENT. CODES B101D-00(ELECTRONIC CONTROL UNIT HARDWARE) AND U0184-00(LOST COMMUNICATION WITH RADIO).

THE TIMING CHAIN IN THE ENGINE IS BAD AND THERE IS A LOUD NOISE. THE CAR SHUTS DOWN AT A STOP AND WILL NOT ALWAYS RESTART. ALSO THE GPS/RADIO SCREEN STARTED GOING OFF AND ON AND THEN COMPLETELY WENT DARK.

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2013 CHEVROLET MALIBU. WHILE DRIVING 40 MPH ON THE FREEWAY, THE STEERING SEIZED AND THE VEHICLE LOST POWER WITHOUT WARNING. THE CONTACT MANAGED TO VEER THE VEHICLE TO THE SHOULDER OF THE ROAD. THE VEHICLE FAILED TO RESTART AND THE KEY WOULD NOT RELEASE FROM THE IGNITION. APPROXIMATELY TWO HOURS LATER, THE VEHICLE DID NOT RESUME NORMAL OPERATION. THE FAILURE RECURRED MULTIPLE TIMES. THE MANUFACTURER AND DEALER WERE MADE AWARE OF THE FAILURE. THE CONTACT REFERENCED NHTSA CAMPAIGN NUMBER: 13V173000 (ELECTRICAL SYSTEM). THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS APPROXIMATELY 66,000.*PM THE VEHICLE WAS TOWED TO DO THE DEALER AND CONSUMER WAS TOLD IT WAS NOT ELECTRICAL PROBLEM BUT BLOCK CABLE WAS REPLACED.*JB

SERVICE AIRBAGS LIGHT CAME ON WHILE PULLING OUT OF MY DRIVEWAY. NEVER BEEN INVOLVED IN AN ACCIDENT. ALARM FOR AIRBAGS GOES OFF EVERY 30 SECONDS AND IT WILL NOT GO OFF. THE AIRBAG ALERT LIGHT IS ON AND THE PASSENGER AIRBAG LIGHT FLASHES ON AND OFF WITH OR WITHOUT SOMEONE IN THE PASSENGER SEAT.

BOTH THE TRANSMISSION AND ENGINE WENT OUT AT THE SAME TIME. I TOOK IT TO APPLE VALLEY MOTORS IN MARTINSBURG WV, A CHEVY DEALERSHIP. THEY CONTACTED THE THIRD PARTY WARRANTY COMPANY (PORTFOLIO) AND THEY MADE THE DEALERSHIP REPLACE THE TRANSMISSION WITH A JUNKYARD TRANSMISSION. BUT WHEN I TOOK IT IN THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT WAS ON AND I ASSUMED THAT IT WAS ON BECAUSE OF THE TRANSMISSION. BUT ALSO ASSUMED THAT BECAUSE IT WAS A DEALERSHIP WITH SPECIAL TRAINED TECHNICIANS THAT THEY WOULD CHECK ALL THE CODES AND CLEAR THEM BEFORE THEY RETURNED THE VEHICLE TO ME. WELL THEY DIDN'T AND THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT WAS STILL ON WHEN I PICKED IT UP BUT THOUGHT MAYBE I HAD TO DRIVE IT A COUPLE MILES TO RESET THE LIGHT. WELL THE LIGHT DID GO OUT BUT CAME BACK ON ABOUT A WEEK LATER AND WHEN I TOOK IT BACK TO THE DEALER THEY CALLED THE WARRANTY COMPANY AND THEY SAID THAT BECAUSE NOW THAT THE EXTENDED WARRANTY THAT I HAD, EXPIRED 8 DAYS PRIOR THAT THERE IS NOTHING THEY CAN DO. I CALLED BOTH GM AND CHEVY AND EXPLAINED THE SITUATION AND NEITHER ONE WILL ASSIST ME WITH THE PROBLEM ONLY BECAUSE THE POWER TRAIN WARRANTY EXPIRED EVEN THOUGH I HAVE LESS THAN A 100K ON IT. THEY GAVE ME A CASE NUMBER BUT IN THE END THEY SAID THERE IS NOTHING THEY CAN DO. NO WAY SHOULD BOTH THE ENGINE AND TRANSMISSION GO BAD AT THE SAME TIME ESPECIALLY WITH LESS THAN 100K ON IT. THIS IS IN ADDITION TO ANOTHER COMPLAINT THAT I JUST FILED WITH YOU REGARDING THE CAR LOOSING ALL POWER WHILE I AM DRIVING. THAT PROBLEM HAPPENED ON BOTH THE HIGHWAY AT OVER 70 MPH AND IN THE CITY AT SLOWER SPEEDS. IN ADDITION TO THE TRANSMISSION AND ENGINE GOING OU, 30 DAYS PRIOR THE HYDROLIC TRANSMISSION LINES BLEW OUT WHILE I WAS ON THE HIGHWAY AND I HAD TO HAVE IT TOWED AND IT COST ME ABOUT 900.00 OUT OF POCKET BECAUSE IT WAS WAS NOT COVERED BY THE WARRANTY.