2000 CHEVROLET MALIBU Complaints

THE INTAKE GASKET ON MY 2000 MALIBU IS LEAKING AND IT'S GOING TO COST 550.00 TO REPAIR IT. CALLED JACKSON CHEVROLET AND SERVICE MGR. STATED HE PURCHASED MALIBU FOR WIFE AND HE ALSO REPLACED THE INTAKE GASKET. THE SERVICE MGR ALSO STATED THAT ALL THE MALIBUS WITH THAT MOTOR ARE BAD ABOUT THE INTAKE GASKETS LEAKING. CALLED GM AND THEY SAID CAN'T PAY FOR REPAIRS. WILL NOT BUY A GM AUTOMOBILE AGAIN. STILL NOT FIXED. PUTTING WATER AND ANTIFREEZE IN IT EVERYDAY. *NM

CHEV. 2000 MALIBU RECALL 03043 (03V327000). UNABLE TO GET RECALL COMPLETED DUE TO NO PARTS AVAILABLE. AT SLOANE CHEVROLET SERVICE DEPARTMENT (COTTMAN AVE., PHILA, PA.) ON 1/17/05: ARRANGEMENTS WERE MADE OVER 1 WEEK IN ADVANCE TO COME IN FOR THE RECALL. RECALL DESCRIPTION & RECALL NUMBER & VIN NUMBER WERE GIVEN TO THE CHEVROLET DEALER SERVICE DEPARTMENT SO THEY COULD BR SURE TO HAVE WHAT'S NECESSARY TO COMPLETE THE SERVICE. DESPITE THIS, THE DEALER DID NOT HAVE THE PARTS NECESSARY TO DO THE RECALL! THIS IS AFTER I MADE ARRANGEMENTS TO GET THE WORK DONE WHILE I WAS OFF FROM WORK, AND TRAVELED THERE ON A TREACHEROUS SNOWY DAY. SUGGESTION WAS MADE BY THE DEALER (SLOANE CHEV.) TO CONTACT ANOTHER DEALERSHIP, MAKE ARRANGEMENTS TO BRING THE CAR IN FOR THE RECALL, AND THEN HOPE THAT THEY HAVE THE PART. OBVIOUSLY CHEVROLET/GM DOES NOT WANT TO GET THIS RECALL COMPLETED! *JB

CAR WAS GETTING HOT THEN COOLING BACK DOWN,WHILE GETTING HOT HEATER WOULD NOT WORK. TOOK TO MECHANIC, HAD THERMOSTAT AND WATER PUMP REPLACED. CAR RAN FINE FOR A COUPLE OF DAYS,THEN SAME PROBLEM. TOOK BACK TO MECHANIC. HE SAID ITS POSSIBLE THE THERMOSTAT PURCHASED WAS DEFECTIVE. INSTALLED NEW THERMOSTAT FROM THE DEALERSHIP. GOT IN CAR DID NOT GET HOT AND COOL BACK DOWN IT GOT TO NORMAL OPERATING TEMPERATURE AND HEATER WORKED. THREE DAYS LATER, CAR STARTED GETTING HOT, COOLING BACK DOWN AND BUBBLING THE WATER OUT OF THE OVERFLOW RESERVOIR. THERE ARE NO LEAKS ANYWHERE,NO BLOWN GASKET, OR CRACKS. THIS PROBLEM IS BECOMING A BIG PAIN. I THINK IT IS A DEFECT CAUSED BY MANUFACTURER AND IF THE PROBLEM CANT BE FIXED, I KNOW ILL NEVER OWN ANOTHER GM {GREAT MISTAKE} VEHICLE AGAIN. *NM

VEHICLE IS LEAKING ANTIFREEZE OUT THE INTAKE GASKET MANIFOLD CAUSING THE VEHICLE TO OVERHEAT. CONSUMER WILL NOTIFY THE DEALER OF THE PROBLEM FOR REPAIR. *AK THE VEHICLE WAS REPAIRED AT THE CONSUMER'S EXPENSE. THE CONSUMER BELIEVES THE COMPONENT SHOULD BE RECALLED TO THE AMOUNT OF PROBLEMS IT EXHIBITS. *NM

FUEL GAUGE READ 1/2 TO 1/4 FULL AND TANK RAN DRY WHILE DRIVING 65 MPH ON FREEWAY TO WORK. HAD TO COAST OVER 3 LANES TO SIDE OF THE FREEWAY. SENDER UNIT WAS REPLACED AND WAS TOLD THIS WAS A COMMON PROBLEM WITH MALIBUS, ALEROS, AND GRAND AMS. HAVE HAD FRIENDS WITH THESE CARS AND A SUNFIRE THAT HAVE ALL HAD THE SAME PROBLEM. THE DEFECT INVESTIGATION WAS DROPPED BECAUSE OF DECREASE IN COMPLAINTS, BUT MY MECHANIC TELLS ME HE WORKS ON AT LEAST 5 OF THESE MODELS A MONTH FIXING THIS SAME PROBLEM ON ALL OF THEM. I THINK THAT IF I PERSONALLY KNOW FOUR PEOPLE BESIDES MYSELF THAT HAVE HAD THIS PROBLEM WITH THE SENDER UNIT, GM SHOULD HAVE RECALLED THIS COMPONENT. JUST BECAUSE SOMEONE HASN'T BEEN INJURED YET, SHOULD NOT BE A DETERMINING FACTOR.*AK

CONSUMER COMPLAINED ABOUT HAZARD WARNING LIGHTS. THE TURN SIGNALS/HAZARD LAMPS BECOME INTERMITTENT OR INOPERATIVE. CONSUMER CONTACTED THE DEALER WHO OFFERED A DIAGNOSTIC TEST TO DETERMINE THE CAUSE. CONSUMER LATER CONTACTED MANUFACTURER, WHO NOTIFIED CONSUMER THAT THIS VEHICLE WAS NOT INCLUDED IN A RECALL DUE TO VIN ALTHOUGH SHE EXPERIENCED THE SAME DEFECT THAT WAS MENTIONED IN THE RECALL. *AK *JB

WHILE BRAKING AT ANY SPEED VEHICLE SURGED FORWARD, AND THE STEERING WHEEL JERKED. DEALERSHIP WAS NOTIFIED, BUT DID NOT RESOLVE THE PROBLEM.*AK

CONSUMER COMPLAINED ABOUT TURN SIGNALS PROBLEM. WHEN DRIVING TURN SIGNALS WORKED OFF AND ON. THE CAUSE OF THIS WAS STILL UNKNOWN.*AK THE CONSUMER STATED THAT CAPITOL CHEVROLET REPLACED THE HAZZARD SWITCH AND THE PROBLEM HAS BEEN CORRECTED. *TC

EVERY TIME I WOULD PUSH ON MY BRAKE PEDAL IT WOULD POP AND MY BRAKES WOULD HARDLY STOP. I HAD IT LOOKED AT BY THE GM DEALER WHERE I BOUGHT MY CAR, THEY SAID THERE WAS NOTHING THEY COULD DO IT WAS A MANUFACTORS PROBLEM. WELL IT KEPT HAPPENING,SO I TOOK IT BACK AND HAD NEW FRONT BRAKES PUT ON MY CAR. I HAVE DROVE IT FOR ABOUT 3 MONTHS AND IT IS STARTING TO DO IT AGAIN . I WOULD L IKE TO KNOW IF THERE IS SOME KIND OF PROBLEM WITH THE BRAKE PEDAL. I THINK IT KEEP S RUNING MY BRAKES WHAT EVER IT IS.*AK

(1) THE FAILURE OCCURRED UNDER NORMAL DRIVING CONDITIONS. (2) THE INTAKE MANIFOLD LEAKS RADIATOR FLUID DUE TO FAULTY GASKETS. FORTUNATELY, THE PROBLEM WAS OBSERVED BEFORE THE ENGINE OVERHEATED OR CAUGHT FIRE, BUT THERE IS EVIDENCE OF COOLANT CONTAMINATING THE ENGINE OIL: FURTHER CONSEQUENCES WILL LIKELY OCCUR IN THE FUTURE. (3) THE FAILURE HAS NOT YET BEEN CORRECTED. A FIRESTONE SERVICE CENTER DIAGNOSED THE PROBLEM BUT REPAIRS HAVE NOT YET BEEN CONTRACTED. A CHEVROLET DEALERSHIP/SERVICE CENTER (BILL HEARD) GAVE AN ESTIMATE OF $1000 FOR THE REPAIR. PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS IS A COMMON FAULT IN CHEVY MALIBUS AND OTHER GM CARS WITH THIS ENGINE TYPE. THE SERVICE REP AT FIRESTONE STATED THAT THIS WAS THE MOST COMMON PROBLEM SEEN IN THIS CAR, AND THE SERVICE REP AT THE CHEVROLET DEALERSHIP STATED THAT IN MALIBUS, THE INTAKE MANIFOLD GASKETS FAIL "MORE OFTEN THAN NOT." *AK