2006 CHEVROLET MALIBU Complaints

AS I WAS PULLING OUT OF A PARKING LOT A MESSAGE CAME ACROSS MY RADIO/TEMP SCREEN AND SAID POWER STEERING. ALL OF A SUDDEN MY POWER STEERING WENT OUT. I DROVE IT A FEW BLOCKS TO MAKE IT HOME WITH ABSOLUTELY NO POWER STEERING. IT WAS TOUGH, BUT I MADE IT HOME. I TURNED THE CAR OFF AND DID A LITTLE RESEARCH ON THE INTERNET CONCERNING MY POWER STEERING. I SEEN A LOT OF PEOPLE SAID ONCE THEY STARTED THEIR CARS AGAIN THE POWER STEERING WORKED, BUT ALSO WENT OUT AGAIN INTERMITTENTLY. SO I WENT OUTSIDE AND STARTED MY CAR AND SURE ENOUGH MY POWER STEERING IS WORKING....FOR NOW. I AM SCARED TO DRIVE IT AGAIN FEARING IT WILL GO OUT AND I WON'T BE ABLE TO CONTROL IT AND CAUSE A HORRIBLE ACCIDENT. GM NEEDS TO RECALL THESE CARS BECAUSE THIS IS A HUGE SAFETY PROBLEM! *TR

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2006 CHEVROLET MALIBU. THE CONTACT STATED THAT AFTER REFUELING, THE FUEL GAUGE WOULD DISPLAY AN INACCURATE READING. THE FAILURE RECURRED INTERMITTENTLY. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO AN AUTHORIZED DEALER, WHO WAS UNABLE TO DUPLICATE THE FAILURE. THE MANUFACTURER WAS MADE AWARE OF THE DEFECT. THE APPROXIMATE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 30,000. UPDATED 02/11/14*LJ

WHEN STARTING THE CAR IN THE GARAGE, THERE WERE 4 CHIMES, AND A MESSAGE ON THE DIC 'POWER STEERING.' THE ELECTRIC POWER STEERING HAD FAILED AND WAS EXTREMELY DIFFICULT TO BACK THE CAR OUT OF THE GARAGE. THE CAR WAS THEN SHUT OFF AND RESTARTED WITH NO RECURRENCE OF THE PROBLEM. IT HAPPENED AGAIN 3 DAYS LATER, SAME PROBLEM. THEN AGAIN, 4 DAYS LATER, SAME SITUATION. WE HAVE NOTIFIED GM OF THE SITUATION. TO US IT IS A VERY DANGEROUS PROBLEM. THERE WAS A RECALL IN CANADA WITH GM CARS WITH THIS PROBLEM AND THE STEERING COLUMN WAS REPLACED. WHY DOESN'T GM RECOGNIZE THAT THIS PROBLEM EXISTS IN THE USA? AS I STATED, IT DOES NOT OCCUR ALL THE TIME. WE WERE TOLD TO TAKE THE CAR TO OUR CHEVROLET DEALER BUT UNLESS THE PROBLEM OCCURS AT THE DEALER, THERE IS NO WAY THAT THEY CAN DETECT THE PROBLEM. THE COMPUTER ONLY STORES 'ERROR CODES' FOR A SHORT PERIOD OF TIME. WE ARE FEARFUL OF DRIVING THIS CAR. *TR

THE VEHICLE STOPS RANDOMLY IN THE MIDDLE OF DRIVING. THE REDUCED ENGINE POWER LIGHT COMES ON AND THE CAR STOPS WITH NO WARNING. THIS HAS HAPPENED NUMEROUS TIMES TO MY 21 YEAR OLD DAUGHTER AND HER 4 MONTH OLD BABY. THERE ARE NO CODES DETECTED TO TROUBLESHOOT THE PROBLEM. THE CHEVROLET SERVICE REPAIR CENTER HAS HAD THE CAR FOR 2 DAYS AND ADVISED THAT THEY CANNOT LOCATE THE PROBLEM. THIS IS A COMMON ISSUE ON INTERNET FORUMS AND I AM SURPRISED NO ONE HAS BEEN CALLED. MY DAUGHTER HAS TO DRIVE ON THE INTERSTATE TO ATTEND CLASS AND THE VEHICLE HAS STOPPED ON HER. THEY ARE NOW RELEASING THE CAR BACK TO ME WITH NO RESOLVE. CHEVY OBVIOUSLY DOES NOT CARE TO ADDRESS THIS ISSUE AS IT IS A COMMON ONE WITH SEVERAL OF THEIR VEHICLES. IF I SELL THE CAR, I AM LITERALLY SELLING A DEATH TRAP TO SOMEONE ELSE. BELOW ARE LINKS TO NUMEROUS FORUM DISCUSSIONS ABOUT THIS ISSUE. HOW MANY PEOPLE WILL HAVE TO DIE BEFORE CHEVY ADDRESSES THIS ISSUE? HTTP://WWW.CARCOMPLAINTS.COM/CHEVROLET/MALIBU/2006/ENGINE/ENGINE_RANDOMLY_SHUTS_OFF.SHTML HTTP://WWW.FIXYA.COM/CARS/T3656645-GOT_CODE_P2176_CHANGED_OUT_TPS_STILL_GOT HTTP://CHEVROLETFORUM.COM/FORUM/MALIBU-15/ENGINE-POWER-REDUCED-20768/ HTTP://WWW.CHEVYMALIBUFORUM.COM/FORUMS/SHOWTHREAD.PHP?T=10085 HTTP://WWW.JUSTANSWER.COM/CHEVY/6S938-CHEVROLET-MALIBU-MAXX-LT-2006-CHEVY-MALIBU-MAXX-LT-70000.HTML HTTP://WWW.FIXYA.COM/CARS/T11683460-ENGINE_POWER_REDUCED_2006_MALIBU HTTP://CHEVYFORUM.ORG/CHEVY-FORUMS/SHOWTHREAD.PHP?T=20618 HTTP://CHEVY-MALIBU.AUTOFORUMZ.COM/REDUCED-ENGINE-POWER-MESSAGE-05-FTOPICT202902.HTML. *TR

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2006 CHEVROLET MALIBU. THE CONTACT STATED THAT WHILE DRIVING APPROXIMATELY 5 MPH, THE POWER STEERING FAILED TO OPERATE NORMALLY AS THE POWER STEERING WARNING LIGHT ILLUMINATED. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO A DEALER WHERE THE TECHNICIAN STATED THAT THE STEERING CONTROL MODULE WOULD NEED TO BE REPLACED. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOTIFIED. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 40,000. THE CURRENT MILEAGE WAS 78,859.

MY CAR HAD A DINGING AND THEN ACROSS THE RADIO IT SAID POWER STEERING AND THE CAR WAS VERY HARD TO STEER, I LOST POWER STEERING. I AM AN OLDER LADY AND SLOWED DOWN AND PULLED TO THE SHOULDER AND I COULD NOT EVEN TURN THE WHEEL. I CALLED MY SON TO COME HELP ME. HE GOT IN AND STARTED THE CAR AND THE RADIO DIDN'T SAY POWER STEERING ANY MORE. HE PULLED OUT AND I FOLLOWED HIM. WE GOT TO OUR STREET AND HE STARTED TO TURN RIGHT INTO OUR DRIVE WAY AND HE ALL OF A SUDDEN THREW UP HIS ARMS. HE GOT OUT OF THE CAR AND CAME AND TOLD ME THAT THE CAR STALLED AND THE BELL DINGED AND POWER STEERING CAME ON THE RADIO. WE TOOK THE CAR TO THE DEALERSHIP ON 8/12/13. THEY DIAGNOSED THE CAR AND SAID THE POWER STEERING ASSIST MOTOR WAS SHORTING OUT AND IT WOULD COST ME 699.03 TO FIX. I HAD NO MONEY TO GET IT FIXED AND THE DEALER SAID THEY RE SET THE COMPUTER AND SAID I SHOULD HAVE IT FIXED AS SOON AS POSSIBLE BECAUSE IT WAS A SAFETY ISSUE. MY SON TOOK THE CAR HOME AND IT HAPPENED TWICE ON THE WAY HOME. ON 9/25/13 WE HAD OUR LOCAL DEALER REPLACE THE MOTOR. THEY TOLD ME THE CODE THE COMPUTER READ SAID IT WAS EITHER THE ASSIST MOTOR OR THE STEERING COLUMN. THEY SAID THE MOTOR WAS THE MOST LIKELY CAUSE AND REPLACED IT. THE TOTAL WAS 643.78 AND THE INITIAL INSPECTION WAS 99.53. ON 10/18/13 I HAD THE SAME THING HAPPEN AS I WAS DRIVING INTO THE LOCAL MARKET PARKING LOT, DING,DING, DING AND I LOST POWER STEERING. I ALMOST HIT A PARKED CAR IN THE LOT AND COULDN'T STEER IT. I TOOK IT BACK AND THEY SAID IT IS THE INTERMEDIATE SHAFT OR THE STEERING COLUMN AND HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH THE ORIGINAL PROBLEM AND CHARGED ME ANOTHER 90.00 TO LOOK AT IT. I CANNOT AFFORD 1200.00 TO FIX THE COLUMN. MY SON SEARCHED THE INTERNET FOR 2006 MALIBU STEERING PROBLEMS AND FOUND TRANSPORT CANADA RECALLED 67,414 2005, 2006 AND 2008 MALIBU'S, PONTIAC AND SATURNS. WHY HAS THE US NOT OFFERED A RECALL. I AM AFRAID TO DRIVE IT NOW. *TR

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2006 CHEVROLET MALIBU. THE CONTACT STATED THAT WHILE DRIVING APPROXIMATELY 30 MPH, THE POWER STEERING ASSIST FAILED AS THE WARNING INDICATOR ILLUMINATED AND THE WARNING ALARM SOUNDED. THE VEHICLE WAS TURNED OFF AND UPON RESTARTING, THE VEHICLE RESUMED NORMALLY. THE FAILURE WAS RECURRING. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO AN INDEPENDENT MECHANIC, WHO INFORMED THE CONTACT THAT THE TORQUE CONTROL AND STEERING COLUMN ASSEMBLY WOULD NEED TO BE REPLACED. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOT NOTIFIED OF THE DEFECT. THE APPROXIMATE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 41,000.

MY VEHICLE LOST ELECTRONIC POWER STEERING (EPS) ASSISTANCE WHEN BEING OPERATED IN AN UNDERGROUND PARKING GARAGE. THE VEHICLE GAVE AN AUDIBLE ALERT AND WARNING LIGHTS DISPLAYED ON THE DASHBOARD. THE PROBLEM PERSISTED AFTER TURNING THE VEHICLE ON AND OFF SEVERAL TIMES. BECAUSE THE PARKING GARAGE CONTAINED TIGHT CORNERS AND REQUIRED SLOW SPEED OPERATION, I COULD NOT SAFELY OPERATE THE VEHICLE OUT OF THE PARKING GARAGE. THE NEXT DAY, THE EPS WORKED WITHOUT A PROBLEM. THIS UNPREDICTABLE AND INTERMITTENT POWER STEERING FAILURE IS WELL DOCUMENTED IN 2006 MALIBU MAXX VEHICLES. IN FACT, CHEVROLET HAS EXTENDED WARRANTIES AND CONDUCTED SPECIAL CUSTOMER SERVICE CAMPAIGNS TO SELECT 2006 MALIBU MAXX OWNERS TO REMEDY THE DEFECTIVE EPS. EVEN THOUGH IT IS THE SAME MAKE, MODEL AND YEAR AS OTHER VEHICLES DETERMINED TO BE DEFECTIVE, MY VEHICLE'S VIN FALLS OUTSIDE OF THE RANGE IDENTIFIED BY CHEVROLET. THE VIN RANGE IDENTIFIED BY CHEVROLET IS INSUFFICIENT. OWNERS LIKE MYSELF WHO OPERATE VEHICLES OUTSIDE OF THE VIN RANGE ARE NOT BEING ALERTED TO THE POSSIBILITY OF DEFECTIVE STEERING COMPONENTS. THE EPS COMPONENTS ARE KNOWN TO BE DEFECTIVE IN 2006 MALIBU MAXX VEHICLES AND SHOULD TO BE RECALLED. *TR

THE FIRST NOTICE OF MY EPS PROBLEM BEGAN WHEN I ATTEMPTED TO HAVE MY FRONT END ALIGNED. THE LOSS OF CONTROL TO THE STEERING BEGAN AROUND JULY OF 2013. IT HAS OCCURRED MORE FREQUENTLY SINCE THEN. IT'S HAPPEN TO MY WIFE ON THE STREETS AND TO ME ALSO. I DID SOME BASIC RESEARCH DUE TO THE POTENTIAL COSTS FROM THE DEALERSHIP. THIS INCLUDED THE INSPECTION & REPLACEMENT OF THE EPS FUSE, EXAMINING THE IGNITION COIL AND CHECKING THE ALTERNATOR. IT STILL RECURS. HAS THERE BEEN A FACTORY RECALL FOR THIS VEHICLE'S STEERING PROBLEMS? *TR

I WENT TO HAVE THE CAR INSPECTED BUT THE INSPECTION MACHINE CANT READ THE CAR COMPUTER. *TR