2007 CHEVROLET MALIBU Complaints

ENGINE CUT OFF WHILE DRIVING ON HIGHWAY. COULD NOT RESTART. ALMOST HIT BY AN 18 WHEELER AS I TRIED TO GET TO THE SHOULDER. *TR

LOSS OF POWER STEERING. HAPPENED 3 TIMES IN 3 MONTHS SO FAR. CALLED LOCAL DEALER AND SOUNDS LIKE SAME ISSUE AS THE COBALT. SAID NO RECALL BECAUSE DIFFERENT COMPONENTS. *TR

WHEN MAKING SHARP TURNS OR PARALLEL PARKING STEERING GETS TIGHT AND POWER STEERING LIGHT ON DASH ILLUMINATES. CODE# C0460 RETRIEVED NEED TO REPLACE POWER STEERING MODULE. REPLACED POWER STEERING CONTROL MODULE. *TR

ON MY 2007 CHEVROLET MALIBU LTZ THE ELECTRONIC POWER STEERING MOTOR SHUTS OFF WHILE DRIVING AT ANYTIME, ONLY WAY TO GET POWER BACK TO STEERING IS TO SHUTS OFF VEHICLE AND RESTART IT, BUT ONLY WORKS FOR 5 TO 10 MINUTES AGAIN AND WILL DO THE SAME THING, ALMOST GOT INTO ACCIDENTS AT LEAST 5 TIMES WHEN SHUTS OFF WHILE STEERING, BUT DOES GO OFF ALL THE TIME. TOOK IT TO 2 CHEVROLET DEALERSHIP AND BOTH DENIED TO BE A SAFETY ISSUE COVER BY WARRANTY AND THAT I SHOULD PAY THEM $980 FOR REPAIRS. STEERING RACK WAS REPLACED TWICE BUT THE PROBLEM WAS DIAGNOSED LATER IS THE STEERING MOTOR/MODULE. I EVEN CONTACT GM AND THEY ACTED LIKE THEY COULD FIX IT FOR ME, THEY EVEN SENT ME TO ANOTHER DEALERSHIP IN MY AREA FOR "PROPER DIAGNOSIS", I REMAINED THEM THAT I KNEW WHAT THE PROBLEM WAS AND WHAT WAS NEED IT TO REPAIR BUT THEY TOLD ME TO GO AHEAD AND DROP MY CAR WITH THEM AND LET THEM DIAGNOSE THE PROBLEM, 7 DAYS LATER I GOT A CALLED FORM THE DEALER SAYING THAT THE REPAIR WILL COST ME AROUND $900 (WHICH I KNEW THAT WAS WHAT THEY CHARGE). I TOLD THEM THAT GM SENT ME TO THEM AND THEY WILL CONTACT THEM, I ASKED GM AGAIN AND THEY SAID THAT THEY RECEIVE THE WORK ORDER BUT THEY WERE SORRY BUT THEY WERE NOT GOING TO ASSIST ME WITH MY ISSUE BECAUSE VEHICLE WAS OVER WARRANTY. MY CAR IS A 2007 AND THE FIRST TIME I COMPLAINT WAS ON 2009. WHEN OFFCOURSE WARRANTY WAS STILL IN EFFECT (CAR HAS 100,000 MILES WARRANTY BUT ONLY COVERS ENGINE AND TRANSMISSION). THE ONLY REASON GM ACTED LIKE THEY WERE CONCERNED WAS BECAUSE I FILED A COMPLAINT WITH THE BBB, BECAUSE I CONTACT THEM BEFORE I CONTACT THE BBB AND THEY REFUSE EVEN TO TALK ABOUT IT. AFTER I FILED THE COMPLAINT WITH THE BBB MAGICALLY THEY CALLED ME AND PRETEND THEY WERE CONCERNED. ANYWAY AFTER THEY DENIED TO COVER THE REPAIRS I WENT TO PICK MY CAR UP AND THE DEALER WANTED TO CHARGE ME $150. I DENIED TO PAY BECAUSE GM SENT ME I DIDN'T REQUEST THE DIAGNOSIS, I PAID IT ONCE ALREADY. ANYWAY NOW GM RECALLS A COBALT WITH SAME ISSUE BUT NOT MALIBUS. *TR

YESTERDAY I NOTE THAT GM WILL BE RECALLING 1.3 MILLION VEHICLES OWING TO A PROBLEM WITH THE POWER STEERING ELECTRIC MOTOR WITH THIS RECALL BEING DRIVEN BY NHTSA. WILL THE 2007 GM MALIBU BE INCLUDED? SINCE AUGUST 2009, MY 2007 GM MALIBU SEDAN HAS DEVELOPED A "CLUNKING NOISE" COMING FROM THE STEERING COLUMN. IN SEPTEMBER, 2009 WE HAD A 'LUBE KIT' INSTALLED WHICH WAS SUPPOSE TO ELIMINATE THE CLUNKING. HOWEVER DURING NOVEMBER THE CLUNKING NOISE RETURNED AGGRAVATED BY PERIODIC ERROR MESSAGES THAT STATE THERE MAY BE A PROBLEM WITH THE ELECTRIC STEERING MOTOR. DURING SERVICING ON JAN 4, 2010 THE DEALER RECOMMENDS THAT THE "ELECTRIC MOTOR, STEERING SHAFT AND COLUMN BE REPLACED". HOWEVER UPON SEVERAL DISCUSSIONS WITH GM HEADQUARTERS IN OSHAWA, ONTO, I AM TOLD THAT " THERE IS AN UNRESOLVED DESIGN PROBLEM WITH THE MECHANISM AND ANY REPLACEMENT AT THIS TIME WILL ONLY BE TEMPORARY". ALSO "BECAUSE OF NO KNOWN SERIOUS ACCIDENTS CONTRIBUTED TO THE MECHANISM, THERE WILL BE NO RECALLS OR COVERAGE UNDER WARRANTY". UPON REVIEWING A MULTITUDE OF COMPLAINTS ON THE INTERNET (EG: WWW.CARCOMPLAINTS.COM, ETC.) I NOTE THAT THIS IS A VERY COMMON PROBLEM WITH THIS VEHICLE AND WITH SIMILAR RESPONSES FROM GM. *TR

FROM 8000 MILES ONWARD MY CHEVY MALIBU MAXX HAS A CLUNKING FEELING IN THE FRONT END WHEN YOU TURN. MALIBUS AND OTHER CHEVYS REPORT THE SAME PROBLEM, CHEVY WILL NOT FIX BUT SAYS THE STEERING SHAFT WAS MISTAKENLY UNLUBRICATED DURING MANUFACTURE AND MAY NEED TAKEN APART AND LUBRICATED, THEY WILL NOT OFFER FIX. THE UNLUBRICTAED STEERING COLUMN COULD POTENTIALLY WEAR AND FAIL. *TR

CHEVY NEEDS TO WIDEN RECENT RECALL OF 1.3 MILLION COMPACT CARS TO INCLUDE THE MALIBU. I HAVE A 2007 CHEVY MALIBU THAT IS CURRENTLY EXPERIENCING ALL THE ISSUES THAT IS INCLUDED IN THE RECALL OF THE COMPACT CARS. MY VEHICLE STEERING WHEEL VIBRATES HARD IN PARK AT TIMES. ON THE ROAD, THE POWER STEERING ASSIST IS LOST AND MAKES THE VEHICLE HARD TO HOLD ON THE ROAD. THERE IS NO WARNING, THE MESSAGE CENTER DISPLAYS POWER STEERING. TOOK TO DEALERSHIP, THEY SAID THE POWER STEERING MOTOR AND STEERING COLUMN NEEDS REPLACING @ A COST OF $750.00. THIS IS A 2007 VEHICLE, THERE IS NO WAY THAT THE ENTIRE STEERING COLUMN NEEDS TO BE REPLACED. I HAVE OWNED SEVERAL OLDER CHEVY MODELS, AND NONE OF THE HAVE THIS PROBLEM. THE DEALER STATES THAT MAJORITY OF CHEVY CARS MADE AFTER 2005 HAS REQUIRED SOME TYPE OF REPAIR OR REPLACEMENT IN THE STEERING AREA. WHY IS THIS ISSUE BEING IGNORED BY CHEVY? *TR

STEERING PROBLEMS HAPPENING ON A 2007 CHEVY MALIBU...STARTING APPROX. ONE AND A HALF YEARS AGO...FALL OF 2008....TAKEN TO A CERTIFIED CHEVROLET DEALER TWICE IT HAS BEEN "FIXED" ON 2-24-10..POWER STEERING GONE OUT AGAIN WHILE PULLING INTO A PARKING LOT, COULD NOT STEER VEHICLE...QUITE A SAFETY HAZARD. *TR

I HAVE HAD MY MALIBU FOR 3 YEARS AND I HAVE 119,000 MILES ON IT. AFTER ABOUT 90,000 MILES THERE WAS A POPPING CLUNKING IN THE STEERING WHEN I TURN LEFT OR RIGHTS AND WHEN IN REVERSE. REPAIR SHOP SAYS A BULLETIN WAS ISSUED BY GM AND THEY HAVE THE PART TO FIX IT. COST IS ABOUT 300.00. THERE ARE MANY OTHER REPORTS OF THIS PROBLEM ON YOUR SITE. *TR

I KNOW THAT THIS SAFETY ISSUE DOESN'T RANK UP THERE WITH STICKING GAS PEDALS, ETC., BUT I FEEL IT IS IMPORTANT ENOUGH THAT SOMEONE SHOULD LOOK INTO IT. ACTUALLY, THERE ARE TWO INTERRELATED DESIGN FLAWS WITH THE 'DRIVER INFORMATION CENTER' ON THE 2007 CHEVY MALIBU LS I BOUGHT LAST YEAR. THE DRIVER INFORMATION CENTER ('DIC') IS THE GREEN LED DISPLAY IN THE RADIO THAT NORMALLY DISPLAYS SUCH INFO AS TIME AND TEMPERATURE, ETC., BUT IT IS ALSO USED BY CHEVY TO DISPLAY WARNING MESSAGES. THE TWO PROBLEMS ARE: A). CRITICAL WARNINGS ' IN MY CASE A WARNING MESSAGE TO 'SERVICE AIRBAG' POPPED UP ONE EVENING ON THE DIC ' BUT IT WAS ONLY DISPLAYED ONCE (IT DID NOT APPEAR AGAIN THE NEXT MORNING OR THEREAFTER). SINCE CHEVY CONSIDERED THIS ISSUE IMPORTANT ENOUGH TO SUGGEST THAT I NOT CONTINUE TO DRIVE THE VEHICLE UNTIL THE PROBLEM WAS FIXED, I THINK THAT THEY SHOULD HAVE PROGRAMMED THIS WARNING (OR ANY SAFETY RELATED WARNING) TO STAY ON UNTIL THE PROBLEM IS FIXED. B). THE DIC IS FAR TOO DIM TO SEE CLEARLY DURING MOST DAYLIGHT HOURS (EVEN ON MANY CLOUDY DAYS) AND IS FOR ALL INTENTS AND PURPOSES TOTALLY INVISIBLE IF THE DRIVER IS WEARING SUNGLASSES. JUST A QUICK SEARCH ON THE INTERNET WILL SHOW THAT THIS IS NOT A RECENT OR ISOLATED COMPLAINT'.I SEE COMPLAINTS ABOUT THE DIC BEING TOO DIM GOING BACK TO AT LEAST 2004! WHEN I COMPLAINED TO CHEVY ABOUT THE DIMNESS ISSUE THEY TOLD ME THIS WAS 'NORMAL' (I IN TURN TOLD THEM THAT IT MAY BE 'NORMAL' BUT IT CERTAINLY IS UNACCEPTABLE ' ESPECIALLY GIVEN THAT HAD THE CRITICAL SAFETY WARNING COME ON DURING DAYLIGHT HOURS I PROBABLY WOULD NEVER HAVE EVEN SEEN IT AND WOULD STILL BE DRIVING AROUND WITH AN UNRESOLVED SAFETY ISSUE). *TR