147 of the 1,174 complaints about the 2017 Chevrolet Malibu are about the other systems — 13% of everything reported for this model year. Half of the failures with a mileage on record happened before 36,034 miles.
147
Complaints
2
Crashes
2
Fires
0
Injuries
Filed with NHTSA, in their own words.
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Transmission has been slipping since the day I bought the car in 2023 approximately at 90,000 miles, I have been keeping up with the manufactured recommendations on the transmission and march of 2026 I went to move the passenger seat and it no longer moves
NHTSA complaint #11749453 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
When the vehicle is shifted into Park and the ignition button is pressed, the vehicle fails to shut down. The dashboard displays a "Shift to Park" warning message, indicating the vehicle does not recognize that the gear selector is physically in the Park position.To shut the engine off, the driver must repeatedly wiggle, slam, or cycle the gear shifter back and forth into Park until the electrical sensor finally registers the connection. This creates a severe safety hazard, as the vehicle can roll away if left unsecured, drains the car battery, and prevents the doors from locking properly.Crucially, this defect traps drivers inside an operational vehicle for extended periods while they repeatedly struggle to force it to shut down. This poses an immediate risk of heat-related illness or death (hyperthermia), especially in high-temperature environments, during heatwaves, or for vulnerable occupants like children and the elderly who cannot exit the vehicle safely until it is off.
NHTSA complaint #11749242 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
MY BACK-UP CAMERA HAS NOT WORKED IN ABOUT 3-4 YEARS. THE SCREEN IS COMPLETLY BLANK. MY MECHANIC WILL NOT TOUCH IT AND I'M AFRAID TO GO TO THE DEALER BECAUSE OF THE COST. I DID NOTICE THERE IS A RECALL ON NEWER MODELS OF THIS VEHICLE.
NHTSA complaint #11737804 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
When car is in park. Shift to park is on dashboard. Car won't fully turn off. It's been doing it for years. Was worked on at dealership. It's still doing it.
NHTSA complaint #11721652 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
In the last 6 months I’ve had to put 3 Brake Boosters on my 2017 Chevy Malibu and it’s NOT cheap…. I don’t know what else to do.
NHTSA complaint #11718196 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
The Reduce Power to Engine keeps happening. It shuts my car down and lights up the traction control light, check engine light and its a serious hazard because I travel highway to and from work and its very dangerous when you loose power to your vehicle at high rates of speed. Also my emissions is bad due to a supposed fixed recall for the catalytic converter.
NHTSA complaint #11716053 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
I have had experience with the "SHIFT TO PARK" error and I have had the "reduced engine power" error message resulting in an UNEEDED $2200 dollar repair only for it to break down 2 months later, same message this time with fuel spraying under the hood. I NEARLY BLEW MYSELF UP TRYING TO START MY CAR! How is it that I cant find this DANGEROUS defect on the recall list when I easily found the RECURRENT problem online? HELP
NHTSA complaint #11707988 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Lose power while driving
NHTSA complaint #11705000 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Was driving on highway and starting to exit and my engine light came on and it alerted reduced engine power. I had to slam on my brakes but they were very hard to press and almost non existent and steering was also difficult. Managed to get car to side of road but due to very hard to non existent brakes I did graze a truck and damaged my rear drivers side fender. I am very lucky I didn’t get injured and was able to mostly miss the cars stopped in front of me. I also have the shift to park issue happen at least 4 times a week.
NHTSA complaint #11704980 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
I tried to shift the car from drive to park but a message appeared saying I needed to put the car in park. The lights and radio were still on and I could not get the message to disappear even after several attempts to start/restart the car and moving through the gear shift. I will be taking the car to a dealership asap. There wasn’t any prior error or problem before this message started appearing. After numerous attempts “park” is recognized and the car shuts off completely.
NHTSA complaint #11689745 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
The car smells strongly of gas. And has a problem accelerating. Check engine light came on and I got a code p1101 which is a code for the MAF SENSOR. This is not the first time that this has happened. It happened less than a year ago maybe 9-10 months ago. I don’t drive the car in fear of it catching a fire. The car has stalled before in the middle of a turn. I had to turn the car off and turn it back on. I called onstar who have no idea what was wrong with it.
NHTSA complaint #11687504 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Shift to park issue. While is in park after driving. I turn vehicle off and action required message pops up on dash stating shift to park but it’s in park.
NHTSA complaint #11685198 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Currently I am having issues putting my car in park. Even when it shows that it is parked there is an “Action Required” that pops up saying “Shift to Park”. This has been happening all week and as I am able to toggle the shift stick it is no longer allowing me to which leaves my car somewhat on when I leave. I’ve contacted the dealership for repairs since I’ve seen this is a common recall issue with my model vehicle. However, they informed me that it would be an out of pocket expense even though research shows that this should be an expense paid by the dealership since they’ve had many complaints on this issue and can cause certain safety issues for members. I’m getting ready to PCS soon and need to pay out of pocket expenses for my move so trying to pay for something that the dealership should pay for is truly inconvenient.
NHTSA complaint #11681107 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
I shift the car in park I then turn off the car and then an alert comes up on the dash saying shift to park I then shift it back and forth nothing happens and then it automatically goes off after I wait awhile with it in park. This has occurred several times in the past year. I’m not sure if it is in park it does roll slightly then catches
NHTSA complaint #11674107 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
The shift to park is defective. Having a hard time to turn car off constantly. It takes more than five minutes or more for the car to turn off without the shift to park ringing. This needs immediate attention. This part is defective so why is there not a recall on this?
NHTSA complaint #11671329 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Car is indicating I need to “SHIFT TO PARK” when it’s in park.
NHTSA complaint #11666659 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
The shift to park won't turn off but allowing vehicle to turn off it killed our family.
NHTSA complaint #11662014 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
When I came to a complete stop, the car stalled out and completely shut off.
NHTSA complaint #11651902 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
When you put it in park, you will get the "Shift to park" message and it can be very difficult to get it to go off.
NHTSA complaint #11650018 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
When putting vehicle in park message goes off stating to put vehicle in park you have to wiggle it to make the message go off or it will drain your battery
NHTSA complaint #11647742 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
When shifting into park, the car doesn't think it's in park and remains on.
NHTSA complaint #11643070 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
When driving down a major highway going 70MPH, my 2017 Chevy Malibu speeds decreased, the brakes locked up, and the vehicle would not accelerate. Eventually the car came to a complete stop and an “engine power reduced” notification came up on the dash. I was able to pull off to the side of the road but I was traveling at a high rate of speed on a busy road, I almost got hit multiple times by people behind me who also had to swerve out of the way to keep from getting hit. After turning the car off and on again it seemed to run fine for a few months until the issue happened again going down a busy highway (65mph) again putting myself, my kids and others on the road behind me at risk. Now the car won’t move more than 5 feet before shutting off with “ engine power reduced “ still displaying on the screen.
NHTSA complaint #11634066 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
A "Shift to Park" message occasionally appears on the dash of my 2017 Chevy Malibu. I currently have 56570 miles on this vehicle. This is the second time that this issue has occurred in this vehicle. The first time it occurred I had 21849 miles on the car. On Dec. 20, 2019, a local Chevy dealership replaced the shifter (8460140 transmission electronic control replacement) at no charge since the car was still under warranty. My warranty is now expired but the same problem has occurred after putting less than 35000 miles on the car. Since this problem started, my back driver's side door will not always lock. This problem may be related to the Shift to Park issue. I have my invoice from the dealership where I first had this problem fixed and am hoping they will fix it again at no cost to me. When I searched this issue online, it appears to be a problem with many 2016-2019 Chevy Malibus. There should be a recall issued by GM for this problem. This is a safety issue because the problem will cause the battery to continuously die and the vehicle to remain running although the shifter has been placed in the Park position.
NHTSA complaint #11611295 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Vacuum Pump exploded, my breaks went out on the freeway. Metal pieces from the pump went into engine. Broke the camshaft. Now having to pay hundreds and hundreds of dollars to repair. I am missing out on work u til this can be fixed.
NHTSA complaint #11604929 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Vehicle shut down completely while at intersection with no warning including no dash board warnings, recently had vehicle repaired at dealership computer was replaced, injectors cleaned, fuel system flushed. This car is unpredictable at times and not safe if turning off with no warning, if I did get a warning it's after the vehicle shut down then started back up with "Stabil break" code and reduced steering. I have kept up with the maintence on this vehicle since purchase had no wrecks and it's money gone down the drain. I'm not understanding why there hasn't been a recall on this cars electrical component's there seems to be some time of communication issue between the computer & parts causing the car to completely shut down.
NHTSA complaint #11597498 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Shift to Park Error. Then the battery goes dead.
NHTSA complaint #11597294 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
On March 18, 2024, I noticed that water began to enter the car when it was in the carwash. I opened a claim with the insurance company and an investigation was carried out that lasted approximately 3 months. On June 11, the body shop received my car to diagnose and provide a quote to the insurance company for the necessary repairs due to this water damage. The workshop considered it to be a problem in the upper rear brake light and mentioned that this is a Chevrolet recall on these cars. The insurance company called me and told me that I had to go directly to the dealer to have the necessary repairs made to my car that were caused by this water problem. However, I cannot find information about this recall online.
NHTSA complaint #11594698 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
When the car stops the auto stop turns on, but when the car is ready to move the auto stop will turn the car off or lose power. Another issue is that when the car is in park an error message says shift into park. This will not allow you to turn the car off. The car is in the park.
NHTSA complaint #11593257 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Shift to park light com s on after I am parked and the the car is parked. My son got out of the car thinking it as off. It since has happened to me at least 8 times the last week
NHTSA complaint #11591034 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
ENGINE POWER REDUCED WHILE DRIVING ON I83 ON MY WAY TO WORK. I WAS DRIVING AT 65MPH AND IT WAS REDUCED TO 25MPH. THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT IS ON. SINCE THERE IS NO SAFE WAY TO DRIVE THE CAR HOME, ( I HAVE TO CROSS THE SUSQUHANNAH RIVER WHICH IS ONLY DONE BY HIGHWAY) I AM HAVING IT TOWED AND DROPPED OFF AT MY LOCAL MECHANIC. I ALREADY HAD THE GAS PEDAL SENSOR REPLACED IN 2019 AT FAULKNER CHEVORLET IN LANCASTER, PA. I ALSO HAVE ANOTHER ISSUE WITH THE CAR SINCE EARLY 2018, WHEN I PARK THE CAR, IT SAYS SHIFT TO PARK, EVEN THOUGH IT IS IN THE PARK POSITION AND THE ELECTRONICS IN THE CAR DO NOT SHUT OFF. WHEN I TOLD FAULKNER ABOUTH THIS THEY SAID THAT THERE WAS NOTHING THEY CAN DO SINCE IT WASN'T HAPPENING WHEN I WAS AT THE DEALERSHIP.
NHTSA complaint #11580160 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.