1,682 of the
29,413 complaints filed about the Chevrolet Malibu
are about the transmission —
6% of everything owners reported.
The worst model year for it is 2018.
1,682
Complaints
6%
Share of all complaints
47
Crashes
3
Fires
Transmission & Drivetrain complaints by model year
The contact owns a 2023 Chevrolet Malibu. The contact stated that while the vehicle was parked, the vehicle failed to turn off. The “Shift to Park” message was displayed. Additionally, after the vehicle was parked and the engine was turned off, the vehicle independently started. Several unknown warning lights were illuminated. The dealer was made aware of the failure. The vehicle was towed to the dealer as per the manufacturer's request. However, the vehicle was not inspected. The vehicle was taken to Auto Zone, where the portable diagnostic tester was attached to the vehicle. The diagnostic machine retrieved DTC: U0073, P0700, P25A2, U0101,U0129,U0146, U18D5, U18D7, U2413, U0073-00, U0100-00, U0140-00, U0151-00, U026A-00, U0420-00 and U0100. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure, and several cases were filed. The contact was informed that the vehicle would be scheduled to be towed to the dealer. The failure mileage was approximately 3,000.
NHTSA complaint #11758173 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
Failure - B000A-00 Body Control Module Error code - Shift Lever Position not plausible . Safety - This causes the car to upon attempting to turn off the car say "Shift into Park" on the dashboard and the car refuses to turn fully off. This can cause the battery to drain excessively from repeated constant start/stop attempts and leaves the car in an impossible state. You cannot safely leave the car in this state but you have no choice until you get lucky enough to hope an attempt is recognized as parked and shut off normally. This could jeopardize safety in situations you need to turn your car off Official Bulletin Number: GM TSB 23-NA-119 There is no warning prior to failure, and no way to override it
NHTSA complaint #11757048 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
The contact owns a 2020 Chevrolet Malibu. The contact stated that while attempting to shift the vehicle into park, the transmission failed to shift into park after several attempts. The contact referenced TSB: 19-NA-206; as a possible cause for the failure; however, the VIN was not included in the TSB. The vehicle was taken to a dealer where it was diagnosed with gear shifter failure. The gear shifter was replaced, and the vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 50,198.
NHTSA complaint #11752681 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
The contact owns a 2023 Chevrolet Malibu. The contact stated that while driving from a complete stop or while driving at various speeds, the vehicle hesitated and jerked while depressing the accelerator pedal. There was no warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the used car dealer where the vehicle was purchased, but the contact was informed that the failure could not be duplicated. There was no warning light illuminated. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was unknown.
NHTSA complaint #11752132 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
was stopped at a red light. When the traffic light turned green, I pressed the accelerator to proceed through the intersection, but my vehicle did not respond or accelerate immediately. After several seconds, the vehicle finally began to move. This unexpected delay created a safety concern because I was unable to accelerate when traffic began moving.Which caused built up traffic and an almost wreck behind me
NHTSA complaint #11751301 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
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.
While attempting to enter a high-speed expressway, the transmission malfunctioned, preventing normal acceleration. The vehicle could only accelerate very slowly but managed to maintain a limited speed, creating a hazardous situation while trying to merge into fast-moving traffic. I was able to navigate the vehicle off the expressway, at which point the transmission completely failed and the vehicle died. The vehicle was towed to an authorized dealership service center, where technicians diagnosed a total internal failure of the CVT transmission requiring complete replacement. Mind you, the vehicle is under 6 years old and has fewer than 90,000 total miles, and this is the second time the transmission on this vehicle has suffered a total failure and required a complete replacement. Prior to this mechanical breakdown, there were no warning lights, abnormal symptoms, or performance issues indicating an impending transmission failure. The vehicle is currently available for inspection.
NHTSA complaint #11749433 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
The contact owns a 2021 Chevrolet Malibu. The contact stated that when shifting the gear selector into park (P), the "Shift To Park" warning message was displayed on the instrument panel, even though the vehicle was already parked. The failure was recurrent. A dealer was contacted and informed the contact that the failure was a known condition with pending repairs. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 113,674.
NHTSA complaint #11749345 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
The contact owns a 2024 Chevrolet Malibu. The contact stated that the vehicle was parked and turned off in front of the hotel lobby. Moments after entering the hotel, the contact informed that the vehicle had rolled down the hotel driveway and crashed into two parked vehicles located in the hotel parking area. No injuries were reported. A police report was filed at the scene, and the vehicle was driven away. The cause of the failure was not determined. The manufacturer and local dealer were not notified of the incident. The failure mileage was 45,000.
NHTSA complaint #11748495 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
CHECK ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON AND VEHICLE WAS SLOW TO ACCELERATE INTERMITTENTLY. OFTEN SLOW TO TAKE OFF AT A STOP LIGHT. SAFETY CONCERNS OF BEING REAR END DUE TO SLOW TAKE OFF. TOOK VEHICLE TO CHEVY DEALER FOR REVIEW AND THEY INDICATED AND SHOW A PICTURE OF THE TURBO BOOSTER BEING BROKEN. PER DEALER THIS CAUSED THE VEHICLE TO LOOSE POWER AND NOT ACCELERATE PROPERLY. DEALER STATED I WAS 5k MILES OVER WARRANTY AND EXISTING SERVICE SPECIAL COVERAGE NOTICE N252508360 FOR 2022 MALIBU DID NOT COVER MY VIN.
NHTSA complaint #11747026 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
The contact owns a 2015 Chevrolet Malibu. The contact stated that while driving on several occasions at various speeds, the vehicle inadvertently shifted between park(P), drive(D), and neutral(N), and the selected gear was not visible or illuminated on the instrument cluster or the gear shifter panel. The doors locked and unlocked, and the engine started shaking abnormally. The contact stated that the message "Service Power Steering - Drive with Care" was displayed during the failure. The vehicle was pulled over to the side of the road after each failure and the gear shifter was slowly shifted between gears until the desired gear was selected. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was unknown.
NHTSA complaint #11744242 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
REDUCED ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON TICKING NOISE STOPPED 2 TIMES ON THE HIGHWAY REPAIR LOT RAN A DIAGNOSTIC UNABLE TO FIND THE ISSUE CAR IS NOT WORKING FOUND MANY CODES STILLUNABLE TO FIX THE ISSUE
NHTSA complaint #11743065 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
POWER TRAIN:AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION:LEVER AND LINKAGE:FLOOR SHIFT
The shift to park is a problem it killed my battery because the car stays on and when I was driving the car turned off in the middle of turning causing someone to almost hit me this is the 3rd time that happened to me but the shift to park has been a problem since I got this car and Chevy does nothing about it
NHTSA complaint #11742798 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
Shift to park error on dash. GM is aware of this issue and won't do anything about it. This causes stress and can cause battery drain. The issue lies within the microswitch that reads that the shifter is in park. The metal arm that activates the switch wears down or the wiring is faulty. Several Malibus, as well as other models have this issue and Chevy dealerships want hundreds to thousands of dollars to fix this. If it's a known, repetitive issue on several models, it should be a recall. This causes owners to try to fix this issue themselves, which can cause more damage and more money.
NHTSA complaint #11742521 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
My 2024 Chevy Malibu has lost power and is not shifting properly yet it’s not displaying any codes. It shifts and jerks very hard when on a cold start but also will not get up and go when I pull into traffic. This has caused me to almost get hit numerous times. It’s like it freezes and won’t go! The dealership could not recreate the problem (shocker), and since no codes they sent me away. Said last time it was due to the battery so I paid to replace that yet that did nothing to the engine/transmission problem. In addition to this issue, I think there’s an electrical issue. My rear view camera will often be distorted like I’m looking through a fish bowl and it has also come on while I’m driving on the freeway. I often lose my infotainment system too. It loses connection all the time and the screen goes black and disconnects from CarPlay. My onstar button will sometimes go red when this occurs but not all the time. Even when I lose the CarPlay, I can’t even get the Bluetooth to work. I purchased this vehicle used at 40k miles and my power train warranty will expire in less than 5k miles yet I can’t get any help with making it safe.
NHTSA complaint #11742441 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
My 2018 Malibu is stalling, it is covered under Recall N192221960, and the dealer is refusing to properly scan or fix the issue. They did the recall and the car is still doing the same thing but worse.
NHTSA complaint #11741758 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
The first problem with my car was the tire pressure monitor. The location of each tire was wrong on the informant section. Soon after purchasing the car when ever I would park the car would not shut off and the DIC would display Shift to park message. Around 6 months after the purchase the brake pedal was getting harder the press down on and within a week from that while driving home from work the car completely shut off in the middle of traffic. It wouldn't start leaving me stuck on a busy street with heavy traffic blocking use of the lane. After 10 minutes it started back up and I barely made it into a parking lot of a shopping center with it shutting off again before I can park. I had to get a tow. I didnt go to an authorized dealer. I took it to a certified mechanic and had to replace the brake vacuum booster. The motor had to be cleaned out due to broken metal that got inside. After that repair car seemed okay until March 2026. The car now is in high idle and struggles to pick up speed. The message on DIC says engine power reduced. On the freeway the car can be going with the flow of traffic then suddenly engine power is reduce rpms go up high and it drops speed struggling to pick up. I paid the loan $16,000 off using what I had saved. I cant go out and purchase a new or used car.
NHTSA complaint #11738236 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
The SHIFT TO PARK warning light comes on when shifting to park and WILL NOT allow you to shut the vehicle off. This is a WIDELY KNOWN DEFECT in multiple GM vehicles and yet there’s still no recall! WHY?! It causes the vehicle to not completely shut down, killing the battery and could potentially cause the car to roll. It’s been WIDELY REPORTED and it’s absolutely a defect with a part inside the shifter! It’s an expensive repair that consumers SHOULD NOT have to pay when it’s a DEFECT on GM!!! PLEASE RECALL!!!!!! After researching this issue, there’s MULTITUDES OF COMPLAINTS and even a class action lawsuit (of which I wasn’t aware of) but it shouldn’t have to turn into a lawsuit when the NHSTA has the ability to force GM to MAKE THIS RIGHT by REPAIRING IT!
NHTSA complaint #11737410 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.