Chevrolet Malibu Complaints (2021)

90 consumer complaints on file.

#11610804August 26, 2024
POWER TRAIN
The vehicle display states to "Shift to Park" when the vehicle has been put in park and the ignition turned off. I have seen model years from 2022 through 2025 have been recalled in California for the same issue. It also can affect the cars ability to start. it first appeared two weeks ago and i have tried all recommended suggestions of putting your foot on the brake when turning it off, letting is sit a minute before turning it off and those have not changed the situation.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11608850August 15, 2024
POWER TRAIN
The transmission is not working in first gear. The dealership says it needs to be replaced and they have at least 2 other cars with the same problem of the same model and year. This problem has stranded us multiple times.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11607714August 10, 2024
STRUCTURE:BODY, UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Upper center brake light leaked allowing moisture and mildew to accumulate. Safety issue in how it affects my severe asthma.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11605483July 30, 2024
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Car is not registering that is in park. When I put the car in park the message on the dash will ding and say "shift to park" even though it is already in park.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11596537June 25, 2024
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Parked car and it was dinging. Looked at dash and had shift to park warning. Car has 15000 miles. Had to hit shifter to get dash to turn off.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11594654June 16, 2024
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM, POWER TRAIN
The computer was not recognizing my car being in the correct gear shift. It did this for a few days until finally, I couldn't drive it. The car would not recognize any part of the gear being in the correct position. The car would not move forward or reverse, resulting in a tow. The mechanic at Reed Lallier Chevrolet in Fayetteville NC was even able to guess my car make and model from the symptoms I reported (which was later discovered, in my case, the gear shift link had loosened), and confirmed that if this happened while in motion, it would have been very dangerous. He also said they had 3 other cars that SAME DAY that had different causes but the same exact faulty gear recognition, with all of them being recent-year Malibu Chevrolet models AND the following day when I was doing my follow-up call concerning my car, 2 more were brought in with the faulty gear recognition issue.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11592979June 7, 2024
ENGINE, STEERING
The contact owns a 2021 Chevrolet Malibu. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the vehicle lost motive power and stalled. During the failure, the power steering became inoperable, with a grinding sound present and unknown warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was towed to the local mechanic who was unable to determine the cause of the failure. After retrieving the vehicle, the failure persisted. The manufacturer and local dealer were not yet notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 68,000.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11592750June 5, 2024
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
While the car is in park after the button is pushed to shut the car off, I get a warning on my dash stating that the car is not in park and it is beeping to let me know that there is an issue. Even though the car is in park and it says it is in park.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11590830May 26, 2024
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
When I put my car in park, the park light comes on. I’ve had to forced the car in park AND the gear button get stuck. The park warning light is still on. It takes about 5 minutes or more before the light goes off After I’ve forced it in park several times. I can’t leave the light on because my battery will die.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11589906May 21, 2024
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
The vehicle says shift to park. Even though the vehicle is in park. It then causes the vehicle power to remain on and kill the battery. I’ve seen multiple instances of this same problem on the same vehicle as mine and many other GM models. My warranty ran out in January (of course) and now the issue is occurring. I’ve been stranded with a dead battery 3 times already due to this. It’s literally a microswitch not functioning correctly to tell the computer that the vehicle is in park.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11589336May 17, 2024
STEERING
When you shift the car into park and you get a "Shift to Park" alert on your dashboard. It makes it very hard to shut off the vehicle.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11585982April 29, 2024
ENGINE, POWER TRAIN
Had the car for less than a year and it started jerking badly on the highway almost caused an accident. Took it to the Chevy dealer and was told I need a new transmission on a 2021 vehicle because of a STRETCHED DRIVE CHAIN CAUSING WEAK DRIVE AND CAUSED METAL DEBRIS TO GET SENT THROUGH THE TRANSMISSION SETTING DTC'S .
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11583570April 17, 2024
POWER TRAIN
Warning light appears on dash "Shift to Park". Car is in park. Engine will turn off, but ignition stays in accessory mode and will run down battery if ignored. Have to wiggle shifter back and forth repeatedly to get the warning light to go away and the ignition to completely shut off. Started as a once in a while occurrence 3 months ago. Now doing this almost every time. Car is a 2021, has 100k miles, so out of warranty. No active recall. There was a recall for 2016-2019 models, and a class action lawsuit but no recall on 2021 model.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11575718March 6, 2024
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, POWER TRAIN, BACK OVER PREVENTION: WARNINGS
When trying to park shift disappears . Parking feature unavailable. Have to try several times to or wait until parking shift appears. System glitch trying to park. Afraid car will run off by itself and hit other cars and crash. Family of four very concerned for our safety. It has been a known issue on several Chevrolet Malibu since 2015 This should have been on a recall since 2015. Why haven’t there been any recalls on this vehicle for this problem. This problem needs to get resolved and if we have to pay out of pocket money reimbursed for everyone. Fear for our safety using this car now.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11574930March 1, 2024
POWER TRAIN, UNKNOWN OR OTHER, BACK OVER PREVENTION: WARNINGS
“Shift to Park” message appears in the car's Driver Information Center, even when it is already in Park. It doesn't recognize that the vehicle is in park. I have to wiggle the gear several times before the message clears. It doesn't allow me to lock my vehicle when this happens, I believe the vehicle stays on while this message is on the DIC, making it very unsafe. I see that there are several complaints about this issue but no recall has been made. The dealer refuses to do a free diagnostic test knowing that these vehicles have had issues. My vehicle is no longer under warranty at 54,000 miles, I will be out of pocket the expense but it's definitely unfair that this has not been an issue recalled by GM.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11574807March 1, 2024
POWER TRAIN
Every time I shift my car into park and try to power it off I get a warning saying shift car to park when already in park. Now I’m afraid that one day the car will display the shift gear improperly and the car will start to move on it own causing the safety anyone around it.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11565480January 14, 2024
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
I was parking and when I parked my dashboard popped up saying shift to park when it’s in park. My car won’t turn off .. tired to turn it off but it can’t I moved the car back and forth and put on park and nothing.. I know this is an ongoing issue because on my other Malibu that I purchased had that problem and now on my 2021 Chevy Malibu has that issue now. Thank god I wasn’t somewhere else stranded because it was below 0 in Chicago.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11556987November 27, 2023
POWER TRAIN
The contact owns a 2021 Chevrolet Malibu. The contact stated that when the gear shifter was shifted into park(P), the vehicle started to roll. The contact stated that the shift to park message was then illuminated. The contact turned off and restarted the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to the dealer but was not diagnosed or repaired by an independent mechanic or dealer. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 66,000.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11553473November 3, 2023
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
When trying to turn the car off, it will not allow me, warning light comes on saying shift to park. This has happened several times over the past week. I have to continuously turn the car on and off, put in drive then back to park before the message goes away, allowing me to turn off the car. I am 3k miles out of my bumper to bumper warranty, so the dealership is charging me $500.15 for a new shifter assembly for what they said was a common failure in GM cars. If its common then it should be a recall for several make and model years. My coworker has 2021 Blazer and the same thing happened to her but she was still under warranty so her repair cost $0.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11550058October 15, 2023
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
When I parked my car and tried to turn off the ignition, a warning buzzer kept beeping and a warning on the dash was telling me to “shift to park”. I moved the shifter numerous times to make sure it was in park, but the warning continued. This happened several times now. A few times the warning went off after I wiggled the shifter knob numerous times, but not always.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0

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