2011 Chevrolet Malibu Electrical System Problems
- 164
- Owner complaint records in our dataset
Records are owner complaints, not a measured failure rate.
Owner complaint recordsComplaint records reflect reports in our dataset and do not measure how frequently the problem occurs across all vehicles.
Among these 164 stored complaint records:
- 2 indicate a crash
- 0 indicate injury
- 9 indicate fire
What owners report
- engine power · 19 records
- engine light · 18 records
- traction control · 17 records
- service traction · 14 records
- check engine · 13 records
- failure mileage · 13 records
Mileage in stored records
| Band | Records |
|---|---|
| 60–100k mi | 42 |
| 100–150k mi | 35 |
| 30–60k mi | 30 |
| 1–30k mi | 16 |
| 150–400k mi | 8 |
Complaint records
Owner-submitted complaint content, presented as stored.
Electrical System · Electronic Stability Control · Steering
While traveling at a slow speed (betw 10-20 mph) on 3/20/17, the car started to shake, the service esc message light turns on, and service traction control light turns on (with message that car will power down). So, if i pull over to the side of the road and shut the car off (before it shuts down on it's own), wait 2 minutes for the computer to reset, then get rpm up quick (so the speed is quickly above the 20 mph),…
ODI 10979587
Electrical System · Electronic Stability Control
The engine starts to sputter , check engine light and other dash lights come on and vehicle quits running . Had it in chevrolet garage and no code showed up they replaced a sensor told me it was fixed . Problem returned , this has happened several times and still exists. Very dangerous. Never know when it is going to stall out.
ODI 10969473
Electrical System · Electronic Stability Control · Engine
About a year ago i was driving car going around 40 miles an hr and it would just die on me, no lights came up no warning. It happened at least 6 times and every time it happened it had it towed to dealership to get checked out. I've had fuel pump, fuel relay, cam shaft sensor 2 times and other things replaced. Still same thing would happen. Died again on me had it towed to a garage and my timing chain was broken,…
ODI 11089289
Electrical System
Tl* the contact owns a 2011 chevrolet malibu. The contact stated that the headlights turned off and on independently five times within the last two years. In addition, the power door locks would lock and unlock while the contact was driving. The contact planned on taking the vehicle to bayway chevrolet ([redacted], pearland, tx 77581, [redacted]) for diagnostic testing. The manufacturer was notified and stated that…
ODI 11130891
Electrical System · Exterior Lighting
The dashboard seat belt light goes on and off. The radio at times goes silent. The headlights keep going off and having to replace. The ecm or ecu has went out. And the check engine light is one. On this while the car is on, driving and stationary.
ODI 10978927
Electrical System · Electronic Stability Control · Vehicle Speed Control
I was driving in the highway and my malibu stopped and appeared the image of traction control off and the motor was shaking and my light of check engine was on and my car did not advance more then 10 miles. *tr
Crash reported
ODI 10944030
Electrical System
Tail lights stopped working, but break lights work, radio will change on its own from tuner to aux, dash doesnt stay illuminated, power locks and windows dont always work. Doesnt matter if its being driven or sitting. Checked fuses they are all good.
ODI 10948334
Electrical System · Electronic Stability Control
Drove car this morning and couple miles later the car lost most of its power and service esc lights became illuminated as well as engine light too. Now car is slower and shaking violently when accelerating. Also shakes real bad when stationary. Driving around 35-[redacted] now due to lost power and esc issues/ looks like it is a common historic issue with these malibu as internet is polluted with complaints about it…
ODI 10937209
Electrical System · Exterior Lighting
In last 12 to 14 months to include today, the low beam headlight on passenger side has gone out. It has been repaired twice and now looking at a third time. I want to say this is an electrical issue as the last time it went out, sometimes it would come back on if i hit a bump. I will be getting it serviced again as not having a headlight working is a danger. The reason i am contacting nhtsa is i have talk to and…
ODI 11073049
Electrical System · Exterior Lighting
The headlights keep going out on this vehicles , have replaced them several times and they just keep going out. My aunt has the same make , model car as i do and she has the same problems.
ODI 10947316
Electrical System
Fire in trunk started at rear fuse panel. Driving at 35 mph in drizzle, trunk ajar message lit, stopped to check it & engine stalled as i pulled off the road, found the trunk securely latched, and couldn't open it with key fob or button in cabin. Then saw paint turning brown (scorching) at rear corner panel at location of rear fuse panel. By the time fire dept. Arrived the cabin and trunk fully engulfed - total…
Fire reported
ODI 10924366
Electrical System
Battery light coming on. Dealership diagnose bad alternator. Installed new alternator. Two weeks passed, all dashboard lights come on, lost power steering, while driving. Car towed in. Dealership found fusible link burnt on alternator, which caused first alternator to go bad. $25.00 part.
ODI 10885379
Electrical System · Electronic Stability Control · Exterior Lighting
My car has been having problems all year. I called and spoke with someone who in return was suppose to call cannon motors in oxford,ms to have the front head light on the driver side fixed because it was on recall. My father has replaced it 3 times and it keeps going out so the car was taken to cannon today and now its a different story. They was talking about charging 75.00 then they changed it to 500.00 to fix a…
ODI 10876960
Electrical System · Exterior Lighting
Please consider the complaints of same issue on the link bellow. The malibu has an manufacture defect of head light, thy constant burn and go off, sometimes it burns the bulb and sometimes the socket. I replaced the bulbs and socket over 6 times in 8 months. There is over thousands complaints of exactly same issue online on car complaint sites as people are not aware where to report and chevy ignore us as they are…
ODI 11120421
Electrical System · Steering
Power steering failed while driving. This happened in a curved part of the highway at ~45 mph. Was able to make the drive home which was ~2 miles. Restarted the car at home and everything worked fine until 5 days later - same problem. Service esc and power steering illuminated on dash.
ODI 10870719
Electrical System · Electronic Stability Control · Engine
I have been experiencing issues with my 2011 chevy malibu. I was driving down the road when suddenly the motor started violently shaking and the dashboard information display would flash, "engine power reduced, service esc, service traction control, air bag lights and check engine light came on". This was an intermittent issue, it can sometimes go weeks/months without issues, but then out of nowhere it will start…
ODI 10864361
Electrical System · Exterior Lighting
Good morning the complaints are going for over 3 years, and chevy is ignoring us all . I also complain direct to them and they play dumb ref chevy malibu 2011 why isnt chevy having a re call on the head lights issue of the malibu?? It is a safety hazard. Over 80% of malibu owners are complaining and registering complaints on the constant burning of the headlights and headlight socket of a malibu i replaced mine 4…
ODI 11120430
Electrical System
Tl* the contact owns a 2011 chevrolet malibu. While driving 40 mph, all the warning lights on the instrument panel illuminated. The contact mentioned that the failure recurred intermittently. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was unknown.
ODI 10883190
Electrical System · Engine · Steering
Car when started steering wheel locks up all the lights start flashing, locks start to unlock and lock themselves. Engine lines comes on hard to move forward or backwards.
ODI 10855006
Air Bags · Electrical System
Tl* the contact owns a 2011 chevrolet malibu. While driving 65 mph, the air bag warning light remained illuminated. The vehicle was taken to a dealer where it was diagnosed that the air bags needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 68,000.
ODI 10850464
Electrical System · Electronic Stability Control · Engine
Received messages of: service esc, service traction, service air bag, eng pwr reduced, engine disabled this morning while driving to work. Engine lost all power, had to pull to side of road to try and turn the engine off and on, until i received the engine disabled message and after that the car would not start. Had to have the car towed to nearest dealership.
ODI 10836377
Electrical System · Engine
First, i had to jump the car to start it. Cold morning but the battery was only 3 months old. Driving from downriver mi area all expressway to grand rapids. Just entered grand rapids area when i had to reduce speed from 75 to 60. Car would not accelerate back to original speed. Cruise control had been engaged. Problem resolved itself but 15 minutes later the car went from 75 to 25 mph by the time i had exited the…
ODI 10826110
Electrical System · Electronic Stability Control
I am having problems with the esc the service esc light keeps turning on and the car starts to jerk and they say mine isn't in recall but other chevy malibus are from the year 2003-2012 i thi they need to look into this further because mine is 2011 but not in the recall
ODI 10853477
Body · Electrical System
The driver's side body seam of my 2011 chevy malibu was not properly sealed. This allowed water to leak into my electrical panel cause corrosion to all of my wiring. I determined this after driving down a high way at 60 mph and having my car drop down to 10 mph with service engine lights, engine power reduced warnings all lighting up my panel. It had been raining that day. I am lucky that the car behind me was…
ODI 10944360
Electrical System
Tl* the contact owns a 2011 chevrolet malibu. When the igniton key was turned, a loud clicking nose emitted and the engine failed to respond. In addition, the front driver and passenger side power door locks activated independently. The rpm gauge and speedometer fluctuated continuously. The vehicle was towed to the dealer for diagnostic testing. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate…
ODI 10822756