1999 Chevrolet Malibu

TL*THE CONTACT OWNS A 1999 CHEVROLET MALIBU. SINCE 2000 THE BACK UP LIGHTS FAILED. THE DEALER REPLACED THE INTERNAL BRIGHT LIGHTS IN 2000 AND 2002. THE AIR CONDITIONER ALSO COMES ON AND OFF WITHOUT WARNING. THE FAILURE OCCURS EVERY TIME THE CONTACT ATTEMPTS TO BACK UP OR USE THE AIR CONDITIONER. AFTER PERFORMING AN ELECTRICAL TEST, THE DEALER REPLACED THE AIR CONDITIONER CONTROL ASSEMBLY AND THE AC CONTROL HEAD ON TWO OCCASIONS. THE CONTACT IS AWARE OF THE SAFETY RECALL FOR THE FUEL PRESSURE REGULATOR. THE CURRENT MILEAGE WAS 105000 AND THE APPROXIMATE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 92000.

MY 1999 CHEVY MAILBU HAS HAD MANY PROBLEMS. I WILL START WITH THE 2 FUEL INJECTERS REPLACED 2 MONTHS AFTER PURCHASING. THE CAR BEGIN TO RUN ROUGH THEN WOULD HAVE PROBLEMS STARTING. THEN THERE WAS THE ALTANATOR, THE THERMOSTAT, THE HEAD AND INTAKE GASKETS AND THE NUMUROUS ELECTICAL PROBLEMS. THE ELECTRICAL PROBLEMS STILL CANNOT BE SOLVED AFTER NUMROUS TRIPSTO THE REPAIR SHOP. MOST OF THE PROBLEMS HAVE BEEN CORRECTED ON MORE THAN ONE OCCASION. AS A CONSUMER I HOPE YOU WILL HELP US MALIBU OWNERS WHO ARE IN DESTRESS. I KNOW THE AUTO COMPANIES ARE IN FINANCIAL TROUBLE BUT THAT STILL DOES NOT EXCUSE MAKING AN UNSAFE AUTO. I AM AFRAID ENOUGH NOT TO DRIVE MY CAR. I FEEL I PUT MY FAMILY AND MYSELF IN DANGER TAKING THSI CAR ON THE ROAD. I HOPE YOU WILL HELP CORRECT THIS PROBLEM. I FEEL MY ONLY NEXT OPTION IS TO CONTACT A LAWYER OVER MY LEGAL RIGHTS.

ROTOR REPLACEMENT X 3. SUSPENSION - FRONT REPLACED. CALIPERS X3. TIRE WEAR AND LEAKS - REPLACED ANNUALLY. RADIO - BAD WIRING. A/C IN DASH WIRING REPLACED TWICE. REAR LIGHT ASSEMBLY REPLACED TWICE. LEAKING IN REAR LIGHT ASSEMBLY AND TRUNK. COOLANT LEAK - 8/06 AT 74000 MILES. MECHANIC BELIEVES IT IS THE WATER PUMP. A/C SENSOR REPLACED. *NM

ONGOING PROBLEMS SINCE FEBRUARY 2004. SEEMS TO GET WORSE AS TIME PASSES. ABS AND EMERGENCY BRAKES LIGHTS WARNING COMES UP AT THE SAME TIME EITHER DURING DRIVING OR 10-15 SECOND AFTER STARTING CAR. WHEN THIS HAPPEN, POWER WINDOWS LOCKED UP. ALSO, AIR CONDITIONING POWER LIGHT WENT OUT AND DON'T WORK. SOMETIME RESTART CARS SEVERAL TIME TO CLEAR BUT DOESN'T ALWAYS WORK. PROBLEMS CAN LAST A FEW MINUTES TO HOURS OR UNTIL RESTART CARS. ONLY WORRY IS WHEN DRIVING ON HIGHWAY ON VERY HOT DAYS WITH WINDOWS CLOSE AND AC ON AND PROBLEM LOCKED WINDOWS AND SHUT A/C DOWN. HAD TO DO THIS ONCE. HAD TO PULL OVER AND RESTART CAR TO OPEN WINDOWS. NOT SURE IF THIS IS RELATED TO A/C SWITCH PROBLEM. A/C TURN OFF/ON AT WILL. WAS FIXED ONCE BEFORE BUT PROBLEM REOCCURED. ALSO HAVE PROBLEM WITH BRAKES, AC SMELL, ROTORS WARPED... SAME REOCCURING PROBLEMS AS MANY OTHER 1999 MALIBU OWNERS HAD. HAVE PROBLEM CHECK BUT TECHNICIAN UNABLE TO PULL ERROR CODES FROM IT. BEEN TO A FEW PLACES TO HAVE PROBLEM CHECKED, GET CHARGE FOR DIAGNOSTIC BUT NO ONE SEEM TO KNOW WHAT CAUSING IT. BECAUSE PROBLEM IS INTERMITTENT, MAKE IT EVEN HARDER. *AK

ON 8/20/2001 AT 46,208 MILES ON MY 1999 CHEV. MALIBU, COOLANT BEGAN TO LEAK FROM THE LOWER INTAKE MANIFOLD GASKET. DEALERSHIP REPLACED GASKETS UNDER GMPP EXTENDED WARRANTY. NOW ON 3/12/04 AT 75,600 MILES, THE REPLACED GASKETS ARE LEAKING. AFTER THE FIRST REPAIR, I DISCOVERED THAT THE ORIGINAL FACTORY GASKETS ALONG WITH DEX-COOL COOLANT WERE DEFECTIVE. AT THE FIRST REPAIR, STILL DEFECTIVE GASKETS WERE USED TO MAKE THE REPAIR. AFTER THIS FIRST REPAIR, GM RELEASED A NEWLY REDESIGNED GASKET AND PROCEDURE TO ADDRESS THIS ISSUE. I FEEL THAT THERE NEEDS TO BE A RECALL ON THE ISSUE DUE TO THE NUMBER OF CONSUMERS WHO ARE EXPERIENCING THIS SAME TROUBLE. THIS COULD BECOME A SAFETY ISSUE SHOULD THE GASKETS COMPLETELY FAIL AND ALLOW COOLANT TO MIX WITH THE OIL. THIS WOULD CAUSE ENGINE FAILURE WHILE DRIVING, POSSIBLE RESULTING IN A CRASH.*AK

AIR CONTROLS SWITCH BACK & FORTH FROM FRESH TO RECIRCULATE. CAR HAS REFUSED TO START TWICE & ANTITHEFT SYSTEM ACTIVATED. INTAKE MANIFOLD LEAK UPPER AND LOWER. I HAD THE GASKET REPLACED AND GM CANADA PAID FOR THE LABOR AND I PAID FOR THE PARTS, APPROX $180 CANADIAN. I BELIEVE THERE WAS 78000 KM (48,000 MILES) ON THE CAR AT THE TIME. SEATBELTS ARE SLOW TO RETRACT. CLUNKING NOISE IN FRONT END, THEY CAN'T IDENTIFY OR FIX. RECALL ON ROTORS CAUSED PADS TO FAIL.

SINCE I'VE HAD THE CAR, THE BRAKES HAVE BEEN REPLACED TWICE, ROTORS REPLACED (ALSO CLEANED AND OTHER THINGS-TO THE POINT THEY ASKED ME TO SEE IF THERE WAS A RECALL ON BRAKES AND ROTORS). THE RIGHT FRONT PASSENGER WINDOW WILL NOT WORK FROM THE DRIVER SIDE TO ROLL DOWN BUT CAN STILL ROLL IT UP FROM THERE. THE AIR CONDITIONER BUTTON(RESISTOR) NEEDED REPLACING AND THEN THE VENT BUTTON(RESISTOR) NEEDED REPLACING. ALSO, HAD TO REPLACE TIE ROD END AND WHEEL BEARING . NOT TO MENTION A WATER PUMP. WE BOUGHT THE CAR USED FROM SAWYER CHEVROLET WITH 38,000 MILES ON IT. IT NOW HAS 76,000. BUT WITHIN A YEAR AND A HALF OF OWNING IT, THIS IS ALL THE WORK WE HAD TO PUT INTO IT. I'VE NEVER HAD A CAR THAT NEEDED ALL THAT REPAIRING DONE BEFORE IT REACHED 100,000 MILES. PLUS WE HAD TO GET NEW TIRES BECAUSE THEY HAD FIRESTONE TIRES ON THEM THAT WERE WARPING, ETC. BUT SAWYERS REFUSED TO REPLACE THEM AND FIRESTONE DID NOT GET BACK TO US IN TIME BEFORE OUR VACATION. SO WE PUT NEW TIRES ON OURSELVES.

I DON'T KNOW WHERE TO BEGIN WITH THE COMPLAINTS THAT I HAVE FOR MY '99 MALIBU. THE BRAKE SYSTEM ON THIS CAR IS THE WORST. I CAN'T COUNT THE NUMBER OF TIMES THAT I HAVE REPLACED MY BRAKES. I WAS READING THE COMPLAINT BOARD AND COULD NOT BELIEVE THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE THAT HAD SIMILAR BRAKE PROBLEMS. YOU WOULD THINK THAT THE GOVERNMENT WOULD SEE SOME KIND OF PATTERN AND MAKE GM DO SOMETHING ABOUT THIS. I THINK CAR MANUFACTURERS SHOULD TAKE SOME RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE PRODUCTS THEY PUT OUT AND SOMEONE SHOULD MAKE SURE THAT THEY DO. I AM NOW GOING TO HAVE TO REPLACE MY INTAKE GASKETS BECAUSE OF ANTI-FREEZE LEAKING INTO THE ENGINE. I HAVE SEEN OVER 50 COMPLAINTS ABOUT THIS ON THE COMPLAINT BOARD. I WILL NEVER AGAIN BUY A GM MADE VEHICLE. FROM NOW ON I'M BUYING NOTHING BUT FOREIGN MADE CARS. MY CAR IS STILL SITTING IN MY DRIVEWAY WAITING GO GET FIXED BECAUSE RIGHT NOW I CAN'T AFFORD THE $400+ IT'S GOING TO TAKE TO FIX IT. *LA