← New search

2017 Chevrolet Malibu

Owner reports · Recalls · Investigations

More warning signs than most Malibu years

Owner complaints for the 2017 Chevrolet Malibu are substantially higher than the model-year median of 310.5.

About this comparison →

When problems were reported

Mileage at the reported incident

397 reports with mileage · 305 unknown

NHTSA’s mileage field refers to the reported incident, not necessarily the filing date. This shows report counts, not the likelihood of a failure.

What to inspect

Issues worth paying extra attention to based on owner reports.

  • Engine. Review the 253 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →
  • Electrical System. Review the 161 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →
  • Power Train. Review the 139 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →

NHTSA owner reports · September 18, 2026 snapshot.

16 crash reports4 fire reports8 injury reports

Engine complaints

253 reports
Clear category filter
Mileage unknown · Jan 25, 2023
Engine

My wife has had this happen three times now in her Malibu: she's driving on the interstate and the engine suddenly loses power. A light comes on that says "engine low power mode," and the check engine light comes on. She has to complete the journey at low speed (less than 30 mph). Once she gets home, shuts the car off, opens the…

Read full complaint

My wife has had this happen three times now in her Malibu: she's driving on the interstate and the engine suddenly loses power. A light comes on that says "engine low power mode," and the check engine light comes on. She has to complete the journey at low speed (less than 30 mph). Once she gets home, shuts the car off, opens the door, and when she comes back and restarts it 10 minutes later, it's fine. Today, it didn't shut the check engine life off, so we brought it in for diagnostic. We researched online and found the class action suit for "accelerator pedal sensor" being faulty. We believe this is what's going on. It's currently at the garage getting diagnosed. This is a known, dangerous issue that GM should take responsibility for!

NHTSA ODI #11503574

Mileage unknown · Jan 13, 2023
EnginePower TrainVehicle Speed Control

Driving vehicle like normal and then the check engine light comes on with the stabilitrak light, and get message "reduced engine power". Car goes down to less than 50 miles per hour and is struggling to go must faster while I am on the freeway. The RPMs keep going higher and higher even though the car is not going very fast. Get…

Read full complaint

Driving vehicle like normal and then the check engine light comes on with the stabilitrak light, and get message "reduced engine power". Car goes down to less than 50 miles per hour and is struggling to go must faster while I am on the freeway. The RPMs keep going higher and higher even though the car is not going very fast. Get home and let it rest. Keep having same issue on and off past two weeks. Sometimes it comes on and goes off, has been on past three days acting the same way. Check engine light says Pedal Sensor issue. Known recall for it listed with letter sent out in 2019, but of course this was only if you were having the issue at the time (which I didn't) and it is only covering for cars under 150K miles. My car has 192K miles, so they will no longer cover it, even though it is a known issue has been for some time now! It is very expensive and unfortunate that they will not cover this issue regardless of miles, knowing that this can happen to the 2017 Chevy Malibu's at any time. Still driving it the way it is. Did try to clean out the Throttle body and see if that helped, but issue still is there. Will try to replace sensor at some point and see what happens.

NHTSA ODI #11501632

Mileage unknown · Dec 23, 2022
EngineService Brakes

The contact owns a 2017 Chevrolet Malibu. The contact stated that while pulling into a gas station the vehicle lost motive power without warning. The contact stated that she was informed to top off the fuel and the vehicle was able to restart and drive with no further issues. The contact stated that the vehicle was able to resta…

Read full complaint

The contact owns a 2017 Chevrolet Malibu. The contact stated that while pulling into a gas station the vehicle lost motive power without warning. The contact stated that she was informed to top off the fuel and the vehicle was able to restart and drive with no further issues. The contact stated that the vehicle was able to restart several hours later. The vehicle was not taken to a dealer or independent mechanic for diagnostic test or repair. The contact stated that recently while driving approximately 20 MPH, the brakes locked up as the brake pedal was depressed and an abnormal noise was heard. The contact stated that the vehicle stopped as the brake pedal traveled to the floor. The vehicle was inspected by an independent mechanic that diagnosed the failure as a defective brake vacuum pump that needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure however, no assistance was offered. The failure mileage was unknown.

NHTSA ODI #11498721

88,000 miles · Dec 15, 2022
Engine

The contact owns a 2017 Chevrolet Malibu. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle lost motive power with the engine power reduced message displayed and the traction control warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, who diagnosed that the air intake system was …

Read full complaint

The contact owns a 2017 Chevrolet Malibu. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle lost motive power with the engine power reduced message displayed and the traction control warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, who diagnosed that the air intake system was faulty. The mechanic cleaned the air intake system; however, the failure recurred. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 88,000.

NHTSA ODI #11497540

Mileage unknown · Dec 12, 2022
EngineUnknown Or OtherVehicle Speed Control

The check engine light came on and the stabilitrak came on. I went to nearest car mechanic and the mechanic told me it was safe that’s normal and it was safe so I proceeded to goto work the next day. The next day I’m on my way to work and 30 minutes on the highway my check engine light come on this time saying engine power redu…

Read full complaint

The check engine light came on and the stabilitrak came on. I went to nearest car mechanic and the mechanic told me it was safe that’s normal and it was safe so I proceeded to goto work the next day. The next day I’m on my way to work and 30 minutes on the highway my check engine light come on this time saying engine power reduced I went from driving 60mph to 20mph with four wheelers speeding pass me . Being far away from home I pulled over side of the highway to not panic. I turned on my hazard lights and proceeded driving and made my way home because I didn’t want to be stranded.

NHTSA ODI #11497099

Mileage unknown · Dec 5, 2022
Electrical SystemEngine

Engine shuts off while driving and sometimes will not restart. This is not the regular start/stop functionality. My car shuts of when it should not and creates a crash hazard.

NHTSA ODI #11496128

Mileage unknown · Dec 1, 2022
Electrical SystemEnginePower Train

ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON ALONG WITH DECREASED ENGINE POWER LIGHT. FELT THE TRANSMISSION DOWNSHIFTING. SPEED WENT FROM 50 DOWN TO 20 WHILE ON AN EXPRESSWAY AND I HAD TO PULL OFF THE ROAD AND SHUT IT DOWN. WAITED AWHILE, TURNED IT BACK ON AND IT CONTINUED SEVERAL TIMES TO DOWNSHIFT. TOOK IT TO THE DEALER, HAD TO WAIT A FEW WEEKS FOR…

Read full complaint

ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON ALONG WITH DECREASED ENGINE POWER LIGHT. FELT THE TRANSMISSION DOWNSHIFTING. SPEED WENT FROM 50 DOWN TO 20 WHILE ON AN EXPRESSWAY AND I HAD TO PULL OFF THE ROAD AND SHUT IT DOWN. WAITED AWHILE, TURNED IT BACK ON AND IT CONTINUED SEVERAL TIMES TO DOWNSHIFT. TOOK IT TO THE DEALER, HAD TO WAIT A FEW WEEKS FOR THE PART AND THE ACCELERATOR PEDAL SENSOR NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. THANK GOD I WAS NOT IN THE PASSING LANE OR THERE WOULD 'VE BEEN A VERY BAD ACCIDENT.

NHTSA ODI #11495573

Mileage unknown · Oct 25, 2022
Engine

Engine power reduced, car reduces to 40-20 mph while in traffic. Has started to shut off completely while driving.

NHTSA ODI #11490897

Mileage unknown · Sep 28, 2022
EngineUnknown Or OtherVehicle Speed Control

I have taking my car to Chevy 8/2021 twice and now 9/28/22 for what I believe to be throttle body control and accelerator pedal issue. The engine reduce light and check engine lite continues to come on causing my car to lose speed while driving. Chevy keeps telling me its a oil pressure issue now their saying it may be a oil gas…

Read full complaint

I have taking my car to Chevy 8/2021 twice and now 9/28/22 for what I believe to be throttle body control and accelerator pedal issue. The engine reduce light and check engine lite continues to come on causing my car to lose speed while driving. Chevy keeps telling me its a oil pressure issue now their saying it may be a oil gasket. At this point I feel like there is a lot of complaints of the same issue. I'm hoping someone can look into this further as it's costly and seems to be a chevy issue nation wide. I see there has even been a lawsuit : Jun 9, 2022 — A class action lawsuit against General Motors alleges the company hid a defect in its Chevy Malibu that can cause a sudden loss of power. https://topclassactions.com/lawsuit-settlements/consumer-products/auto-news/chevy-malibu-class-action-alleges-power-defect-cover-up/ I feel like this is very dangerous and I don't want to get hurt or hurt anyone in the process.

NHTSA ODI #11486981

Mileage unknown · Sep 24, 2022
EnginePower Train

Contined chevk engine light concerns despite paying for repairs multiple times at chevy dealership. Always issues with throttle body and PCM. Additionally receiving codes for reduced engine power/speed reduction while driving and frequent messages of "shift to park," when already parked.

NHTSA ODI #11486200

Official recalls

4

21V649000 · Seat Belts:critical Fasteners; Seat Belts:rear/other:retractor

Aug 20, 2021

General Motors, LLC (GM) is recalling certain 2016-2021 Chevrolet Malibu and 2019-2021 Cadillac XT4 vehicles. The rear seat belt retractors may be improperly secured with loose or missing fasteners.

Consequence & remedy

Consequence: An improperly secured seat belt retractor may not function properly in a crash, increasing the risk of injury.

Remedy: Dealers will inspect and tighten the rear seat belt retractors, as necessary, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed on September 17, 2021. Owners may contact Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020 and Cadillac customer service at 1-800-458-8006. GM's number for this recall is N212333380.

Additional source detail variants (2)

Seat Belts:rear/other:retractor

General Motors, LLC (GM) is recalling certain 2016-2021 Chevrolet Malibu and 2019-2021 Cadillac XT4 vehicles. The rear seat belt retractors may be improperly secured with loose or missing fasteners.

Consequence: An improperly secured seat belt retractor may not function properly in a crash, increasing the risk of injury.

Remedy: Dealers will inspect and tighten the rear seat belt retractors, as necessary, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed on September 17, 2021. Owners may contact Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020 and Cadillac customer service at 1-800-458-8006. GM's number for this recall is N212333380.

Seat Belts:critical Fasteners

General Motors, LLC (GM) is recalling certain 2016-2021 Chevrolet Malibu and 2019-2021 Cadillac XT4 vehicles. The rear seat belt retractors may be improperly secured with loose or missing fasteners.

Consequence: An improperly secured seat belt retractor may not function properly in a crash, increasing the risk of injury.

Remedy: Dealers will inspect and tighten the rear seat belt retractors, as necessary, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed on September 17, 2021. Owners may contact Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020 and Cadillac customer service at 1-800-458-8006. GM's number for this recall is N212333380.

18V400000 · Air Bags:sensor:occupant Classification

Jun 14, 2018

General Motors LLC (GM) is recalling certain 2016-2018 Chevrolet Malibu vehicles. During servicing, a Passenger Presence System (PPS) may have been installed that was not correctly calibrated to the vehicle's seat type. As a result, the PPS may not properly identify an adult passenger from a child passenger in the front passenger seat, potentially causing the air bag to not deploy when it should, or causing the air bag to deploy when it shouldn't.

Consequence & remedy

Consequence: In the event of a crash, improper air bag deployment can increase the risk of injury.

Remedy: GM will notify owners, and dealers will replace the front passenger PPS seat service kit, free of charge. The recall began August 7, 2018. Owners may contact Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020. GM's number for this recall is 18208.

18V358000 · Fuel System, Gasoline:delivery:fuel Pump

May 31, 2018

General Motors LLC (GM) is recalling certain 2015-2018 GMC Canyon, 2016-2017 Buick Envision, 2016-2018 Chevrolet Colorado and Malibu, 2017-2018 GMC Acadia, 2018 Buick LaCrosse, Cadillac ATS, Chevrolet Equinox, and GMC Terrain vehicles. The high pressure fuel pump may detach from its mounting flange, possibly resulting in the pump damaging the high pressure fuel line.

Consequence & remedy

Consequence: A damaged fuel line can create a fuel leak, increasing the risk of a fire.

Remedy: GM will notify owners, and dealers will replace the high pressure fuel pump, and high pressure fuel pipe, free of charge. The recall began July 2, 2018. Owners may contact Buick customer service at 1-800-521-7300, Cadillac customer service at 1-800-458-8006, Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020, or GMC customer service at 1-800-462-8782. GM's number for this recall is 18188.

16V870000 · Air Bags:side/window

Dec 2, 2016

General Motors LLC (GM) is recalling certain 2017 Malibu vehicles manufactured on November 10, 2016. The right-hand rear side air bag inflator manifold may have insufficient welds.

Consequence & remedy

Consequence: Insufficient welds could cause the inflator to separate and propel air bag debris into the cabin during a crash. Also, the inflator could fail to inflate during a crash, increasing the risk of injury.

Remedy: GM will notify owners, and dealers will replace the rear side air bag modules, free of charge. The recall began on January 25, 2017. Owners may contact Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020. GM's number for this recall is 16146.

Model-level recall history does not show whether a particular VIN is affected or has received a repair. Check a VIN with NHTSA ↗

NHTSA investigations

0

No exact-year investigations in this snapshot.