2018 Chevrolet Malibu

VEHICLE FREQUENTLY HAS AN ISSUE ACCELERATING. WHEN PULLING OUT INTO TRAFFIC OR DEPARTING FROM A RED LIGHT, THE VEHICLE FAILS TO MOVE MORE THAN APPROXIMATELY 5 MILES AN HOUR FOR APPROXIMATELY 5-10 SECONDS. YOU CAN HAVE THE GAS PEDAL PUSHED TO THE FLOOR AND STILL THE CAR HAS SERIOUS HESITATION AND DELAY OF ACCELERATION. THIS IS EXTREMELY DANGEROUS. IT IS A MYSTERY IF YOU ARE GOING TO PULL OUT INTO TRAFFIC AND NOT MOVE OR MAYBE THE CAR WILL ACCELERATE NORMAL. YOU WILL NOT KNOW UNTIL YOU TRY!

REGARDING BULLETIN NO.: 18-NA-297: HISTORICALLY, IF A VEHICLE IS NOT IN "PARK" THE NEUTRAL SAFETY SWITCH PREVENTS THE ENGINE FROM STARTING. IN THE CASE OF THE CHEVY MALIBU, AND SIMILARLY AFFECTED VEHICLES, THIS IS NOT THE CASE. WHILE THE DISPLAY READS, "SHIFT TO PARK," THE OPERATOR CAN STILL START THE VEHICLE. I UNDERSTAND THAT A DEAD BATTERY AS A RESULT OF THIS MALFUNCTION IS AN INCONVENIENCE, BUT IF LEFT UN-REPAIRED, THIS COULD LEAD TO VEHICLE LUNGING IF THE VEHICLE WAS LEFT IN ANY FORWARD GEAR, OR REVERSE. I BELIEVE THAT THE TERM "NEUTRAL SAFETY SWITCH," HAS BEEN REPLACED BY GENERAL MOTORS IN ORDER TO AVOID USING THE WORD SAFETY. RATHER, THEY USE TERMS LIKE "BCM," AND "SHIFTER ASSEMBLY," TO CIRCUMVENT CRITICISM OF A POTENTIALLY SERIOUS PROBLEM. AS THE AVERAGE MILEAGE APPEARS TO BE JUST SHORT OF THE WARRANTY EXPIRATION, GM IS LEAVING A SIZABLE REPAIR BILL TO CONSUMERS THAT CAN AFFORD TO PAY IT, AND FORCING "BACK YARD WORK AROUNDS" TO THOSE WHO CAN NOT. I WOULD RESPECTFULLY REQUEST THAT THE NHTSA LOOK FURTHER INTO THE ISSUE, AS WELL AS THE SEMANTICS EMPLOYED BY GENERAL MOTORS. SINCERELY, [XXX] REDACTED TO PROTECT PERSONALLY IDENTIFIABLE INFORMATION PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6). *CC *TR

MY CAR WAS BOUGHT NEW IN DECEMBER 2018. STARTING IN APRIL OF 2018, WITH A LITTLE OVER 3000 MILES ON THE CAR, I BEGAN TO NOTICE THAT WHEN I DROVE THE CAR WITH A COLD START (MORNINGS AND AFTER A FULL DAY OF WORK) THE CAR WOULD NOT RESPOND TO ME PRESSING ON THE GAS PEDAL. I WOULD PUSH DOWN, AND IT WOULD TAKE ABOUT 5-8 SECONDS FOR THE CAR TO ACTUALLY ACCELERATE AT ALL. THIS HAS BEEN HAPPENING ALMOST EVERY DAY FOR NEARLY A MONTH. MULTIPLE TIMES, I HAVE PULLED OUT OF A DRIVEWAY AND WAS ALMOST HIT BY CROSS TRAFFIC BECAUSE MY CAR LITERALLY WOULDN'T GO. WE HAVE TAKEN IT TO THE SERVICE CENTER TWICE NOW, AND THEY HAVEN'T BEEN ABLE TO PULL ANY CODES OR FIND ANY ISSUES WRONG WITH IT. THESE NEEDS TO BE RESOLVED BEFORE SOMEONE IS SERIOUSLY INJURED. ## VIN PASSED ## CHEVROLET, MALIBU, 2018 ##

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2018 CHEVROLET MALIBU. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE RPM GAUGE INCREASED; HOWEVER, THE TRANSMISSION GEARS FAILED TO CHANGE OVER WHILE THE VEHICLE WAS DRIVING ON THE HIGHWAY. AS A RESULT, THERE WAS A DRASTIC REDUCTION IN SPEED AND THE CONTACT HAD TO MANEUVER THE VEHICLE WITH EXTREME DIFFICULTY TO PREVENT A CRASH. INITIALLY, PERFORMANCE CHEVROLET (1005 W EHRINGHAUS ST, ELIZABETH CITY, NC 27909, 252-338-9100) WAS UNABLE TO REPLICATE AND DIAGNOSE THE FAILURE WITH THE SERVICE CENTER MANAGER. FURTHER DIAGNOSTIC TESTING WAS NOT PROVIDED. A DEALER TEST DROVE THE VEHICLE WITH THE CONTACT AND DIAGNOSED THAT THE SPACER PLATE NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. A LOANER VEHICLE WAS PROVIDED FOR TWO DAYS. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED AND THE CONTACT WANTED THE VEHICLE BOUGHT BACK BY THE DEALER IF THERE WAS NO SOLUTION. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOTIFIED OF THE FAILURES. THE APPROXIMATE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 45,000.

PURCHASED 2018 CHEVY MALIBU WITH 4,200 BUT NEW DUE TO IT BEING A DEALER COURTESY CAR ON 12/18/18, ON 1/7/19 THE CAR WOULD NOT ACCELERATE WHILE STATIONARY IN A PARKING LOT ATTEMPTING TO PULL OUT OF THE PARKING SPOT. I PUT THE CAR IN PARK AND WHEN SHIFTING BACK TO DRIVE THE TRANSMISSION SLAMMED INTO GEAR AND THE ACCELERATOR BARELY RESPONDED AND THE CAR REVVED TO OVER 5,000 RPM'S. I TOOK INTO SUPERIOR CHEVROLET ON 1/8/19, ON 1/11/19 THEY STILL DID NOT KNOW WHAT THE ISSUE WAS AND WERE UNABLE TO DUPLICATE IT. ON 1/4/19 THE DEALERSHIP SAID THEY WERE CONNECTING THE CAR TO A MACHINE THAT WOULD SUPPLY THE SMALLEST SPECS OF THE CAR TO SEND TO GM ENGINEERS, ON 1/16/19 THE GM ENGINEERS ADVISED TO REPLACE THE TCM (TRANSMISSION CONTROL MODULE). TCM WAS REPLACED AND THE CAR WAS PICKED UP ON 1/18/19. ON 5/22/19 WHILE DRIVING THROUGH AN INTERSECTION THE ACCELERATOR FAILED TO RESPOND AGAIN AND REVVED TO 5,500 RPM'S. IT TOOK APPROX ONE MINUTE FOR THE ACCELERATOR TO RESPOND IN THE MEANTIME I WAS ALMOST REAR-ENDED BY THE CAR BEHIND ME. I TOOK THE CAR BACK TO SUPERIOR CHEVROLET ON 5/23/19 REPORTING THE ACCELERATOR DID NOT RESPOND AGAIN AS IT HAD IN JANUARY. THE TECHS WERE UNABLE TO DUPLICATE THE ISSUE AGAIN AND THE SERVICE MANAGER DROVE THE CAR HOME TO SEE IF IT WOULD DUPLICATE, IT DID NOT. ON 5/24/19 I WAS ADVISED THEY UPDATED THE COMPUTER AND THAT SHOULD RESOLVE THE PROBLEM THIS TIME. THE FIRST FAILURE HAPPENED AT APPROX 4,700 MILES. THE SECOND OCCURRING AT APPROX 11,700. THE CONSUMER STATED UPON THE 3RD FAILURE THE ONSTAR DIAGNOSTIC STATED THAT THERE WAS AN ISSUE WITH THE ENGINE AND TRANSMISSION SYSTEM. *JS

THE VEHICLE LOSES POWER AFTER WARMING UP. VEHICLE SPUTTERS DURING ACCELERATION AND SOMETIMES WILL NOT ACCELERATE AT ALL. THIS ALMOST CAUSED ME TO GET INTO AN ACCIDENT AS I PULLED OUT AND PRESSED THE ACCELERATOR AND THE CAR WOULD NOT MOVE. THERE ARE NO LIGHTS OR CODES PRESENT. ACCORDING TO ONLINE FORUMS THERE IS A TSB FOR THIS (19-NA-32); IT NEEDS TO BE A SAFETY RECALL...THIS IS VERY DANGEROUS.

AT ANY GIVEN TIME, WHEN VEHICLE IS STATIONARY AND SHIFT LEVER SET TO 'PARK', THE INSTRUMENT PANEL SCREEN DISPLAYS A 'SHIFT TO PARK' MESSAGE EVEN WITH THE LEVER SET TO THE 'PARK' POSITION. THE VEHICLE SEEMS TO BE IN 'PARK' HOWEVER, BATTERY POWER TO THE VEHICLE REMAINS AND WILL NOT SHUT OFF. CAR ELECTRICAL SYSTEM REMAINS ON AND HONKS THREE TIMES IF THE KEY FOB IS NOT IN RANGE. IT IS CONCERNING THAT THE VEHICLE IS NEVER FULLY IN 'PARK' MODE OR THAT THE VEHICLE IS NEVER FULLY TURNED OFF AND CAN CAUSE AN ACCIDENT IF UNATTENDED.

BOUGHT THIS CAR BRAND NEW IN AUGUST 2018. WHEN I DRIVE IT SOMETIMES IT LOOSES POWER WHEN I'M DRIVING FROM A STOP OR WHILE PICKING UP SPEED AND IT DOESN'T MATTER IF IT'S ON THE FREEWAY OR ON THE STREET. THE ONLY WAY I CAN DESCRIBE IT IS IT'S LIKE THE TRANSMISSION GETS STUCK IN A HIGH GEAR AND SLOWLY BUILDS SPEED UP. IT IS VERY DANGEROUS TO DRIVE IT LIKE THIS.

I BOUGHT THIS CAR BRAND NEW 9/28/2018 WITH 2 MILES ON IT. EVERY ONCE IN A WHILE THE CAR WILL STICK AT 3400 RPM'S, MAKING ALMOST NO POWER, WHILE TRYING TO ACCELERATE. THE CAR WILL DO THIS FROM A STOP OR TRYING TO PASS A CAR. BROUGHT TO DEALER FOR 4 DAYS, THEY COULDN'T DUPLICATE THE ISSUE AS IT DOESN'T HAPPEN ALL THE TIME(EYE ROLL) IT IS A MAJOR SAFETY CONCERN AS IT WILL GIVE YOU A FALSE SENSE OF SECURITY WHEN MOVING INTO OR AROUND TRAFFIC AND IS VERY DANGEROUS. MONITORING THE CAR THRU THE OBDII PORT I PERSONALLY FOUND IT NOT BUILDING BOOST FROM THE TURBO WHEN IT'S HAVING THIS PROBLEM, UNFORTUNATELY THE DEALERS CAN'T SEE THIS PROBLEM...