Vehicles › Chevrolet › Chevrolet Malibu

Complaints are consumer reports and have not been verified by NHTSA. Recall text is the manufacturer's Part 573 report as filed with NHTSA. Complaint file through 15 May 2019; recall file through 24 Sep 2026.

Recalls by model year:

Recall campaigns

1. 16V502000ELECTRICAL SYSTEM:IGNITIONReported 5 Jul 2016 · 8,367 units

   Defect, as filed: General Motors LLC (GM) is recalling certain model year 2016-2017 Buick Verano and 2016 Chevrolet Malibu as the electronic park lock lever may allow the ignition key to be removed without the transmission being in PARK. Also, certain 2013 Buick Encore, 2011 Buick Regal, 2013-2014 Buick Verano, 2011-2016 Chevrolet Cruze, 2010-2013 Chevrolet Equinox 2013-2015 Chevrolet Malibu, and 2011-2013 GMC Terrain vehicles may have been serviced with similar defective replacement electronic park lock levers. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) number 114, "Theft Protection and Rollaway Prevention."

   Consequence: If the key is removed without the transmission in PARK, the vehicle may rollaway as occupants are exiting, increasing the risk of injury.

   Remedy: GM will notify owners, and dealers will inspect and if necessary replace the key cylinder lock housing, free of charge. The recall began on October 14, 2016. Owners may contact Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020, Buick 1-800-521-7300, and GMC 1-800-462-8782. GM's number for this recall is 50490 and 50491.

   Filed by General Motors LLC (manufacturer campaign 50490, 50491); components: electrical system:ignition; power train:automatic transmission:control module (tcm/pcm/tecm).

2. 15V666000AIR BAGS:SIDE/WINDOWReported 16 Oct 2015 · 395 units

   Defect, as filed: General Motors LLC (GM) is recalling certain model year 2015 Buick LaCrosse, Cadillac XTS, Chevrolet Camaro, Equinox, Malibu, and GMC Terrain vehicles. The affected vehicles have front seat-mounted side impact air bags whose inflator may rupture upon its deployment.

   Consequence: In the event of a crash necessitating deployment of one or both of the side impact air bags, the air bag's inflator may rupture and the air bag may not properly inflate. The rupture could cause metal fragments to strike the vehicle occupants, potentially resulting in serious injury or death. Additionally, if the air bag does not properly inflate, the driver or passenger is at an increased risk of injury.

   Remedy: GM will notify owners, and dealers will replace the side impact air bag modules, free of charge. The recall began on October 19, 2015. Owners may contact Buick customer service at 1-800-521-7300, Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020, Cadillac customer service at 1-800-458-8006, or GMC customer service at 1-800-462-8782. GM's number for this recall is 01320.

   Filed by General Motors LLC (manufacturer campaign 01320).

3. 15V164000VISIBILITY:SUN/MOON ROOF ASSEMBLYReported 23 Mar 2015 · 87,063 units

   Defect, as filed: General Motors LLC (GM) is recalling certain model year 2013-2015 Chevrolet Malibu vehicles October 24, 2011, to March 5, 2015. In the affected vehicles, the Slide or Tilt switch for the roof panel may not be adequately recessed to prevent the switch from inadvertently being pressed. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 118, "Power-Operated Window, Partition, and Roof Panel Systems."

   Consequence: The Slide or Tilt roof panel switch may inadvertently be pressed and the roof panel may auto-close unexpectedly, increasing the risk of a pinch injury.

   Remedy: GM will notify owners, and dealers will update the Body Control Module (BCM) software to remove auto-close feature for certain switch positions, free of charge. The recall began April 21, 2015. Owners may contact Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020. GM's number for this recall is 15176.

   Filed by General Motors LLC (manufacturer campaign 15176).

Each entry links to the NHTSA record. NHTSA states that safety recall repairs are free of charge at an authorised dealer; check a specific vehicle by VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls.

Complaints by component

Component mentions per 1,000 for the 2015 Chevrolet Malibu (black) against all 2015 model-year vehicles in the file (yellow). A complaint can name more than one component.

103 unique complaints, 148 component mentions; 8 injuries and 1 deaths reported by complainants. Complaint narratives are not republished.

Complaints by year received

Investigations

No NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation action in the current file names this model year.

Other Chevrolet Malibu model years

Model years with a single campaign and fewer than 25 complaints have no page here; the NHTSA link opens the agency's record for that year.

All Chevrolet Malibu model years · Chevrolet: 177 model lines

Questions and answers

Provenance

Source: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Office of Defects Investigation flat files (recalls, complaints, investigations), public domain, files dated 24 Sep 2026 (recalls) and 15 May 2019 (complaints). Complaints since 1 Jan 1995. Counts are unique complaint numbers per make, model and model year; per-1,000 rates divide a component's mentions by all mentions for the same group. Errors in processing are corrected at the next daily build; see corrections and the methodology.