2019 Chevrolet Malibu problems, complaints & recalls
Most-reported problem areas: Power Train (51) · Electrical System (23) · Engine (21)
🧭 Reliability snapshot
Compared against other Chevrolet Malibu model years — complaint volume vs the model's median year, recalls and severity. How we score →
🛣️ Complaints by mileage
58 NHTSA complaints that reported an odometer reading.
Safety recalls (1)
Seat Belts:rear/Other:retractor 2021-08-20 · campaign 21V649000 · 402 vehicles
Defect: 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.
Risk: An improperly secured seat belt retractor may not function properly in a crash, increasing the risk of injury.
Fix: 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.
Service bulletins (884)
Technical service bulletins are repair instructions manufacturers send dealers for known issues. Unlike recalls, the fix is not automatically free — but naming the bulletin at the service desk can save diagnosis time and support goodwill repairs.
Unknown Or Other 2026-10-26 · GM Update N25-250552 · Over The Air
• improvements to onstar functionality.
Unknown Or Other 2026-09-26 · PIT5698F · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
this pi provides diagnostics tips on how the lin bus works and how to diagnosis it.
Unknown Or Other 2026-09-04 · PIP4902W · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
this preliminary information advises a dealer on how to email gds2 session logs into technical assistance.
Unknown Or Other 2026-07-21 · PIT5099J · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
pi to help diagnose a/c concern
Unknown Or Other 2026-06-03 · PIP6032C · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
pip6032b provides diagnostic direction for dealers when encountering transmission leaks
Unknown Or Other 2026-04-01 · PIT3271Q · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
this preliminary information communicates information about how to determine if a wheel and tires size change is available.
Showing the 6 most recent of 884 bulletins. Search all of them free at nhtsa.gov.
What owners report
2026-10-20 · Power Train“the vehicle experiences sudden transmission slipping, severe shuddering, and an unexpected loss of forward drive power while in motion. specifically, while attempting to accelerate from a complete stop / merge onto the highway, the engine revs but the vehicle fails to accelerate properly or suddenly loses acceleration entirely. this creates a sever…”
2026-10-07 · Power Train · 65,000 mi“the contact owns a 2019 chevrolet malibu. the contact stated that after parking and attempting to turn off the vehicle, the gear shifter was shifted to park(p) however, the vehicle failed to recognize that the vehicle was in park(p), and the vehicle failed to turn off. during the failure, the message "shift to park" was displayed and the vehicle id…”
2026-09-24 · Service Brakes · 105,100 mi“the contact owns a 2019 chevrolet malibu. the contact stated that after purchasing the vehicle, the following morning while waiting at the school drop-off line with her foot on the brake pedal, there was an abnormal boom, and several warning lights illuminated and flashed on the instrument panel. the occupants inside the vehicle assumed that the ve…”
2026-09-16 · Service Brakes“due to the vacuum pump failing during driving, metal shards broke inside of the car and went into the engine destroying it completely. now i need a whole new engine…”
2026-09-01 · Power Train“i understand that the vehicle is outside of its original warranty period. however, i do not believe that the expiration of the warranty should automatically make me responsible for a component failure that occurred at only approximately 39,000 miles. the pcv valve and orifice are not routine maintenance items that i would reasonably expect to requi…”
2026-07-06 · Unknown Or Other“acceleration issues. started once put in drive didnt want to accelerate, acceleration issues now at higher speeds while driving…”
2026-06-04 · Service Brakes“since 2024/2025 car has been malfunctioning, i’ve had it checked out but it just got worse and nothing was fixed l, it is i driveable and very unsafe. when driving it abruptly stops like it’s crashing messages that pop up (multiple ones at one time flashing as well) - service “esc” -“service power steering drive with care” -“shift to park” -“…”
2026-05-16 · Vehicle Speed Control“the first problem with my car was the tire pressure monitor. the location of each tire was wrong on the informant section. soon after purchasing the car when ever i would park the car would not shut off and the dic would display shift to park message. around 6 months after the purchase the brake pedal was getting harder the press down on and within…”
2026-04-03 · Forward Collision Avoidance: Warnings · 💥 crash“the vehicle experienced a serious and ongoing electrical and system malfunction shortly after being returned from repairs related to a prior accident. within a short period of driving, multiple warning messages and system errors began appearing simultaneously, indicating failures across several vehicle systems. the issues included repeated compute…”
2026-03-30 · Power Train · 91,000 mi“the contact owns a 2019 chevrolet malibu. the contact stated that upon shifting to park(p) and attempting to turn off the vehicle, the message "shift to park" was displayed. while investigating the failure online, the contact became aware that it was a common failure, and there was an ongoing class action lawsuit related to the failure. the dealer …”
Excerpts of consumer complaints filed with NHTSA, lightly truncated. They are owner statements, not verified findings.