2021 Chevrolet Malibu problems, complaints & recalls
Most-reported problem areas: Power Train (24) · Electrical System (10) · Air Bags (5)
🧭 Reliability snapshot
Compared against other Chevrolet Malibu model years — complaint volume vs the model's median year, recalls and severity. How we score →
Safety recalls (2)
Seats 2022-05-19 · campaign 22V359000 · 221 vehicles
Defect: General Motors, LLC (GM) is recalling certain 2021 Chevrolet Malibu, 2022 Chevrolet Equinox, Blazer and Cadillac XT4 vehicles. The driver's seat cushion frame may have an improper weld in the power tilt-adjustment mechanism.
Risk: An improperly welded seat frame may not adequately restrain the driver in a crash, increasing their risk of injury.
Fix: Dealers will inspect the driver's seat and replace the cushion frame, as necessary, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed June 23, 2022. Owners may contact Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020 or Cadillac customer service at 1-800-458-8006. GM's number for this recall is N212356050.
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 (697)
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 2026-08-20 · PIC6551C · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
this preliminary information communicates to dealer to perform a mec reset for wireless projection issues
Unknown Or Other 2026-07-21 · PIT5099J · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
pi to help diagnose a/c concern
Unknown Or Other 2026-06-23 · PIT5966F · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
this preliminary information communicates an issue with an ota pending message still displayed after an ota event and how to reset/clear the message.
Showing the 6 most recent of 697 bulletins. Search all of them free at nhtsa.gov.
What owners report
2026-10-12 · Forward Collision Avoidance: Automatic Emergency Braking“this car has the same issues even after you get it replaced . this car is not a good car i have spent so much money replacing the oz sensor .the radio, and the turbo keeps going out . this car has a lot of recall that should be handle to make sure that this car is running good . they should replace this turbo charge . the car always stall and cut o…”
2026-09-02 · Unknown Or Other“the problem with this model is the cvt trasmission thats in the vehicle when put into drive mode it stalls to change gears and want change gears for about 5 min then it kicks in to go it does that very often i have took it to the dealership and spent tremendous mount of money the transmission are crapy and stalls the car when put into drive mode pl…”
2026-08-21 · Power Train · 96,035 mi“the contact owns a 2021 chevrolet malibu. the contact stated that while driving 70 mph, the vehicle failed to accelerate as needed; however, the rpm was extremely elevated. the vehicle then lost motive power and went into limp mode, and the vehicle failed to exceed 15 mph. the vehicle was taken to a dealer on three separate occasions. after the fir…”
2026-08-20 · Engine“the chevy malibu is displaying a “shift to park” message even when the gear selector is physically in the park position. this indicates that the vehicle’s computer may not be recognizing that the vehicle has been placed in park, which is commonly associated with a faulty or failing internal park-position sensor/switch. the issue is affecting the v…”
2026-08-14 · Unknown Or Other“failure - b000a-00 body control module error code - shift lever position not plausible . safety - this causes the car to upon attempting to turn off the car say "shift into park" on the dashboard and the car refuses to turn fully off. this can cause the battery to drain excessively from repeated constant start/stop attempts and leaves the car in a…”
2026-08-11 · Electrical System“i was driving my car my electrical system is throwing all kinds of code.my sftey restrain is coming on to check my seat belt .the car goes blank .it stop in the middle of the road.this car has a lot of issues.can some one help me with this i work at the cardiologist office .…”
2026-08-11 · Unknown Or Other“i purchased this vehicle in april of 2026, 4 days after bringing it home it began displaying a “shift to park” message in the dash, essentially making it so the vehicle will not shut off even when the vehicle is in park. took it to a shop and they diagnosed it as a common issue across the 2021 malibus and stated the entire shifter assembly needed r…”
2026-08-06 · Electrical System“the car has an issue recognizing that the car is in park when trying to turn off the vehicle. a message on the dash will appear “shift to park”. the car has not been inspected for this issue, but it does repeatedly happen, not every time i turn off the car, but it happens pretty frequently. if i am unable to get the shifter to fully engage the comp…”
2026-07-30 · Unknown Or Other“i am reporting a safety concern with my 2021 chevrolet malibu that is experiencing a “shift to park” failure.the vehicle displays a “shift to park” warning message even when the gear selector is fully placed in park. because the vehicle incorrectly detects that it is not in park, it will not allow me to properly turn the vehicle off. this creates a…”
2026-07-29 · Unknown Or Other“car states shift to park when vehicle is already in park. it took multiple times to start car again and wiggling of shifter to get car to turn off. car was repaired by a mechanic by replacing the transmission control and transmission shifter. chevy is aware of the problem (which can drain the battery if not caught) but has not issued a recall o…”
Excerpts of consumer complaints filed with NHTSA, lightly truncated. They are owner statements, not verified findings.