2013 Chevrolet Malibu Driver assistance Problems

While my daughter has been driving our 2013 Chevrolet Malibu 2013, the vehicle continues to experience add loss of electric power. The dashboard display and infortainment system went down black. The problem first began -2019-2020 and continues to recur about once or twice a month. The most recent incident occurred on September 18, 2025, with my daughter behind the wheel. An independentc mechanic confirmed that cause is a manufacturer's defect in the fuse box located near the battery. He stated this is a widespread issue and refused to repair it, advising Chevrolet should address it. Chevrolet Waldorf kept my car for over a month but only replaced the battery, could find the issue, which did not resolve the defect. This recurring failure creates a serious safety risk to the driver, passenger, and others on the road because the car can lose power and steering at anytime. This issue was he subject of prior NHTSA complaint I submitted in 2020 (ID 11315997), and it has continued despite the report. Everytime this defect occurs with Chevrolet Malibu 2013... my family's safety, and the safety of others on the road is placed in jeopardy. GM must be held accountable to correct this ongoing safety defect beforer more lives are placed at risk, and NHTSA's response wil demonstrate where consumer safety is being prioritized or neglected. The upload PDF shows the name BUTTERFLIES (is me asking questions) in a malibu forum date 2021.

NHTSA ID

11688107

Incident

Sep 18, 2025

My instrument cluster is failing

NHTSA ID

11678651

Incident

Jul 25, 2025

There is a recall on the brake booster on the 2014 Malibu manufactured in 2013 my car is a 2013 and I have the same issue.i have had multiple things wrong.I was driving and had no brakes at all I had to push hard and it finally stopped. Hazardous to drive now until fixed.i feel it should be covered as it is the same issue on the 2014

NHTSA ID

11664767

Incident

Jun 2, 2025

One day the car didn’t want to speed up and we almost had a car wreck

NHTSA ID

11618017

Incident

Sep 18, 2024

Car randomly goes into engine reduced power mode and won't go over 50mph. Power steering either won't turn the wheels and will start working again without warning while driving and jerks wheel to the right. Service stabilitrac warning would come on intermittently and disable traction control. Service stabilitrac warning is on now everytime I crank the vehicle and traction control is never working. I have pictures where it has went in limp mode and videos of the gauges doing crazy things after this warning has come up. Very dangerous. Car will jerk the wheel without warning when power steering warning comes on.

NHTSA ID

11539967

Incident

Aug 1, 2022

Car gives engine power reduced warning and then drastically loses speed. Another warning saying engine over speed comes up and the car is unable to accelerate at safe speeds. This is dangerous because I can easily be rear ended by this malfunction especially when driving on the highway. I have children and having them at risk of being in a motor vehicle accident due to a malfunctioning car does not sit well with me. I have seen this issue reported on several other platforms. When I took the car to the dealership regarding this issue I was told I needed to replace the battery but 2 batteries later and I’m still having the same issue. There is no warnings or signs prior to this malfunction happening, it is unpredictable and at random, making it that more dangerous. I would also like to add that this has happened a repeated number of times, it is not an isolated incident. But as of late it has been occurring more frequently.

NHTSA ID

11447693

Incident

Jan 15, 2022

Instrument cluster goes out and is available for inspection. It first went out in the middle of driving 80 on the freeway with others in my vehicle. I have taken it to a Point S mechanic who has confirmed the issue and can be easily recreated just by turning the car on. Nobody has inspected other than a mechanic because I did not know that was even an option. No, there was absolutely no warning to indicate the issue, only the check engine light would work and that issue has been temporarily resolved. Due to research, I, along with many others, have come to the conclusion that it is a fault in manufacturing where one of the resisters in the cluster was not soldered correctly causing a failure in connection. I believe there should have been a recall on the equipment, especially seeing as how common this issue is and that the product isn't even made/sold anymore. It is upsetting to see the ratio of 2 investigations compared to over 700 complaints.

NHTSA ID

11427383

Incident

Jul 15, 2020

SERVICE STABILITRAK AND ENGINE POWER REDUCED DISPLAY AT HIGH SPEEDS CAUSING CAR TO DRASTICALLY DECREASE SPEED. CANNOT BE FIXED. HAVE TRIED TO REPAIR FOR YEARS

NHTSA ID

11387717

Incident

Dec 29, 2020

Mileage

190,102 mi

DRIVING SLOW AND WHEN MAKING TURNS THE CAR STARTS TO SHUT OFF IF NOT GIVEN GAS. THE CAR HAS NO SHUTOFF MULTIPLE TIMES WHEN TRYING TO MAKE A SLOW TURN. THIS LAST TIME I HAD TO RESTART THE CAR THEN THE POWER STERRING WAS OUT COMPLETLY MAKING IT NEAR IMPOSSIBLE TO TURN.

NHTSA ID

11384644

Incident

Dec 23, 2020

Mileage

126,000 mi

I WAS TRAVELING ON 294 SOUTH USING CRUISE CONTROL AT 70 MPH WHEN THE CAR STARTED LOSING POWER BUT ALL INTERNAL APP LIGHTS LIKE THE RADIO REMAINED ON AND THE STEERING WHEEL WAS STILL FUNCTIONAL. ONCE THE VEHICLE WAS PUT IN PARKED IT SHUT OFF. ONLY ISSUE LIGHTS THAT APPEARED 1 WEEK PRIOR WAS THE ABS SENSOR HAD MALFUNCTIONED ON THE FRONT LEFT TIRE. I ATTEMPTED TO JUMP THE BATTERY BUT IT DID NOT RESPOND. CAR HAD BEEN PARKED AND A FRIEND WHO WORKS ON CARS BELIEVES THE ENGINE IS DEAD EVEN THOUGH THERE SHOWS 23% OF OIL LEFT AND NO OTHER SYMPTOMS OF A BLOWN ENGINE. I HAVE BEEN GOODLAND 2013 CHEVY MALIBU ECO ISSUES AND OTHER THAN POTENTIALLY THE STARTER IT COULD BE THE COMPUTER THAT HAS DIED. I CHANGED OUT THE BATTERY AND IT TURNS EVERYTHING ON, BUT STRUGGLES TO CRANK AND REMAIN ON. I CAME ACROSS SEVERAL LINKS REGARDING A RECALL DUE TO COMPUTER, BUT HONESTLY DON'T KNOW IF ITS EVEN THAT. MECHANIC FRIEND BELIEVES IT COULD ALSO BE THE ECM.

NHTSA ID

11375802

Incident

Nov 11, 2020

Mileage

109,500 mi

HAVING PROBLEMS WITH THE EASSIST SYSTEM. THE AUTO STOP FUNCTION CAUSE THE CAR TO STALL AND STOP AND SHAKE SOMETIMES WHILE DRIVING AND STOP AT THE LIGHT OR STOP SIGN I HAVE TO DRIVE IN MANUEL MODE TO DRIVE THE CAR. IF THE CAR NOT IN PART OF IT'S NEUTRAL THE CAR HAS ROLLED BACKWARDS OFF THE PARKING PAD. THAT HAPPENED JUST ONE TIME TO ME. AFTER READING ABOUT OTHER PEOPLE REPORTING THIS, I KEEP THE SAFETY BREAK ON. ALSO I READ ABOUT THE RECALL ON THE E ASSIST . I'M CURRENTLY HAVING THE SAME ISSUES BUT MY VIN NUMBER IS NOT INCLUDED. I GOT THE CAR USED AND ONLY HAD IT FOR A LITTLE OVER A YEAR.

NHTSA ID

11372798

Incident

Feb 15, 2020

Mileage

64,000 mi

WHEN YOU ARE DRIVING THE ELECTRICAL SYSTEM CUTS OFF, MAKING IT HARD TO STEER AND AFFECTING OTHER ELECTRICAL CONTROLS SUCH AS: TOUCH SCREEN, LIGHTS, AND CONTROL PANEL. THE SYSTEM USUALLY SHUTS OFF FOR A BRIEF MOMENT WHEN UTILIZING POWER LOCKS, TURN SIGNALS, AND POWER WINDOWS. RECENTLY, THE ENGINE WON'T START BUT AFTER WAITING FOR A FEW MOMENTS, IT STARTS UP AGAIN. THIS HAS BEEN GOING ON FOR THE PAST 8 MONTHS

NHTSA ID

11365461

Incident

Jan 1, 2020

Mileage

135,000 mi

AFTER ABOUT A MONTH WITH MY CAR MY BLUETOOTH SYSTEM WENT OUT AND WOULD NOT LET ME CONNECT, THEN AFTER SWITCHING TO THE ACTUALLY USB PORT TO PLAY MUSIC AND TALK IT STILL WILL NOT CONNECT.

NHTSA ID

11361287

Incident

Aug 10, 2020

CAR WILL STALL OUT AND WON'T GO AT TIME WITHOUT PUMPING THE GAS. WE HAVE REPLACED VACUUM PUMP AND BOTH O2 SENSORS. POWER STEERING LOCKS UP WHEN HITTING A SMALL BUMP, WON'T START UNLESS I MOVED THE DRIVERS SEAT UP AND BACK, IF I USE THE BLINKERS MY RADIO GOES OFF IF I USE MY HIGH BEAMS THE RADIO FREEZES. IT WILL DO WEEKS WITH NO ISSUES THEN ONE DAY IT WILL START ACTING UP AND DOES IT FOR DAYS OR WEEKS. CHEVY SAYS THERE IS NO RECAP FOR THAT MODEL BUT I'VE READ MULTIPLE COMPLAINTS ABOUT THE SAME THINGS SO WHY IS IT NOT BEING ADDRESSED BY GM

NHTSA ID

11360864

Incident

Sep 1, 2020

Mileage

254,000 mi

IS BEEN A FEW TIMES WHEN I'M IN A LIGHT AND WHEN I'M ABOUT TO TAKE OFF THE CAR LIKE HOLDS UP AND IT DOESN'T WANTS TO MOVE FORWARD UNLESS I HIT THE GAS HARDER OR JUST PARK IT AND SHUT IT OFF AND IS BEEN SMOKING TROUGH THE A.C. IN LESS THEN 6 MONTHS I HAD TO REPAIR SERTAIN STUFF 3 TIMES. FIRST I TOOK IT TO REPLACE THE FAN ASSEMBLY HYBRID BATTERY AND A NEW HYBRID BATTERY THE OIL FILTER AND THE OIL GASKET CAUSE IT WAS LEAKING OIL AND UPDATE THE SOFTWARE. I TOOK IT OUT IN 3 WEEKS IT WAS BACK IN THE SHOP CAUSE I HAD TO REPLACE THE TIMING CHAINS AND HIGH PRESSURE FUEL PUMP AND PREFORM A SYSTEM SCAN WICH FOUND THAT THERE IS A MECHANICAL ISSUE WITH THE ENGINE AND ALSO THE HIGH FUEL PRESSURE WAS MAKING SLOT OF NOISE. AND PUT A NEW HIGH PRESSURE FUEL PUMP A HIGH PRESSURE FUEL PIPE. I SPENCER A FEW DOLLARS ON THAT. I TOOK IT OUT IT WAS OK TILL IT STARTED GROWING SMOKE TROUGH THE A.C AGAIN IT KEEPED HOLDING BACK ON ME IN THE LIGHTS AND IT SHUTED OFF ON ME TWICE IN WERE I HAD TO HIT PARKING AND SHUT OFF AND BACK ON SO IT CAN WORK. AND FINALLY WOKE I'M DRIVING ON SOUTH 95 IN 60MPH THE CAR STARTED SMOKING TROUGH THE A.C THEN IT MADE THIS LOUD NOISE IN THE MOTOR SO WHEN I PULLED OVER ON THE HIGHWAY I SEE THAT ALL MY MOTOR OIL HAD SPILLED IN THE FLOOR AND THE MOTOR STARTED TO SMOKE LIKE CRAZY AND THE CAR INDICATED ME TO SHUT OFF MOTOR. I HAD TO TOW MY CAR HOME AND PARK IT TO GET IT FIX AGAIN. BUT IS CRAZY CAUSE IN LESS THEN 6 MONTHS ALL THIS HAPPENED AND IS STILL PARKED TO B FIXED.

NHTSA ID

11353409

Incident

Sep 4, 2020

Mileage

756,765 mi

MY 2013 CHEVY MALIBU IS STALLING WHILE DRIVING ,AND HAS A ROUGH IDLE, MY CHECK ENGINE LIGHT IS NOT ON, TOOK TO THE CAR LOT MULTIPLE TIMES, THEY CLEANED THROTTLE AND PUT NEW SPARK PLUGS ON IT, THOUGHT THAT TOOK CARE OF THE PROBLEM BUT AS I DROVE THE CAR THE SAME DAY IT STALLED ON ME AGAIN AND THEIR IS LITTLE ACCELERATION POWER.THIS ALL TOOK PLACE WHILE DRIVING ON A MAIN STREET.IT SEEMS ALOT OF PEOPLE WITH MALIBU'S ARE HAVING THIS SAME PROBLEM AND IT SEEMS NO ONE KNOWS WHAT THE PROBLEM IS, THIS IS VERY A NOTING TO BE PAYING FOR A VEHICLE WHICH ONE CAN BARELY DRIVE , NOT TO MENTION IT'S VERY DANGEROUS (KIDS ARE IN THE CAR) CAR JUST STALLS AND BARELY ACCELERATES, SOMEONE COULD RUN INTO THE BACK OF YOU! PLEASE INVESTIGATE THIS PROBLEM!

NHTSA ID

11351570

Incident

Aug 24, 2020

Mileage

94,137 mi

CAR STALLS WHEN STOPPING AT STOP SIGNS.. WHEN TURNING LOSE POWER LIGHTS, RADIO, AND STEERING. HAS HAPPENED 4 TIMES THIS YEAR..

NHTSA ID

11350333

Incident

Aug 19, 2020

Mileage

66,500 mi

MY CHEVY MALIBU STALLED OUT ON 3 OCCASIONS NOW. THIS OCCURS AFTER BEING AT A STOP AND APPLYING PRESSURE ON THE GAS TO PLACE THE CAR BACK IN MOTION. I WAS NEARLY STRUCK BY AN ONCOMING VEHICLE ON 2 OCCASIONS WHEN THE CAR STALLED OUT. WOULD HAVE HAD AMPLE TIME AT A GREEN LIGHT HAD THE VEHICLE NOT STALLED. POWER STEERING IS LOST WHEN THIS OCCURS. I HAVE TO POWER OFF AND REPOWER THE VEHICLE TO GET STARTED AGAIN, RESULTING IN SMOKE COMING OUT FROM UNDER THE HOOD AND A SMELL OF BURNT RUBBER.

NHTSA ID

11344158

Incident

Aug 6, 2020

Mileage

94,000 mi

LOSS OF POWER A LOT. AUTO STOP FEATURE MAKES A STRONG FUEL SMELL. BURNING AND SMOKE COMING FROM FRONT RIGHT SIDE UNDER HOOD. BOUGHT THIS CAR A MONTH AGO.

NHTSA ID

11331900

Incident

Jun 30, 2020

DROVE TO APPOINTMENT WITH NO ISSUES OR INDICATIONS OF ANYTHING WRONG. FINISHED APPOINTMENT AND STARTED VEHICLE, THE CHECK STABILITRAK WARNING CAME ON. PULLED INTO LANE & VEHICLE IMMEDIATELY REDUCED POWER, UNABLE TO ACCELERATE RAPIDLY AND ALMOST CAUSING AN ACCIDENT. WARNING LIGHT FOR ENGINE OVERSPEED CAME ON. ENGAGED CRUISE CONTROL, WOULD NOT DISENGAGE WHEN BRAKING, OR BY STEERING WHEEL CONTROL WITHOUT SEVERAL ATTEMPTS. WAS ABLE TO SLOWLY INCREASE SPEED TO 50 MPH, MADE IT HOME VIA HILLY SECONDARY ROADS (MAX 50 MPH) AND STOPPED VEHICLE (BRAKE; STILL IN DRIVE), ENGINE TRIED TO GO TO THE ENGINE REST MODE PRIOR TO SHIFTING TO PARK. SHIFTED TO PARK, ENGINE TRIED TO RE-START AND WOULDN'T AUTOMATICALLY DISENGAGE ATTEMPTING TO TURN OVER. SHUT OFF THE ENGINE AND PULLED KEY. WOULD NOT RE-START, BUT WOULD CRANK. WHEN LETTING GO OF KEY IN THE STEERING WHEEL COLUMN, THE ENGINE WOULD STILL TRY TO TURN OVER ON ITS OWN WITH A LOUD HIGH PITCHED WHINE. HAD TO QUICKLY REMOVE KEY ENTIRELY. I HAVE VIDEO CLIPS TOGETHER OF THIS INCIDENT, AVAILABLE BY EMAIL. HAD NEW BATTERY DELIVERED OVERNIGHT, DID NOT FIX ISSUE. HAD VEHICLE TOWED TO GARAGE AND WILL COST $12,100 TO FIX BY REPLACING LONG BLOCK. PLEASE HELP - THIS IS INCREDIBLY DISTRESSING. *TR

NHTSA ID

11330607

Incident

Jun 16, 2020

Mileage

149,871 mi

VEHICLE OCCASIONALLY LOSES POWER WHEN IN TRAFFIC OR REDUCED SPEED, STABILITRAK MALFUNCTIONS CONSISTENTLY, INITIATING "LIMP MODE", POWER STEERING WENT OUT THIS MORNING AS MY SPEED REDUCED. *TR

NHTSA ID

11324995

Incident

May 18, 2020

Mileage

1 mi

I WOKE UP AND WENT TO THE STORE AND WHEN I CAME OUT TO START THE CAR IT DIDN'T START. THE LIGHTS AND RADIO CAME ON AND EVERYTHING WORK EXCEPT WINDOWS WILL NOT GO UP OR DOWN. THE MESSAGE CENTER THEN SHOWED MESSAGE "SERVICE POWER STEERING" CAR WONT START NOW AND BATTERY AND EVERYTHING ELSE IS GOOD AND NEW.

NHTSA ID

11324882

Incident

May 16, 2020

WHILE ON THE ROAD OR HIGHWAY THE CAR POWER OFF AND ON WHILE DRIVING .IT HAS HAPPENED ON MANY OCCASIONS. IT IS DANGEROUS

NHTSA ID

11315597

Incident

Feb 26, 2020

Mileage

80,000 mi

WHEN OPERATING MY VEHICLE WHEN I'M AT A STOP SIGN OR A RED LIGHT OR STUCK IN TRAFFIC THE CAR COMPLETELY DIES THEREFORE I HAVE TO PUT IT IN NEUTRAL OR PARK TO RESTART THE CAR WHICH IS DANGEROUS WHILE I HAVE CHILDREN WITH ME AT THE TIME OR EVEN BY MYSELF WHILE IN HEAVY TRAFFIC.

NHTSA ID

11306282

Incident

Oct 10, 2019

SERVICE STABITITI TRACK CAME ON LAST NIGHT ALONG WITH TRACTION CONTROL AND ARB I HAVE OWNED MY CAR LESS THEN 1 YEAR AND PUT 10000 MILES ON IT

NHTSA ID

11299020

Incident

Jan 12, 2020

Mileage

47,000 mi