2016 Chevrolet Malibu Problems

Vacuum pump failure causing hard brake pedal which made near to impossible to brake safely and properly that lead to timing chain issues

The brake vacuum pump broke, causing my brakes to go rock hard and pieces fell down into the camshaft, causing engine damage

I am reporting a recurring safety defect related to GM’s known “Shift to Park” issue. My vehicle displays a “Shift to Park” warning even when the vehicle is already in park, preventing the car from shutting off properly and creating a safety risk. This issue has been widely reported and associated with GM recalls and service bulletins. GM previously repaired this issue once while my vehicle was under warranty, acknowledging it as a known defect. The same defect has now reoccurred after the warranty period expired. GM is refusing to repair it again, despite the issue being recall-related and tied to a known defective design rather than wear and tear. This defect affects safe vehicle operation, risks battery drain, rollaway hazards, and driver distraction. I believe this is an unresolved safety defect that should be covered regardless of warranty status.

UNKNOWN While I'm driving my car will lose power and go into reduced engine power mode and slows me down to a crawl. I've almost been hit in the back many times for to this. The coffee is P2138

“Steering assist is reduced, drive with care” is showing up for a couple second and disappearing. When that happens my car seems to shut off and the steering wheel stiffens and pull to either the left of right side. All this happens while driving. After the 3rd time of it happening within 10min, my gas fuel level dropped but when back up to the “original” level

My car will rev up to 4000 rpm’s and my car will not go about 20 mph. My cruise stopped working after my car went into reduce engine power. The dealership said they fixed all issues but was back to doing the high rev within a week. It started this week telling me to shift to park even though my car was in park. The shift to park cable has been replaced twice now. I have been dealing with this since July of 2025. My car has been in the shop more times than I can count.

My car will rev up to 4000 rpm’s and my car will not go about 20 mph. My cruise stopped working after my car went into reduce engine power. The dealership said they fixed all issues but was back to doing the high rev within a week. It started this week telling me to shift to park even though my car was in park. The shift to park cable has been replaced twice now. I have been dealing with this since July of 2025. My car has been in the shop more times than I can count.

I am reporting a recurring safety defect related to GM’s known “Shift to Park” issue. My vehicle displays a “Shift to Park” warning even when the vehicle is already in park, preventing the car from shutting off properly and creating a safety risk. This issue has been widely reported and associated with GM recalls and service bulletins. GM previously repaired this issue once while my vehicle was under warranty, acknowledging it as a known defect. The same defect has now reoccurred after the warranty period expired. GM is refusing to repair it again, despite the issue being recall-related and tied to a known defective design rather than wear and tear. This defect affects safe vehicle operation, risks battery drain, rollaway hazards, and driver distraction. I believe this is an unresolved safety defect that should be covered regardless of warranty status.

Vacuum pump failure causing hard brake pedal which made near to impossible to brake safely and properly that lead to timing chain issues

The brake vacuum pump broke, causing my brakes to go rock hard and pieces fell down into the camshaft, causing engine damage

I bought this car about 10 days ago. Throat was in pain, coughed up blood, dizzy, sweaty, and shaking. There's gas all over the ground coming from front under hood smelling through the vents. Very loud smelling. Took it to Chevrolet dealership on Covington hwy Decatur GA today and had to leave it there. I still don't feel good and neither the passengers in car. Car could've caught on fire gas leaking out when put in. Never experience this ever in my life. I may have to go to the hospital my chest feel very tight and I had a chronic asthmatic and my child in the car with me that's been on a breathing machine since last night and it's now 3:35 pm next day.

On 04/28/2026, when diagnosing a reoccurring check engine light on the vehicle at a Chevy Certified Service, the mechanic "Borescoped cylinder 4 and found significant scuffs on the cylinder wall which along with the misfires indicate a cracked piston. The big picture appears to be the piston cracked which caused excessive oil consumption and misfires. The excess oil and unburned fuel overloaded the converter causing it to fail. The engine and converter will need to be replaced." In 2017, a recall was issued by GM to mitigate Stochastic Pre-Ignition (SPI) Causing Cracked Piston (17019). Between the initial purchase of the vehicle (11/2016) and performed service required by this recall (03/10/2017), there were approximately 5000 miles driven. No engine diagnosis was performed or recommended. After the 17019 was addressed, the engine misfires continued along with reoccurring CEL. C.S.P. N182195660 Predictive Monitoring for Stochastic Pre-ignition (SPI) released in 2019 states the 1.5 L LFV engines in certain 2016 and 2017 model year Chevrolet Malibu vehicles may have a preignition condition that requires immediate repair. This condition may cause the engine to perform poorly, misfire, run rough, and/or excessively consume oil. It may also illuminate the vehicle’s service engine light. Over time, if not repaired, the condition can damage the vehicle’s pistons and engine. The VIN for this Malibu was not attached to this notice despite it having SPI recall history. On 06/2023 (after the N182195660 program ended), at 80k miles a diagnosis revealed a potential cracked cylinder with no mention of the pre-ignition condition that could cause the crack, and the only way to fix is to replace the entire engine (as per dealer recomendation). Since vehicle was out of warranty, the repair est. was nearly $10k. I firmly believe my 2016 Malibu has suffered the consequences of poor mismanagement on this recall, and am demanding mitigation from GM to fix this issue.

Rear steering knuckle and control arm knuckle.my car moves side to side. I have replaced everything in the rear end. I just recently bought this car.

The vehicle went into shift to park and will not turn off. This is a known problem with ALL GM vehicles that hasn’t been fixed or offered a warranty for. It’s dangerous and causes the car not to move shut off in traffic and drains the battery. My car currently isn’t working due to this issue and the repair to fix is too much with no assistance from GM for a known defect. My car was almost hit because of the car had to be towed because it’s unable to be moved.

I own a 2016 Chevrolet Malibu (VIN: [XXX] , black, approx. 56,310 miles). The paint and clearcoat are failing prematurely, with peeling, cracking, and delamination appearing on the hood and roof panels. A repair estimate confirmed the need for full refinishing and corrosion protection to restore the exterior condition 2016 Chevrolet Malibu . This is not normal wear. The defect stems from faulty paint materials, defective clearcoat, or improper factory application. Although it manifests over time, GM knew or should have known of these issues but sold the Malibu without disclosure and refuses to provide assistance. The defect lowers the resale value, leaves the vehicle exposed to premature corrosion, and requires costly resanding and repainting. I respectfully request NHTSA investigate paint and clearcoat defects in the 2016 Chevrolet Malibu and determine whether a recall, service campaign, or consumer restitution is warranted. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

Water leaking and running into spare tire compartment in truck. Due to no recall alert and dealership won't do anything, now my dome light shorts out and water stain on ceiling liner by rear window.

Vehicle will display on dashboard “Shift to park” while the vehicle is placed in “P”. The engine will turn off, but the power remains on until the battery is disconnected from the vehicle. Codes have been verified by the Chevrolet dealership.

The contact owns a 2016 Chevrolet Malibu. The contact stated that there was a popping noise in the rear-end of the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer where it was diagnosed that the rear shock absorber outer housing was coming into contact with the shock. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was contacted but no additional assistance was provided. The approximate failure mileage was 41,000.

URGENT Complaint: NO RESPONSE to Demand for Rescission - Odometer Fraud, Deceptive Practices - Banner Ford of Monroe, LA

My airbag light comes on intermittently and will show a passenger is not in my front seat when they are. I took my car to the dealer and they got a current and past code B0074 for the passenger presence module. There was a recall (18208) for this on certain 2016 Malibus but my vin was not included.

Water leaking and running into spare tire compartment in truck. Due to no recall alert and dealership won't do anything, now my dome light shorts out and water stain on ceiling liner by rear window.

I gotten the head light changed several times even diagnostic tests and they cant tell me why my low beam and high beam light keeps going out

The contact owns a 2016 Chevrolet Malibu. The contact stated that she noticed water markings located on the inner hood lining of the vehicle and water had saturated the trunk of the vehicle. As a result, the alarm started to malfunction. No warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was taken to a body shop where it was determined that water had entered the vehicle by the windshield enclosure. The contact stated that she had the windshield replaced and the screws tightened; however, the failure recurred. The dealer was notified of the failure however, the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 100,000.

Reduce engine power on dash I have received this message twice. Car goes to 60mph and it drops down dramatically to 20 mph this could case a big accident and gm needs to fix this problem immediately. This is a car I do not recommend it's been nothing but problems.

Rear steering knuckle and control arm knuckle.my car moves side to side. I have replaced everything in the rear end. I just recently bought this car.

The contact owns a 2016 Chevrolet Malibu. The contact stated that while driving approximately at 55 MPH in a rain storm and making a right turn, the ABS and Traction Control warning lights had illuminated, and the driver suddenly lost control of the steering and crashed into a tree. During the incident the driver sustained a concussion and neck and shoulder injuries which later required medical treatment. No police report was filed. The vehicle was later towed to the local mechanic. The cause of the failure was not determined. The manufacturer was notified of the failure, but no assistance was offered. The local dealer was not contacted. The failure mileage was 144,000.

The contact owns a 2016 Chevrolet Malibu. The contact stated while the vehicle was parked and attempting to fasten the seat belt, the seat belt failed to retract. The failure occurred with the driver’s and passenger’s side front seat belts. The vehicle was taken to a dealer where it was diagnosed that the retracting mechanism had failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was unknown.

REAR SEAT BELT WILL NOT RETRACT. WILL NOT ENGAGE INTO PARK WHEN CAR IS TURNED OFF. TRUNK, BACK SEAT, HEADLINER, ENTIRE CARPETED FLOOR, FRONT SEATS GET WET WHEN CAR IS WASHED OR IT RAINS. MOLD IS BEGINNING TO GROW INSIDE TRUNK AND HEADLINER.

My vehicle has not been inspected, but while I was driving the brake pedal became stiff, luckily my e brake was able to prevent any wrecks. I saw that the 2016 chevy malibu has a known issue with the, "ebcm" and that would certainly cause these kinds of issues, my brake pads and rotors still have plenty of life left. Also, the driver side seat switch stopped working, according to reviews by other 2016 chevy malibu owners, and mechanics, that's because of the design flaw in the switch, it somehow rubs itself raw until there's nothing left and it snaps, leaving the switch nothing to grab on to. So, my driver seat is stuck, all the way reclined, and all the way forward. Which, according to the manual in my malibu says is a safety issue, because of the design of the seat, if it's reclined while driving and there is a collision, it can cause the seat to slide, which can cause serious injuries or death, I'd say that goes for both though.

CRACKING IS STARTING ON THE DRIVE SIDE PANEL WHERE THE FRAME OF THE SEAT

Car will not completely power down, radio and headlights stay on draining batter due to an error stating “shift to park”. Car shows that it is in park. Moving gear shift through gears and turning on and off does not reset. Only way to get car to turn off is to disconnect battery.

The contact owns a 2016 Chevrolet Malibu. The contact stated while driving approximately 55 MPH, the gear selector indicator started fluctuating between park(P) and reverse(R). The vehicle started to jerk and hesitate while driving. The contact was able to stop and turn the vehicle off. After restarting the vehicle, the message "Shift to Park" was displayed. The vehicle was later towed to the residence. The cause of the failure was not yet determined. The local dealer and manufacturer were not yet notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 159,000.

The contact owns a 2016 Chevrolet Malibu equipped with Michelin Tires, Tire Line: The Defender, Tire size: 205/65/R16, and DOT number: B5EV01TX4919. The contact stated that the tire tread was worn in an untimely manner. The contact stated that the tires were replaced two years ago. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed that the quality of the tires was of a different material. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where service was denied due to the tires still having half the tread. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and informed the contact of the warranty. The failure mileage was 68,618.

Tires came on vehicle OEM Firestone FT140. 205/65/R16. The vehicle, a 2016 Chevy Malibu LS, has 25, 652 miles on it. The tires are maintained, rotated regularly, correct tire pressure etc. No signs of uneven wear, cupping etc. no wheel alignment needed etc. as per dealer. The tire tread is down to 4/32 in the rear and 6/32 in the front. Tread wear seems to be excessive for the rear tires on a vehicle with only 25K on it. I reached out to Firestone and Chevrolet. OEM tires should not be wearing out this premature. When I asked the Firestone rep about tread life they told me that they did not know what the expected tread life was on OEM tires because they were made to specifics provided by vehicle manufacturer. If I were to buy the same again now as a replacements, they have a 50K tread life warranty, nut I am concerned about the premature tread wear. I will need to replace the tires at close to $1000, an an unexpected cost with such low mileage.