2017 Chevrolet Malibu
This year drew an ordinary 1,407 complaints for a Chevrolet Malibu — the model's median is 905. What they were about is the unusual part: 6.1% of them mention reduce, against 1.7% across the other years of this generation.
Generation 4 of the Chevrolet Malibu, which began in 2016. Everything below compares this year against the others in that generation, not against a different car wearing the same name.
NHTSA opened a defect investigation into this model year.
| Complaints filed | 1,407 |
|---|---|
| Median for this model | 905 |
| Involving a crash | 32 |
| Involving a fire | 8 |
| Recalls | 4 |
| NHTSA crash rating | 5/5 |
| EPA combined | 28 mpg |
What the complaints were about
- reduce — 6.1% of this year's complaints, against 1.7% across the other years of this generation (3.6×).
Words owners used for the same problem are counted together, so a fault written four different ways is measured once. Grouped by which complaints they appear in, not by a list anyone wrote in advance.
What owners wrote
Reduced engine power that causes vehicle to lose power at dangerously low speeds.
SPEED REDUCED ON FREEWAY TO 20MPH, SPEED REDUCED WARNING WITH CHECK ENGINE LIGHT ON.
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint filings, with identifying details removed.
Recalls for this year
- 18V400000 AIR BAGS Fixed free of charge.
- 18V358000 FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE Fixed free of charge.
- 16V870000 AIR BAGS Fixed free of charge.
- 21V649000 SEAT BELTS Fixed free of charge.
How this was worked out
Every year of the Chevrolet Malibu was compared against its own history rather than against other cars, which removes popularity and age from the answer — a common car draws more complaints at equal reliability, and an older one has had longer to accumulate them. A year is flagged when it drew at least 2.5× this model's median and at least 50 complaints.
This is a fault record, not a review. Nobody files a federal complaint to say the car was fine, so it shows what tends to go wrong — not whether owners liked it, and not whether it is a good car.
Source: NHTSA complaints, recalls and investigations, retrieved . Look this vehicle up directly on NHTSA's site to check anything here.
Own a 2017 Chevrolet Malibu? What happened to yours?
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