Bulletins
| Bulletin | Bulletin date | Replacement Bulletin | Item no. | Summary | Added |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| STEERING | |||||
| SB-09-02-36-001 | 05/01/2009 | 10030649 | General motors: inconsistent power steering assist. a scan tool may show dtc c0545 stored in history. some electronic power steering columns that were installed in these vehicles, produced in the subject time frame, may have an intermitte | 11/04/2009 | |
| STEERING - COLUMN | |||||
| SB-09-02-35-006 | 08/01/2009 | 10032292 | Chevrolet/pontiac/saturn: steering column tilt wheel release lever inoperative/broken (replace tilt wheel release lever kit and/or release lever retainer (tilt teeth)). *pe | 03/01/2010 | |
| STEERING - ELECTRIC POWER ASSIST SYSTEM | |||||
| SB-09-02-36-001 | 05/01/2009 | 10030649 | General motors: inconsistent power steering assist. a scan tool may show dtc c0545 stored in history. some electronic power steering columns that were installed in these vehicles, produced in the subject time frame, may have an intermitte | 11/04/2009 | |
| STEERING - HYDRAULIC POWER ASSIST SYSTEM | |||||
| SB-09-02-36-001 | 05/01/2009 | 10030649 | General motors: inconsistent power steering assist. a scan tool may show dtc c0545 stored in history. some electronic power steering columns that were installed in these vehicles, produced in the subject time frame, may have an intermitte | 11/04/2009 | |
Consumer Complaints
| Fail date | miles | occurences | Purchase date |
|---|---|---|---|
| STEERING | |||
| 12/20/2012 | 66421 | 1 | |
| Erratic steering while trying to park. chimes were head, message came across speedo, major clunk also started at same time. sounds like right front. another electric power steering failure from a car barely broken in, from gm. when will they take responsibility for substandard parts they import for american cars? *tr | |||
| 12/20/2012 | 66421 | ||
| Erratic steering while trying to park. chimes were head, message came across speedo, major clunk also started at same time. sounds like right front. another electric power steering failure from a car barely brokin in, from gm. when will they take responcibility for substandard parts they import for american cars? | |||
| 12/04/2012 | |||
| Odor from leaking cooling system. car pulls to left. driver does seat not adjust with the control. front tires are worn down cords showing. bought car at ourisman chev. car dealer (34,523 miles) with platinum coverage. car current (49,512 miles). they insisted that i sholud pay for new tires$295. tranmission flush $249.00. fuel induction service $179. coolant hose$10. that my plan only cover surge tank which i have to pay $100.00 deductible. i brought the car 5/17/12. reading through complaints 2009 malibu have similar car problem. i dont have the funds for all these problem for a car that own for this short period of time. | |||
| 11/08/2012 | 86000 | 1 | |
| The power steering goes inop. at times. the power steering light comes on and vehicle is very difficult to steer. when you turn the vehicle off and then back on it resets the system and everything goes back to normal. took it to dealership to be diagnosed and said steering column needs to be replaced and had the repair done. *tr | |||
| 11/08/2012 | 86000 | ||
| The power steering goes inop. at times. the power steering light comes on and vechile is very difficult to steer. when you turn the vechile off and then back on it resets the system and everything goes back to normal. took it to dealership to be diagnosed and said steering column needs to be replaced and had the repair done. | |||
| 04/16/2012 | |||
| Power steering - when turning the steering wheel, you feel non-smooth condition, unusual humming or moaning noise. some power steering fluid had to be replaced but no noticeable leak is evident. had private auto mechanic look into problem and he advised to let dealer take care of it because they have the computerized equipment to make appropriate repairs. auto mechanic stated that he he has experienced similar complaints about the chevy malibu. chevy dealer checked problem and advised us to wait for problem no worsen because any diagnostic work will cost us a lot of money wondering if nhtsa has similar complaints on file because i'm concerned about any safety issue? | |||
| 10/18/2011 | 58000 | ||
| Wheels aobbleing when i bought the certified vehicle, took it back to dealer. they replaced front tires and aligned vehicle. also steering wheel does not lock into place when put in park and key removed from ignition. constant steering correction at any speed. wheel dances back and forth and feels bouncy. dealer stated that there is no problem with the steering wheel. returned to dealer on feb. 23 2012. they replaced front tires again. test drove car and stated the car was fixed. car still wonders, wheels still wobble..still play in steering wheel. spoke with gm rep. explained isue. gm rep. also spoke with dealer mechanic. dealer mechanic advised gm rep. that car wheels and steering was fixed. incorrect. dealer did not address steering wheel. only replaced tires. issue still exists. easy to lose control. fels like it has bad wheel bearings or busted hub. but dealer mechanics says its okay. | |||
| 11/12/2011 | 47000 | ||
| Backing out of a parking spot power steering gave out. service esc light came on. power steering message lit. pulled into parking spot shut car off. started car seconds later - no warning lights on and power steering was back but did not feel right. turned wheel while parked and esc and power steering warning lights illuminated. tried again, same thing. had to drive 2 miles to home with no power steering. outside temperature was 34 degrees at the time. | |||
| 09/16/2011 | 95000 | ||
| Tl* the contact owns a 2009 chevrolet malibu. while driving approximately 35 mph, the contact was unable to steer the vehicle because the electronic power steering assist failed. the service electronic power steering light illuminated on the instrument panel and the vehicle was towed to the dealer where the technician advised that the steering column had to be replaced. the vehicle was not repaired. the approximate failure mileage was 95,000. | |||
| 09/16/2011 | 95000 | ||
| Tl- the contact owns a 2009 chevrolet malibu. while driving approximately 35 mph, the contact was unable to steer the vehicle because the electronic power steering assist failed. the service electronic power steering light illuminated on the instrument panel and the vehicle was towed to the dealer where the technician advised that the steering column had to be replaced. the vehicle was not repaired. the approximate failure mileage was 95,000. kmj | |||
| 09/16/2011 | 95000 | ||
| Tl- the contact owns a 2009 chevrolet malibu.while driving at approximately 35 mph the contact was unable to steer the vehicle because the electronic power steering failed. the service electronic power steering light illuminated on the instrument panel. the vehicle was towed to the dealer. the technician stated the steering column had to be replaced. the vehicle was not repaired. the approximate failure mileage was 95,000. ds | |||
| 11/20/2009 | 62000 | ||
| Tl- the contact owns a 2009 chevrolet malibu. while driving approximately 5 mph the steering wheel began to jerk on its own. after time, the power steering light illuminated on the instrument panel. the failure began to occur intermittently and with time became constant.when the contact started the vehicle he noticed a burning smell. the vehicle was not taken to the dealer for diagnostics. the vehicle was not repaired. the approximate failure mileage was 62,000. ds | |||
| 03/01/2011 | 62000 | ||
| Tl-the contact owns a 2009 chevrolet malibu. the contact stated the power steering failed intermittently while driving at any speed. the power steering warning light illuminated while the failure occurred. the vehicle was taken to the dealer to be diagnosed the failure was located at the steering column and the power steering motor. the dealer replaced the steering column and the power steering motor. the failure was not corrected. the steering continues to fail while driving at any speed. the failure mileage was 62,000 and the current mileage was 65,000. li | |||
| 11/20/2009 | 62000 | ||
| Tl- the contact owns a 2009 chevrolet malibu. while driving approximately 5 mph the steering wheel began to jerk on its own. after time, the power steering light illuminated on the instrument panel. the failure began to occur intermittently and with time became constant.when the contact started the vehicle he noticed a burning smell. the vehicle was not taken to the dealer for diagnostics. the vehicle was not repaired. the approximate failure mileage was 62,000. ds | |||
| 03/01/2011 | 62000 | ||
| Tl-the contact owns a 2009 chevrolet malibu. the contact stated the power steering failed intermittently while driving at any speed. the power steering warning light illuminated while the failure occurred. the vehicle was taken to the dealer to be diagnosed the failure was located at the steering column and the power steering motor. the dealer replaced the steering column and the power steering motor. the failure was not corrected. the steering continues to fail while driving at any speed. the failure mileage was 62,000 and the current mileage was 65,000. li | |||
| 11/20/2009 | 62000 | ||
| Tl- the contact owns a 2009 chevrolet malibu. while driving approximately 5 mph the steering wheel began to jerk on its own. after time, the power steering light illuminated on the instrument panel. the failure began to occur intermittently and with time became constant.when the contact started the vehicle he noticed a burning smell. the vehicle was not taken to the dealer for diagnostics. the vehicle was not repaired. the approximate failure mileage was 62,000. ds | |||
| 03/01/2011 | 62000 | ||
| Tl-the contact owns a 2009 chevrolet malibu. the contact stated the power steering failed intermittently while driving at any speed. the power steering warning light illuminated while the failure occurred. the vehicle was taken to the dealer to be diagnosed the failure was located at the steering column and the power steering motor. the dealer replaced the steering column and the power steering motor. the failure was not corrected. the steering continues to fail while driving at any speed. the failure mileage was 62,000 and the current mileage was 65,000. li | |||
| 05/17/2011 | 33000 | ||
| Tl*the driver owns a 2009 chevrolet malibu. the driver was traveling approximately 15 mph when he lost control of the vehicle and the driver could no longer control the steering wheel. the vehicle was towed to an authorized dealer where the contact was informed that the front driver's side tie rod detached from the vehicle. the vehicle was in the process of being repaired. the manufacturer was made aware of the failure. the failure and current mileages were 33,000. the vin was unavailable. | |||
| 05/17/2011 | 33000 | ||
| Tl-the driver owns a 2009 chevrolet malibu. the contact stated the driver was driving approximately 15 mph when the vehicle lost control and the driver could no longer operate the steering wheel. the vehicle was towed to an authorized dealer where the contact was informed the front driver's side tie rod detached from the vehicle. the vehicle was in the process of being repaired. the manufacturer was made aware of the failure. the failure and current mileages were 33,000. the vin was unavailable. sm. | |||
| 02/16/2011 | 50000 | ||
| Steering in 2009 chevrolet malibu is erratic at best at times even sitting perfectly still the steering wheel will move erratically back and forth as if the car was trying to steer itself. this seems inherrently dangerous as it has almost caused my wife to change lanes abruptly. | |||
| 01/13/2011 | 108000 | ||
| Tl-the contact owns a 2009 chevrolet malibu. the contact stated that while driving approximately 10 mph when the steering would become difficult for her to maneuver. there were no warning lights that illuminated on the instrumental panel. the vehicle was inspected by a dealer who informed the contact that she needed to replace the steering torque input sensor. the vehicle has not been repaired. the failure mileage was approximately 108,000. tb | |||
| 11/30/2010 | 50000 | ||
| I have an 2009 chevy malibu and the problem is that the steering wheel shakes and it will shake at a stop light and while im driving . when it shakes while im driving it feels like its beginning to lock up. i took it to the dealer and they say its from a powersteering problem and its because it is electrical powersteering. | |||
| 08/16/2009 | 134 | ||
| Tl*the contact owns a 2009 chevrolet malibu. the contact was traveling approximately 20 mph. the steering wheel exhibited looseness; followed by a loss of power steering. the vehicle began to shake. there was difficulty turning the steering wheel as a result of the driver sustaining pain to the arm. the failure mileage was 134. the current mileage was 6,900. | |||
| 10/15/2009 | 140 | 1 | |
| From the very first i have noticed it is very difficult to keep my 4 cylinder chevy malibu going in a straight line. there has to be constant correction and it makes it very tiring to drive. if i just glance away from the road i find that when i glance back i am going out of my lane. this can't be safe. *tr | |||
| 07/25/2009 | 318 | 1 | |
| An ongoing potential safety issue on my 2009 chevy malibu (4 cylinder model only) is described below. this vehicle has electronic steering and the complaint i have is that when you are driving straight down the road and want to make very small steering inputs to go straight, the electronic steering assist makes you over correct. if you are sitting still with the engine running and you turn the steering wheel very slightly left or right, it feels stiff at first, followed by a sudden burst of assist, which causes you to continually fight the car to go in a straight line. this is a potential design flaw. the v6 malibu that i drove with hydraulic power steering is not a problem, only the 4 cylinder. i have complained to the dealership as i only recently purchased the car on july 24, 2009. they contacted technical support at chevrolet. they have had other complaints, but there is no fix yet. they say in the electronic power steering, a torque sensor is activated when you move the steering wheel, so it must be moved without assist for a split second until it recognizes that you want to turn and applies power assist. it cannot be adjusted. this is the cause of the continuous over correction issue. how can this be safe? this is an ongoing issue that chevrolet says is normal operation at this time. *tr | |||
| 01/01/2009 | 5000 | 1 | |
| My 2009 chevy malibu has as severe steering bias to the left that the manufacturer has been unable to fix. *tr | |||
| 12/01/2008 | 22 | 1 | |
| 2009 chevy malibu with 6 cylinder engine. has a severe and significant torque steer on acceleration (most noticeable from a stop) causing car to dramatically and dangerously pull to left. has almost caused accidents more than once. . in addition it requires a lot of pressure to put the emergency (parking) brake down to where it will hold the car on a hill. have had this checked out by 3 separate chevrolet dealers and all tell me they are design issues, normal conditions that cannot be corrected. *tr | |||