My 2017 Malibu suddenly had the "check engine" light come on, and a message indicating that a "reduced power mode" had been initiated. I drove the car immediately to the local dealer, who said I needed an appointment to have it checked. I checked the OBD2 codes with my personal meter, which showed a p2138 code, indicating a problem with a throttle body sensor. When I started my car the next morning the MIL light didn't come on. At the dealer I was told they couldn't do anything with the car because the light wasn't on. I pointed out that the failure codes were stored in the ECM, but they said diagnosis wasn't possible with the light off. The service writer indicated the problem was not uncommon on GM cars and that even his wife's car had similar problems. When this occurred I was fortunate to be on a local suburban road where reduced speed was not that great of a problem. Much of the time I am on freeways in several major Midwestern cities where aggressive drivers are packed together. I read a number of complaints on the NHTSA site indicating same complaints from Malibu owners. A sudden reduction of speed in a congested area is a recipe for disaster. The service writer even stated that GM had an extended warranty on the pedal assembly and TPI sensors. But he refused to try and diagnose the issue, unless I brought the car in immediately if and when the MIL light was illuminated, even if I was 500 miles away. As this intermittent behavior is a known and common issue I feel that
2017 Chevrolet Malibu complaints
Owner reports filed with NHTSA about this vehicle, newest first and reproduced as filed. They are unverified accounts: one proves nothing, and a pattern across many is the thing worth reading. Back to the full 2017 record →
I was driving at 60 mph the check engine light came on the engine power reduced message appeared on the screen my speed dropped to 20 mph and loss acceleration I abs to pull over to the side of the road
While driving on highway, engine light came on with signal for service stabilink, and engine power is reduced on dashboard. This cause me to lose acceleration control.
While driving the electronic power steering stopped working almost causing me to crash.
The contact owns a 2017 Chevrolet Malibu. The contact stated while driving 70 MPH, the vehicle speed reduced message was displayed on the instrument panel, and the vehicle decelerated from 70 to 30 MPH. The contact pulled over and waited for 5 minutes before restarting the vehicle. The message disappeared and the vehicle was driven back to the residence. The contact stated that the failure was intermittent. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was unknown.
The contact owns a 2017 Chevrolet Malibu. The contact stated that after pulling the vehicle into the driveway and attempting to shift the vehicle into Park; however, the engine revved up as if trying to accelerate forward. There was an error message on the instrument to shift the vehicle to Park however, the vehicle failed to remain in Park. After several attempts, the vehicle was shifted into Park and remained in Park. The vehicle was taken to a local dealer to be diagnosed. The contact was informed that the gear shifter wiring harness and switch were damaged and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 7,210.
The car will be driving fine and all of a sudden I engine power reduced pop up in the car. It's slows down significantly and not safe for a highway if this happens you will wreck or something worse. It is happening often now and I don't know why. Engine power reduced the the t/c light comes one and thr check engine light.i pull over and turn the car off. The check engine light stays on then the car drives like it had a crazy episode and not ready to drive. It's scary and unsafe and it needs to be looked into
I purchased my vehicle in August of 2020, in October while driving down a main highway the engine light came on with a warning that stated "driving with reduced power". The vehicle slows to 20 mph and will not accelerate any faster. I called my dealers service center and was told this issue was a "quirk that happens" and to "turn my vehicle off and start it again" and that by doing this it would make it go away and it would not happen again. Approximately 8 months later this happened again, so I called the service department and was told that a line was freezing and that I could bring my vehicle in so they could empty & refill the frozen line costing $500, but it would not solve the problem, the dealer then recommended that I park in a heated space to avoid it freezing, but again it would not resolve the problem long term. A month later while driving home from work in a blizzard, my vehicle once again lost power, with the engine light on and a warning that I was driving with reduced power and slowing to 20mph. This put myself and other travelers on this busy main road at risk. When I reached out to my dealer they said that there was nothing they could do that would guarantee a fix, but they could try three different options, again with no guarantee of a fix. None of this is covered under warranty and costs roughly $1500.
The contact owns a 2017 Chevrolet Malibu. The contact stated that while driving approximately 60 MPH, the “Engine Power Reduced” warning light illuminated and the vehicle inadvertently decelerated. The contact was able to pull over safely. The contact called the local dealer and was provided an estimate for the diagnostic fee; however, the vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired. The manufacturer was not contacted or informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 64,000.
The vehicle constantly reduces speed when there are no issues with weather or any other issues on the road. This issues can potentially be fatal. I have had it checked and the diagnostic machine says it’s sensor issue that was reported for recall but my car was not part of the said recall. The car completely shuts off and will turn on by itself after 10 minutes. Uncertain what to do
I have a 2017 Chevy Malibu, I have 10 months with me since I bought last year ,it and it was 25000 mille now is 30000 m my real problem is on several times driving in freeway or hiway my car drop the speed from 55 to 40 to 20 and appear a light says POWER ENGINE REDUCED , after that my car LOOSE POWER - CHECK ENGINE IS ON I got nervous for what happens and is really confused I just buy my first car from dealer and now this !!!! This is not fear help please I read a lot of comments regarding with this problem in this cars models and everyone from 2016 to 2018 has the same problem POWER ENGINE REDUCED. and dealers just charge and charge and don’t resolve the problem thank you blessings all
While merging into traffic my 2017 Malibu's power reduced (reduced power indicator appeared) which resulted in my inability to control the speed/acceleration. I've had two additional incidents. Very unsafe deficiency.
The contact owns a 2017 Chevrolet Malibu. The contact’s daughter stated that while driving approximately 35 MPH, the vehicle started to misfire. The contact stated that the check engine warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic to be diagnosed. The contact was informed that the engine needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was informed of the failure but offered no assistance. The failure mileage was approximately 76,484.
The contact owns a 2017 Chevrolet Malibu. The contact stated that while driving 65 MPH, the vehicle inadvertently decelerated to 35 MPH. The contact was able to pull over safely. The check engine warning light was illuminated. Additionally, the “Reduced Power” message was displayed. The contact called the local dealer but, the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not contacted. The approximate failure mileage was 112,693.
The contact owns a 2017 Chevrolet Malibu. The contact stated that while driving at 60 MPH, the "Engine Power Reduced" warning message appeared on the instrument panel. The vehicle independently downshifted and decelerated to 35 MPH with the accelerator pedal depressed to the floorboard. The contact was able to regain normal speed after several minutes; however, the warning message remained on the instrument panel. The contact took the vehicle to the dealer however, a diagnostic test showed no codes were retrieved. The manufacturer had yet to be notified of the failure. The vehicle had yet to be repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 93,400.
On January 2022, Wednesday the 19th. My husband, myself and our two daughters 12 & 4 are on the Northbound freeway 99 in the far-right lane and the car pops up with the warning “Engine Power Reduce” and then proceeded to decline in speed from 70 MPH to 15 Mph almost instantly almost causing an accident. WE all were so shaken up! Had we been in front of a big rig we would have been crush from the backseat as fast as the speed declined. WE just bought this vehicle 5 months ago no more than 10K miles on it. The dealership says its not there problem to contact GM. Nobody will help this is a death trap vehicle. There are already multiple class action lawsuits about this issue and the vehicle. We are simply being told to buy a newer vehicle rather then someone taking ownership of this issue. This is a deadly issue and why there is not a recall is outrageous, There are cars out there that are capable of causing a deadly crash and killing thousands of people and everyone is turning there head when the consumers are reaching out for help.
An error message appears on the dash, ENGINE POWER REDUCED. It happen three times this morning and twice yesterday - probably a dozen times over the past year. I've had it into the dealer but they could not find anything by the time I got there. It has happened at 35 MPH and between 45-55 MPH, suddenly and with no other warnings. Turning off the engine for a few minutes clears the message on the dah, but the check engine light remains lit. The check engine light will clear eventually - it may be a few hours or two days of driving. Again, I've had it checked on multiple occasions as the car was "certified" by GM, but now the warranty has expired, the issue continues and I see a LOT of reports of the same online.
The contact owns a 2017 Chevrolet Malibu. The contact stated that while she was driving at an undisclosed speed and approaching a stoplight, the brake pedal was depressed, and the vehicle suddenly lost electrical power. The warning message "Steering Assist Reduced, Drive with Care" was illuminated. The contact was able to restart the vehicle and continued to drive; however, the failure recurred increasingly while depressing the brake pedal at stoplights. The dealer and the manufacturer were not notified of the failure. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 83,000.
The reduced engine speed popped up on the dashboard and slowed my speed down to 20 mph in the middle of traffic and it will not correct even though I have turned it off and restarted the engine.
Engine reduce power keep coming on it's been going on for a while today while driving in freeway it completely just went to 20 mph and I have to turn vehicle off to get it to go away this Is very dangerous.
Start and stop function at a stop failed car turns off but when releasing the brakes car doesn't turn back on everything is intermittent and can't reproduce check engine code when car goes in to fix the problem when I put it on L gear so the start and stop function won't try to engage but it doesn't sense its on L gear also back up camera not longer work as well as a.c blower or heater doesn't kick on a lot of electrical problems like if the brain is slowly dropping everything it knows and forgetting how to function also engine reduce and abs light as well as a lot of oil cusumption with no leaks a lot of complaints on these cars and you tube videos why hasn't this been recalled please investigate in an honest investigation please.
Low Engine Power message appears , my driving speed dismished I was on the highway driving and the light appeared, I also needed some fuel, but I did eventually stop added gas engine light disappeared but it eventually reappeared again and has remained with full tank of gas
Engine Power is Reduced
Driving on highway at about 65 mph on family trip to Delaware. . Car suddenly gave reduced acceleration error and speed started declining while in traffic. No warning.checked chevron app on phone and it did not see anything wrong. There was NO check engine or anything. Got to a dealer and they said it was probably a sensor for gas pedal. 5 days later driving home to Georgia from trip on highway around same rate of speed. No warning . The check engine light and reduced engine power warning message came on. This time the Chevrolet app notified me of trouble and said I needed the car seen within a day. .Got to a dealer and now they say they think it may be the cam shaft based on the code but they cannot replicate issue. I took a photo of the alert from the second incident . Car has about 46,000 miles and is well maintained . Our safety was at risk both times but especially the first time as we were in traffic and speed declined .
Was driving to work at 5:00 am today and merged onto a busy highway. After accelerating to 60 mph, there was a message that appear on my dashboard that read engine power reduced. It was not safe traveling at the speed that I was. The check engine light came on as well as the Stability Control symbol and my car reduced its speed and would not accelerate back to a safe speed. I am going to take it to the dealership and try to get the problem diagnosed. I really hope this issue gets resolved.
I was at a red light waiting for the light to turn green like normal I press the pedal the car goes at it's normal pace until one day I was at a red light and when I press the pedal the car suddenly shut off and didn't want to start I pulled over called a mechanic couldn't really describe what was going on at the time but i made a appointment for the next day I started up the car up again and it drove and when I reached 30 mph the dashboard flashed engine speed reduce so I took it home and didn't drive to the morning to the mechanic he change a variety of things battery, alternator,sparks plugs, throttlebody ,and mass airflow, and nothing work I finally took it to a dealer and the dealer said it's turbo bypass valve or the actual turbo they don't know which it's either you buy the part and see if it fixes the problem and if it don't buy a whole new turbo
My vehicle has been flashing the Shift to park warning for about 2 years now. It never happens when I take it in but I have made dealership aware. I am report it now because it starting to happen everyday and is taking longer to go away. They say they can’t fix it if they can’t see it when it happens
After 4 years My 2017 Malibu Engine light is on now with power reducing power periodically. Thus is dangerous and was not fixed at the dealer. This is serious. Why isn’t there a recall. I know there is a class action suit. The is not acceptable at all.
I received steering assist reduce multiple times on the vehicle. I took it to the repair shop the warranty company Silver Rock recommended. The repair company stated my car is having a computer issue. The car also does not go into auto stop, when making a full stop. The car now has to be towed to a Chevy dealership to handle the issue.
Intermittent shifts, no reverse, MIL illuminated Happened in rush hour traffic, could not move out of EMS workers way because of reverse failure. Nearly ran into vehicle in front of me due to such harsh sift from 1st gear to 2nd gear. Currently being inspected by local Chevrolet dealer. No warning light when incident occurred, only came on when I was able to turn the car off and back on. Extremely dangerous circumstance that could have easily been prevented had GM issued a recall on Service Bulletin 18-NA-081.
STEERING ASSIST REDUCED DRIVE WITH CARE message comes on car screen. The steering wheel jerks and acceleration is reduced. This is putting everyone in my car at risk as we are not able to accelerate fast enough if anything were to happen. Car has been taken to the dealership and they are unable to identify the problem. I checked online and multiple Malibus are having this problem. If you're looking for a safe car for your family member this is not the car. These cars have these errors built in the system and the dealership are unable to find the problem costing a lot of money on diagnostics to get no results. Please notice all the complaints I hope my word is heard. If mine is not heard I hope the next persons will be.
Ever since I purchased my car I have had many issues under 36,000 miles. 1) locked out of my cars for the first 2 years and eventually there was a recall for a bad module, was replaced. 2) My gear is parked and getting notification not parked and had to fix it. 800 Switch 84733196 and harness 84955381. Parts $41.27 Labor $280.00 Total $321.27 @Gordon Chevrolet. 3) Engine light has come on and off since I purchased the car. Repaired ECM Calibration update and 02 sensor replacement 2 12701634 sensor Parts $143.92 Labor $420.00 Total $563.92. It was repaired on 8/26/2021, once again engine light is on again. 4) A/C needed a new replacement condenser which cost $907.39. I didn't buy a brand new car from now spending way too much time at the dealership to fix it and this needs to be investigated for recall. Dealership did inform me it happens a lot with 2017 Chevy Malibu. Please advise. Invoice No. [XXX], 33753 miles in / 33760 miles out. [XXX] INFORMATION Redacted PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).
My car shut off when I stopped at a blinking traffic light (normal). There was a higher than normal amount of traffic on the route I was waiting to turn onto. So the car remained off for close to 5 minutes. When I removed my foot from the brake the car did NOT RESTART ON ITS OWN (not normal) and after trying to restart the car manually it still wouldn't restart and I couldn't roll down the driver's window to wave several cars around me at a dangerous intersection. I had to open the driver's door to wave vehicles around me. A message came on on the Driver Information Center (D.I.C.) that read "Stabil" and those are the only characters I could see in the small character box. It took me several tries to rest the car. Very dangerous situation. I will try to contact the dealer about this.
The contact owns a 2017 Chevrolet Malibu. The contact stated while driving at various speeds, the vehicle speed began to decelerate. The contact stated that engine power reduced warning light was illuminated. The contact parked on the side of the road for approximately 5-10 minutes before being able to drive to her destination. The contact stated she had to disconnect the battery to reset the software and warning light. The contact stated she had experienced the failure multiple times. The contact took the vehicle to the local dealer but was unable to duplicate the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer had not been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 30,000.
I get a ‘Shift to Park’ message when car is placed in PARK and turn off ignition. This is not covered under the bumper-to-bumper warranty since it is over 3 years old, but I only have 28,800 miles on the car. This shouldn’t be failing after so soon. This happened about 2 years ago, but it stopped and has worked fine for two years. Now it's back and won't go away. There seems to be no way to shut off the car unless it is in PARK. Until I an able to get it fixed I am concerned it won't shut-off one of these times, and what happens if it won't shut-off? None of the options are good if I'm driving after hours and the dealer or service center is closed. This can easily turn into a dangerous situation. (Repair is scheduled for next week.) This seems to be a common error reported on many 2016 through 2020 Chevrolet vehicles. There are service bulletins with regard to this problem. Why has Chevrolet/GM not had a recall for this widespread issue of a faulty micro switch?
Vehicle has started to make a clanking sound when going in reverse or forward at low speeds. Have taken to multiple mechanics that say there is no visible reason for the issue although they also noticed it when driving. It is alarming that the mechanics cannot find the issue and it is getting worse by the day.
My vehicle has recently displayed a message telling me to “Shift to Park,” even though the vehicle is in park. On 10/06/2021, twice it took 15 times shifting to get the car to go into park. Now, it does it every time I put the car into park. Have an appointment to take it to Jim McKay chevy in Fairfax on Tuesday.
When shifting the car into park the vehicle fails to detect when the gear selector has been shifted into Park. I am not able to shut off the vehicle. This is endangering my safety by having to spend extra time maneuvering the shifter in order to be able to turn the car off. I am an elderly female and if I have to spend extra time in my vehicle I am scared someone may take advantage of the situation and harm me. I had the same problem in 2019, brought the vehicle in with 9008 miles on it for repair. The dealer fixed the issue, though apparently only temporarily by removing and replacing the transmission control shifter assembly. The problem reappeared about 2 weeks ago. My vehicle now has just over 13,000 miles There were no warnings before this started happening again.
The contact owns a 2017 Chevrolet Malibu. The contact stated that since purchasing the vehicle, the check engine warning light had remained illuminated on the instrument panel. The contact also stated that while driving at various speeds, the vehicle would vibrate and stall without warning. The contact had taken the vehicle to a dealer as well as several independent mechanics where various repairs were performed; however, despite each repair, the failure persisted. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired and remained in the possession of the independent mechanic. The failure mileage was approximately 48,000.
The contact owns a 2017 Chevrolet Malibu. The contact stated while driving 80 MPH, the brake pedal was depressed but felt rigid, causing the contact to almost stand up and forcefully depress the pedal. The contact stated that the brake pedal responded. The check engine warning light illuminated. The contact was able to continue to drive the vehicle at a slower speed. The dealer and the manufacturer were not notified of the failure. The vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 90,000.
The contact owns a 2017 Chevrolet Malibu. The contact stated that while her daughter was at a red light, the engine failed to start-up upon depression of the accelerator as the STOP/START feature failed to operate as needed. The "steering assist reduced, drive with care" warning message appeared on the instrument panel. Her daughter was able to restart the vehicle and resumed normal driving; however, the failure continued to occur intermittently. The contact called the dealer and they informed her that there were no recalls on the vehicle. The manufacturer had yet to be notified of the failure. The vehicle had yet to be diagnosed or repaired. The failure mileage was 46,550.
While pulling into a parking lot, the brake pedal failed to push down, making me to have to exert force on the brake pedal to stop the car. I had been hearing a "grinding" sound but thought it was from the brake pads needing to be replaced and this was incident was from the calipers being over extended. After replacing the brake pads with the new ones (the old ones were only half the size of the new ones and did not need replacing) the brake pedal still did not push easily. I took the vehicle to the repair shop I always use and they affirmed there was a problem and gave the price for the parts (908.37 for the brake vacuum pump and 107.98 for the Brake Fluid Exchange with ABS). There is visible damage to the end of the camshaft from the pump freezing and being torn apart by the camshaft as a result. The total cost of the repairs was $3409.96, which was unexpected. I was quoted $1134 and change originally for parts and labor at the beginning of the problem being addressed.
When driving my car and I stop at a red light and then when the light turns green I accelerate. I notice I get a message on my dashboard power assist and reduce speed. This constantly shows up on my dashboard. I have am appointment with Gm on 9/21/21 to take it in to get service.
The contact owns a 2017 Chevrolet Malibu. The contact stated that while operating the vehicle, the check engine warning light would remain illuminated. Additionally, after the auto start, the fuel-saving feature was activated, the vehicle was hesitant to restart. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic who diagnosed that the ignition switch was faulty and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not yet repaired. The local dealer was notified of the failure. The manufacturer was not yet contacted. The failure mileage was 97,000.
My 2017 Malibu (50K miles) has begun giving me the "Shift to Park" error. When I have parked my car, shifted to park, and turn off the ignition I get the display message saying "Shift to Park" even though I have already done that and turned off the car. To clear the message, I have had to restart the car, shift out of park and back into park more forcefully than I want to or, while the ignition is off, push the gear shift harder to park. This error went from 1 a week to multiple times a day. I spoke with GM and they are saying they are not aware of this problem and I will have to pay for repairs out of pocket. I read today that a class action suit has been filed specifically about this problem. I am hoping with enough owners reporting their shift to park issue, GM will have to issue a recall.
Shift to park. I am able to shift to park but then sometimes when I turn off my car, I receive a notification stating that my car is not in park. Most of the time i either have to jiggle the shift gear, turn off and on my car in order for the notification to go away.
While pulling out of my driveway in my 2017 Chevy Malibu, my brake pedal pulsed a few times and the pedal would not fully compress. Granted, I was barely moving but the issue made be very nervous. By the time I reached my stop sign, approximately 100ft, the brakes worked normally. This same issue has happened at least a dozen times and, thank fully, never while I was driving at posted speed limits. My OnStar has sent me email notifications acknowledging an ABS issue was detected. After the 3rd time this incident occurred, I did some research and found quite a few owners experiencing this exact issue and some whose brakes failed while driving at speed causing accidents! I have complained to GM, but they are sticking to not knowing anything about this problem and not covering any portion of the repairs. I got the standard canned response that GM will notify owners if and/or when a recall is issued. I am hopeful additional owners will complain so GM has to do something about this.
Reduced Engine Power while driving on highway. Car does not go over 20 MPH.
There needs to be a recall on the third brake light on the Chevy Malibu. Everyone that I speak with that has a Malibu has had to replace the third brake light because of it breaking and when it rains water leaks into the car.
I was going 70mph on the highway, when I got a sudden alarm from the car saying "reduced power". The car would not accelerate and started slowing rapidly, almost resulting in a collision. The car would not go more than 20mph. I had to pull off to the shoulder, restart the car several times, and then was able to get the power to come back, but the check engine light remained on.
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NHTSA publishes every complaint as the owner wrote it and investigates only a fraction. Spelling, capitalisation and judgement are the filer’s own. What carries weight is repetition: the same component failing the same way across many filings, and whether the manufacturer eventually opened a recall for it.
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