2011 Chevrolet Malibu Electrical System Problems

The contact owns a 2011 Chevrolet Malibu. The contact stated that while the vehicle was parked under a carport in her driveway, she had been warned by neighbors that the rear end of the vehicle was on fire. The contact stated that she saw that flames were issuing from both rear light housings. The contact stated that by the time her husband and a neighbor attempted to extinguish the flames with garden hoses, the light housings and the rear bumper were on fire and melting. The fire department and the police were called. The contact stated that by the time emergency services arrived, the flames had been extinguished. The contact stated that the fire department opened the trunk, and the interior of the trunk and the matting were not damaged. The only damage was to the rear light housings and the rear bumper. The fire department had not issued a report, however the police had. The vehicle was not taken to a dealer or to an independent mechanic. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 85,000.

THIS CAR WILL START AND AS YOU ARE DRIVING, THE CAR SHUTS OFF. NO POWER, NO STEERING...NOTHING. I WAS OUT DRIVING TO WORK AND THE CAR DIED RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE ROAD IN RUSH HOUR TRAFFIC. I HAVE TAKENT HE CAR TO THE SHOP AND THEY HAD IT FOR OVER A MONTH, CHANGED THE FUEL PUMP AND IT WAS STILL DOING THE SAME THING. THE MECHANIC SAID HE CAN NOT FIX IT, THAT IT IS AN ELECTRICAL ISSUE. SEVERAL PEOPLE HAVE POSTED ONLINE THAT THIS IS A MANUFACTURE ISSUE AND THE YEAR OF THE CAR IS KNOWN TO HAVE THIS PROBLEM. I OWN THREE CHEVY VEHICLES AND THERE IS SOMETHING WRONG WITH ALL THREE. ABSOLUTELY RIDICULOUS! NO ONE STANDS BEHIND THEIR WORK. YOU PAY MONEY FOR A VEHICLE AND THE MAKERS WANT SPEND A DIME TO RECALL SOMETHING THAT CAN KILL SOMEONE.

I'm having to replace the low beam headlight in my car more times than a lil bit! I hate that I'm constantly spending $60+ everytime on headlights cause of i replace one side imma replace the other! I have brought the replacement harness for the lights and the low beam still blows!

Two months ago While driving on the highway at 60 mph at night my headlights shut off with no warning leaving only my running lights, turn signals, brake lights and hazards lights functioning. Neither hi or low beams would function. Yet no warning or service lights appeared on the dash. Local mechanic replaced both the headlights bulbs and connectors on both sides. 3 weeks later it happened again, this time when I started my car the headlights failed to turn on. So i contacted a local Chevy dealer (Rob Eck chevy) who said there was no recall or investigation...so I took it back the mechanic and had him fix it AGAIN. Just a few minutes ago today when I went to go to work yet AGAIN the headlights won't turn on. Checked through a plethora of forums about the Malibu both fan sites and manufacturers sites and have found that this is an extremely common issue for 2008-2014 Malibus, As this is an extremely dangerous failure/malfunction for both the driver and everyone else on the road I am STUNNED that there's no recall or at least an INVESTIGATION into this as with this many occurrences with so many owners it's virtually impossible to be owner fault ergo it must be a product defect or a manufacturer defect....please do what's right for the safety and well being of others not what's right to protect the rich lining their pockets

2008 to 2012 Chevrolet Malibu's have a confirmed problem by mechanics about the fuel system regarding the electrical components going bad. The fuel pump relay will overheat the wiring behind it, and will shut the car off, regardless of if it is driving or not.

Passenger side low beam headlight bulb connector melted/burnt. Caused low beam to go out on occasion - hit a bump and it switches on/off

Headlight wiring harness connector has melted multiple times leaving me without low beam headlights while driving at night with my children in the car. This has left me having to use my high beams to drive and this poses as a safety hazard for not only me and my family but other people on the road. This also poses a fire hazard if the plastic connector is getting hot enoughto melt. I have requested warranty replacements for this part through AC Delco and made them aware of the on going problem and informed them that this is a well known issue with this car and that it is extremely dangerous. I have not had the part inspected by a mechanic, insurance company or law enforcement but have the failed part and would be willing to have it inspected by law enforcement or anyone else but can not afford out of pocket expenses to do so. There was no prior warning to this happening any of the times it happened it would be working when I left my house I would stop somewhere turn the car off and when I got back in and started the car they wouldn't turn on. Another time they quit working while driving down the road. The date below is the date that I ordered the first replacement wiring harness it lasted less than 3 months and i had to have it replaced and currently I am dealing with not having low beams again this is the 3rd time I have dealt with this issue and it has been on going since January 2025.

Car started having issues with electrical had to put in a new fuel pump then a new ecm. Then car malfunctioned again with electrical issues relating to the wiring harness. There is a recall for my exact model and year but supposedly my car is not affected. I find this rather strange.

Air bag, supplemental restraint system failure caused by a faulty electrical connector under the driver's seat. GM is aware of this issue and may have issued a TSB. A recall and repair at GM's expense would be a better way to address this issue as some people might not be willing or able to pay for the one hundred plus dollars repair cost and continue to drive the car with repairing the supplemental restraint system.

It started out as a minor intermittent problem, alerting that I need to service traction and service esc. When this problem occurs, the car hesitates to accelerate from stop. Problem has gotten to the point that the vehicle is trying to die when idling for more than a minute or so and is struggling to accelerate. From doing research, I have found that this problem is very common in this Make and Model, with years varying. This is an issue that needs to be addressed as many people have experienced this and filed complaints and are spending lots of money out of pocket to try to find the issue.

ESC off shows up on dashboard and after driving I get "engine power reduced"

I have had my Chevy Malibu since 2016. In the almost 7 years I have had this car I has had the same issue with both starting and stalling while driving. There has been many time it has completely shut off while on the expressway. I have had it looked at by an outside mechanic and the dealership. The back Fuse box has been completely replacement 3 times twice of which were in the past year. There is a shot with the fuel pump relay causing the issue. The dealership will not acknowledge this issue. Each time I have been told it was the fuse box going out however a fuse box does not go completely bad every few years and now few month. I have same many many videos and comments from other owners of Chevy Malibu 2011 with the exact same issue. I have been lucky that I have been able to pull to the side of the road without accident due to this issue. This issue should be recalled if the vast number of 2011 Chevy Malibu's having the same issue.

car unexpectedly died on the way home with 2 children in car. Car would crank, but wouldn't start up, and sounded like a typical fuel pump problem. We had the car towed to a shop and they showed the fuel pump as working within the normal ranges and then started up the next day just fine, but paid 750 for work. A few days later the car died again, so we had it towed to the same shop, by the next day when the mechanic said it started up just fine so he wasn't able to diagnose the problem. He and i don't want to spend a 1000 every week putting parts in it that don't fix the problem while getting towed each week at 150 dollars. This is a safety concern and leaves the consumer hopeless. We want to get rid of the car, but don't want to sell it to a person for them to have the same issues and then in return blame us. GM NEEDS TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT THIS. I've read hundreds of forums of other people having the same problem with no actual fix.

Rear window brake light stays illuminated have to keep raising the brake pad up to get it to go off and in the daytime you arent able to see it. The alarm system is not allowing the car to start correctly. It is very frustrating to have to remove battery cables in many circumstances in order to operate the vehicle. These are all issues that occur many times for over a year. not just an isolated account.

Engine starts but stalls shortly after. 89,000 miles. Never had any problems like this before. Dash display states "Service ECM," "service traction control," "reduced engine power," etc..A shop diagnosed it with a bad ECM, but that isn't the problem, as it didn't fix it. Based on the codes we're getting ready to swap out the APP (Accelerator pedal position sensor) This is a well known issue, that many other owners of various years have encountered, and reported. In fact, I just read that GM did a recall for newer Malibu's, for this exact same problem, (the APP causing "reduced engine power" and therefore not running) So I'm really not happy. They left out all the older vehicles with the exact same problem!

Power steering turned off. Lost all steering while driving.

Headlights keep going out and service airbag light keep coming on

I’ve had dash warning lights since purchasing my vehicle since 2017. I have taken it to multiple places for diagnostic and repair. (Brake sensors, traction stability, throttle, and P010 and P011) my last repairs were over $2400 and after finally scraping money to complete the repairs was told the traction control warning light that had been coming on but coming on more often now was because I have one tire sensor that isn’t reading and that after fixing the accentuators the computer would stop going so crazy and triggering so many lights. On my recent trip to Michigan, when using my cruise control a car pulled in front of me in heavy traffic. When I braked my cruise didn’t disengage. I remembered this happening before but didn’t realize it was my cruise control and thought don’t tell me I have transmission problems!! Then when I was almost home during this same trip a car started honking at me and rolled his window down. He told me I had no brake lights. I then looked up recalls and found 13036, with all the problems my car has had except was told this was remedied/fixed on my car in 2017. I just now checked my car and I have brake lights. It appears the problem relates in conjunction to when the traction control lights are on and when there aren’t warning lights the brake lights work. My car has 20,000 since the recall repair and has had this problem the majority of this time except I didn’t understand. My car is not safe and I am very disappointed and concerned about GM product safety and remedies!

The rear defrost stopped working. Had my auto mechanic review and Rear Fuse Box had melted fuses which was effecting rear defrost. The rear Fuse Box needs replacing per mechanic. ($400) My concern is what is cause of the electrical issue in my Malibu and if not corrected by Chevrolet will it occur again?

POWER SEAT WELD AND FRAME BROKE ELECTRICAL PROBLEM CHECK ENGINE LIGHT COMES ON NOTHING WRONG MIRROR POWER ADJUSTING DOES NOT WORK