2017 Chevrolet Malibu Hybrid Recalls & Complaints

Incident: April 29, 2025 · Filed: May 14, 2025

Hundreds of times since I purchased the car in July, 2017 I've had a "shift to park" problem. Here is what happens. I go to park my car. I put the car into park. I go to turn off the engine. The engine will not turn off. A sign on the screen says, "shift to park". Apparently as GM explains it, the car is not recognizing that the car is put into park and therefore will not turn off. This first started happening around 2019. The Chevy dealership said it wasn't a big deal and replaced the shifter control assembly. The problem went away for a few years and then popped up again around 2021. Since then it has been an ongoing problem. I end up stuck in the car until the engine turns off. I obviously can't leave the engine on because then the battery will go bad. Most recently I actually spent 30 minutes trying to park the car before I was able to get it to recognize it was in park and turn off. Every time over the years the dealerships have shrugged me off. They refuse to fix the problem and recently asked me for $1,250 to fix it. It was not fixed right the first time when it was under warranty. Here are a few links about many others experiencing these same problems: [XXX] [XXX] [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

Incident: March 29, 2025 · Filed: May 9, 2025

The car completely lost power while being driven on a freeway in Sacramento, California. The car was towed to a Chevrolet dealer in Davis, California and they determined that the car lost power due to a faulty Auxiliary Battery Negative Cable Assembly (Part # 84085823). The Chevrolet dealer cannot find the part because GM has discontinued production of the part. Also, despite extensive internet searches for the part including after-market sites, E-Bay, Amazon, AC Delco, all major auto part supply chains, etcetera, the part has not been found. The car has been at the dealer's facility for ~ 6 weeks with no resolution. The car is a hybrid, has been serviced regularly and properly, has never been in an accident and is very good shape. In other words, if the car is safely repaired, it is still going to be a very useful family vehicle. GM representatives have told the dealer to try to find the part in a local junk yard. The car will likely not be safe if a junkyard part is ultimately used in the repair - the reason the the car is at the dealership is because the car completely died at freeway speed. The cost of the needed part was only ~ $50 (fifty dollars) when it was being produced.

Incident: August 1, 2023 · Filed: September 13, 2023

In 2019 I took my vehicle under warranty to the purchasing dealership to fix a "shift to park" reading after the vehicle is parked. It precludes turning off the car. Repeatedly restarting the car and shifting to park and/or jiggling the controller in park usually stopped the reading. The dealer replaced the control shifter, which fixed the problem for many years. This August, the problem started recurring and I have been attempting to make an appointment in the last week, but none of the local dealers say they can repair this for some time. Most cannot even diagnose the problem for a week or two.

Incident: May 27, 2023 · Filed: May 28, 2023

the secondary battery that sits in the trunk, above the back driver side tire had a short. the cable bunt out and my car reduced speed and it had me pull over. I did not know this is what had happened until i drove it again and i could no longer start it. the shift knob is locked and cant put it on drive or neutral. initializing wait to shift, theft deterrent system, transport mode on, stabilitrak, among other things popped up. Had that short sparked up into an actual fire, yes, my life could have been at risk as the car could have caught on fire. Due to it being a long weekend (memorial day weekend) I couldn't take it to a Chevy dealer. I am on an out of town trip for my kids soccer tournament. i currently have it sitting a tow yard waiting to take it to my house, and then towed to Chevy dealer in Hemet, CA, where I live.

Incident: July 1, 2022 · Filed: August 22, 2022

In order to turn off the vehicle, the vehicle must be in park. I have experienced several incidences where, despite being in park (shifter is moved all the way forward and the “P” is red on the dash display), the vehicle will not turn off and states to shift to park to turn off. Sometimes I can just return the car to drive and then put it in to park again, but I have had several incidences where I was unable to turn off my vehicle after 10 or more tries to get it in to “park”.

Incident: April 22, 2022 · Filed: April 22, 2022

The contact owns a 2017 Chevrolet Malibu. The contact stated that after his wife parked the vehicle, the "Shift to Park" message was displayed while the gear selector was shifted into park(P). The vehicle would not turn off until after several attempts; however, the failure recurred with the doors locking the contact's wife and 3 children inside of the vehicle. The contact's wife was able to turn off the vehicle while the brake pedal was depressed and the Start/Stop button was pressed and unlocked the doors with the key fob. The dealer was made aware of the failure and sent a tow truck to retrieve the vehicle. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 57,733.

Incident: November 3, 2021 · Filed: December 29, 2021

Car voltage stays very high (between 14.8 and 15 volts) for extended periods of time. At which point the windows have fogged up and there is a raw egg smell in the cabin - probably Sulfur. Both the hybrid and the 12v car battery are located in the truck and there are vents that draw air from the cabin to ventilate those batteries. The car voltage will also stay at 12.5 to 12.6 for extended periods of time. During both high and low periods numerous internal systems have failed, including bit not limited to steering assist, anti-locks bakes, Stabilitrack, On star, Hybrid Control Processor and ECM. Car has been brought to the dealer 3 times. First time (early November 2021) it was diagnosed with an hybrid inverter and a software update was installed. Issues continued. As of 12/28/21, Coggin Chevrolet (Jacksonville, FL) has had the car for 2 weeks and can't fix or confirm what is wrong with the car. I have received numerous e-mails from On-star with engine error codes as well as 5 messages saying there is an issue with the Electric Drive Unit in the car. The car has roughly 24K miles on it.

Incident: October 25, 2021 · Filed: October 30, 2021

This class action lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan by three separate plaintiffs in Wisconsin, Minnesota and Maryland, Car Complaints reports. The suit alleges certain GM vehicles fail to detect when the gear selector has been shifted into Park, blocking the ability for the user to shut the vehicle off. Typically a ‘Shift to Park’ warning message will appear on the driver information center when this happens. The user can jiggle and or move the gear shifter in order to remedy the issue, although this technique does not always work. GM dealer witnessed the problem. MY REPAIR COST AT A GM DEALER WAS $391.11.

Incident: August 31, 2021 · Filed: August 31, 2021

Car accelerates on its own while I’m driving. In addition , without warning the car engines suddenly reduced speed. This has accrued while I’m on the freeway without any warnings.

Incident: August 16, 2021 · Filed: August 23, 2021

Get "SHIFT TO PARK" after putting car in park to shut it off. I am unable to turn the car off - so do I leave it running in my garage? This is a known error that they charge to fix. https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/2020/MC-10186071-9999.pdf Attached is my bill to have this known error fixed.