o/t Chevy Malibu

[Rich Va]

Anybody else had electrical problems with a '06 Malibu? Mine started before the warranty expired. When I accelerate hard some type of shortage or over load happens,the alarm goes off and the electric power steering freezes up for a few seconds. Took it back to the dealer,they put it on the box and said the alternator was putting out to many volts, put on a new alt but problem did not go away. In the mean time dealer went out of business. Now I'm having a hard time trying to get it repaired even though the service records are available. The 1-800 rep says I have to pay $80 to get it checked out again and dealer says I have to pay for rental car. I'm really getting dumped on with this one,no results,no one seems to care. Can't seem to find the right person to talk to at GM. This is my fifth GM vehicle, looks like it will be my last. Just wanted to let someone else know what's going on.

 

[noncompos]

On the question of whethere it's a widespread problem, you need to get into some of the Chev owners sites to see if there're others complaints along the same lines, and/or whether TSB's have been issued (Technical Service Bulletins: factory bulletins to dealers advising them a problem exists and how to handle/correct it. Dealers have been known to "overlook" these when a customer shows up with a problem).
I can't recall the name of the National consumer oriented group that tracks car problems and recalls, but they should show up under Recalls or such. You might want to report this as a safety-related defect, for the benefit of others if the problem is not just yours.
When I read about going to electric steering, I wondered what'd happen when the power went off; can you still manually horse it around, like losing power steering, or does it actually freeze solid?? With sympathy...and my apologies if you've already done all this..

 

[Rich Va]

The first 800 rep I talked with about this two months ago told me no recalls or bulletins about this,said she would call me back,haven't heard anything from her. One service manager said he would check it out and later told me there had been some complaints,did nothing,said he didn't sell the car. Service manager at the dealer that's taking over the closed dealers customers said she didn't know if they could fix it or not,then why would I want to rent a car from them. Second 800 rep this morning kept asking me what's the issue,said I would have to pay the $80 for a problem that's already been documented. Yes the steering actually does freeze up for a few seconds,sometimes it almost jerks the steering wheel outta my hand. I've got a 800 number to a safety hot line in DC. Maybe I can get someones attention there.

 

[Anonymous-0]

Go over to Edmunds.com and get in the Chevy Malibu problems and solutions section.You can learn alot over there.

Our problem plagued 2002 Buick Rendezvous CXL caused us to leave after 30 years of mostly GM stuff..They didnt seem to care much about us.From 1995-2003 literally 10's of thousands of 3100 and 3400 series V-6 engines lost intake and head gaskets and GM did nothing.

 

[Anonymous-0]

Here is the link to Edmunds Malibu section.There are 3 pages of topics.

GM denied there was ever a problem with our 2002 Buick RDV while the internet was full of unhappy owners with numerous problems.I gave then plenty of free publicity on Edmunds.
Edmunds

 

[Rich Va]

I've just finished filing a complaint to the NHTSA. They will investigate. One of my problems is if the problem is documented before warranty is expired then I should be able to get the car fixed at any Chevy dealer,not have to pay for a rental car or pay to have another diagnosis done. Thanks for the link,I'll take a look.

 

[Bob - MI]

Now why are people buying Toyota and Honda cars?

This is sad. I wish you the best of luck on this one.

 

[Mathias NY]

The parents of one of my coworkers have an '05 Malibu with electrical problems. The dealer claimed it was a bad battery, then a bad computer, and then several more things. I think after 2 years they finally have it figured out...

I was raised around Chevy products, but have switched to Dodge. They just seem to be more reliable.

 

[504-2]

Rich, Go to the GM site and look for the public relations department and find the vise president, call the toll number and ask for him by name. Most of the time you will get right through( be nice) he can fix it (may not but he can) 1-800 means no service