2016 Chevrolet Malibu
This year drew an ordinary 1,669 complaints for a Chevrolet Malibu — the model's median is 905. What they were about is the unusual part: 8% of them mention water, against 2.1% across the other years of this generation.
First year of a new generation. The Chevrolet Malibu was redesigned for 2016. A first year carries problems nobody has found yet, and they are found by the people who buy it — which is worth knowing before you become one of them.
NHTSA opened a defect investigation into this model year.
| Complaints filed | 1,669 |
|---|---|
| Median for this model | 905 |
| Involving a crash | 43 |
| Involving a fire | 4 |
| Recalls | 9 |
| NHTSA crash rating | 5/5 |
| EPA combined | 28 mpg |
What the complaints were about
- water — 8% of this year's complaints, against 2.1% across the other years of this generation (3.8×). Owners wrote it as: water, trunk, brake light, mold.
- reduce — 6.2% of this year's complaints, against 1.7% across the other years of this generation (3.6×). Owners wrote it as: reduce, reduce engine, reduce power.
Words owners used for the same problem are counted together, so a fault written four different ways is measured once. Grouped by which complaints they appear in, not by a list anyone wrote in advance.
What owners wrote
WATER ENTERED THE VEHICLE FROM THE HIGH MOUNT BRAKE LIGHT. THE FAILURE CAUSED WATER DAMAGE AND MOLD TO THE HEADLINER, TRUNK, AND REAR SEATS OF THE VEHICLE. THE DEALER (BERGSTROM CHEVROLET OF MADISON, 1345 APPLEGATE RD, MADISON, WI) WAS CONTACTED AND STATED THA…
Water leaks into the trunk and back seat of the vehicle because the seal around the upper brake light in the rear glass is faulty, causing a mildew/mold odor in the trunk. It is not available for inspection as I had it repaired and sold the vehicle. The proble…
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint filings, with identifying details removed.
Recalls for this year
- 18V400000 AIR BAGS Fixed free of charge.
- 18V358000 FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE Fixed free of charge.
- 16V272000 ELECTRONIC STABILITY CONTROL (ESC) Fixed free of charge.
- 16V781000 AIR BAGS Fixed free of charge.
- 16V502000 ELECTRICAL SYSTEM Fixed free of charge.
- 16V084000 ELECTRICAL SYSTEM Fixed free of charge.
- 16V151000 AIR BAGS Fixed free of charge.
- 16V125000 AIR BAGS Fixed free of charge.
Showing 8 of 9. The rest are on NHTSA's site.
How this was worked out
Every year of the Chevrolet Malibu was compared against its own history rather than against other cars, which removes popularity and age from the answer — a common car draws more complaints at equal reliability, and an older one has had longer to accumulate them. A year is flagged when it drew at least 2.5× this model's median and at least 50 complaints.
This is a fault record, not a review. Nobody files a federal complaint to say the car was fine, so it shows what tends to go wrong — not whether owners liked it, and not whether it is a good car.
Source: NHTSA complaints, recalls and investigations, retrieved . Look this vehicle up directly on NHTSA's site to check anything here.
Own a 2016 Chevrolet Malibu? What happened to yours?
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