2021 Chevrolet Malibu
This year drew an ordinary 84 complaints for a Chevrolet Malibu — the model's median is 976. What they were about is the unusual part: 19% of them mention transmission, against 5.8% across the other years of this generation.
Generation 4 of the Chevrolet Malibu, which began in 2016. Everything below compares this year against the others in that generation, not against a different car wearing the same name.
NHTSA opened a defect investigation into this model year.
| Complaints filed | 84 |
|---|---|
| Median for this model | 976 |
| Involving a fire | 1 |
| Recalls | 2 |
| NHTSA crash rating | 4/5 |
| EPA combined | 29 mpg |
What the complaints were about
- transmission — 19% of this year's complaints, against 5.8% across the other years of this generation (3.3×).
- stranded — 9.5% of this year's complaints, against 1.7% across the other years of this generation (5.5×). Owners wrote it as: stranded, grinding.
- vehicle park — 11.9% of this year's complaints, against 3.8% across the other years of this generation (3.1×). Owners wrote it as: vehicle park, jerks.
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
Transmission failed to engage gear properly after backing up. Grinding sounds heard when vehicle was in drive. Problem has been confirmed and inspected by Chevrolet dealership. Vehicle is available for inspection. Occupants safety was at risk because gears cou…
The transmission is not working in first gear. The dealership says it needs to be replaced and they have at least 2 other cars with the same problem of the same model and year. This problem has stranded us multiple times.
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint filings, with identifying details removed.
Recalls for this year
- 21V649000 SEAT BELTS Fixed free of charge.
- 22V359000 SEATS Fixed free of charge.
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 2021 Chevrolet Malibu? What happened to yours?
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