2004 Chevrolet Malibu Classic problems
Owners have filed 144 complaints with NHTSA about the 2004 Chevrolet Malibu Classic. Electrical system is the most reported problem area, at 43% of complaints. Next are steering (17%) and lighting (8%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 144 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Electrical system 43% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 12 and 4
- Injuries and deaths
- 19 and 0
- Typical mileage
- 90,000 miles 117 complaints with mileage
Source: NHTSA owner complaints
Where the complaints are
Share of this model year's complaints by the part of the car involved. One complaint can name more than one part, so the shares can add up to more than 100%.
When problems show up
View the numbers
| Mileage | Complaints |
|---|---|
| 0k to 20k miles | 5 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 9 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 14 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 14 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 20 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 20 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 14 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 5 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 11 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 3 |
| 200k+ miles | 2 |
What the data shows
Of the 117 complaints that include odometer readings, half describe a problem before roughly 90,000 miles. For electrical system specifically, the median reported mileage is about 100,000 miles (46 complaints with mileage).
Safety-related details: 12 complaints mention a crash; 4 complaints mention a fire; 19 injuries reported.
It is also covered by 1 safety recall campaign.
What owners wrote
A few complaints as filed, shortened and with personal details removed. The first ones are among the most serious reports for this model year; the rest are typical.
The passlock system and fuel rail combined created a injury to pedestrians that is unbelievable the car took off after left turn into a parking lot
Hazard/turn signal works intermittently. Does not appear on the indicator panel when not working. Will work for part of a trip and then stop or not work at all when the vehicle is first started and then work 20 mins. Later. The speed/weather conditions do not seem to have an effect as to when it works. Consequence could be a ticket. The town of amherst has made the news for how much they ticket and a plea down to a parking ticket would cost a person $200+.
In march my starter went out in my car. After replacing it I had no problems for about a week. Then I found out that my ignition switch had gone out as well. I replaced that and had no problem for about 5 days. Then for no reason my car would not start. We googled it and found out that I just needed to reset my anti theft system. Now ever since that every 1-5 days I get stuck wherever I happen to be because my anti theft system kicks in and thinks that my car is stolen when it is not.