1997 Chevrolet Malibu electrical system problems

95 complaints about electrical system have been filed for the 1997 Chevrolet Malibu, which is 14% of all its NHTSA complaints. It is the 2nd most reported problem area for this model year.

Complaints: 95 14% of this year's complaints
Typical mileage: 89,000 miles 26 complaints with mileage
Crashes and fires: 4 and 0
Injuries and deaths: 0 and 0

Source: NHTSA owner complaints

When electrical system problems show up

Based on 26 complaints that include mileage. 12% were reported before 60,000 miles. The amber marker shows the median: half of these complaints happened before that mileage.

View the numbers

Mileage	Complaints
0k to 20k miles	1
20k to 40k miles	1
40k to 60k miles	1
60k to 80k miles	6
80k to 100k miles	7
100k to 120k miles	2
120k to 140k miles	4
140k to 160k miles	0
160k to 180k miles	2
180k to 200k miles	1
200k+ miles	1

What the data shows

Of the 26 electrical system complaints that report mileage, the median is about 88,000 miles, and 12% were reported before 60,000 miles.

These complaints mention 4 crashes.

What owners wrote

The defective braking system malfunctioned, causing no braking ability and an accident. Been to dealer several times. Dealer replace brake pads/rotors/master cylinder and the wiring harness. Dealer cannot determine problem. Cause unknown. Please provide problems.

January 1998 Crash

Theft light comes on while driving, then next time I try to start car it flashes and I can start car from 10 mins like owners manual says to try after 10 mins after light stops flashing. I do this and the light starts flashing. This is very unsafe not being able to start a car leaving a motorist stranded where ever they turn there car off for hours and in my case 1 1\2 days with no cell service to call for repair I had to sleep in my car until another motorist passed the following day.

Reported at 73,000 miles, July 2005

Electrical system problems in other years

Electrical system problems across all Chevrolet models