1997 Chevrolet Malibu problems
Owners have filed 693 complaints with NHTSA about the 1997 Chevrolet Malibu. Brakes is the most reported problem area, at 20% of complaints. After that come electrical system (14%) and steering (12%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 693 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Brakes 20% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 34 and 0
- Injuries and deaths
- 19 and 3
- Typical mileage
- 83,000 miles 138 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 | 17 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 5 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 15 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 28 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 33 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 10 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 8 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 7 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 4 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 6 |
| 200k+ miles | 5 |
What the data shows
Among the 138 complaints that report mileage, the typical (median) problem appeared at about 83,000 miles. For brakes specifically, the median reported mileage is about 72,000 miles (11 complaints with mileage).
Safety-related details: 34 complaints mention a crash; 19 injuries reported; 3 deaths reported.
Looking only at complaints filed within five years of the model year (so older and newer years are comparable), the 1997 ranks 18th most-complained-about out of 28 model years of the Chevrolet Malibu with enough data (353 complaints in that window). It is also covered by 4 safety recall campaigns.
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.
Jan 7, 2001 we were driving between 45 to 50MPH. My husband said to pull over because we had a flat tire. Two months ago we bought the malibu used. So I was obvious that the previous owner had those tires put on. We noticed a week later that the front tires needed to be rotated, we did so. So 3000 miles later we had this blowout. The right-rear tire came apart. Usually when you get a flat tire theres a puncher or slow leak. Pieces of the tire came off.
While driving on a curved road driver lost control. Vehicle went off the road and rolled completely over. Driver and passenger sustained injuries, and were transported to the emergency room. Witnesses stated vehicle jerked to the left before running off the road.
While driving 55 MPH and without warning, vehicle was involved in a front end collision. Upon impact, air bags did not to deploy and driver sustained major body injuries. Also, vehicle was totaled.
Swerved to avoid a deer and struck a guard rail, head on. Air bags didn't deploy and seat belt didn't lock up. Police, fire, ambulance and tow truck driver couldn't believe the bags and seat belt failed. Daughter was driving and receive a concussion, a v shape cut in scalp requiring 17 stitches to close and severe bruising all over. Police thinks her head struck the steering wheel or possibly the rear view mirror. Slack in seat belt allowed too much body movement and the air bags failure cause the head trauma.
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.