2001 Chevrolet Malibu problems
Owners have filed 1,005 complaints with NHTSA about the 2001 Chevrolet Malibu. Electrical system is the most reported problem area, at 30% of complaints. After that come engine (17%) and lighting (12%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 1,005 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Electrical system 30% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 51 and 1
- Injuries and deaths
- 43 and 4
- Typical mileage
- 70,000 miles 619 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 | 49 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 65 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 121 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 116 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 88 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 66 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 44 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 36 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 16 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 5 |
| 200k+ miles | 13 |
What the data shows
Among the 619 complaints that report mileage, the typical (median) problem appeared at about 70,000 miles. For electrical system specifically, the median reported mileage is about 88,000 miles (203 complaints with mileage).
Safety-related details: 51 complaints mention a crash; 1 complaint mentions a fire; 43 injuries reported; 4 deaths reported.
Looking only at complaints filed within five years of the model year (so older and newer years are comparable), the 2001 ranks 15th most-complained-about out of 28 model years of the Chevrolet Malibu with enough data (519 complaints in that window). It is also covered by 2 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.
My boyfriend was killed in a car accident while driving my vehicle. The car flipped and hit a tree. No airbags deployed.
A church van was pulling out of a driveway and failed to yield the right of way. We t-boned them going 35MPH. We hit them incredibly hard and yet the air bags did not deploy! Four of their passengers were sent to the hospital in the ambulance and the two of us in the malibu went later. The car was totaled and the church van had significant damage as well.
Tl* the contact owns a 2001 chevrolet malibu. The contact stated that the vehicle abnormally accelerated to 80 MPH as the engine rpms increased to 4,000. The contact had to coast onto the shoulder and turned the engine off in order to stop the vehicle. The contact then noticed smoke being emitted from the engine area. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who test drove the vehicle, but was unable to duplicate the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure recurred several times. The VIN was not available.
Vehicle would not start. Consumer had the intake gasket and intake sensor replaced. Vehilcle was in the repair shop once again. Consumer triedto contact the manufacturer.