Vehicle Data Hub

2012 Chevrolet Malibu electrical system problems

291 complaints about electrical system have been filed for the 2012 Chevrolet Malibu, which is 20% of all its NHTSA complaints. It is the most reported problem area for this model year.

At a glance

Complaints
291 20% of this year's complaints
Typical mileage
88,000 miles 197 complaints with mileage
Crashes and fires
5 and 11
Injuries and deaths
4 and 0

Source: NHTSA owner complaints

When electrical system problems show up

Electrical system complaints by mileage, 2012 Chevrolet Malibu Complaints by odometer reading in 20,000-mile steps. The median is about 88,000 miles. 0k to 20k miles: 14 complaints 20k to 40k miles: 14 complaints 40k to 60k miles: 27 complaints 60k to 80k miles: 32 complaints 80k to 100k miles: 37 complaints 100k to 120k miles: 24 complaints 120k to 140k miles: 22 complaints 140k to 160k miles: 16 complaints 160k to 180k miles: 5 complaints 180k to 200k miles: 5 complaints 200k+ miles: 1 complaints 040k80k120k160k200k miles Typical: 88,000 miles
Based on 197 complaints that include mileage. 28% were reported before 60,000 miles. The amber marker shows the median: half of these complaints happened before that mileage.
View the numbers
MileageComplaints
0k to 20k miles14
20k to 40k miles14
40k to 60k miles27
60k to 80k miles32
80k to 100k miles37
100k to 120k miles24
120k to 140k miles22
140k to 160k miles16
160k to 180k miles5
180k to 200k miles5
200k+ miles1

What the data shows

Of the 197 electrical system complaints that report mileage, the median is about 88,000 miles, and 28% were reported before 60,000 miles.

These complaints mention 5 crashes, 11 fires, 4 injuries.

What owners wrote

My service traction control light was coming on ever since I bought my car and I took it to koons for service and I was told one wheel was moving faster then another not to worry about it then on 06/18/2014 iwas hit by a chevy silverado that ran a light and I was doing 45 miles an hour I had my granddaughter in her safety seat in the back none of my air bags worked nor did my seat belts my grand daughter hit the back of the seats.now my car is flashing the codes again now that its fixed and shuts down while…

Reported at 24,945 miles, June 2014 CrashInjury

The low beam and running lights on driver's side keep going out the wiring harness and bulb has been changed 5 times now and still goes out ever other week . And to top it off this car has the most rediculous way to get at the headlights. So time consuming

Reported at 80,000 miles, November 2017

Other problems reported for the 2012 Chevrolet Malibu

Electrical system problems in other years

Electrical system problems across all Chevrolet models