2015 Chevrolet Malibu problems
Owners have filed 402 complaints with NHTSA about the 2015 Chevrolet Malibu. Engine is the most reported problem area, at 17% of complaints. After that come electrical system (17%) and air bags (12%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 402 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Engine 17% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 31 and 17
- Injuries and deaths
- 19 and 2
- Typical mileage
- 50,000 miles 227 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 | 48 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 31 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 48 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 26 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 31 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 10 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 19 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 11 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 2 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 0 |
| 200k+ miles | 1 |
What the data shows
Among the 227 complaints that report mileage, the typical (median) problem appeared at about 50,000 miles. For engine specifically, the median reported mileage is about 66,000 miles (34 complaints with mileage).
Safety-related details: 31 complaints mention a crash; 17 complaints mention a fire; 19 injuries reported; 2 deaths reported.
Looking only at complaints filed within five years of the model year (so older and newer years are comparable), the 2015 ranks 23rd most-complained-about out of 28 model years of the Chevrolet Malibu with enough data (265 complaints in that window). It is also covered by 3 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.
Tl* the contact owns a 2015 chevrolet malibu. The contact stated that while driving approximately 45 MPH the vehicle started to drive to the right and the wheels began to lose traction before the steering wheel became difficult to turn causing the driver to lose control of the steering. The vehicle then spun out and crashed into a ditch. The contact stated that all air bags deployed except for the driver's frontal air bag.
Vehicle was in motion approximately 25 MPH on a city street when smoke started and fire broke out burning vehicle to ground.
This has occurred on more than one occasion but most recently it scared me most because I was in the middle of a busy highway ! As the car came to a stop it when into power save mode (automatic shutoff) however once took my foot off the brakes it didn't not start the car went completely dead at the middle off a busy highway . I tried repeatedly to crank but it would not start after 3-5 mins it's finally cranked up .