Problems · by component
2021 Chevrolet Malibu power train problems
28 owner complaints to NHTSA about the 2021 Chevrolet Malibu cite power train, 31% of all 90 complaints for this model year.
Complaints
28
31% of all complaints
Crashes
0
Reported by owners
Fires
0
Reported by owners
Injuries
0
Reported by owners
What owners say about the power train
Verbatim from NHTSA complaints, newest first
“The contact owns a 2021 Chevrolet Malibu. The contact stated that while driving 70 MPH, the vehicle failed to accelerate as needed; however, the RPM was extremely elevated. The vehicle then lost motive power and went into LIMP Mode, and the vehicle failed to exceed 15 MPH. The vehicle was taken to a dealer on three separate occasions. After the first failure, the dealer stated that the failure was caused by an inoperable sensor, and the fuel pump was reprogrammed. The contact stated that after the second failure, which was associated with the turbo, the powertrain module was reprogrammed. The third failure was associated with the turbo seals. The failure reoccurred after all three repairs. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 96,035.”
“Failure - B000A-00 Body Control Module Error code - Shift Lever Position not plausible . Safety - This causes the car to upon attempting to turn off the car say "Shift into Park" on the dashboard and the car refuses to turn fully off. This can cause the battery to drain excessively from repeated constant start/stop attempts and leaves the car in an impossible state. You cannot safely leave the car in this state but you have no choice until you get lucky enough to hope an attempt is recognized as parked and shut off normally. This could jeopardize safety in situations you need to turn your car off Official Bulletin Number: GM TSB 23-NA-119 There is no warning prior to failure, and no way to override it”
“The contact owns a 2021 Chevrolet Malibu. The contact stated that when shifting the gear selector into park (P), the "Shift To Park" warning message was displayed on the instrument panel, even though the vehicle was already parked. The failure was recurrent. A dealer was contacted and informed the contact that the failure was a known condition with pending repairs. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 113,674.”
“My car stalls, jerks, and shuts off when in drive. More specifically when I turn it on, shift it in reverse, reverse, shift into drive. I press on the gas and nothing. Car doesn't move. I put it back in park sometimes it'll shut off most of the time it'll jerks and jerk while I tap on the gas, then make a big stutter like power is low gas doesn't seem to be working with the pedal then it makes a huge jerk before it goes into drive. This has become an everyday thing. Car has shut off when auto off is on while at a stop. There's a huge creaking coming from the under body. Almost feels like something is going to fall out from under me. Every turn, bump, speed bump sometimes just at a stop then going into drive will create the loudest sound. Also sometimes it says I need to shift into park when I am in fact in park. When looking up common potential recalls my car checks almost every box that were stated online.”
“The contact owns a 2021 Chevrolet Malibu. The contact stated that the vehicle was taken to a dealer for a recall repair related to the fuel pump control module. After the repair was completed, the contact experienced a new failure. While attempting to turn off the vehicle, the vehicle became inoperable and could not be turned off. The message “Shift to Park” was displayed while the vehicle was shifted to park. The contact stated that the vehicle unexpectedly turned off after the contact exited the vehicle. The vehicle was taken back to the dealer, where it was diagnosed that the shift lever had failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 123,000.”
“The component is D automatic transmission shift to park switch. The vehicle is and will be available for immediate inspection upon request. Safety was put at risk when the car lost power while they’re celebrating install in the floor of traffic, causing other cars to swerve around and blow horns. The underlying issue with the car was confirmed by independent service center. There was no reason to have your vehicle inspected all by manufacturer , police insurance for others the warning sign once the car installed and attempted to like it was gonna turn off with service ESC and the light stayed on for four hours”
Showing 6 of 28 reports. Read every report on NHTSA.gov.
Data from NHTSA Complaints API (owner reports, unverified) · synced Nov 3, 2026NHTSA vehicle page
Complaints are unverified owner reports to NHTSA and are not normalized for sales volume. One complaint can cite several components.