There are 50 owner-reported steering complaints for the 2013 Chevrolet Malibuin NHTSA's database. These are unverified consumer reports and may not reflect confirmed defects.
I have not been involved in no incident or accident with anybody but my vehicle is installing up and dying in the middle of the road the power steering is locking up the battery is draining and the car is cutting off I had the battery replaced and I'm still losing power in my battery and I can't figure out why I'm not too long after the battery dying and the vehicle starting up and dying it started overheating for no known reason at all shortly after sorting the overheat my navigational system and my radio has started to fail I took it to several places to have it put on machines they can figure out why the check engine light is on or why the battery is dying because it's showing that it has battery the battery life they don't know why it's falling up and down I'm checking till not sound but other than that they're not getting no read out on the machine they put it off of I'll contact the dealership because on certain 2013 Chevy Malibu equals they have a recall on the general control module system Burger is being defensive but I'm on my specific then there's not a recall online but everything that happens with the defective general control module it sounds like what's going on with my car I'll contact it the dealership and they told me that although they had the recalls on the defective funeral control module if I was to take it to a dealership and it proved to be an effective general control module that I was still going to be liable for out-of-pocket expenses because my car is not covered under the van recall and I'm not understanding how that right or how that's legal when they have all these defects of recalls on these cars and if that's what's going on with mine how is it not the same thing
While my daughter has been driving our 2013 Chevrolet Malibu 2013, the vehicle continues to experience add loss of electric power. The dashboard display and infortainment system went down black. The problem first began -2019-2020 and continues to recur about once or twice a month. The most recent incident occurred on September 18, 2025, with my daughter behind the wheel. An independentc mechanic confirmed that cause is a manufacturer's defect in the fuse box located near the battery. He stated this is a widespread issue and refused to repair it, advising Chevrolet should address it. Chevrolet Waldorf kept my car for over a month but only replaced the battery, could find the issue, which did not resolve the defect. This recurring failure creates a serious safety risk to the driver, passenger, and others on the road because the car can lose power and steering at anytime. This issue was he subject of prior NHTSA complaint I submitted in 2020 (ID 11315997), and it has continued despite the report. Everytime this defect occurs with Chevrolet Malibu 2013... my family's safety, and the safety of others on the road is placed in jeopardy. GM must be held accountable to correct this ongoing safety defect beforer more lives are placed at risk, and NHTSA's response wil demonstrate where consumer safety is being prioritized or neglected. The upload PDF shows the name BUTTERFLIES (is me asking questions) in a malibu forum date 2021.
my power steering intermittently 'locks"Cannnot remove key from ignition.Car loses its data memory, time &date go haywire. A lot of times car wont start.I have taken it a few times to my mechanic. He has run scans, but all the codes are clear.This is the problem.He has checked the Battery&Altenator, all fine.He tried cleaning some ground wires. He feels bad charging me money because he cant fix a problem that he doesnt see.!! When the car is in the shop,the intermittent problem is not evident.!!! Very frustrating.
The contact owns a 2013 Chevrolet Malibu. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle experienced several electrical failures, causing a loss of power and the vehicle to stall. The vehicle also lost power steering and braking functionality. While inspecting under the hood, the contact discovered that the battery terminals were extremely hot to the touch. The vehicle was taken to the independent mechanic, who was unable to determine the cause of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer and local dealer were not yet contacted. The failure mileage was 60,000.
While driving my 2013 Chevrolet Malibu, the electrical system intermittently fails: the radio shuts off, the instrument cluster goes blank (gauges drop to zero, fuel/temperature show empty), headlights flicker off then on, and turn-signal indicators disappear. Warning messages such as “Service Theft” and “No Key Detected” appear, power steering becomes difficult, and the vehicle shakes, stalls, or even turns off completely at stop signs. Sometimes the engine continues running even after the car is shut off, overheating and producing a burnt smell. These failures began months ago, occur unpredictably, and have been witnessed by an independent shop. The loss of lights, steering, and cluster data creates a serious safety hazard, and the vehicle is available for inspection.
Battery voltage going up and down. Car will make clicking sound. Car will shut off and start back up. Battery issue will pop up n steering wheel will lock while driving and service battery charging will pop on dashboard.
The Dash board instrument cluster is turning on and off randomly. loosing steering control due to electronic steering. Mechanics cant find a problem and seems to be common with this year Malibu. wont replicate at Mechanics completely random. Just had a new battery installed also and Mechanics say everything is within specs. No warning on this it just happens. 83000 miles on car and it happened about a year ago once and last two weeks several times. The front passenger seat got some water on it and the presence sensor must have deactivated the air bag system. Much to sensitive to be reliable.
Car randomly goes into engine reduced power mode and won't go over 50mph. Power steering either won't turn the wheels and will start working again without warning while driving and jerks wheel to the right. Service stabilitrac warning would come on intermittently and disable traction control. Service stabilitrac warning is on now everytime I crank the vehicle and traction control is never working. I have pictures where it has went in limp mode and videos of the gauges doing crazy things after this warning has come up. Very dangerous. Car will jerk the wheel without warning when power steering warning comes on.
I was driving down a busy street one day after work during the early night, and as I went to engage the brakes my whole electrical system started to shut off and on. Once I came to a complete stop it shut off my a/c then proceeded with my radio and lights. I took my foot of the brake in pure shock and back on come my a/c and radio. I proceed to drive with caution and again it starts to try and shut off my vehicles electrical systems. I pull over turn the car off check the battery and fine. Trusting it to make it less than the mile trip left home I drive again no issues, as I am approaching a busy intersection then car begins to go haywire with the electrical systems without the ac on and locks the all eletric steering systems and almost causes me to collide with surrounding traffic. Took to have diagnostic run for codes and none. Purchased another brand new battery which I thought maybe it was defective. Well wasn't NY of the issues because tonight with my family's safety put at serious risk along with any of the many tourist pedestrians and other motorist I experience the same exact thing but within a higher speed limit zone. When I pulled over to park the car it refused to cooperate. It was if my car was being controlled by a hacker and I was fighting for control over the wheel.
When driving this vehicle with ~111,000 miles on it. The infotainment center continually rebooted, causing drops of Bluetooth connection and pauses in the AC. The instrument panel stayed working, but lights turned off. This happened about 6 times in a 20 minute drive on the highway. After exiting the highway and executing a turn the reboot happened again, however the power steering locked up making the car unmanageable. Thankfully nothing was hit by the car! After this incident, driver was rightfully freaked out and won't touch the car again until this is resolved. One week prior the car rebooted once and the engine idled oddly, turned car off and on and worked fine for about a week, then the above incident happened.
THE VEHICLE HAS MAJOR ELECTRICAL ISSUES FROM THE DAY I BOUGHT IT. JUST LAST WEEK I STARTED THE CAR IT MADE A NOISE AS I WAS DRIVING I HAD NO SPEEDOMETER, NO BLINKERS. NO RADIO ON GAS GAUGE AND NO TEMP GAUGE. I HAVE HAD THIS CAR STALL IN MOTION ON A HIGHWAY AND NO RECALL? IT'S BASICALLY A DEATH 🪤
THE STEERING WHEEL STICKS/LOCKS UP ON LEFT AND RIGHT TURNS, USUALLY WHILE DRIVING ON STREET ROADS. THE STEERING WHEEL ALSO LOCKED WHILE SWITCHING LANES ON THE HIGHWAY. THIS IS A MAJOR SAFETY CONCERN. THE RADIO ALSO BLANKS IN/OUT OFTEN WHILE DRIVING THE VEHICLE, SOMETIMES IN CONJUNCTION WITH STEERING ISSUES. I'VE ONLY HAD THIS VEHICLE FOR A SHORT TIME AND BEEN TO THE DEALERSHIP ON REPEATED OCCASIONS WITHOUT ANY LUCK WITH DUPLICATION OR RESOLUTION. ALSO, THE PENDING PRODUCT SAFETY RECALL REGARDING THE REAR SUSPENSION TOE LINK HASN'T BEEN ADDRESSED BY THE DEALERSHIP DUE TO NO AVAILABILITY OF PARTS FROM MANUFACTURER. I'VE PAID FOR THIS USED VEHICLE BUT INHERITED THESE ISSUES WHICH ARE MAJOR SAFETY CONCERNS AND VERY BAD BUSINESS. (SUPPORTING DOCS AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST)
WHEN DRIVING, THE CAR WILL SUDDENLY STOP AND LOSE POWER. IT WILL RESTART AGAIN BUT WILL NOT HAVE POWER STEERING. THIS HAPPENS ON CITY STREETS, BECAUSE OF THE PROBLEM WE HAVE KEPT IT OFF HIGHWAYS. UNKNOWN THE CAUSE, THERE WAS A RECALL ABOUT THIS HAPPENING BUT PER THE VIN IT WAS COMPLETED. WE HAVE OWNED THE CAR 7 MONTHS.
WHILE DRIVING MY VEHICLE TURNED OFF AND BACK ON. THE VEHICLE WAS STALLING ALL THE WAY HOME TURNING ON AND OFF. HIGHEST SPEED I WAS DRIVING WAS NO MORE THAN 35 MPH.
DRIVING SLOW AND WHEN MAKING TURNS THE CAR STARTS TO SHUT OFF IF NOT GIVEN GAS. THE CAR HAS NO SHUTOFF MULTIPLE TIMES WHEN TRYING TO MAKE A SLOW TURN. THIS LAST TIME I HAD TO RESTART THE CAR THEN THE POWER STERRING WAS OUT COMPLETLY MAKING IT NEAR IMPOSSIBLE TO TURN.
THE DASH SCREEN GOES BLACK AND CUTS POWER, DISCONNECTING CALLS AND BLUE TOOTH CONNECTION, AND POWER STEERING. WHEN THIS HAPPENS I AM UNABLE TO TURN THE WHEEL. THE WHEEL JERKS BACK IN PLACE. THIS HAPPENS WHILE THE CAR IS IN MOTION. THIS HAS HAPPENED TO ME WHILE ON THE FREEWAY. IT ONLY CUTS POWER FOR A FEW SECONDS AND IT COMES BACK ON BUT I AM UNABLE TO CONTROL THE CAR WHEN THIS HAPPENS. I AM ALSO UNABLE TO MOVE THE STEERING WHEEL AT ALL WHEN THIS HAPPENS. THIS HAPPENED A FEW MONTHS BACK A FEW TIMES AND I CONTACTED THE DEALERSHIP AND THEY DIDNT KNOW WHAT TO DO WITH IT BECAUSE IT WASNT HAPPENING AT THE TIME. IT MOST RECENTLY HAPPENED YESTERDAY ON 12/10/2020.
I MADE A LEFT HAND TURN AND STEERING WENT OUT OF THE CAR AND HAD TO MANUEVER CAR TO KEEP FROM WRECKING VEHICLE. TOOK TO DEALER AND THEY STATED IT WOULD BE 2200 TO FIX THE PROBLEM. MODULE AND MOTOR NEEDED TO BE REPLACED.
WHILE DRIVING THE WHOLE CAR TURNED OFF. STEERING WHEEL LOCKED UP, ENGINE CUT OFF, AND LIGHT WENT OUT. THIS HAS BEEN HAPPENING FOR A COUPLE OF MONTHS NOW. WHILE I'M DRIVING THE CAR WILL SHUT OFF. IT HAS DONE THIS WHILE I HAVE BEEN ON THE HIGHWAY AND ALSO IN THE CITY. THIS IS VERY DANGEROUS. CAN NOT FIGURE OUT THE ISSUE.
TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2013 CHEVROLET MALIBU. THE CONTACT STATED WHILE DRIVING 30 MPH, THE STEERING WHEEL SEIZED WITH THE BATTERY NOT CHARGING MESSAGE DISPLAYED ON THE INSTRUMENT PANEL. THE CONTACT STATED SHE WAS UNABLE TO REMOVE THE KEY FROM IGNITION. ADDITIONALLY, THE WINDOWS FAILED TO OPERATE AS DESIGNED. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT DRIVABLE. THE VEHICLE WAS TOWED TO AN INDEPENDENT MECHANIC WHERE THE GEAR-BOX WAS REPAIRED AND AN UNKNOWN FUSE WAS REPLACED. THREE DAYS LATER, THE FAILURE RECURRED. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN BACK TO THE INDEPENDENT MECHANIC AND WAS REPAIRED FOR THE SAME ELECTRICAL FAILURE. DESPITE THE SECOND REPAIR, THE FAILURE RECURRED WITH THE BATTERY WARNING LIGHT ILLUMINATED ON THE INSTRUMENT PANEL WHILE HER HUSBAND WAS DRIVING AT 30 MPH. THE CONTACT'S HUSBAND HAD THE VEHICLE TOWED BACK TO THE SAME INDEPENDENT MECHANIC AND WAS INFORMED THAT THERE WAS ANOTHER ELECTRICAL SHORT IN THE FUSE BOX. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOT NOTIFIED OF THE FAILURE. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS APPROXIMATELY 95,000.
AT VARIOUS TIMES WHILE DRIVING-WHETHER PARKED, ACTIVELY DRIVING, AT A STOP SIGN, TURNING, BACKING UP- MY CARS POWER WILL FLICKER AND THE ENGINE SHUTS OFF CAUSING THE STEERING TO LOCK. THIS HAS DONE THIS TO ME QUITE A FEW TIMES, ALMOST CAUSING AN ACCIDENT ON MORE THEN ONE OCCASION. SOMETIMES IT WILL DO IT AS OFTEN AS 14 TIMES IN A 25 MINUTE RIDE. NO LIGHTS SUCH AS THE CEL OR ANYTHING COME ON BEFOREHAND TO INDICATE THAT THERES A PROBLEM WHEN IT HAPPENS. I'VE TAKEN IT TO A MECHANIC TWICE TO HAVE IT CHECKED OUT AND HE SEES NO OBVIOUS REASONS WHY IT WOULD DO THIS, AND THERE ARE NO CODES TO PULL TO EXPLAIN IT. ENOUGH PEOPLE ARE HAVING THIS SAME ISSUE IT SHOULD BE MADE A RECALL AND LOOKED INTO! IT'S NOT SAFE TO DRIVE A VEHICLE LIKE THIS THAT CAN SHUT OFF AND THE STEERING LOCKS AT ANY GIVEN MOMENT. THE 1ST TIME THIS HAPPENED WAS JUNE 5, 2020 AND ALMOST EVERY DAY SINCE.
Showing 1–20 of 50 complaints
Complaints are unverified consumer reports submitted to NHTSA. A high complaint count may reflect vehicle popularity, not defect severity. Data sourced from NHTSA public records.
Data synced from NHTSA on Apr 25, 2026