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Chevrolet · NHTSA safety record

2019 Chevrolet Malibu

Every safety complaint, recall and defect investigation the US government holds on this vehicle.

188

Complaints

8

Crashes

1

Fires

7

Injuries

0

Deaths

Owners of the 2019 Chevrolet Malibu have filed 188 safety complaints with NHTSA between October 2018 and July 2026. The most complained-about system is the power train, named in 65 of them (35%). The typical failure was reported at 40,744 miles, the median across the 56 complaints that gave an odometer reading.

Complaints rose by half year on year: 40 in the twelve months to 2026-Q1, against 22 in the twelve before.

NHTSA has issued 1 recall covering this vehicle.

Recalls (1)

SEAT BELTS:CRITICAL FASTENERS

21V649000 · August 20, 2021

The defect
General Motors, LLC (GM) is recalling certain 2016-2021 Chevrolet Malibu and 2019-2021 Cadillac XT4 vehicles. The rear seat belt retractors may be improperly secured with loose or missing fasteners.
The risk
An improperly secured seat belt retractor may not function properly in a crash, increasing the risk of injury.
The remedy
Dealers will inspect and tighten the rear seat belt retractors, as necessary, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed on September 17, 2021. Owners may contact Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020 and Cadillac customer service at 1-800-458-8006. GM's number for this recall is N212333380.

General Motors, LLC · up to 402 vehicles across all model years covered

What owners report

Complaints naming each system. One complaint can name several, so these add up to more than 188.

POWER TRAIN 65 35%
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 61 32%
ENGINE 61 32%
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 36 19%
SERVICE BRAKES 20 11%
FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 17 9%
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 12 6%
AIR BAGS 6 3%
EXTERIOR LIGHTING 4 2%
SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC 4 2%
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 3 2%
STEERING 2 1%

When the complaints arrived

By the year NHTSA received them, which is not the year the failures happened. They peaked in 2023 at 42.

2018 2023 2026
2018 to 2026, the last of them a part year

In owners' own words

Quoted from NHTSA's complaint file. These are unverified accounts by the people who filed them, not findings of fault.

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM

3 injured · crash · towed

The Apple CarPlay system, specifically the GPS/navigation function, froze and malfunctioned. This occurred in two separate vehicles I’ve owned: a 2019 Chevy Malibu and now a 2019 Chevy Equinox (the vehicle involved in the accident). Both cars frequently experienced lagging and freezing while using Apple CarPlay. The infotainment system and vehicle are available for inspection. On June 28, 2025, while driving at night with GPS active via CarPlay, the system froze and gave me an incorrect instruction — telling me to turn left onto a one-way street in the wrong direction. I did not realize I was going the wrong way until reaching the intersection, and by that point, I was involved in a head-on

NHTSA complaint 11674821, quoted in part. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

ENGINE

2 injured · crash · towed · 105,800 miles

The contact owns a 2019 Chevrolet Malibu. The contact stated that while at a light, the engine lost motive power and shut off. The vehicle began to roll backward. The emergency brake was inoperable. The vehicle shifted from park. The contact continued to pull the emergency brake, but it failed to respond. The contact attempted to turn the vehicle off, but it failed to turn off. The vehicle crashed into a ditch. The passenger sustained injuries to her head. The driver sustained injuries to his shoulder. The occupants did not receive any medical attention. There was no fire or air bag deployment. A police report was filed. The vehicle was towed to a tow lot. The local dealer was not

NHTSA complaint 11610957, quoted in part. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

AIR BAGS

1 injured · crash · towed

The vehicle experienced a serious and ongoing electrical and system malfunction shortly after being returned from repairs related to a prior accident. Within a short period of driving, multiple warning messages and system errors began appearing simultaneously, indicating failures across several vehicle systems. The issues included repeated computer system faults affecting critical functions. The malfunction made the vehicle unreliable and unsafe to operate, as the errors appeared suddenly and without warning while driving. This created a significant safety risk due to the potential loss of vehicle control and unpredictable system behavior. The problem has been persistent and has not been

NHTSA complaint 11729126, quoted in part. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

ENGINE

1 injured · crash · 2,500 miles

START/STOP ON POWERTRAIN / MOTOR CONTROL. MOTOR STOPS ON BRAKE PEDAL PRESSURE AND STARTS UPON ? ? DECREASE IN PEDAL PRSSURE ? MOTOR STARTED AND RPM ACCELERATED BU ITSELF WHILE BRAKE PEDAL APPLIED, VEHICLE "SURGED" AND HIT POST. MOTOR ACCELERATES RPM / WORKS BY ITSELF. PROBLEM IS INTERMITTENT. DELAY IN "START / STOP" CAUSING SURGE. SOFTWARE PROGRAMMING PROBLEM ?

NHTSA complaint 11196208. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Acceleration issues. Started once put in drive didnt want to accelerate, acceleration issues now at higher speeds while driving

NHTSA complaint 11748564. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

SERVICE BRAKES
Since 2024/2025 car has been malfunctioning, I’ve had it checked out but it just got worse and nothing was fixed l, it is I driveable and very unsafe. When driving it abruptly stops like it’s crashing Messages that pop up (Multiple ones at one time flashing as well) - service “ESC” -“service power steering drive with care” -“shift to park” -“low fuel” (but car has gas in it) - check engine light on -all lights flashing at once while jerking -car stops abruptly when you’re driving it -radio blacks out while driving -dashboard blacks out as vehicle is running -jerking while trying to stop -sensor malfunctions -transmission slippage -engine still on and running sounds like it’s cooling down

NHTSA complaint 11742162, quoted in part. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

ENGINE
The first problem with my car was the tire pressure monitor. The location of each tire was wrong on the informant section. Soon after purchasing the car when ever I would park the car would not shut off and the DIC would display Shift to park message. Around 6 months after the purchase the brake pedal was getting harder the press down on and within a week from that while driving home from work the car completely shut off in the middle of traffic. It wouldn't start leaving me stuck on a busy street with heavy traffic blocking use of the lane. After 10 minutes it started back up and I barely made it into a parking lot of a shopping center with it shutting off again before I can park. I had to

NHTSA complaint 11738236, quoted in part. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

POWER TRAIN

91,000 miles

The contact owns a 2019 Chevrolet Malibu. The contact stated that upon shifting to park(P) and attempting to turn off the vehicle, the message "Shift to Park" was displayed. While investigating the failure online, the contact became aware that it was a common failure, and there was an ongoing Class Action Lawsuit related to the failure. The dealer was notified of the failure and informed the contact that the VIN was not included in a related recall. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure mileage was approximately 91,000.

NHTSA complaint 11727912. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

AIR BAGS

crash

I am reporting a safety concern involving a 2019 Chevrolet Malibu. The vehicle was previously involved in accidents prior to my purchase and had known mechanical issues, including a gear shifting problem that was not properly repaired. In February 2024, while the vehicle was insured under Ocean Harbor Casualty Insurance Company, it sustained a significant front-end collision impacting the driver side. The impact was severe enough to cause structural damage, including a dent to the vehicle frame. Despite the severity of the collision, the airbags did not deploy at all. Based on the extent of the damage, airbag deployment would reasonably be expected. Prior to this incident, the vehicle had

NHTSA complaint 11727960, quoted in part. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

Compare

Other years of the Chevrolet Malibu

Model year Complaints Recalls Deaths
2025 10 1 —
2024 35 2 —
2023 61 2 —
2022 91 1 —
2021 85 2 —
2020 194 1 1
2018 694 6 —
2017 699 4 —
2016 835 9 1
2015 269 3 1
2014 349 6 1
2013 835 9 —
2012 905 2 —
2011 976 3 —
2010 1,359 3 —

Other 2019 Chevrolet models

Silverado 1500 1,055 Traverse 401 Equinox 296 Blazer 183 Bolt EV 175 Corvette 147 Colorado 146 Trax 133

Every Chevrolet on this site — 298 vehicles, 747 recall campaigns and 5 open investigation s.

If this is your car and a dealer keeps failing to fix it, your state's lemon law may require the manufacturer to replace it or buy it back. What each state asks for , read from the statutes.

Where these numbers come from

A complaint is one owner's account and has not been verified by NHTSA or by us. A vehicle with more complaints is not necessarily worse: models that sold in larger numbers collect more of them. How this is counted.

Compiled and maintained by
Independent developer and analyst