2009 Chevrolet Malibu driver assistance & safety tech problems

Related recalls

• Recall 14V252000May 14, 20142,440,524 vehicles
  ELECTRICAL SYSTEM:WIRING · ELECTRONIC STABILITY CONTROL (ESC) · EXTERIOR LIGHTING:BRAKE LIGHTS · EXTERIOR LIGHTING:BRAKE LIGHTS:SWITCH · VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL:CRUISE CONTROL

  General Motors LLC (GM) is recalling certain model year 2004-2012 Chevrolet Malibu vehicles manufactured May 16, 2003, through October 11, 2012, 2004-2007 Malibu Maxx vehicles manufactured June 25, 2003, through April 5, 2007, 2005-2010 Pontiac G6 vehicles manufactured May 26, 2004, through January 4, 2010, and 2007-2010 Saturn Aura vehicles manufactured April 24, 2006, through May 26, 2009. In the affected vehicles, increased resistance in the Body Control Module (BCM) connection may result in voltage fluctuations in the Brake Apply Sensor (BAS) circuit. These fluctuations can cause one or more of these conditions: the brake lights to illuminate without the brake pedal being pushed; the brake lights to not illuminate when the pedal is pushed; difficulty disengaging the cruise control; moving the gear shifter out of the 'PARK' position without pushing the brake; and disablement of crash avoidance features such as traction control, electronic stability control, and panic braking assist features.

  Risk: Any of the above failure conditions increases the risk of a crash.

  Remedy: GM will notify owners, and dealers will attach the wiring harness to the BCM with a spacer, apply dielectric lubricant to both the BCM and harness connector and the BAS and harness connector, and will relearn the brake pedal home position, free of charge. The manufacturer distributed an Interim letter to customers on July 14, 2014. The recall began on August 18, 2014. Owners may contact General Motors customer service at 1-800-222-1020 (Chevrolet), 1-800-762-2737 (Pontiac), 1-800-553-6000 (Saturn). GM's number for this recall is 13036.

What owners say

1. Filed Feb 10, 2026107,000 miNYDriver Assistance & Safety TechSteering

   The contact owns a 2009 Chevrolet Malibu. The contact stated that while the vehicle was idling, it lost power steering functionality. The contact pulled over to the side of the road and restarted the vehicle, and the power steering functionality returned. The failure reoccurred every mile while driving, requiring the driver to pull over to the side of the road to restart the vehicle. The power steering, ESC, and the traction control warning lights were illuminated. The…

   NHTSA complaint #11716945 · source
2. Filed Mar 29, 2023TXBrakesDriver Assistance & Safety TechSteering

   As I'm driving down the road my vehicle will engage the brake without warning while I'm in a curve or turning and it's extremely dangerous. I had a 18 wheeler behind me and my car came to an abrupt stop without warning as I was getting onto the interstate

   NHTSA complaint #11514340 · source
3. Filed Mar 15, 2023TXBrakesDriver Assistance & Safety TechSteering

   When I am going down the road the vehicle comes to a complete stop in a curve sometimes and it's dangerous. Only the bright lights work on the vehicle. The esc activates and turns off a lot when you least expect it

   NHTSA complaint #11512096 · source
4. Filed Oct 25, 2022104,000 miMSDriver Assistance & Safety TechElectrical SystemLighting

   The contact owns a 2009 Chevrolet Malibu. The contact stated that in 2017 the vehicle was repaired under NHTSA Campaign Number: 14V252000 (Electrical System, Exterior Lighting, Vehicle Speed Control, Electronic Stability Control) however, the brake lights would illuminate randomly without the brake pedal being depressed. The contact stated that the brake lights would fail to illuminate whenever the brake pedal was depressed. The failure recurred at various speeds. The…

   NHTSA complaint #11490852 · source
5. Filed Mar 8, 2022103,967 miWIDriver Assistance & Safety TechSteering

   The contact owns a 2009 Chevrolet Malibu. The contact stated that while stopped at a traffic light, the steering wheel started to vibrate. The contact stated that the power steering assist and traction control warning light were illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic who informed her that the vehicle needed further diagnostic testing and should be taken to an authorized dealer. The dealer was contacted and informed her of an unknown recall however, the…

   NHTSA complaint #11455752 · source
6. Filed Nov 2, 2020130,000 miMIDriver Assistance & Safety TechSteeringTransmission & Drivetrain

   I've been having an issue with my vehicle registering which gear it is in. The gears shift hard, and when placing the vehicle in reverse, the vehicle vigorously jerks back and forth. While driving the vehicle on the road, it slowed down to a complete stop in the middle of traffic. The vehicle would not accelerate, and when it finally did, it just takes off with no warning. When placing the vehicle on park, at times it would still roll.. There is also the power steering and…

   NHTSA complaint #11372618 · source
7. Filed Oct 26, 202080,000 miKYDriver Assistance & Safety TechElectrical SystemSteering

   Power steering fails while driving. Dashboard will say "traction off, esc off" and i won't be able to move steering wheel. This has happened in busy intersections. I have to stop the vehicle and restart in order to gain power steering again. Mechanic has diagnosed it as torque sensor/steering column. This was recalled on many other malibus, but not mine. A lot of people are having this same problem but weren't included in the recall. This has been happening since i purchased…

   NHTSA complaint #11366516 · source
8. Filed Oct 24, 2020188,000 miTNDriver Assistance & Safety TechSteeringSuspension

   When going over any bump or turning the front end shakes and makes a clacking noise. Esc is off. Traction control is always off. Error codes read p0010 p0449 p0013 p0722 p0011

   NHTSA complaint #11366176 · source
9. Filed Oct 15, 2020175,000 miOHDriver Assistance & Safety TechSteering

   Driving at about 60 mph on a straight away, car lost power steering and sensor light service esc/power steering started flashing. The steering felt no different prior to losing, no noises. Drove it this way until i reached my destination about 4 miles away. Car sat for 4 hours, turned it back on and had regained all steering and no warning lights came back on. I have noticed that for about the past 4 years, during the colder months, the service esc/service traction…

   NHTSA complaint #11364504 · source
10. Filed Oct 13, 202067,050 miTXDriver Assistance & Safety TechSteering

    Our 2009 malibu just turned 67,000 miles today and the ecm started flashing service steering and no traction control on a two-hour drive home. After limping home by physically man-handling the steering wheel to make a turn, we made it home. Searched on-line for possible issues and found a multitude of other 2009 malibu owners facing the same identical issue. Checked the gm website for any possible recalls and none were found. The same was true when contacting a local gm…

    NHTSA complaint #11364175 · source
11. Filed Oct 4, 2020246,672 miTNCrashDriver Assistance & Safety TechElectrical SystemSteering

    I have a 2009 chevy malibu and it's very unsafe to drive. I have a 4 cylinder car with electric power steering and it was not apart of the recall. Yet it's having the same symptoms as the recall cars. I had to have my car pushed out of a ditch yesterday because it's so hard to turn my steering wheel i lost control of my car. My traction control light is on, and pressing the button does not work. I sometimes don't have control to unlock my door and have to call someone to…

    NHTSA complaint #11362633 · source
12. Filed Sep 21, 2020180,000 miOHDriver Assistance & Safety TechSteering

    Power steering fails often in cold weather but has grown to happen in warmer weather as well. Getting worse over the course of the last 3 years. Happens both in motion and stationary. Usually happens when turning the wheel but not always. There are recalls for this same problem with older model malibus and other gm vehicles but not this model even though others have reported the same issue.

    NHTSA complaint #11360239 · source

Source: U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) Office of Defects Investigation public data. Complaints are submitted by owners and are not verified by NHTSA or by us; a complaint does not prove a defect exists. View this vehicle on NHTSA.gov Methodology