What 976 owners told NHTSA about the 2011 Chevrolet Malibu Eco

LIGHT ON DASH CONSOLE RANDOMLY COMES ON ALERTING THAT THERE IS AN ISSUE WITH THE AIR BAG SYSTEM AND ALSO REMINDING ME THAT I NEED TO PUT ON MY SEAT BELT WHEN MY SEAT BELT IS ALREADY FASTENED PROPERLY. THESE ISSUES HAVE BEEN PRESENT FOR ALMOST THE ENTIRE LIFE OF THE VEHICLE BUT I HAVE CAUGHT HELL FROM THE CHEVY DEALERSHIPS TO HAVE THEM CORRECTED AND AM VERY DISSATISFIED AND WILL NEVER PURCHASE ANOTHER CHEVY PRODUCT AS THIS SEEMS TO BE A COMMON PROBLEM. *TR

NHTSA ODI 10592689

I PURCHASED MY 2011 MALIBU IN APRIL 2012. INITIALLY, I WAS EXPERIENCING POWER SURGES UPON BREAKING. I WAS SLOWING DOWN TO COME TO A COMPLETE STOP AND MY CAR WOULD SURGE FORWARD BEFORE STOPPING. THE DEALERSHIP REPLACED A SENSOR. I'M STILL EXPERIENCING THE SURGES OCCASIONALLY. THE NEXT TIME I TOOK IT IN BECAUSE I WAS GETTING A LOT OF NOISE AND VIBRATION WHEN DRIVING ON A ROUGH A SURFACE. THE DEALERSHIP REPLACED THE STEERING COLUMN. IT WAS FINE FOR A YEAR, NOW THAT PROBLEM IS RETURNING. DURING THE WINTER 2013, MY REAR DEFROST STOPPED WORKING. I TOOK IT IN AND WAS TOLD THAT THE REAR FUSE BLOCK WAS MELTED AND IT WILL COST $535 TO HAVE IT REPLACED. AND ANOTHER $230 TO HAVE THE DRIVER'S SIDE SEAT BELT REPLACED---- IT DOESN'T CONNECT SECURELY WITHOUT FIDDLING WITH IT. I THINK THERE SHOULD BE RECALLS ISSUED ON ALL OF THESE PROBLEMS BECAUSE I HAVE READ BLOGS AND OTHERS ARE HAVING THE SAME ISSUES, AND THEY ARE ALL RELATED TO THE SAFETY OF THE VEHICLE. *TR

NHTSA ODI 10576876

BOTH FRONT DRIVER'S AND PASSENGER'S SEAT BELTS ON RENTAL CAR ARE INSTALLED ON VEHICLE BACKWARDS. BELT NEEDS TO BE TWISTED TO GET IT TO WORK. TWISTING IT DECREASES SURFACE AREA WHERE IT CONTACTS THE PERSON'S BODY (FROM THE FULL 2" WIDTH OF THE STRAP TO NOW A REDUCED WIDTH). THIS CAUSES IT TO "DIG IN" TO PERSON WHERE AS IF WERE INSTALLED CORRECTLY, THE FULL 2 INCH WIDTH OF THE SEAT BELT WOULD CONTACT THE PERSON'S BODY AND NOT "DIG IN" TO THE BODY. *TR

NHTSA ODI 10384202