What 786 owners told NHTSA about the 2016 Chevrolet Impala Eco Eassist

Yesterday I was driving down the freeway at 70 mph when the car slowed down to 30 miles a hour and the message engine power is reduced comes on. Had to exit the freeway and turn off the car. Then it was fine.

NHTSA ODI 11446549

The contact owns a 2016 Chevrolet Malibu. The contact stated while driving approximately 70 MPH, the check engine warning light illuminated, and the RPM decreased by approximately 4,000 revs per minute. The contact was able to pull over to the shoulder and cruised until the vehicle began to accelerate as needed. The vehicle was taken to a local mechanic where it was diagnosed with needing the battery replaced. The vehicle was repaired however, the failure persisted. The manufacturer was informed of the failure and confirmed that the VIN was not included under recall. The failure mileage was approximately 177,000.

NHTSA ODI 11445626

I was driving down the Freeway at 65 mph. The roads were wet and slick from snow and in heavy traffic. I got a check engine light and immediately a Engine Power Reduced light. I suddenly lost power and another vehicle behind me almost hit me. I was able to get to the side of the road and shut it off. After a few minutes, I started it back up and the light was still on. I needed to get off the freeway and find a way to work so I put on the emergency flashers and drove to the next exit. The light remained on but I had full power. I am trying to get an appointment to have it looked at.

NHTSA ODI 11445078

I was driving on a highway approx 60 miles an hour when a message came in my dashboard stating reduction in engine power, the vehicle abruptly slowed to 20 mph without any warning and I was barely able to pull my vehicle off to the side of the road without being rear ended by the vehicle behind me on the highway.

NHTSA ODI 11444572

Engine power reduced light came on as I was driving 55 mph on the freeway and my vehicle immediately slowed down to under 20 mph putting me and my wife lives in danger by almost having several vehicles crash into us. This has not just happened to me but different people I’ve asked with Chevy Malibus. This problem needs to be fixed by General Motors at NO COST to the consumers. I can’t believe there’s no recall on this issue. Shame on them.

NHTSA ODI 11443652

Loss of engine power; vehicle not shifting/idling; shift to park issue

NHTSA ODI 11442589

I have been getting many of notifications from my car stating that the engine power has been reduced and i am unable to accelerate past 40 max. I travel quite often and drive to work 7/7 days a week and the roads i take are heavily traveled so because of this i’ve almost gotten into many many accidents due to the accelerator failure.

NHTSA ODI 11442189

I was driving on a highway, when a message appeared on my control panel stating the engine power was reduced, my engine light turned on, and my car slowed significantly (top speed achievable at about 20 mph). With my hazard lights on, I managed to safely exit the highway and find a parking lot to park in while checking my driver’s manual. The manual mentioned that if the warning light persisted, the car should be checked by a mechanic. As this made it seem that there were instances where the warning message did go away, and thus the problem may also resolve, I turned off my car and turned it back on. The engine light on my control panel persisted but the engine power message was no longer present. Before reentering the highway, I attempted to reach speeds above 20 mph and was successful in doing so. As such, I cautiously finished my journey to work. As I felt it was unsafe to use my car before it was checked by a mechanic, I had my car towed to a mechanic’s shop where I was informed: “Found DTC P2138 accelerator pedal plausibility. Inspected the IP to body harness connector for water intrusion or corrosion and found none at this time. Suggest replacing the accelerator pedal assembly and recheck for proper operation.”

NHTSA ODI 11441591

"Engine power reduced" notification while driving on the highway causing rapid reaction to pull to the shoulder of the highway. This happened 3 time this morning on my way to work.

NHTSA ODI 11440981

Unknown ,vehicle cut off in the middle of busy road with warning sign popping up after car cut off stating service stabilitrak and steering assist reducing power with steering wheel locking.Me and my child 10 year old could’ve lost our lives today.Then there was no engine light coming on until car couldn’t come back on.Roadside Assitance gave a hot shot car still didn’t come on car won’t start back up just keep ticking in all lights inside and radio works fine the heat came out cold.Also when car goes into auto stop car will just cut off in won’t start back up you can only drive in L6.I only had the car for 2years

NHTSA ODI 11440358

The contact owns a 2016 Chevrolet Malibu. The contact stated while driving at various speeds, the electronics turned off inadvertently and the steering wheel became difficult to move. The contact stated that the check battery charging warning light was displayed. The vehicle was taken to the local mechanic where it was diagnosed with needing the battery and alternator replaced. The manufacturer was not informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 97,000.

NHTSA ODI 11439783

Engine needed rebuilt due to a defect, in this process vehichle computer was reset, after the reset the radio began acting oddly randomly changing inputs and radio stations and occasionally not turning on. culminating in all internal audio going out including turn signal noise and internal alarms like seat belt, and key left in vehicle, with a black touch screen. This problem is fixed by resetting the car (unplugging battery and plugging it back in)the problem is described in a recall on other similar models of this car.

NHTSA ODI 11438048

The morning I started my trip. My back up camera stayed on. I stopped turned the car off and back on. It was still on. Turned it off again. This time the camera went off. I was going up the cajon pass. No warning light or anything. Was coming up to my exit. Tried to slow down to exit. Couldn't press my brakes. They were rock hard to press. Took my foot off gas. Slowed down enough to get to the shoulder of the road. Once I was able to stop. My brakes were hard to press they made a clunk noise. I noticed the check engine light was on. I could of been killed had someone been in front of me and stopped. Or I could of killed someone. This is not the first time these brakes have done this. They did it earlier this year I wasn't able to press my brakes as and when I was it made the same noise. I had it towed to dealer to be fixed. They said they fixed it. This could of killed me or someone else as I was traveling on the freeway at faster speeds than the streets

NHTSA ODI 11435572

Shift to park warning on DIC. Can't shut car down.

NHTSA ODI 11435382

After driving, the car will not shift into park. The battery is still on. Jiggling the shifter knob, turning the car off and back on, and shifting from another gear to park does not resolve this issue. The battery stays on. I have 20,000 miles on a 2016 model.

NHTSA ODI 11435117

THE AUTO RIGHT AFTER BEING STOPPED AND WHEN YOU START AGAIN THE STEERING WHEEL SHAKES AND ALMOST CAUSES AN ACCIDENT. THE STEERING ASSIST REDUCE COMES ON. LOOKING ON GOOGLE THIS IS A COMMON AND BAD PROBLEM WITH THE AUTO AND SHOULD HAVE A RECALL. THANK YOU

NHTSA ODI 11433837

CHMSL water leaking inside the vehicle from rear roof stop light, it’s a speacial coverage from GM. My vehicle has odor smell & inside water damage & mold Starling Chevrolet Orlando is non cooperative & giving me false information & run around between dealership & GM

NHTSA ODI 11433627

The contact owns a 2016 Chevrolet Malibu. The contact stated that while pulling up to the driveway, his wife informed him that the front passenger side headlight and rear driver side brake light were not working. Part of the vehicle's radio also melted. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic and diagnosed with electrical failure and the front passenger side headlight bulb was replaced. However, the failure recurred, and the vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 110,000.

NHTSA ODI 11432803

The contact owns a 2016 Chevrolet Malibu. The contact stated as the vehicle was being washed at the car wash, he noticed that there was water leaking into the rear passenger’s side of the vehicle. The contact also stated that the windows of the vehicle would become foggy while driving in all seasons of the year, affecting his visibility of the road. The vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired by an independent mechanic or dealer. The contact stated that the failure had been recurring. The dealer and the manufacturer were not notified of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 36,000.

NHTSA ODI 11431473

The contact owns a 2016 Chevrolet Malibu. The contact stated that the front driver’s side seat belt retractor malfunctioned, and the seat belt would not secure the driver. The cause of the failure was not determined. The local dealer and manufacturer were notified of the failure, but no assistance was offered. The failure mileage was 60,450.

NHTSA ODI 11430975

The contact owns a 2016 Chevrolet Malibu. The contact stated that after shifting to the park position, the message "shift to park" displayed on the instrument panel and the vehicle was unable to be turned off. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer who diagnosed that the shifter was faulty and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not yet repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 71,000. The VIN was invalid.

NHTSA ODI 11431088

The car stalls if i stop or in traffic..the car is still running I can have the gas pedal to the floor it will not go then it takes off really quick when when it powers back on it feel like it loses power when I’m trying to go but the car is running the whole time it’s Hybrid propulsion system General Motors LLC (GM) is recalling certain model year 2016 Malibu Hybrid vehicles manufactured October 27, 2015, to June 3, 2016. The affected vehicles have a shut-off switch for the high voltage battery for use when servicing the vehicle. This manual service disconnect switch (MSD) may not be properly installed and thus may not lock into position, unexpectedly disconnecting the high-voltage power while driving, effectively stalling the vehicle.

NHTSA ODI 11430408

Second issue with brakes on 2016 Chevy Malibu. First issue fixed in September 2020 by replacing vacuum pump and sensor. The pump failed and pieces of the pump break off and fall into the engine. The exact same issue happened again June 2021. The brakes are very hard and a loud thumping noise was coming from under the hood when you pressed the brakes. It was very hard to stop the car. I knew it was the same issue from September 2020. The vacuum pump was removed and returned to the dealership where the I purchased it from in September 2020 when the original part failed. The part I returned in June 2021 was still under warranty. When I returned it and told them it failed the exact same way in 2020, the man in parts said "They PROBABLY won't warranty the part again since it failed twice. So there's probably something else wrong with your car" REALLY!!! I did notice that the part had been redesigned and the part that breaks off in the engine is no longer there. This proves Chevrolet knows this is an issue, but refuses to recall these vehicles. Thankfully I was on a country road, not driving fast when it failed this time. We live at the bottom of 2 hills, so I had to drive partially in the ditch to help the car slow down enough to safely pull into my driveway with no brakes.

NHTSA ODI 11430562

Drove home from work and grocery shopping, killed the engine and noticed the fan was still running. Got back in the car and pressed to start the engine again. The engine stumbled to start but did start. I killed the engine again and everything went off (including the fan) as it should have. I decided to start the car again to see if it would repeat what happened. The car started, but no lights came on on the dashboard or radio. I had to press the start button again before any lights would come on. But the engine would die about 3 seconds after the lights came on. The light on the start button was green the entire time until I pressed it a third time. (I have video of this). After this the car wouldn't start at all. I left the car alone for the evening. The next morning I attempted to start the car and it wouldn't start at all, it was as if the battery was dead. I drove my daughter's car to work. The battery was purchased in early 2019 and was still under warranty, but the dealership wouldn't check the battery back unless it was in the car, which wouldn't start. I purchased a battery tester and the battery was dead. I recharged the battery and the car still stumbled to start but would eventually start after several tries. The car appears to drive ok, but won't start without charging the battery or getting a jump start. And once it starts, it's very hard to get it to start again immediately. This has been going on for 2 months now. I haven't been driving the car because I have an hour one way commute to work and can't chance the car giving me any issues. I periodically jump start the car and drive it for 5-10 miles. Yesterday, I jump started the car and when I killed the engine, the fan didn't go off again. It took about 6 tries to start the car again, once it started and I killed the engine the fan finally stopped. The check engine light has been on and off during these past 2 months with these current issues.

NHTSA ODI 11430566

Stability track

NHTSA ODI 11426748