Home · 2018 Chevrolet Malibu Hev · Complaints

What 11 owners told NHTSA about the 2018 Chevrolet Malibu Hev

These are the actual owner complaints behind this car’s reliability verdict, filed with the federal government, unedited. They’re unverified reports, not confirmed defects: read them as leads for your pre-purchase inspection, not a diagnosis.

All (11)Crash / fire / injury (1)Electrical system (4)Transmission & drivetrain (4)Engine (3)Fuel system (3)Speed control (2)Airbags (1)Lights (1)Seat belts (1)

3 of 11 complaints match · Engine · clear filters

Feb 6, 2022Electrical systemSpeed controlEngine

As I was driving with cruise control on a freeway at 70 mph the car suddenly displayed a warning to reduce speed. I continued to try to get to the next exit but almost instantly it started reducing my power and slowed me down to a crawl. I pulled over on the freeway and it would not restart. The tow truck to it to a chevy dealer and the next morning they called asking for details as the car started right up and they drove it around for 10 minutes without issue. They kept the vehicle all day but were unable to recreate the problem so they told me there was nothing they could do. They pulled 17 codes and said that's too many to diagnose so nothing to do. I drove 15 miles home with no issues. The next day I went to get the oil changed and they tested the 12V battery and told me it failed. I went to buy a battery and drove home. The next day I drove around 10 miles and then it dies again as I was slowing down to a stoplight. I pushed it to a parking lot and installed the new battery. I took the old battery back to the store to get my core deposit back and asked them to test it. They said it tested fine but I went ahead and gave it to them as I already had the new battery installed and it's a pain in the rear to do. On the 3 mile trip home they car jerked/slipped shifting briefly and the check engine light came on. OnStar sent me a notification the first time telling me the battery was drained and I needed to charge it. The second time I received a notification that there was an issue with the "electronic drivetrain" and needed to take it in for service. I'm taking it to the dealer I purchased it from tomorrow to see if they can figure it out.

NHTSA ODI 11450678

Jun 15, 2021Electrical systemEngine

Engine lost power on interstate highway. While this did not result in a crash/ rear end collision, the potential for such injury seems high. 1-2 days prior there were some warning lights (check engine light). Called a dealership Tuesday morning and earliest service appointment was in one week but they assured me that the car was drivable in the meantime. On Wednesday afternoon my son was driving on the interstate and there was a new message “engine power reduced”, and a sudden loss of power. Eventually got the car to nearest Chevrolet dealership. Their technician took over a week to figure out what was wrong; eventually they replaced the ECM but still had problems. After a software update to ECM the problem finally appears to be resolved. Please note that similar problem has been reported with other Malibu models, but my Malibu Hybrid was not recalled. Please consider a recall of all GMmodels similar to the Malibu

NHTSA ODI 11421044

Jan 16, 2020Transmission & drivetrainEngineFuel system

THE CAR LOST POWER WHILE I WAS OPERATING IT. I HAD TO PUT IT IN PARK AND RESTART IT. I WAS IN THE MIDDLE OF PARKING IT ON A CITY STREET.

NHTSA ODI 11299931

Working with the data? Download all 11 complaints as CSV · fetched from NHTSA July 22, 2026

How to use these: a complaint is one owner’s report, filed voluntarily and published unverified. Patterns matter more than any single story. If several owners describe the same failure at similar mileage, put that system at the top of your pre-purchase inspection list. Back to the full 2018 Chevrolet Malibu Hev verdict →