2011 Chevrolet MALIBU - Ratings, Complaints and Recalls

The 2011 Chevrolet Malibu has an overall safety rating of 4 out of 5, which indicates above-average safety features. It excels in side crash tests with a rating of 5 for both the driver and passenger sides. The front crash ratings are also decent with a 4 for the driver side and a 3 for the passenger side. The car has stability control as a standard feature, which enhances the driver's control over the vehicle in various road conditions. However, it does not have collision warning or lane departure warning systems.

In terms of complaints and recalls, the Chevrolet Malibu has received a significant number of complaints, totaling 933. Additionally, there have been 4 recalls issued for this model, indicating that there were some safety concerns that needed to be addressed by the manufacturer. It is essential for owners of this vehicle to stay informed about any potential safety issues and ensure that all recalls are promptly addressed to maintain the safety of the vehicle.

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Top stats at a glance

Complaint Count

933

Recall Count

4

Investigation Count

1

Safety Rating

4/5

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Safety Features

2011 Chevrolet Malibu 4 DR FWD Safety Features

Here are the safety features that come as standard on the 2011 Chevrolet Malibu 4 DR FWD

Electronic Stability Control (ESC)

ESC is an advanced safety feature in vehicles designed to help drivers maintain control during challenging driving conditions. By continuously monitoring various factors such as steering angle, vehicle speed, and individual wheel speeds, ESC can detect and reduce the risk of skidding or loss of control. It achieves this by automatically applying brakes to specific wheels to stabilize the vehicle.

Standard
Forward Collision Warning (FCW)

Forward Collision Warning (FCW) is a safety feature in vehicles that helps prevent frontal collisions by alerting the driver of an imminent collision with a vehicle or obstacle ahead. Using sensors such as radar or cameras, FCW monitors the distance and speed of vehicles in front, and if it detects a potential collision, it provides visual and/or auditory warnings to prompt the driver to take evasive action.

No
Lane Departure Warning (LDW)

Lane Departure Warning (LDW) is a safety feature in vehicles that alerts drivers when their vehicle unintentionally drifts out of its lane without signaling. Utilizing cameras or sensors to monitor lane markings on the road, LDW detects when the vehicle crosses these lines and triggers visual, auditory, or haptic alerts to notify the driver of potential lane departure.

No

2011 Chevrolet Malibu 4 DR FWD Safety Ratings

Here we have the crash and rollover ratings for the 2011 Chevrolet Malibu 4 DR FWD Where possible we've included the ratings for the oldest and latest models of this car so you can compare how the safety ratings have changed over time.

Frontal Crash Ratings

Combines Driver and Passenger star ratings into a single frontal rating. The frontal barrier test simulates a head-on collision between two similar vehicles, each moving at 35 mph.

Test 2005 Score 2011 Score 2024 Score
Overall Front Crash Rating Not Rated 4 5
Front Crash Driver Side Rating 5 5 5
Front Crash Passenger Side Rating 5 3 5

Side Crash Ratings

Combines Side Barrier and Side Pole Star Ratings into a single side rating.

Test 2005 Score 2011 Score 2024 Score
Overall Side Crash Rating Not Rated 5 5
Side Crash Drivers Side Rating 4 4 5
Side Crash Passenger Side Rating 5 5 5
Combined Side Barrier Pole Rating - Front Not Rated 4 5
Combined Side Barrier Pole Rating - Rear Not Rated 5 5
Overall Side Barrier Rating Not Rated 4 5

Rollover Ratings

The Rollover Resistance test measures the risk of rollover in a single-vehicle, loss-of-control scenario.

Test 2005 Score 2011 Score 2024 Score
Rollover Rating Not Rated 4 4
Rollover Possibility % 0% 0% 0%
Dynamic Tip Result No Tip No Tip
Side Pole Crash Rating Not Rated 5 5

Complaints for the 2011 Chevrolet MALIBU

This chart show the number of complaints for each car component. A Higher number of complaints could indicate that this car might have a common fault. Something to look out for when purchasing one.

Component Complaints

Choose a component to see what complaints people have made about them.

Complaint:
"there wasnt an incident, but the power steering went out in my car and its a problem that the manufacturer knows about so i believe it should be a recall. i had the mechanics at firestone look at my car and they told me that it needs a lower steering column bracket and motor assembly along with the torque input sensor. the service light came on when the power steering went out the light on the dash says service esc power steering."
Components Involved: STEERING
Date of incident: 2025-04-01
Complaint:
"power steering stops working while driving at highway speeds. power steering light illuminates on the dashboard. when this happens, it is barely possible to steer car to the side of the road to prevent accident or injury. other than brakes defects, this is the most serious safety concern there is."
Components Involved: STEERING
Date of incident: 2025-09-01
Complaint:
"the contact owns a 2011 chevrolet malibu. the contact stated while driving 40 mph, the steering wheel pulled to the left independently. the contact pulled to the side of the road and restarted the vehicle. the steering control warning light was illuminated after the vehicle was restarted. the vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic to be diagnosed. the contact was informed that the failure was due to a faulty electronic steering assist motor. the vehicle was not repaired. the manufacturer was made aware of the failure. the failure mileage was approximately 91,000."
Components Involved: STEERING
Date of incident: 2023-01-11
Complaint:
"torque sensor and my steering column and as i did research gm new that it was faulty"
Components Involved: STEERING
Date of incident: 2023-01-05
Complaint:
"while driving, my vehicle will abruptly lose power steering and the wheel will lock up. i am unable to turn my steering wheel. i have to stop my vehicle and turn off the ignition in order to the power steering to work properly. this only last for a few minutes and then it will happen again. this is dangerous and i have had to pull over on the highway to stop and start my vehicle. this first happened in march 2023. also, my vehicles shows a svc notification on the dashboard. and the tire pressure sensor is always on even with inflated tires. lastly, my auto start does not work."
Components Involved: STEERING
Date of incident: 2023-01-03
Complaint:
"power steering keeps failing. steering wheel shakes. power steering light with the esc service light come on. if i turn the vehicle off and back on again, sometimes the power steering will work again."
Components Involved: STEERING
Date of incident: 2024-06-03
Complaint:
"the contact owns a 2011 chevrolet malibu. the contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle inadvertently stopped without depressing the brake pedal. additionally, the contact stated that while making a sharp left or right turn, the vehicle stalled. the contact was able to restart the vehicle. the power steering assist warning light, the check engine warning light, the esc warning light, and the traction control warning light was illuminated. the vehicle was taken to napa auto parts to be diagnosed. the contact was informed that the power steering pump needed to be replaced. neither the dealer nor the manufacturer was notified of the failure. the failure mileage was approximately 200,000."
Components Involved: STEERING
Date of incident: 2023-01-03
Complaint:
"the power steering light came on on my car after driving on the highway. pulled over turn car off and on then sign went away. two days later the power steering and esc light came on and then it went away. took it to holm dealership and they requested i change the outer tie rods and lower control arms. made them changes and the power steering still twitches. this can be a deadly situation if this aint figure out. i don't feel like i should pay all these fees to try to figure the cause of this. everything i read come up with this electrical power steering sensor."
Components Involved: STEERING
Date of incident: 2023-05-02
Complaint:
"the contact owns a 2011 chevrolet malibu. the contact stated while driving 35 mph, the steering wheel started to jerk. the contact stated that the electric stability control (esc) off warning light was illuminated. the contact took the vehicle to the local dealer, where it was diagnosed with needing the electrical pump to be replaced. the vehicle was not repaired. the manufacturer had been informed of the failure. the failure mileage was approximately 179,000."
Components Involved: STEERING
Date of incident: 2021-01-12
Complaint:
"the contact owns a 2011 chevrolet malibu. the contact stated that upon starting the vehicle, the power steering assist intermittently failed to operate as needed. the contact also stated that the check engine warning light illuminated. the dealer was notified of the failure and informed him that a diagnostic test needed to be performed to determine the cause of the failure. the manufacturer was not notified of the failure. the vehicle was not repaired. the failure mileage was approximately 135,000."
Components Involved: STEERING
Date of incident: 2021-01-08

Recalls for the 2011 Chevrolet MALIBU

Component Recalls

Choose a component to see what recalls people have made about them.

Recall:
"general motors llc (gm) is recalling certain 2010-2011 chevrolet malibu vehicles. in the event of a crash necessitating deployment of the driver frontal air bag, the air bag inflator may explode due to being overpressurized."
Consequence:
If the inflator explodes, sharp metal fragments may strike the driver or other occupants resulting in serious injury or death.
Remedy:

GM has notified owners, and dealers will replace the front driver air bag module, free of charge. The recall began February 25, 2019. Owners may contact GM customer service at 1-800-522-9559. GM's number for this recall is N182206630.

Component(s) Involved: AIR BAGS > FRONTAL > DRIVER SIDE > INFLATOR MODULE
Date of incident: 2019-01-16

CHEVROLET Overall Complaint Ranking

This table shows the ranking of car manufacturers when it comes to most complaints and recalls. The manufacturer with the most complaints is at the top. However this doesn't necassarily mean they should be avoided. Some manufacturers might just have more popular or affordable cars which a lot of people have bought. Which means there's more scope for a complaint to be made. Use the ranking table below as a part your wider research into buying a car.

CHEVROLET ranks 2 out of 44 in the complaints ranking table.

Manufacturer Complaint Count Recall Count Ranking
FORD 208,358 3,259 1
CHEVROLET 111,306 2,082 2
TOYOTA 81,019 1,852 3
HONDA 61,937 1,268 4
NISSAN 56,226 930 5
DODGE 45,756 827 6
HYUNDAI 44,150 649 7
GMC 34,441 1,410 8
KIA 29,832 501 9
CHRYSLER 27,698 254 10
TESLA 26,230 730 11
BMW 24,890 1,877 12
VOLKSWAGEN 23,125 829 13
MERCEDES-BENZ 19,066 2,925 14
SUBARU 18,513 703 15
MAZDA 10,599 364 16
PONTIAC 10,430 138 17
CADILLAC 9,434 444 18
AUDI 7,865 1,093 19
BUICK 7,851 279 20
SATURN 7,672 84 21
MERCURY 7,374 135 22
LEXUS 6,373 408 23
LINCOLN 5,897 423 24
ACURA 5,722 382 25
MINI 5,585 366 26
INFINITI 4,000 187 27
MITSUBISHI 3,912 397 28
VOLVO 3,875 727 29
PORSCHE 2,646 1,231 30
SUZUKI 2,272 123 31
FIAT 2,205 80 32
SAAB 1,536 76 33
JAGUAR 1,195 198 34
SMART 528 17 35
GENESIS 436 42 36
ISUZU 249 37 37
ALFA ROMEO 161 37 38
MASERATI 76 46 39
BENTLEY 46 159 40
POLESTAR 42 2 41
LUCID 14 6 42
CODA 4 2 43
MAYBACH 0 0 44

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