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 dealership. This is a serious safety hazard that could result in serious injury or death in the event of a crash that, will eventually happen if not fixed. Gm needs to step up and correct this issue.
2009 Chevrolet Malibu driver assistance complaints
Page 2 of 10: complaints 11 to 40 of 264, newest first, as owners wrote them.
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 physically open it from the outside. My check engine light is on, also my battery light. And they are all good and up to date. My traction and system light is on too. And my head lights, brake lights, and battery is constantly drained and going out. It's hard to find reasonable price's from auto shops, and the dealership prices are too expensive. I shouldn't have to struggle to turn and work my car because of a computer system that's out. It's very dangerous. I'm going to upload a picture of my car after it was pushed out the ditch. But my steering wheel has been hard to turn and I've been having this problem since january of 2020. And it makes a loud whining noise while trying to turn the wheel.
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.
When I bought it worked good for bout 2 days and I started noticing a light would be blinking like the engine light and a light with like a exclamation mark in side of like a bowl and the speed would reduce and then it would just quit even while your in traffic at a stop light ,going up a hill it would do it just when it got ready
My traction light comes on and stops my whole car and drive extremely slow and my whole just messed up and I need it fixed asap I can't even get to work without my car messing up
1) re-occurring recall fault 13036 -brake lights on - ESC - traction control - etc, these were repaired but you cant repair a defect 2) power steering turns off and on - mentioned to dealer end last year 2019 - mentioned did not receive recall 14116 - spoke with gm rep today 8/21/20 (john) at nbr 800‑222‑1020 he stated this recall expired dec last year any repairs going forward cost on me which isnt right. These repairs - recalls - should be handled no matter mileage/age. Upon attempting a right turn all power to steering wheel was lost but regained slowly - my thought was low power fluid. I parked the night and in morning searched vehicle for power steering reservoir to no avail did I find it - dealer advised it was electronic - still at that date I received no recall to power steering trbl - this should be repaired at gm expense
While I was driving on my way to work going 45 miles an hour the steering wheel suddenly locked up on me almost as if the car was off and I lost complete control of the car resulting in crashing into a street light pole head on.
Whenever it's extremely hot outside my vehicle start to act up as in the 2 front wheels would jerk like they're not getting enough power. My car would also stall out whenever it's extremely hot but the temperature gauge would still show as the car being 1/4 near cold. All of this would have at a stationary position or city street or highway position.
Car was driving fine, then all of a sudden the power steering went out. Esc light came on as well as the power steering and traction light. Became almost impossible to turn the wheel. Especially while going slower.
Was driving down busy street and then a service ESC light came on my car and started loosing power to car and the dash board kept flashing service ESC and power steering light. It kept doing the same thing like every minute. Even it finally starts running out starts jerking but then it looses power again but goes neck on.
Since 2018 my brake lights will come on without touching the brakes. When this happens, my cruise control won't work. I can tap the brakes and they'll go off for about 3-5 seconds and then come back on. After awhile, the ESC and traction control lights will pop up on my dashboard. I've had the sensor replaced/reset 5-6 times since august of 2018, with the most recent june 2020. It worked fine that day, but the next day they all came back on. Today, it was fine, but later will probably be another story.,
The ESC light comes on and the steering gets kinda stiff like it's going to lock up and then it flashes engine power reduced as I was at a stop sign I pressed on the gas to go and the car took off as normal then as I was turning onto the other street to enter the freeway on-ramp the ESC light started flashing the steering began feeling like it was going to lock up and the engine power reduced started flashing.
Recently bought a malibu 2009 ,4 cylinder. When I bought the car the steering wheel was shaky as I drove the car. After a 4 days of purchase I went on the freeway and the service ESC / power steering came on the dash board . I exited the freeway when making a left turn it was difficult to turn the steering wheel . I pulled over to the side and turned the car off and then back on the car was again drivable but after about 5 mins the car did the same thing again and I could not manage to steer the wheel to make left or right turns.
Power steering service ecs light loss of power shut the steering on mid road very dangerous it's a shame we don't have a recall yet and I read over 100 complaints of the same problems on these cars most on the 2009 chevy malibu
While driving at speed, steering intermittently stops working, and ESC pops up on info system, making it very difficult to control vehicle. When I turn vehicle off and on again steering works again, for indeterminate amount of time.
Esc displays across driver info center when driving at any speed, followed by no power steering. Problem is intermittent, seems to happen in wet/cold weather. Based on forums this is a common problem and requires a steering wheel sensor
Was driving home from work on friday and the power steering went out and I almost ended up in a field, could not turn it. Stopped and turned it off and back on again and it went back to normal, and it went out again as I was pulling into the drive. The next day I started car up and it had its warnings across my dash and the steering was out again. I just picked it up from the shop and it cost me $1562.00 to get it repaired. The steering assist motor, a new steering column(electric) and r&r steering column w/sgl switch and new turn signal switch. It's all connected. I have yet to find a recall for my car on my VIN number but yet there were a few recalls on many cars including my 2009 malibu for this exact issue but yet I never received anything in the mail about it. I hope that they intend on doing something about this, I could have been killed while trying to take a curve and had to struggle just to keep it on the road in the other persons lane until I could get pulled off the road and out of the way. From reading all that I have read on here it seems that I am not the only one with the issue.
Post recall repair for breaklights, break lights stay illuminated when not pressing the break pedal. 3rd break light doesn't always turn on. Random episodes of car sputtering and then dash warnings including: service ESC, service traction, service hill start. Head lamps requiring replacement every 3 to 6months.
Driving down the interstate yesterday and started feeling small jerks in the steering wheel. Like something on the other side jerking it in my hand. Not enough to move the car just in my hand. Now today go outside, crank it and steering wheel will not move. The ESC and power steering indicators came on.
Vehicle has had power steering assist quit twice on two separate occasions while in a turn on county roads. Complete loss of power steering mid turn. Motor has been replaced once and is having the same problem again.
My vehicle has lost steering after starting several times over the last week. My info screen displays an ESC and power steering message and my steering wheel is locked in place. Once the car is shut off and restarted the messages go away and steering is back to normal. I have found a recall related to this on certain vehicles of my year/make/model and also many forums of people having the same issues. However, when searching by VIN it says my vehicle has 0 recalls. I have also noticed when my vehicle is stopped, or in park my steering wheel will shake for a moment and then stop.
Power steering goes out and the traction control light comes on and service ESC message comes across the message center. Turn the car off and back on and the light goes out, power steering comes back for a second then the light trips again and it's out again. I have lost power steering while driving down a highway and also while backing out of my driveway. It is not safe to drive this car. If I am in the middle of a turn and I loosing power steering, I have to slow down and pull over to turn off the car and hope that power steering turns back on.
When driving my vehical all of a sudden the lower stearing went out and all these warning lights come on. It's super hard to steer I have 3 kids that ride in this car everyday and it's very dangerous. Also my headlight drivers side has gone out 4 times in the past 6 months and its very expensive to fix!
Tl* the contact owns a 2009 chevrolet malibu. The contact stated on several occasions while driving, the drivers side headlight and rear brake lights became inoperable. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic to be repaired. The parts replaced was not stated by the contact. A dealer was not contacted. The contact referenced the failure to the federal safety agency campaign number: 14v252000 (service brakes, hydraulic, electrical system, exterior lighting, vehicle speed control, electronic stability control). The manufacturer was not contacted or informed of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 113,000.
While sitting idle my steering wheel shakes erratically. Sometimes when I start the car the service ESC and power steering shows on my dash, when I turn the car off and back on again it will not appear again and the steering is back. The steering wheel shakes while driving if I turn the steering wheel slightly to one side it stops. It seems to happen when it is very cold out.
Driving and ESC comes on and power steering shuts off. Pulled to safe place, which was hard without power... And turned car off but it happened again shortly there after.
Power steering has quit working unexpectedly while driving.. Electronic traction control has quit working also at the same time.
Power steering shut down while driving, stability control shut down, loss of traction control
Driving on a major expressway. The steering wheel locked up. Not allowing me to steer or control the direction the car was traveling in. Heart racing, I shifted the car in neutral.turned the ignition switch on and off several times, while still traveling at 55 miles per hour. The ability to steer came back. This is my daughter,s car . The car has sat while she repair things the dealer suggested to repair, before the steering could be checked. A module control sensor was just repaired this week. Jan.6,2020
I lose power steering while I'm driving. I have to stop and restart my car. After driving a few minutes the light comes on and says ESC and I lose power steering again.
VIN decoder
See the problems and recalls for an exact car
Buying a used 2009 Chevrolet Malibu?
Check the exact car before you pay: accidents, salvage or flood titles, odometer readings and previous owners.
Check its history