Check a VIN

2016 Chevrolet Malibu acceleration complaints

Page 3 of 6: complaints 41 to 70 of 152, newest first, as owners wrote them.

See the summary of 2016 Chevrolet Malibu acceleration problems: which part fails, at what mileage and related recalls.

Filed Dec 27, 2021 · Acceleration, Engine · ID

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.

Filed Dec 21, 2021 · Acceleration, Engine · IN

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.

Filed Dec 13, 2021 · Acceleration, Engine · MI

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.

Filed Nov 30, 2021 · Acceleration · WI

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.

Filed Nov 24, 2021 · Acceleration, Engine · MO

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.”

Filed Nov 19, 2021 · Acceleration, Engine · MO

"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.

Filed Jun 16, 2021 · Acceleration, Transmission · KS

I have a 2016 Chevrolet Malibu and while driving on the highway, my engine light came on and my speed decelerated from 65 mph to 40. I took my car for a diagnostic test and the results were Trouble Codes: P2138, U0401-71 and C0242-00. I have done my research and from what I have found so far, is that several people have made Youtube videos about these codes, complaints and complaints on this website as well, and it has come to my understanding, that if enough people complain that this can be a safety issue, then maybe the "POWERS THAT BE", will help with this issue and possibly resolve it. This is and can be dangerous for an individual to drive at the average speed on most U.S. highways, 65, and they decelerate without warning down to 40 mph. I'm not sure why anyone does not se the dangers in this situation, especially with other motorists on the road driving at speeds of up to 70 mph, sometimes 75 mph. If I have vehicles behind me driving 65 or more and my vehicle decides to decelerate because of a sensor failure, the vehicle behind me is not going to know that there is a problem and may not have enough time to react before causing an accident. I am adding my concern not only to many individuals who have reported the same or similar experience , but in hopes that this issue would gain more attention.

Filed May 15, 2021 · Acceleration, Suspension · 69,424 miles · OH

My car won't shift into park sometimes and the suspension is making a poppin noise and my cruise control is not working

Filed Apr 10, 2021 · Acceleration, Electrical · 77,500 miles · CA

Was driving in 45mph street when I got a 'engine power reduced' message and dropped speed to 10mph. This is clearly a safety issue and can very well cause an accident if I'm driving on highway or uphill for the matter.

Filed Mar 26, 2021 · Acceleration, Engine · 65,851 miles · MI

I was driving on a secondary road going about 45 MPH when all of a sudden my car decelerated to 20 MPH in a matter of seconds. The dash showed me an "engine power is reduced" message and my check engine light came on. I was able to safely pull off the road and was able to get home safely. I turned the car off for about 10 minutes and restarted it and it seemingly is fine now but this is terribly unsafe. To my knowledge there is no recall or any word on this from gm.

Filed Mar 26, 2021 · Acceleration, Engine · 50,000 miles · NJ

I was coming to a stop at a traffic light. I received an alert on my dash "reduced engine power" and my check engine light came on. My car became much less responsive to pressing on the accelerator and seemed to be having trouble going more than ~30 MPH. An inspection of the problem gave the error code p2138 as the source of the issue.

Filed Mar 15, 2021 · Acceleration, Transmission · 43,000 miles · AL

While driving on the highway doing 55 MPH my vehicle began to stutter and then immediately dropped to a speed of 20 MPH. It would not accelerate any further. Check engine light came on as well as'reduced engine power' message. I pulled over and shut the car off, waited a few minutes and restarted. It drove this time at a spped of 35. Made it home within a few minutes and let the car sit. The next day the check engine light was still in but the car drive at regular speed.

Filed Mar 10, 2021 · Acceleration · 47,000 miles · MI

Reduced engine power warning came on with engine light causing vehicle to slow down abruptly; code p2138 reads on engine diagnostic

Filed Mar 2, 2021 · Acceleration · 38,000 miles · NY

While driving about 40 in the city I got an error stating engine power reduced. Lost speed quickly and had limited ability to accelerate could not go over 30 MPH or accelerate up steep hills.

Filed Mar 1, 2021 · Acceleration, Electrical · IN

While driving at a high rate of speed, my engine reduced light came on and would not allow me to drive over 32 MPH. This could have caused an accident with severe injury considering where I was driving. I have seen many others complain about this, why hasn't it been recalled, when will it be recalled?

Filed Feb 22, 2021 · Acceleration, Engine · 70,000 miles · MO

As I was driving at a high speed my engine power reduced light came on and my car speed slowed down drastically. When diagnosed it said it was the accelerator position pedal. This is very unsafe and almost caused a wreck. From what I hear this is common with the mabilu and needs to be recalled seeing that someone could lose their life.

Filed Feb 20, 2021 · Acceleration · 61,000 miles · VA

When I'm driving I get a message saying 'engine reduce power' and I can't go over 25 MPH

Filed Feb 19, 2021 · Acceleration, Brakes · 64,763 miles · PA

Back in december of 2020, every time I stopped at a red light or brake (when coming to a stop in traffic) the car completely shuts off. I would get a warning that the car was in battery save mode and the stabilitrak light would come on. The morning of jan. 12, 2021, it happened while driving on the interstate 322. I blocked rush hour traffic for about 20 minutes before the car started back up. While this was happing nothing on the car worked. It blow out cool air and the radio and windows didn't work. This is a big problem and is very dangerous. Not just for me and my family but other drivers on the road. I did take the car to be serviced unfortunately, they could not find anything wrong with the car. Instead of resting on the break in traffic, we put the car in park. You can see how that can be problematic. In addition to that, now it sound like some sort of liquid is passing through when I come to a stop/park. Fast forward to what has lead me to filing a vehicle safety complaint, this evening my son was driving on us 22 when he called me in a panic because while driving a warning displayed on the dash engin power reduced, traction light and engine light came on simultaneously. The speed reduced to about 20 and would not accelerate. I told him to put on the hazard lights and pull over02 as soon as it was safe. He did as I said as I waited on the phone with him. He turned the car off and let it rest for about 5 minutes. The car started back up without any problems. The traction light went off but the check engine light is still on. He made it home without any more incidents. As I stated above you can see how this is a serious problem. I am learning that I am not the only one with a chevy malibu (2016 64,763 miles) with safety issues. This is unacceptable. I hope that no one has to lose their life before action is taking. They need to recall and give a refund.

Filed Feb 17, 2021 · Acceleration, Engine · 87,577 miles · MD

As I was exiting the highway the just slowed to a crawl . The screen said reduced engine power and wouldn't allow me to accelerate past 15 - 20 miles per hour. Luckily there were no cars following behind me at the time . I pulled over shut the car off and issue continued. I plugged up a code reader and got p2138

Filed Feb 10, 2021 · Acceleration · 41,000 miles · NY

My engine light comes on and 'engine power reduced ' appears on the dashboard. The car's speed drops & I can only drive at 20-25 MPH. I restart the car and it drives fine for 2mins and then goes into limp mode. It's a dangerous situation b/c I'm on the highway doing 60-65 and this happens. I'm thankful I didn't get into an accident. Code p2138 is what makes the engine light come on. Throttle/pedal accelerator .

Filed Jan 23, 2021 · Acceleration, Electrical · 77,000 miles · IN

Driving on the expressway when my car got a message on the dash saying 'reduced engine speed' . I went from 60mph to 10mps within seconds, this is a serious life threatening problem when driving. Once it slows completely down it stops and I have to turn off my car and restart it just for it keep happening. When I took my car to a chevy dealership they told me 'everyone with a malibu is having these problem last and they can no fix it cause the can't figure out the problem. They also informed me with all the malibu's having the same exact problem is should be a recall. I went to a another chevy dealership and was told the exact same thing. Chevy want us to enjoy the car but will not go the extra mile to do recalls on them when they know it's a big problem. My car also be stuck in 'shift to park' when it's already in park, I have to constantly restart my car and turn it off for the message to go always and my car is off, which is ridiculous because if you leave your car in shift to park that will completely kill your battery. Also, when I start my car it sound like a bunch of water just moving around but it's nothing leaking but you can hear the water once you start the car. The brakes on the car do not last long enough! I went to get some brand new brakes in october and was told from two different car shops that I need new brakes . These problems is ridiculous and dangerous and could be fixed by recalling the cars and fixing the problems .

Filed Jan 20, 2021 · Acceleration, Engine · 72,000 miles · WI

Was driving on highway at 60 MPH and dashboard lit up with warning engine power reduced mode and car went into low speed. Tried accelerating car would not go beyond 20 MPH

Filed Jan 18, 2021 · Acceleration · 82,000 miles · WI

Several times a week my car will suddenly go into "engine power reduced" mode and go into low speed. If I get out of the car, lock it, and unlock it 30 seconds later it will reset and then be okay for a few minutes. This power reduction is exceedingly dangerous when moving at highway speeds and suddenly needing to pull over. The check engine light will come on but then disappear sometimes the same day after having parked for a while. Typically the car goes into this "reduced power mode" after about 45 minutes of driving. I was able to capture the following error codes: p1101 (intake air flow system performance), p2122 (throttle position sensor d circuit low input), and p2138 (throttle/pedal position sensor/switch d/e voltage correlation). Really hoping this will be replaced under warranty instead of having to get it fixed myself!

Filed Jan 16, 2021 · Acceleration, Engine · 80,000 miles · MD

I was driving one day and all of a sudden, I have seen 'engine power reduced' warning on the dashboard. This warning reduces the car speed considerably and therefore slow the car no matter how fast you are going. I took the car to a chevy dealership to get it checked and they told me that one of my intake valve was defective. I had it replaced and paid for the service. I left and the same day the warning came back again and slowed the car. The speed can go from 60mph to less than 10mph in few seconds. Stepping on the accelerator pedal again doesn't help the car increase speed. I have researched online and many other drivers have similar issues. I took the car back to the dealership to have them diagnosed it again. Unfortunately they have not detected the cause of the warning 'engine power is reduced'. They told me they don't know what to do and are asking me to replace my engine. I think this is absolutely ridiculous.

Filed Jan 4, 2021 · Acceleration, Engine · 100,000 miles · PA

Engine power reduced, this has happened countless times, since the vehicle was purchased in january 2017, it has been to bryner chevrolet in jenkintown, pa, where it was originally purchased more times, than I can count. Each repait costing more and more. I'm assuming chevy is waiting for someone to die, before they actually fix it. Imagine being on a major highway and going from doing 65 to 20 unexpectedly. The person behind me had to swerve into another lane to keep from rear ending me.

Filed Jan 2, 2021 · Acceleration, Electrical · 82,000 miles · GA

I just experienced the check engine light on and reduced power alert on christmas eve: 12/24/20 this was so scary on highway and had to drive on the reduced power with my flashers on and terrified as car's wizzed past me! I was worried that I would breakdown and couldn't get home. I did make it home and was shaken by the experience. I have a 2016 chevy malibu and the dealership quoted $350 to fix it. It is still there as didn't have funds to fix it. Dealership said it is an issue with gas pedal not reading in system correctly. This is a huge safety risk because it happened while driving on highway going 60 MPH, and it dropped speed to 35 MPH! This is so dangerous! Especially because it happened at night in a secluded area. This is super scary for a woman driver thinking I was going to breakdown at any moment. I have been driving uber since covid and no work available in my regular job. Since I don't have my car, I can't drive to make any money to fix it. I was unable to work on uber's biggest night of the year on new year's eve, losing out of a $500 night. Gm should pay to get this fixed and for lost revenue due to unable to work.

Filed Dec 30, 2020 · Acceleration, Engine · 79,510 miles · TN

I was driving downtown when car engine warning light came on and it slowed down then shut off, luckily the car behind me didn't hit me. I was able to pull over. I've had it towed 2 time one mechanic said: I needed a motor. I bought a code reader replaced both batteries. Next code p2138 reduded engine power. It a defective throttle control accelerator pedal position sensor. I towed it to gm dealership they are trying to sell me a motor and will not acknowledge, pedal problem because there is no recall only special coverage adjustment #n192188250 global safety field investigation dcs5117 global warranty.

Filed Nov 3, 2020 · Acceleration, Driver assistance · 97,347 miles · TX

While on my way to work mon morning for the 5 or 6 time the energy reduction light came on im the middle of the highway almost causes me to get rear ended in the road I quickly turned my emergency lights on to keep from being hit pulled over on the side of the highway turned the vehicle off and called the dealership they tell me its a recall on the vehicles theres nothing they can do for me to contact the gmc dealerships I pay almost 500 on car payments to be experiencing this dangerous on the highway someone could have been badly hurt I need help with this problem.

Filed Sep 9, 2020 · Acceleration, Brakes · 50,000 miles · MN

Tl* the contact owns a 2016 chevrolet malibu. The contact stated while driving 70 MPH, the engine power reduced warning light illuminated with the accelerator pedal depressed. The vehicle started to decelerate. The contact coasted the vehicle to the shoulder of the roadway, turned the vehicle off and back on which resume back to normal operation. The contact aslo mentioned that while the brake pedal was depressed, the vehicle hesitated and jerked forward. The vehicle was taken to friendly chevrolet (7501 highway 65 ne, fridley, mn 55432) where it was diagnosed and it was determined that the vacuum pump and accelerator pedal assembly needed to be replaced. The accelerator pedal assembly was repaired however, the vacuum pump was not. The failure recurred with the brake pedal. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The contact was informed that the VIN was not subjected to a recall. The failure mileage was approximately 50,000.

Filed Jun 22, 2020 · Acceleration, Transmission · 54,000 miles · CA

Problem has huge accident potential. *driving on the freeway in moderately heavy traffic. *traveling at a 65-70 MPH to keep up with the flow of traffic, I began receiving "engine power is reduced" message on my info screen. * the engine light comes on (and I immediately start counting how much time and money this will cost me). * there is a slight jerk/pull of the car where it immediately starts a drastic reduction in speed down to 20-30 MPH. * I've had to pull to the side of the road to stop the car (I pray I am able to do this safely). *eventually, I found that by shutting the engine off completely for several minutes, the car somehow "resets" and drives normally. * occasionally, the engine light would go away immediately upon re-ignition. Other times the engine light went off after a couple day. * this happened several times during within a (1) hour commute to work.

VIN decoder

See the problems and recalls for an exact car

Buying a used 2016 Chevrolet Malibu?

Check the exact car before you pay: accidents, salvage or flood titles, odometer readings and previous owners.

Check its history