2017 Chevrolet Malibu: stuck in gear or won't shift

Filed Apr 14, 2026 · Engine · OR

The contact owns a 2017 Chevrolet Malibu. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the message "Engine Power Reduced" was displayed, and the check engine warning light was illuminated. Due to the issue, the vehicle went into LIMP Mode, and the contact was forced to pull over and turn off the vehicle. The contact waited approximately 30-40 minutes before restarting the vehicle and resuming normal driving. The vehicle was previously taken to a dealer; however, no codes were found. The mechanic informed the contact that the failure could be caused by the floormat being under the accelerator pedal. The contact had the floormat removed; however, the failure persisted. The dealer was notified of the failure, and another appointment was scheduled to service the vehicle. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was unknown.

Filed Sep 8, 2025 · Acceleration, Brakes · OH

I was driving my car on the highway doing 65 mph when all of a sudden my car started rapidly jerking losing the power to accelerate and entering “limp mode“ there was multiple cars behind me when my car lost the power to accelerate. I was in the far left lane and couldn’t even go higher than 7 miles an hour and had to cross across three lanes at 7 mph on a 65mph highway to pull over. I had my children in the car and almost caused a huge accident dude to this issue. The issue in hand is the vacuum pump. It completely shattered in my engine, causing severe engine damage. And it caused my brake pedal to become hard as a rock. I couldn’t break without using my emergency break. I had no brake power at all. My car had to be towed.

Filed Feb 23, 2023 · Acceleration, Engine · IL

2017 Chevy Malibu over 15 times this happens since we owned buying it brand new it has "Reduced Engine Power" error come on and the car can't accelerate over 30 miles per hour. This is a continued problem all the time and very dangerous when we are on the tollway that has a 70-mph speed limit, and you can't get the car to over 30 mph. This same problem happens on our 2018 Chevy Malibu over 5 times since we owned it too and it's getting worse! This is extremely dangerous and takes you a long time to get home when you can only go 30 mph or less because of the "Reduced Engine Power" Limit. Same 2017 Chevy Malibu also has the "Shift to Park" Error so we can't shut off the engine because the car won't go into park, you have to back up and keep trying to get the shifter to let you put into park if you're lucky it will finally after many shifting attempts back and forth to get rid of the error so you can shut off the engine to exit your car. GM should be responsible for a recall on these two very important errors that these Chevy Malibu cars are having on both of the problems are very dangerous "Reduced Engine Speed" and "Shift to Park" can't shut off the engine is dangerous.

Filed Aug 29, 2022 · Acceleration, Brakes · SC

Small trip to Georgia granddaughter’s birthday. Vehicle just went in limp mode. Lost power brakes. My brothers code reader showed P0 014, P0 017, P1101, P0016. I’m pulling up and showing on NHTSH for open recalls and one complaint. I’m trying to make a complaint. The car we turn off. Wouldn’t crank back. Sometime when you wiggle the wire by the throttle it would crank. No power breaking. No engine pole to go up hills. No speed. On Google and YouTube I have found recalls of powertrain automatic transmission six recalls on the website. CHEVY MALIBU vacuum pump recalls. I’m having a vacuum leak you can hear it when the car does turn off the engine fan runs for ever. I’m showing problems with CHEVY MALIBU vacuum Val cover gasket recalls. Problems with CHEVY MALIBU brake vacuum pump recalls. Problems with CHEVY MALIBU 2013 through 2022 booster vacuum pump recall the defect. Problem showing GM 1.5 L POO14 Dash P0017 exhaust camshaft timing. Somethings gone major wrong and I’m showing recalls and I am looking for GM to fix this car I have a A lot of money in it and still owe a lot of money on it.!

Filed May 18, 2022 · NY

I have a 2017 Malibu and I pulled into my driveway to park and the car would not shift into park. The car’s stick shift malfunctioned and it was stuck in reverse. The vehicle would not shut off and the brakes would not work. It began rolling backwards out into a busy street. I was able to find the emergency brake to stop it from rolling too far out into the street but the car would not turn off or switch out of gear. I was unable to exit, lock, or turn off my vehicle due to the shifting malfunction, which was draining my battery. The vehicle was unable to physically shift into the park gear, but the car was also incapable of detecting the shift. No warning lights or shift to park warning came on the dashboard. I immediately called AAA to tow my vehicle to a repair shop. I was without a vehicle for 4 days and had to pay a costly repair of $444.95 for a known defect with Malibu vehicles. The repair shop replaced the automatic transmission shift cable and the GM/automatic transmission range selector lever. General Motors needs to recognize the problem and resolve it by recalling these vehicles, and notifying vehicle owners of this defect before someone gets injured or killed and should also reimburse customers for the repairs which they had to pay out of pocket! Had this defect occurred while I was driving I could have been injured or killed or could have been parked somewhere in an unsafe situation unable to drive away or my vehicle could have rolled out into the busy street and hit a pedestrian, damaged someone’s property or hit another vehicle causing damages, death or injury to others.

Filed Jun 5, 2021 · Electrical, Fuel system · MA

While driving received recurring check engine light for p2127/p2138 code. Has been to Quirk Chevrolet twice previously for same issue, drives fine for a week or two and light comes back. Third service appointment scheduled for Monday 6/7/21. Recurring issue has made vehicle unusable while effected as car goes into limp mode while in motion limiting speeds to 25mph which was interesting to say the least as it happens while in motion.

Filed Mar 22, 2021 · Electrical, Engine · 60,000 miles · TX

I purchased the vehicle in 2018 with 20,000 miles on it. My check engine light has been on more than 7 times in the past 2 years. I had to have the fuel injector worked on, sometimes it won't shift completely into park, I had it decrease in speed from 70 on the highway to no more than 20 MPH with over $400 in repairs just that time. I do not drive fast or deprive my car of regular maintenance. I have never had issues like this with any other vehicle.

Filed Mar 5, 2020 · Driver assistance, Electrical · AL

In august of 2019 my car wouldn't shift out of park. I had to have my car towed to a local chevrolet dealership at night where it was there for a week this visit was for the gear shift to be replaced. October 2019 my car start stop feature made my car shut off in the middle of rush hour morning traffic this trip was said to be the charging system and the battery. In january 2020 I started to have the same issue with the car just stopping this time it was the electrical module I also had the oil changed and a all wheel alignment and I picked up my car and 10 days later my engine light came on so back to the chevy dealership 2 days they say we fixed it. 48 hours later the engine light is back on. I was told that we just cleared the engine light in hope's that would just fix the problem so now 2 and half weeks later they still have my car. They have no clue of what's happening.

Filed Dec 3, 2019 · Driver assistance, Engine · 85,000 miles · MO

While driving my 2017 chevrolet malibu on the highway with my son in the car, the driver screen dash flashed a message 'engine power reduced', the check engine light turned on, and the car immediately lost power making it difficult to drive safely. After this happened, my car would not exceed 45 MPH and would not shift. After pulling my car to the side of the busy highway and letting it set, I was able to get my car towed to my home. This has since happened five additional times and is happening at a more rapid rate. I took my car the oreilleys and autozone to have them run a general diagnostic check and the error code being returned was 'p2138' - 'throttle/pedal position sensor/switch d / e voltage correlation'. I then set up an appointment with the chevrolet dealership, where technicians also ran a more thorough diagnostic test and found my car needed a new accelerator pedal position sensor. This part is not functioning as it is supposed to and at the very least is an extreme safety hazard.

Filed Jun 17, 2019 · Engine, Fuel system · 3,007 miles · MA

I have a recurring emission issue diagnostic test code p2097 general motors has admitting to not knowing what is wrong with my vehicle. I purchased the vehicle brand new the emission issue is ongoing recurring and my vehicle is up for state inspection for which it will not pass, this issue began at mile 3007 I've owned the car for less than 2 years. The vehicle came without air conditioning for which it was equipped that issue begin at mile 598. I have had multiple systems issues. I have lost my job over this car this issue has not been corrected with several attempts to repair it. I want general motors to repurchase the vehicle with no usage being charged. This has been an issue that is caused my personal life and my professional life severe distress. I literally have lost everything after having lost my job over this defective vehicle. The vehicle had an accelerator pedal assembly replaced which prior to that my car was going into limp mode / safe mode constantly. This is an issue general motors is aware of and has continued to sell this model vehicle with its known defects which in my opinion is extremely dangerous given the resulting characteristics the car displays once going into reduced engine power / limp mode this would occur while driving on the highway early morning late night hours I would have to pull over unexpectedly and suddenly, unhook my battery terminals and reset the computer manually. It would happen on side streets, on main roads, sitting in rush hour traffic, etc. At one point my car began displaying characteristics of losing power steering, engaging the auto stop/start function and not re-engaging the vehicle upon acceleration for which it was intended. I lost power steering in a turn one time and almost crashed in brookline massachusetts a heavily travelled pedestrian area

Filed Mar 14, 2019 · Acceleration · 62,000 miles · OH

Tl* the contact owns a 2017 chevrolet malibu. The contact stated that the vehicle would go into reduced power mode, causing the vehicle to lose speed and go into limp mode. The contact stated that the failure occurred numerous times. The vehicle was taken to mike castrucci chevrolet (1099 lila ave, milford, oh 45150) where it was diagnosed that the accelerator assembly needed to be replaced; however, the parts were unavailable. The manufacturer was not contacted. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 62,000.

Filed Feb 2, 2019 · Electrical · 59,928 miles · FL

Vehicle has "reduced engine power" multiple times error displayed and will stall anywhere in traffic causing dangerous situations. These cars are being sold people are not familiar with this. You can stop on the side of the road and check what is wrong but risk possibly being injured by on coming vehicles in on going traffic. This feature should be something covered by the company for a brand new car there no reason behind why the car is doing this or how the driver cause the car to enter this limp mode. I drive on a highway at 70mph and the car stall completely sent me into panic mode because there was no warning prior to this, soon will cause the death of a driver and their family. Once getting the car home it no longer starts.