2008 CHEVROLET MALIBU — Owner-Reported Problems

NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation Snapshot 2026-08-22 987 complaints · 0 recalls
Most-reported system: STEERING (403 complaints · 40.8%)
Safety signals:
  • Crashes 31
  • Fires 5
  • Injuries 19
  • Deaths 2
Compare with 2007 →
NHTSA Consumer Complaints Snapshot 2026-08-21 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.

Component Problem Distribution

Share of owner complaints filed for each vehicle system (unaffected by sales volume)

Component Problem Distribution STEERING appears in 403 of 987 owner complaints (40.8%) in this vehicle snapshot. STEERING: 403 complaints, 40.8% of reports STEERING 403 · 40.8% · 9 crash reports EXTERIOR LIGHTING: 97 complaints, 9.8% of reports EXTERIOR LIGHTING 97 · 9.8% · 1 crash reports ELECTRICAL SYSTEM: 91 complaints, 9.2% of reports ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 91 · 9.2% · 1 crash reports POWER TRAIN: 63 complaints, 6.4% of reports POWER TRAIN 63 · 6.4% · 4 crash reports AIR BAGS: 46 complaints, 4.7% of reports AIR BAGS 46 · 4.7% · 8 crash reports 1 fire reports ENGINE: 42 complaints, 4.3% of reports ENGINE 42 · 4.3% · 2 crash reports 1 fire reports FUEL SYSTEM: 37 complaints, 3.8% of reports FUEL SYSTEM 37 · 3.8% SERVICE BRAKES: 28 complaints, 2.8% of reports SERVICE BRAKES 28 · 2.8% · 3 crash reports 2 fire reports VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL: 21 complaints, 2.1% of reports VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 21 · 2.1% UNKNOWN OR OTHER: 194 complaints, 19.7% of reports UNKNOWN OR OTHER 194 · 19.7% · 6 crash reports 3 fire reports 0% 25% 50% 75% 100%

UNKNOWN OR OTHER is an NHTSA classification artifact and is always listed last.

View component data as a table
System / Component Complaints Share of Reports Safety Reports (Crashes / Fires)
STEERING 403 40.8% 9 crashes · 0 fires
EXTERIOR LIGHTING 97 9.8% 1 crashes · 0 fires
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 91 9.2% 1 crashes · 0 fires
POWER TRAIN 63 6.4% 4 crashes · 0 fires
AIR BAGS 46 4.7% 8 crashes · 1 fires
ENGINE 42 4.3% 2 crashes · 1 fires
FUEL SYSTEM 37 3.8% 0 crashes · 0 fires
SERVICE BRAKES 28 2.8% 3 crashes · 2 fires
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 21 2.1% 0 crashes · 0 fires
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 194 19.7% 6 crashes · 3 fires
NHTSA Consumer Complaints, NHTSA Safety Recalls, and NHTSA Defect Investigations Snapshot 2026-08-22 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.

Problem & Recall Timeline

Observed complaint volume and manufacturer recall actions over time

Problem & Recall Timeline Owner reports in this snapshot begin in Jan 2008. 2008-Q1: 2 owner reports 2 2008-Q2: 4 owner reports 4 2008-Q3: 5 owner reports 5 2008-Q4: 9 owner reports 9 2009-Q1: 4 owner reports 4 2009-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 2009-Q3: 5 owner reports 5 2009-Q4: 7 owner reports 7 2010-Q1: 22 owner reports 22 2010-Q2: 24 owner reports 24 2010-Q3: 17 owner reports 17 2010-Q4: 17 owner reports 17 2011-Q1: 6 owner reports 6 2011-Q2: 22 owner reports 22 2011-Q3: 19 owner reports 19 2011-Q4: 14 owner reports 14 2012-Q1: 13 owner reports 13 2012-Q2: 14 owner reports 14 2012-Q3: 14 owner reports 14 2012-Q4: 22 owner reports 22 2013-Q1: 21 owner reports 21 2013-Q2: 26 owner reports 26 2013-Q3: 23 owner reports 23 2013-Q4: 17 owner reports 17 2014-Q1: 17 owner reports 17 2014-Q2: 61 owner reports 61 2014-Q3: 54 owner reports 54 2014-Q4: 45 owner reports 45 2015-Q1: 30 owner reports 30 2015-Q2: 24 owner reports 24 2015-Q3: 17 owner reports 17 2015-Q4: 29 owner reports 29 2016-Q1: 22 owner reports 22 2016-Q2: 11 owner reports 11 2016-Q3: 18 owner reports 18 2016-Q4: 14 owner reports 14 2017-Q1: 19 owner reports 19 2017-Q2: 14 owner reports 14 2017-Q3: 11 owner reports 11 2017-Q4: 11 owner reports 11 2018-Q1: 19 owner reports 19 2018-Q2: 16 owner reports 16 2018-Q3: 14 owner reports 14 2018-Q4: 16 owner reports 16 2019-Q1: 36 owner reports 36 2019-Q2: 13 owner reports 13 2019-Q3: 14 owner reports 14 2019-Q4: 18 owner reports 18 2020-Q1: 13 owner reports 13 2020-Q2: 12 owner reports 12 2020-Q3: 5 owner reports 5 2020-Q4: 9 owner reports 9 2021-Q1: 14 owner reports 14 2021-Q2: 3 owner reports 3 2021-Q3: 3 owner reports 3 2021-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2022-Q1: 12 owner reports 12 2022-Q2: 5 owner reports 5 2022-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 2022-Q4: 2 owner reports 2 2023-Q1: 6 owner reports 6 2023-Q2: 3 owner reports 3 2023-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2023-Q4: 3 owner reports 3 2024-Q1: 3 owner reports 3 2024-Q3: 3 owner reports 3 2024-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2025-Q1: 3 owner reports 3 2025-Q2: 3 owner reports 3 2025-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2025-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2026-Q1: 2 owner reports 2 2026-Q2: 4 owner reports 4 Owner reports Jan 2008 Apr 2026
View timeline records as a table
Date Record type Count Record identifier
2008-Q1 Owner reports 2
2008-Q2 Owner reports 4
2008-Q3 Owner reports 5
2008-Q4 Owner reports 9
2009-Q1 Owner reports 4
2009-Q2 Owner reports 2
2009-Q3 Owner reports 5
2009-Q4 Owner reports 7
2010-Q1 Owner reports 22
2010-Q2 Owner reports 24
2010-Q3 Owner reports 17
2010-Q4 Owner reports 17
2011-Q1 Owner reports 6
2011-Q2 Owner reports 22
2011-Q3 Owner reports 19
2011-Q4 Owner reports 14
2012-Q1 Owner reports 13
2012-Q2 Owner reports 14
2012-Q3 Owner reports 14
2012-Q4 Owner reports 22
2013-Q1 Owner reports 21
2013-Q2 Owner reports 26
2013-Q3 Owner reports 23
2013-Q4 Owner reports 17
2014-Q1 Owner reports 17
2014-Q2 Owner reports 61
2014-Q3 Owner reports 54
2014-Q4 Owner reports 45
2015-Q1 Owner reports 30
2015-Q2 Owner reports 24
2015-Q3 Owner reports 17
2015-Q4 Owner reports 29
2016-Q1 Owner reports 22
2016-Q2 Owner reports 11
2016-Q3 Owner reports 18
2016-Q4 Owner reports 14
2017-Q1 Owner reports 19
2017-Q2 Owner reports 14
2017-Q3 Owner reports 11
2017-Q4 Owner reports 11
2018-Q1 Owner reports 19
2018-Q2 Owner reports 16
2018-Q3 Owner reports 14
2018-Q4 Owner reports 16
2019-Q1 Owner reports 36
2019-Q2 Owner reports 13
2019-Q3 Owner reports 14
2019-Q4 Owner reports 18
2020-Q1 Owner reports 13
2020-Q2 Owner reports 12
2020-Q3 Owner reports 5
2020-Q4 Owner reports 9
2021-Q1 Owner reports 14
2021-Q2 Owner reports 3
2021-Q3 Owner reports 3
2021-Q4 Owner reports 1
2022-Q1 Owner reports 12
2022-Q2 Owner reports 5
2022-Q3 Owner reports 2
2022-Q4 Owner reports 2
2023-Q1 Owner reports 6
2023-Q2 Owner reports 3
2023-Q3 Owner reports 1
2023-Q4 Owner reports 3
2024-Q1 Owner reports 3
2024-Q3 Owner reports 3
2024-Q4 Owner reports 1
2025-Q1 Owner reports 3
2025-Q2 Owner reports 3
2025-Q3 Owner reports 1
2025-Q4 Owner reports 1
2026-Q1 Owner reports 2
2026-Q2 Owner reports 4
NHTSA Safety Recalls Snapshot 2026-08-22 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Safety Recalls (0)

Official safety recall campaigns filed with NHTSA

Zero safety recalls recorded for this model year in official NHTSA records.

NHTSA Consumer Complaints Snapshot 2026-08-21 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.

Complaint Narrative Explorer

Verbatim owner-reported defect narratives from NHTSA public records

Data: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation · snapshot Aug 21, 2026
Safety incident filters
Showing 0 of 987 complaints · page 1 of 40

No complaints match the current filters.
EPA Fuel Economy Database Snapshot 2026-08-21 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Estimated Ownership Cost

EPA fuel economy ratings and annual operating cost estimates

Data: US EPA Fuel Economy Guide · snapshot Aug 21, 2026
Supported range: 1,000–60,000 miles per year
Supported range: $1.50–$10.00 per gallon
55% city45% highway
Estimate unavailable

EPA fuel-economy data is unavailable for this vehicle.

No estimate is shown when required EPA values are unavailable.

 Open Ownership Cost Calculator →

Adjacent Model Years

Immediate preceding and succeeding model year records

NHTSA Consumer Complaints Snapshot 2026-08-21 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.

Methodology & Data Integrity

Data sourced from NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation. Snapshot date: 2026-08-21.

Read our complete data methodology → Sources