2020 CHEVROLET MALIBU — Owner-Reported Problems

NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation Snapshot 2026-08-22 194 complaints · 0 recalls
Most-reported system: POWER TRAIN (44 complaints · 22.7%)
Safety signals:
  • Crashes 10
  • Fires 0
  • Injuries 7
  • Deaths 1
Compare with 2019 →
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 POWER TRAIN appears in 44 of 194 owner complaints (22.7%) in this vehicle snapshot. POWER TRAIN: 44 complaints, 22.7% of reports POWER TRAIN 44 · 22.7% ELECTRICAL SYSTEM: 31 complaints, 16.0% of reports ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 31 · 16.0% · 1 crash reports ENGINE: 30 complaints, 15.5% of reports ENGINE 30 · 15.5% · 1 crash reports SERVICE BRAKES: 21 complaints, 10.8% of reports SERVICE BRAKES 21 · 10.8% · 1 crash reports FUEL SYSTEM: 9 complaints, 4.6% of reports FUEL SYSTEM 9 · 4.6% VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL: 9 complaints, 4.6% of reports VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 9 · 4.6% STEERING: 7 complaints, 3.6% of reports STEERING 7 · 3.6% AIR BAGS: 4 complaints, 2.1% of reports AIR BAGS 4 · 2.1% · 4 crash reports FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: 2 complaints, 1.0% of reports FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 2 · 1.0% · 1 crash reports UNKNOWN OR OTHER: 48 complaints, 24.7% of reports UNKNOWN OR OTHER 48 · 24.7% · 3 crash 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)
POWER TRAIN 44 22.7% 0 crashes · 0 fires
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 31 16.0% 1 crashes · 0 fires
ENGINE 30 15.5% 1 crashes · 0 fires
SERVICE BRAKES 21 10.8% 1 crashes · 0 fires
FUEL SYSTEM 9 4.6% 0 crashes · 0 fires
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 9 4.6% 0 crashes · 0 fires
STEERING 7 3.6% 0 crashes · 0 fires
AIR BAGS 4 2.1% 4 crashes · 0 fires
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 2 1.0% 1 crashes · 0 fires
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 48 24.7% 3 crashes · 0 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 2020. 2020-Q1: 2 owner reports 2 2020-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 2020-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2021-Q2: 7 owner reports 7 2021-Q3: 6 owner reports 6 2021-Q4: 4 owner reports 4 2022-Q1: 5 owner reports 5 2022-Q2: 8 owner reports 8 2022-Q3: 4 owner reports 4 2022-Q4: 6 owner reports 6 2023-Q1: 6 owner reports 6 2023-Q2: 9 owner reports 9 2023-Q3: 10 owner reports 10 2023-Q4: 11 owner reports 11 2024-Q1: 5 owner reports 5 2024-Q2: 8 owner reports 8 2024-Q3: 18 owner reports 18 2024-Q4: 9 owner reports 9 2025-Q1: 10 owner reports 10 2025-Q2: 10 owner reports 10 2025-Q3: 13 owner reports 13 2025-Q4: 13 owner reports 13 2026-Q1: 13 owner reports 13 2026-Q2: 9 owner reports 9 2026-Q3: 5 owner reports 5 Owner reports Jan 2020 Jul 2026 Investigation EA25005 ● Investigation EA25005
View timeline records as a table
Date Record type Count Record identifier
2020-Q1 Owner reports 2
2020-Q3 Owner reports 2
2020-Q4 Owner reports 1
2021-Q2 Owner reports 7
2021-Q3 Owner reports 6
2021-Q4 Owner reports 4
2022-Q1 Owner reports 5
2022-Q2 Owner reports 8
2022-Q3 Owner reports 4
2022-Q4 Owner reports 6
2023-Q1 Owner reports 6
2023-Q2 Owner reports 9
2023-Q3 Owner reports 10
2023-Q4 Owner reports 11
2024-Q1 Owner reports 5
2024-Q2 Owner reports 8
2024-Q3 Owner reports 18
2024-Q4 Owner reports 9
2025-Q1 Owner reports 10
2025-Q2 Owner reports 10
2025-Q3 Owner reports 13
2025-Q4 Owner reports 13
2026-Q1 Owner reports 13
2026-Q2 Owner reports 9
2026-Q3 Owner reports 5
Defect investigation 1 EA25005
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 194 complaints · page 1 of 8

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