Chevrolet Malibu Forums banner
Status
Not open for further replies.

2011 won't move forward

42K views 24 replies 10 participants last post by  1Phatcat 
#1 ·
Hi, i'm new to the forum, and unfortunately, not for a good reason. Our 2011 Malibu just lost all forward drive and I was wondering if i was just unlucky or if this a malibu problem. I guess I should have come here before buying it. This is one week after replacing the crap firestones on it that wore out in less than 20000 miles. This is on top of the poor fuel economy it has had since it was new, we average right around 20 mpg, not too good for a 4 cylinder. Hopefully, i'll find some good tips here to turn around an otherwise crappy ownership experience.:(
 
#2 ·
Moved from Introduction area since you're actually asking for help with an issue more than introducing yourself. I also changed the title for you so it'll generate a little more traffic.

2011 with less than 3/36 means it's covered under warranty. Poor mileage might be a symptom of what caused the failure.
 
#4 ·
I know that its covered under warranty, it's just disappointing that it happened with less than 20 k, and makes me wonder about future reliability. I hope Chevy is willing to extend the warranty out to 10/100 so we don't have to worry about it happening again.
 
#6 ·
I completely and honestly understand your disappointment with your Malibu, jimmyp. I apologize on behalf of Chevrolet for your experience. General Motors works diligently to provide a high quality product that we hope will exceed your expectations. However, when dealing with a mechanical part, there is always a chance something might fail. That is something we cannot speculate on, and why we do provide a warranty on that item of 12 months, or 12,000 miles, whichever comes first.

Please, let me know how things are going once you get your vehicle back from the dealership.

Michelle, Chevrolet Customer Service
 
#7 ·
Spoke to the dealership today, GM would like to rebuild the transmission, I told them I wasn't interested in having a rebuilt tranny in my car at 19k miles and would like it replaced. I told them i would accept a rebuild if they would extend the warranty for me,but they dont want to do that either.I guess I'll have to wait and see what the regional rep has to say.
 
#8 ·
Well it's been 3 weeks and still no car back, apparently they are still waiting on the parts. I wouldn't have thought it would be so hard to get parts for a current model car. I guess we will see what the New Year brings. I emailed my salesman for a trade in value, but I didn't get a response. If I could get a decent trade in value I would just get a 2013 and be done with it.
 
#10 ·
They gave me a Cruze as a loaner. One nice thing about the Cruze is that it gets the kind of gas mileage I thought the malibu would, although its not as nice a car as the Malibu. Hopefully, when i get my car back they will have fixed the tranny, and found out why the fuel mileage was so poor. 20 mpg just doesn't cut it.
 
#13 ·
Have the car back now. They fixed the tranny and it broke again immediately, fixed it a second time and it seems to be holding up so far. The car also came back with an additional 300 miles on the odometer, which seems a little excessive to me, and some nice scrapes on the rear bumper. I'll have to go back before the warranty is up to have them check out the rattle in the front end, sounds like something is loose. I asked them to look into the poor fuel mileage, but it doesnt look like they did. Still getting the same crappy 20 mpg avg. I've been a GM person all my life, but I think this is the last car i'll buy from them. It doesn't seem to be a good idea, financially.
 
#14 ·
I find it hard to believe that you get 20 mpg and the car has no engine problems or any other mechanical issues. Unless, you do no highway whatsoever and you drive it hard. What's your avg speed, just curious.
I am hitting Toronto traffic twice a day, it's winter, and so far, my avg went down from 29 to 27 mpg. Do you use it for carpooling?
 
#16 ·
I find it hard to believe too. Our two previous vehicles were a grand prix with a 3.8 V6 and four speed auto, and a 8 passenger Venture with the V6 and four speed auto, and even though they were both bigger, heavier vehicles with bigger engines, they both did better on gas. We do use it mostly for "city" driving, but even when we took it on vacation this year, which was mostly Highway, it wasn't much better. Even my 6000 lb 380hp 4wd pickup averages 18.
 
#18 ·
My LTZ with the v6 is averaging 22-26 and that's driving it at 80-105mph almost daily. If I keep it around 70mph, 30+ mpg.
Unless your all city, something isn't right.
 
#19 ·
Found the cure to my Maliboo Problems, traded it in on a 2013 CRV, which is already averaging 25 mpg, and its not even broken in yet. i could not leave my wife and daughter driving around in a car i have absolutely no faith in. If I ever have 50 or 60 grand to drop on a Cadillac or a Corvette, maybe I would consider a GM product again. Those and pickups seem to be the only vehicles they care about. Hopefully GM will get their act together before Hyundai eats their lunch
I'm pretty sure Hyundai dealers don't tell their customers"it's just a Sonata", like my dealer told me about my Maliboo. It cost me a few grand, but my lesson is learned. Good Luck to all who are similarly afflicted.
 
#20 ·
My 2011 did the same thing in Nov. 2011 with 8,269 miles...this was 149 miles after I had it in the dealership because of trans bucking/jerking. Of course--no code, no problem detected. Left my wife on the side of the road in the pitch black at 5:50 a.m. en route to work. Extrememly frustrating.

Ever since we got the car back, I think the cold 2-3 shift is very soft (car actually slows down although revs don't go up), and the shift lever feels looser to me than before--in fact, it's looser than the 2009 Cobalt we bought for my daughter a few months ago, with a lot more mileage.

I think with trannys, at Chevy, if it's not throwing a light or code, they won't open it up, sadly.

How much nonsense is a customer expected to take? People get fired where I work for a lot less than this. Sometimes I wonder if I should fire GM as my car company after over thirty years.
 
#21 ·
That's why I had to ditch the car, luckily when it broke down it was in town on a quiet street, but it could have easily been in the left lane of the parkway too. That could be a very dangerous situation. Look at all the trouble Chevy is having with their ignitions now. While it sucked to lose all the money when i traded it in, its a lot better than winding up in an accident.
 
#22 ·
Re: 2011 won't move forward 2011 same problem

I have a 2011 Malibu with 27,800 miles on it and today I was driving out of town and my check engine came on during driving on the highway. I pull over and look over my car and nothing seemed wrong so I pulled over at the nearest advanced auto place (30 MILES) later and have them scan the car. It coded p0700 and Transmission Control Module (TCM) Requested MIL Illumination and p2723 Clutch Pressure Control (PC) Solenoid 5 - Stuck Off. At this point I am 45 minutes away from home and the car was not driving differently so I decide to go back home from my trip. I restart the car, place it in reverse, back out of parking space, stop, place my shifter into Auto Drive (D) and the car goes no where. The RPM's go up but the car does not move. So I shift the car to Manual (M) and try to pull out in manual. Again the rpms go up but the car is not moving forward. So I have to place it in reverse and back up into a parking space and now my daughter and niece, and 3 year old God Daughter is stuck in 90 degree weather. So I go back into Advanced. They tell me to try it again. Low and behold the car goes into drive and we can pull out. I have to drive the car back home and I take it to O'Reily's to get another diagnostic scan. They coded the same thing but in their computer it stated that there are No Possible Causes Available and Reported Fixes: Replaced Automatic Transmission w/P2723 and for P0700. I take it home and park it. At this time the engine light was on steady. I let it sit for 3 hours and when I go to work the light is completely off. I am not happy! I have only had this car 7 months.
 
#24 ·
If it's the v6 pull the transmission dipstick cap and see what the tranny fluid level is. If it's the four cylinder you have to jack up the car and keep it level at the same time, then remove a plug on the side of the transmission. You might want to take it to the dealer first. But since it's under warranty make sure you get it to do it when you want to before you take it in so they can duplicate it. Otherwise you will end up leaving there with no resolution.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
You have insufficient privileges to reply here.
Top