Door Lock Safety

[Ericas_'bu]

Dear Chevrolet:
Thanks a lot! Thanks for using crappy parts in your vehicles! The issue with the door locks on the Malibu and several other of your cars has been addressed so many times but you have ignored it! Now thanks to you someone could have gotten hurt!

My wife is a social worker who uses her 08 Malibu to travel to different homes of juveniles whom don’t always live in particularly safe neighborhoods. On this particular day she was approached by a very suspicious person in a not so safe neighborhood but due to the door locks not working as they should she could not get into the vehicle! This is after we have already paid out of pocket to have one of the door locks repaired! This service is almost $400 a pop at our dealer! Thank God for the panic button working and other neighbors coming out of their homes!

I contacted the Chevrolet hotline whom I spoke with a person by the name of Marga who was no help at all! She basically just took my name and checked was there another recall on the vehicle! I could have done that! I called the NHTSA and filed a complaint and I hope to God that they make you fix every door lock you have ever produced!

Sorry for the rant, I just had to vent about it! But in all seriousness this really needs to be addressed!

[SeaRay245se]

Seems locks and handles are a problem on a lot of gm cars now.My 08 CTS has electrics that open the doors and been a known problem for years now i can't get in my drivers door unless i use the key because of some little tiny micro switch that's built into a housing that from the dealer cost 125 bucks plus labor but i just lucked out and found one on ebay for 69,will be fixing it as soon as it gets here.Just seems to me there over thinking somethings and should leave well enough alone what has worked for years and like you said its going to get someone hurt or worse...just my 1/2 cent added to it

[DrivenDaily]

I agree with the sentiment. Thankfully none of my locks have failed (yet). If you are even the least little bit handy you can do all 4 doors with aftermarket parts for around $50. And you won't be installing the same-ol-same-ol.

There's a thread in the How-To section on how to do it. Not hard at all. On a scale of 1-10 I'd rate it around a 3 or 4. Just takes a reasonable amount of thinking and you're done!

[greenman]

I agree as well. 3 or 4 years is about all that people are getting from the original lock actuators & that is fubar.

[repairman54]

Originally Posted by greenman

I agree as well. 3 or 4 years is about all that people are getting from the original lock actuators & that is fubar.

2X Had to change a couple in my Yukon. Never in my 3 prev. Taurus's

[Chevrolet Customer Svc]

Ericas_'bu,

I am sorry to hear about your concern. I would be happy to look into this for you. Feel free to contact me pr Michelle privately with the last eight of your VIN for more assistance. Thank you.

Tricia, Chevrolet Customer Service (Assisting Michelle).

[Malibu Chris]

I am writing about my 2009 Malibu door locks.

Last May, while my warranty was still in tact, my key fobs (both of them) stopped working. It was a hassle, but I figured I just needed to get new batteries in them and all would be good.

I bought new batteries but they still did not work. Unfortunately, by the time that I figured out it was a much bigger problem…my warranty had expired.

Shortly thereafter, my passenger-back door lock stopped responding to the power lock buttons (I.e., it will only go up and down manually.)

So now, I can't get in my trunk with groceries, I can't put them in the back seat, I have to open the front-driver door with the key, then lean down and pop the trunk, go back to the trunk… quite the hassle. Not to mention a safety issue. I no longer have the security of a quick entry, I no longer have the security of locking all my doors from the driver seat, I no longer have a panic button… all sorts of scenarios where this malfunction could endanger me.

Then, it gets better, I'm driving along one day and all the locks start going haywire. Up, down, clicking like crazy. It was very disconcerting.

My mother also bought a brand new 2009 Malibu shortly after me, and now one of her rear locks is not responding to her fob or her power lock buttons.

This got me thinking that this is a widespread problem, which I confirmed by going on some Chevy Malibu forums.

I hope you can resolve this issue for me. As I am still paying $400 monthly car payments, I can not afford the $350 plus that the dealership quoted me to fix the problem.