Problem Lookup âș Chevrolet âș Malibu âș 2015
Car problem report
2015 Chevrolet Malibu problems, recalls and owner complaints
What the 2015 Chevrolet Malibu has been recalled for and what owners report, from official government data. Updated October 25, 2026.
- 3safety recalls
- 270owner complaints
- 18crash reports
- 9fire reports
- 13injuries reported
270 complaints, against an average of 400 for the other 13 Chevrolet Malibu model years.
Every Chevrolet Malibu model year with its number of owner complaints. Pick a year to compare.
What goes wrong with the 2015 Chevrolet Malibu?
The components named most often in the 270 owner complaints. One complaint can name several, so the shares can add up to more than 100%.
What symptoms do 2015 Chevrolet Malibu owners describe?
Found by reading the text of all 270 owner complaints. Tap a symptom for the answer, a real owner quote and any related recall.
Has the 2015 Chevrolet Malibu been recalled?
3 U.S. safety recalls. Repairs are free at a franchised dealer; some are done over the air.
Electrical System: Ignition General Motors LLC (GM) is recalling certain model year 2016-2017 Buick Verano and 2016 Chevrolet Malibu as the electronic park lock lever may allow the ignition key to be removed without the transmission being in PARK. Also, certain 2013 Buick Encore, 2011 Buick Regal, 2013-2014 Buick Verano, 2011-2016 Chevrolet Cruze, 2010-2013 Chevrolet Equinox 2013-2015 Chevrolet Malibu, and 2011-2013 GMC Terrain vehicles may have been serviced with similar defective replacement electronic park lock levers. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) number 114, "Theft Protection and Rollaway Prevention."
Risk: If the key is removed without the transmission in PARK, the vehicle may rollaway as occupants are exiting, increasing the risk of injury.
Fix: GM will notify owners, and dealers will inspect and if necessary replace the key cylinder lock housing, free of charge. The recall began on October 14, 2016. Owners may contact Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020, Buick 1-800-521-7300, and GMC 1-800-462-8782. GM's number for this recall is 50490 and 50491.
Air Bags: Side/Window General Motors LLC (GM) is recalling certain model year 2015 Buick LaCrosse, Cadillac XTS, Chevrolet Camaro, Equinox, Malibu, and GMC Terrain vehicles. The affected vehicles have front seat-mounted side impact air bags whose inflator may rupture upon its deployment.
Risk: In the event of a crash necessitating deployment of one or both of the side impact air bags, the air bag's inflator may rupture and the air bag may not properly inflate. The rupture could cause metal fragments to strike the vehicle occupants, potentially resulting in serious injury or death. Additionally, if the air bag does not properly inflate, the driver or passenger is at an increased risk of injury.
Fix: GM will notify owners, and dealers will replace the side impact air bag modules, free of charge. The recall began on October 19, 2015. Owners may contact Buick customer service at 1-800-521-7300, Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020, Cadillac customer service at 1-800-458-8006, or GMC customer service at 1-800-462-8782. GM's number for this recall is 01320.
Visibility: Sun/Moon Roof Assembly General Motors LLC (GM) is recalling certain model year 2013-2015 Chevrolet Malibu vehicles October 24, 2011, to March 5, 2015. In the affected vehicles, the Slide or Tilt switch for the roof panel may not be adequately recessed to prevent the switch from inadvertently being pressed. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 118, "Power-Operated Window, Partition, and Roof Panel Systems."
Risk: The Slide or Tilt roof panel switch may inadvertently be pressed and the roof panel may auto-close unexpectedly, increasing the risk of a pinch injury.
Fix: GM will notify owners, and dealers will update the Body Control Module (BCM) software to remove auto-close feature for certain switch positions, free of charge. The recall began April 21, 2015. Owners may contact Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020. GM's number for this recall is 15176.
What do 2015 Chevrolet Malibu owners report?
12 of the 270 complaints, the most recent for the most-reported components, as the owners wrote them. NHTSA removes names and VINs; long reports are trimmed. CarHooq has not verified individual claims.
Fuel sensors failing, codes obd are not fixing issue, auto stop, shuts radio off when brake is applied, resets all electric components in car. Every time braking at a stop or signal.
While driving my 2015 Chevrolet Malibu on a four-lane highway with a posted speed limit of 70 mph, the vehicle displayed an âEngine Power Is Reducedâ message and limited the vehicle to less than approximately 25 mph. This created a serious safety concern because the vehicle could no longer maintain highway traffic speed, resulting in a significant speed differential of nearly 45 mph below the posted limit and surrounding traffic flow, creating a high risk of being struck by other vehicles. The vehicle also experienced an alternator problem while being driven on the highway. It repeatedly actedâŠ
I was t-boned on the front side panel near the door at a high rate of speed. I would estimate well above the posted limit of 35 mph and my front and side airbags failed to deploy. I have video from the intersection and dash cam demonstrating the impact. My head hit off the steering wheel causing a concussion, neck and spine dislocations, bruising, and cracked xiphoid, dislocation on the left side of my chest, and cut on my ear. I went to the hospital, have the police report, and the two videos are also available. My car was totaled and towed to the lot off of Lamb, north of Craig Road.
The contact owns a 2015 Chevrolet Malibu. The contact stated that while driving on several occasions at various speeds, the vehicle inadvertently shifted between park(P), drive(D), and neutral(N), and the selected gear was not visible or illuminated on the instrument cluster or the gear shifter panel. The doors locked and unlocked, and the engine started shaking abnormally. The contact stated that the message "Service Power Steering - Drive with Care" was displayed during the failure. The vehicle was pulled over to the side of the road after each failure and the gear shifter was slowly shiftedâŠ
Purchased this car straight out for 4000 from deans car lot in Winchester ky over a week ago. They didn't tell me I had missing fog lights. Keyfob to far was so beat up and bent I could barely get in my car or lock my car not to mention they sent me home in that car with all 4 different brand tires and 4 different sizes. A couple tires are even plugged !! And no wouldn't help me fix any of them. They ignore me. Wasn't no crash. The car lot has been devious and I'm not happy bc that has to do with MY SAFETY. MY LIFE. MY VEHICLE. IM ROYALLY PISSED
The contact owns a 2015 Chevrolet Malibu. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the contact attempted to stop to make a turn, and there was a popping sound coming from the vehicle before the vehicle lost motive power and stalled. The vehicle was restarted, but failed to move or respond as needed. The vehicle was towed to a dealer to be diagnosed. The vehicle was diagnosed with transmission failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 179,000.
The car continues to die when I come to a stop. The error code for the engine light is P305F. I have changed both batteries along with several different sensors and spent thousands of dollars in repairs at a couple different shops and still canât find the problem with this error code. I have fixed everything that this error code points to. The car will not pass inspection with the check engine code on. This should have been recalled as this is a very common problem.
The transmission and engine fails repeatedly. The vehicle repeatedly stalls while accelerating at all speeds, simultaneously, the gear shift lights,dash lights, radio, etc restarts. Issue also happens when shifting gears. Issue happens at every stop light and stop sign, when the vehicle is engaged in âauto stopâ. The vehicle has been in and out of the repair shop since 2022 for TCM/ECM failure. The vehicle has been inspected by Chevrolet twice and other repair shops. Problem persists and the vehicle is not safe to drive. The vehicle has to be jumped daily in order for it to work even afterâŠ
Service airbag light goes on and off. Also passenger air bag keeps turning on and off.
Wheel hubs causes car to think that itâs going faster(200mph) causing car to drop speed, locks steering wheel making it impossible to turn away from traffic and drive itâs an accident waiting to happen not sure why there isnât a recall. Also batteries causes the battery system warning to be a major problem even if alternator is good. Iâm not sure if the two batteries is a good idea. The stop/start feature can cause radio issues itâs like cutting the car off and turn it back on when brake is released radio comes back on.
The vacuum boost pump failed suddenly leaving the vehicle with no brakes and potentially causing catastrophic engine damage.
MODEL: 2015 CHEVY MALIBU/ 80000 MILES WHILE DRIVING THE CAR (IN HIGHWAY) IT STOPPED ALL OF A SUDDEN. IF I STOP AT A RED LIGHT THE ENGINE COMPLETELY SHUTS DOWN AND THEN I HAVE TO PUT IT ON PARKING/NEUTRAL AND RESTART THE CAR AGAIN. MY CONCERN IS IF IT SUDDENLY STOPS WHILE I AM DRIVING IT, I MAY GET HIT FROM BEHIND AND GET SERIOUSLY INJURED (ALMOST GOT HIT THE OTHER DAY). WHILE I WAS HAVING THE ISSUES, "SERVICE STABILITRAK" SIGN APPEARS ON THE DASH.
2015 Chevrolet Malibu: questions owners ask
Is the 2015 Chevrolet Malibu reliable?
NHTSA data alone cannot rate reliability, but it shows what owners reported. Owners filed 270 complaints with NHTSA about the 2015 Chevrolet Malibu; the most common categories were engine (70, 25.9%), electrical system (68, 25.2%), air bags (49, 18.1%). There are 3 safety recalls. 18 complaints mention a crash, 9 mention a fire, 13 injuries were reported.
What are the most common problems with the 2015 Chevrolet Malibu?
Across 270 owner complaints filed with NHTSA, the categories mentioned most often are engine (25.9% of complaints), electrical system (25.2% of complaints), air bags (18.1% of complaints), power train (11.5% of complaints), vehicle speed control (10.4% of complaints). One complaint can name several components.
Does the 2015 Chevrolet Malibu have any recalls?
Yes. NHTSA lists 3 recalls for the 2015 Chevrolet Malibu; the most recent (campaign 16V502000, 2016-07-05) concerns Electrical System: Ignition. Recall repairs are free at a franchised dealer; check your VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls.
Why is the check engine light on in my 2015 Chevrolet Malibu?
28 of the 270 owner complaints NHTSA has on file for the 2015 Chevrolet Malibu (10.4%) describe the check engine light coming on. One owner wrote: "I was coming home from school pickup, and the light said the engine power was reducing. Then the screen said that I couldn't go past 25 miles per hour. The skid sign came on also. The car started slowing down on its own. The car then stopped." (NHTSA complaint 11683262, August 2025). If it happens to your car, check your VIN for open recalls at nhtsa.gov/recalls and report the problem to NHTSA; complaints are what trigger investigations.
Why is the airbag light on in my 2015 Chevrolet Malibu?
28 of the 270 owner complaints NHTSA has on file for the 2015 Chevrolet Malibu (10.4%) describe airbag warning lights or airbag faults. A related recall exists: campaign 15V666000 (air bags: side/window). The fix: GM will notify owners, and dealers will replace the side impact air bag modules, free of charge. One owner wrote: "Air bag light is on dashboard and my driver seat wonât recline back up to a normal driving position. Brought it to the mechanic to have it checked and was told I am in need of a new driver seat do to a faulty airbag." (NHTSA complaint 11549010, October 2023). Recall repairs are free at a dealer; check your VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls.
Why does my 2015 Chevrolet Malibu stall, lose power or shut off while driving?
22 of the 270 owner complaints NHTSA has on file for the 2015 Chevrolet Malibu (8.1%) describe the engine stalling, losing power or shutting off while driving. One owner wrote: "Rocker arm malfunction. This car has repeatedly shut off while driving without warning and the rocker arm has been the only code." (NHTSA complaint 11686445, September 2025). If it happens to your car, check your VIN for open recalls at nhtsa.gov/recalls and report the problem to NHTSA; complaints are what trigger investigations.
Check your own Malibu
Counts are a starting point, not a verdict: popular models collect more complaints because more of them are on the road, and NHTSA does not verify individual reports. To see whether a recall is still open on your car, enter your VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls (U.S.) or your registration at check-vehicle-recalls.service.gov.uk (UK). Had a safety problem? Report it to NHTSA; complaints are what trigger investigations and recalls.
Data: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation recall and complaint databases (public domain), retrieved October 25, 2026. Model year 2015 only.