Complaint volume
188 consumer-submitted complaints are matched to this model year. Treat the count as a research signal, then read the actual summaries for repeated symptoms.
Complaint records
2020 Chevrolet Malibu Complaints
188 consumer-submitted complaints on record for the 2020 Chevrolet Malibu, grouped by component category.
188 Total complaints
10 Crash reports
0 Fire reports
5 Injury reports
Complaint data reflects consumer-submitted reports. A complaint is not proof
of a defect, recall, or manufacturer fault. Enriched severity fields come
from official bulk records when the complaint can be matched by ODI number.
Buyer interpretation
How to use these complaints before buying
Complaint records are most useful when they turn into inspection points, seller questions, and comparison checks against nearby model years.
Pattern to inspect
The most common categories are power train, electrical system, unknown or other. Use those categories as a test-drive checklist instead of judging the vehicle from the total count alone.
Severity flags
Enriched records include 10 crash reports, 0 fire reports, 5 injury reports, and 1 fatality report. These fields come from complaint records and should be read in context.
Mileage clue
Mileage is available on 43 complaints, with an average reported failure mileage of 66,281 miles. Compare that with the mileage on the listing.
Questions to ask the seller
- Have you had any problems related to power train, electrical system, unknown or other?
- Can I see recent maintenance and repair records?
- Has the vehicle ever been towed, involved in a crash, or repaired for the same issue twice?
- Can we also check the recall record for this 2020 Chevrolet Malibu?
Used-car checklist
Use these complaints before the test drive.
Build a buyer checklist to turn these issues into questions and inspection points.
2020 Chevrolet Malibu
Build buyer checklist Compare with other years Sends year, make, and model to pre-fill your checklist.
How severe are the 2020 Chevrolet Malibu complaints?
10 Crash
0 Fire
5 Injury
1 Fatality
18 Towed
4 Medical attention
What are the most common 2020 Chevrolet Malibu complaint categories?
POWER TRAIN 26
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 20
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 18
ENGINE 14
SERVICE BRAKES 9
SERVICE BRAKES,ENGINE 9
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,SERVICE BRAKES 5
POWER TRAIN,UNKNOWN OR OTHER 5
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,ENGINE,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 5
AIR BAGS 4
188 total complaints on record
Latest complaints
| Date | Component | Summary | Severity | Mileage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 2024 | AIR BAGS | The contact owns a 2020 Chevrolet Malibu. The contact stated while her daughter was driving at 65 MPH, the contact's daughter was run off the road by another vehicle. The contact stated that the air bags did not deploy. The contact stated that the vehicle was forced to crash into the guard rail. The contact's daughter was knocked unconscious and sustained a concussion due to hitting her head on the driver's door glass. The contact's daughter was transported to the local medical center. The contact stated that a police report was not filed because it was a single-vehicle crash. The vehicle was towed to a local tow yard. The vehicle was deemed a total loss. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure but provided no assistance. The contact was advised to contact the NHTSA Hotline and report the failure. The failure mileage was 94,073. | Crash: Yes Fire: No Injuries: 1 Towed | 94,073 |
| Sep 2024 | POWER TRAIN,UNKNOWN OR OTHER | Vehicle will say shift to park and also can't use the limp mode and manually shift gears and also can't be used outside of 1st and 2nd gear | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Sep 2024 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER | My car has the known shift to park error. Any time the car is put into park, it isn't registering as in park and won't shut down. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Sep 2024 | POWER TRAIN,VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL | My vehicle will not shut off. It states "shift to park". Sometimes it takes 30 minutes of trying to get the car to shut off. Since this began, we were on a road trip, it's causing issues with accelerating on the highway & I believe it's damaging the transmission. 2020 Chevy Malibu had other models under recall for this same reason. I called Chevy dealership & they said they cannot help me. They told me to contact General Motors. I have a [XXX] baby, I'm [XXX] & lost my job after maternity leave. This should be resolved as it's causing me anxiety to drive it with my child in the car. Please help me. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6) | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Sep 2024 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER | I keep getting a shift to park alert to my car when my car is in park. I have to wiggle my shift gear in order for it to cut off or play around with the way the car is park | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Sep 2024 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER | My vehicle started to show a shift to park message. I took it to Firestone and they replaced the switch. This started happening again 2 weeks later. It is worse this time. It takes me several minutes to get my car to acknowledge that it is in fact in park. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Sep 2024 | SERVICE BRAKES,ENGINE | On [XXX] I was driving to work and my check engine light came on. Immediately after this I was completely unable to brake. My brake pedal became so stiff and impossible to press. I very narrowly avoided an accident. I had the car towed to an auto shop where I was informed that I had a vacuum pump failure that essentially exploded and destroyed my cam shaft and shot fragments of metal into my engine in the process. I was quoted over $12,000 in repairs. After receiving this quote I began searching online to find what could have caused this to happen. I stumbled upon a class action lawsuit for this EXACT same thing (plaintiff [XXX] ). In addition to the suit there were 12 PAGES of comments from other Malibu owners who have experienced similar issues with their vacuum pump and braking system. This issue is also noted on MANY car repair forums, Chevy owner forums, YouTube repair videos etc. Please note that when I received the check engine light on 9/5 this is the first and only time I had any indication of a potential problem with my vehicle. In the year and a half that I have owned the car there has never been any issues, warnings or check engine lights. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6) | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Sep 2024 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER | This car has problems when shifting to PARK. Sometimes it doesn't recognize its in park and wont shut off. There is a recall on this but when I look up my VIN it doesnt show a recall for my exact vehicle. Am I still able to get this fixed under the recall? | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Sep 2024 | POWER TRAIN,ENGINE | The contact owns a 2020 Chevrolet Malibu. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the accelerator pedal was depressed; however, the vehicle failed to accelerate as needed. The contact stated that the vehicle stalled prior to accelerating. Additionally, the check engine warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where the vehicle was diagnosed with power train control module failure. The contact was informed that the power train control module needed to be replaced. The contact was advised to contact the dealer. The dealer was made aware of the failure. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure but provided no assistance. The contact was informed of an unknown recall campaign; however, the VIN was not included. The contact was advised to contact the NHTSA Hotline to report the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 77,765. | Crash: No Fire: No | 77,765 |
| Sep 2024 | POWER TRAIN | The contact owns a 2020 Chevrolet Malibu. The contact stated while the vehicle was parked, the shift to park error message was displayed. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired by an independent mechanic or the dealer. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure but did not assist. The contact was advised to contact the NHTSA Hotline and report the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 68,000. | Crash: No Fire: No | 68,000 |
| Sep 2024 | POWER TRAIN,ENGINE | The contact owns a 2020 Chevrolet Malibu. The contact stated while driving at approximately 25 MPH, the vehicle stalled. The contact stated no warning light was illuminated. Additionally, the contact stated that while shifting into park(P), the vehicle rolled backward before the contact could shift the vehicle into park(P). The contact had taken the vehicle to a local dealer, where it was diagnosed; however, the contact stated that she was not notified of what had been repaired. The contact stated that the failure reoccurred. The contact drove the vehicle back to the same dealer. The vehicle was not diagnosed and was not repaired. The manufacturer was not informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 70,000. | Crash: No Fire: No | 70,000 |
| Aug 2024 | POWER TRAIN | Car is indicating "Shift to Park" after placing in park and turning off. Unable to lock vehicle. Lights remain on. Took vehicle to dealer though it's a widely known issue I will be required to pay? Transmission was replaced at 35K due to manufacturing defect. Every 20k miles I'm going to have more transmission issues? It's just not right! | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Aug 2024 | POWER TRAIN | I was driving down the road and the car started slowing down and even when I would give it gas wouldn’t accelerate. After pullling over and allowing the cars behind me to pass I tried to pull back out into traffic and the car would not engage into gear. When giving the car gas it didn’t move. I shifted the transmission into park and tried shifting into every gear including reverse and the car wouldn’t go anywhere I had to sit in the road for about 20 minutes then the car shift very hard into drive and began accelerating. Now when trying to drive it every time it stalls out either when first trying to back up or take off or decelerates while driving down the road making me fearful for my life due to being hit from behind sue to no notice or warning before the car decelerates | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Aug 2024 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER | When I turn my car off it tells me to shift to park when it’s already in park | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Aug 2024 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,SERVICE BRAKES | The problems listed in my vehicle are the following • U0073: Control Module Communication Bus A Off • U0100: Lost Communication With Engine Control Module • U0121: Lost Communication with Electronic Brake Control Module • U0140: Lost Communication With Body Control Module • P0700: Transmission Control Module Requested MIL Illumination I believe this is due to a bad design in the wiring. Also the electric brake vacuum broke which is a common problem. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Aug 2024 | POWER TRAIN | The contact owns a 2020 Chevrolet Malibu. The contact stated while the vehicle was parked, the contact attempted to exit the vehicle; however, the shift to park message was displayed on the instrument panel. The Push to Start button was illuminated. The vehicle was driven back to the residence. A dealer was not contacted. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and informed the contact that the vehicle was not under recall and referred the contact to the NHTSA Hotline to report the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 51,000. | Crash: No Fire: No | 51,000 |
| Aug 2024 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | Yes my car has just started to displaying a shift to park message on the message center when you shift the car into park. I know there are recalls on 2016-2019 Malibu and now it’s doing it on my 2020. Come on Chevy | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jul 2024 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | So far it is only once in a while when I shift into park and turn off the engine the ‘Shift to Park’ message will be displayed in the dash. Sometimes I can jiggle the shift lever a little to make it go out, other times I have to start/stop engine , shift out and into park several times to make it go out. I don’t want to leave the vehicle without making sure it’s in park. I read in another complaint that the doors won’t lock, and that it goes into accessory mode and could drain the battery down if left that way, but I did not check if that happens on my vehicle. It just started doing this a few weeks ago. I have not contacted the dealership yet, but I understand that GM has put out a recall on the Malibu and other models concerning this issue. I am hoping it will cover my VIN. number soon. Thank you for taking time to read my complaint. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jul 2024 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | The contact owns a 2020 Chevrolet Malibu. The contact stated while attempting to shift into park(P), the gear shifter failed to function as intended. The message to shift into park(P) was displayed. The vehicle was taken to the dealer; however, the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The contact stated that the failure had previously occurred; however, the failure was diagnosed as an electrical failure and the vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 20,000. | Crash: No Fire: No | 20,000 |
| Jun 2024 | POWER TRAIN,UNKNOWN OR OTHER,SERVICE BRAKES | engine misfire, shift to park and transmission | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jun 2024 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER | There is a message that’s pops up on my dashboard when I cut my car off saying “car not in park” when I have in fact put it in park. I have to jiggle and constantly press the gear shift in order for the message to go away .My safety was fine , I’m just scared that I may not see the message and my car could potentially start rolling backwards or forward. My car has been doing this for about 6-8 months . | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jun 2024 | POWER TRAIN | The contact owns a 2020 Chevrolet Malibu. The contact stated that the vehicle was parked and while attempting to turn off the vehicle, the message "Shift to Park" was displayed. The contact shifted out of park(P) and shifted back to park(P) several times until vehicle responded as needed. Additionally, the contact stated that the failure recurred while her daughter had attempted to turn off the vehicle while the vehicle was parked. The contact's daughter was unable to successfully shift to park(P) and allowed the vehicle to turn off independently after a while. The dealer and the manufacturer were not notified of the failure. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 56,000. | Crash: No Fire: No | 56,000 |
| Jun 2024 | SERVICE BRAKES,ENGINE | The brake pump in my 2020 Chevrolet Malibu LT 1.5 malfunctioned on 05/25/2024. My car had approximately 85,193 miles on the odometer when this occured. I was driving down the interstate on 05/25/2024 when I went to apply the brake pedal and it was completely stuck. I had to swerve into the grass on the side of the interstate to avoid collision. After I had the car towed home, I had a mechanic run a system diagnostic test on the car which showed an error/defective code for the brake pressure sensor. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jun 2024 | POWER TRAIN,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | When this issue first started. My display said put the driver window down then back up. Seconds after following this prompt my car display says shift to park. I was already in park and had shut the engine off. When I open the driver door my horn beeps 2 times and my start button is yellow not allowing me to turn the vehicle completely off. As the days pass my 2020 Chevy Malibu now says shift to park Everytime I go to get out of it. Today when this happened I was trying to get it to read my vehicle was in park for about 20-30 minutes. Finally after wiggling my shifter the display disappeared. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jun 2024 | POWER TRAIN,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | The gear shift DOES NOT recognize when the car is in park. The entire transmission was replaced last year under warranty, but the gear shift is not covered. When putting the car in park, the screen shows “P” for park, but also displays “!Shift to Park!” and beeps nonstop. When this issue first happened, a simple jiggle of the gear shift handle would make it go away. Over time it turned into yanking the shift, then moving from park to drive and back again over and over, then driving around the parking lot and trying to turn it off repeatedly, and now today the car did not shut off for 3 hours despite all of my efforts. I have been late to work MANY times, I have drained my battery several times, and my anxiety has never been higher with this car. The engine turns off, but the battery stays on. My husband had to unhook the battery entirely from under the hood for it to turn off after THREE HOURS. After doing research, I found it would be over $300 to replace the entire assembly (plus labor), and 2020-21 models are not covered under this recall affecting LITERALLY EVERY OTHER MALIBU IN EXISTENCE. PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Fix the problem!!! recall this PLEASE! I cannot afford to fix this myself (with no guarantee it would even fix the issue) and cannot afford to buy a different car. This is ridiculous!!!!!!! | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |