2019 Chevrolet Malibu Electrical Problems

Your 2019 Malibu was involved in a severe front-end collision on the driver's side that caused significant structural damage and frame denting. Despite the severity of the impact, the airbags did not deploy when they should have. You're concerned the airbag system may have been defective or improperly repaired before the accident, especially since the vehicle had known mechanical issues and repairs from non-certified facilities before you purchased it. The airbag system may need diagnostic testing and potential replacement of airbag control modules or sensors.

Your engine completely shut off twice while driving—once on the freeway when you changed lanes to exit, and once on a surface street as you approached a traffic light. Both times the car lost all power while moving. The issue appears to be related to the electrical system or engine, and a mechanic should diagnose why the engine is stalling unexpectedly while in drive.

Your Malibu won't shut off when you put it in Park, and it has trouble starting when you turn the ignition. You're also experiencing shifting problems that make the car unsafe to drive. GM has identified the issue as a defective shifter park switch and wiring harness in technical bulletins, but the problem hasn't been resolved.

A fire started in your driver's door electrical system and spread inside your vehicle, causing significant damage. The electrical wiring in the door appears to have ignited without any crash involved. This will likely require complete replacement of the door's electrical wiring harness and potentially the entire door assembly.

Your car displays a "Shift to Park" warning and won't turn off even after you've moved the gear shift to Park. Additionally, your car's automatic start/stop system causes the engine to stall unexpectedly at red lights and in traffic, which is dangerous—especially on hills where the car may roll backward without warning. You have to manually shift into Park and restart the engine to regain control.

Your car displays a "Shift to Park" warning message when you try to turn off the engine, even though you've already moved the shifter to Park. This prevents the engine from shutting off and has happened multiple times. The dealer reports this is a known issue on your vehicle model. The fix involves replacing the shifter assembly and its wiring harness.

Your car started fine one day but wouldn't start the next day. A diagnostic scan showed that the fuel injectors weren't delivering fuel to the engine, and the engine control module (ECM) had failed. The ECM is the computer that controls fuel injection and other engine functions, so it will likely need to be replaced or reprogrammed.

When you put your car in park and try to turn it off, a message tells you to shift into park even though you're already in park. This prevents you from shutting off the engine normally. The issue likely involves the transmission position sensor or the shift interlock system that needs to be diagnosed and repaired.

Your car's start/stop system is causing the engine to stall unexpectedly at traffic lights and in heavy traffic. When this happens on a slope, your car may roll backward or forward with no way to control it until you shift into Park and restart the engine. This has occurred multiple times between July 2024 and August 2025. A diagnostic scan and potential reprogramming of the start/stop system or engine control module may be needed to resolve this issue.

The Apple CarPlay system, specifically the GPS/navigation function, froze and malfunctioned. This occurred in two separate vehicles I’ve owned: a 2019 Chevy Malibu and now a 2019 Chevy Equinox (the vehicle involved in the accident). Both cars frequently experienced lagging and freezing while using Apple CarPlay. The infotainment system and vehicle are available for inspection. On June 28, 2025, while driving at night with GPS active via CarPlay, the system froze and gave me an incorrect instruction — telling me to turn left onto a one-way street in the wrong direction. I did not realize I was going the wrong way until reaching the intersection, and by that point, I was involved in a head-on car accident. This presented a significant danger to me and others on the road. The issue has not been officially reproduced or confirmed by a service center, but it occurred consistently in two different GM vehicles. I have text message documentation sent to my family over the months before the accident describing the freezing and lagging of CarPlay. The accident and vehicle were reviewed by insurance representatives, but no inspection was done specifically on the infotainment/GPS system by the manufacturer. There were no warning lamps or dashboard messages. However, the symptom was consistent lagging and freezing of the CarPlay interface, which had been happening for months prior. There were no official error codes displayed before the crash.

Not in park warning when shifter is placed in park.

My vehicle has been having issues for the past 2-3 years with its engine acceleration, the bcm and ecm are faulty and or my fuses continue to fail, my check engine comes on with a service esc, power steering depleted, shift to park, and a service security system warning.

Shift to park sensor does not recognize the vehicle is in park. I am unable to shut off or lock my vehicle. Ongoing prior to ownership.

My wife drove the car into the church parking lot and placed the shifter in park. Turned off the engine and the Display stated "place the car in Park." She restarted the car backed up and pulled back into the space, shut off the engine and it did the same thing again,. She got out and attempted to lock the car with the FOB and it stated place in Park, and Key fob in car. It wasn't , and she had started walking into the church with the audible alert beep and headlights behind her. I went out started the car shifted it into park and it did the same thing. I backed up a little bit engaged drive and slowly moved the shifter to park and it worked that time. Will take it to our certified mechanic tomorrow.

Purchased this vehicle (2019 Chevy Malibu) in September 2024. Put the vehicle in park and the display keeps saying "shift to park" when it's already in park.

I've had a 2019 Chevrolet Malibu since December 2018. After my last visit to the dealership to have my oil changed (January 22), I began experiencing a "Park to Shift" alert appear after I had shifted the car into park and turned it off. This happened within the first day of having it serviced. Since then it has happened pretty much every time I've driven the car and turned itr off. I'd say it's happening 90% of the time. Sometimes it's resolved if I cut the car back on shift to Drive or Reverse, then back to Park (usually have to do that a few times to get it to stop). Just today, I could not get it to go off while making a quick stop and had to leave the car essentially on while I hopped out. Once, I was able to "jiggle" the gear shift for a few seconds to get it to stop. I don't understand why this is suddenly happening. It was not happening before the visit, although I am aware that it is a known issue - however no recall has been issued. What are my options beyond spending another chunk of money to have this fixed?

Check engine light came on and the car shut down while stopping.

The contact owns a 2019 Chevrolet Malibu. The contact stated that while at a complete stop, and releasing the accelerator pedal the auto Start/Stop system engaged with delay, and the vehicle shuddered while resuming normal driving. The instrument cluster and the infotainment system were inoperable and turned off temporarily while driving. The contact stated that the failure recurred several times while attempting to drive from a complete stop. Messages indicating low fuel and key fob malfunction were displayed. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, where the battery was replaced. The contact stated that the Start/Stop system operated as needed after the battery replacement. Additionally, the contact stated while driving an undisclosed speed in a parking lot, the auto Start/Stop system engaged inadvertently, and the vehicle shut off. The message "Shift to Neutral. Restart Vehicle" was displayed. The contact followed the instruction and restarted the vehicle. The contact stated that while driving 5-8 MPH, and making a turn from a middle lane, the failure recurred while there was oncoming traffic. The contact shifted into neutral (N) and restarted the vehicle. The contact stated that the message "Power Steering Reduced. Drive Carefully" was displayed when the failure occurred. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, where the battery was replaced 4-5 times; however, the cause of the failure could not be determined. The contact stated that each battery had lasted 9-10 months. The manufacturer was notified of the failure, and a case was opened. The manufacturer advised the contact to take the vehicle to the dealer to be diagnosed and informed the contact that they would consider buying back the vehicle. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The failure mileage was unknown.

Unknown cause of issue. Vehicle states a notice to “Shift to Park” after it has already been shifted in to park and prompted to turned off. The electricity in the vehicle will not shut off until the notice disappears which doesn’t happen unless the button on the shifter is pressed multiple times. This issue will cause the battery to die in the vehicle if not treated, which in turn, will leave myself and any passengers stranded where the vehicle is.

SERVICE ESC flashed on my dashboard along with the car jerking when braking. Car has not been abused as this a new development. Check engine light stays on. Service ESC and LOW FUEL appear at the same time the brake jerk happens. Car has less than 50k miles despite being used everyday. Car does not perform accurately with the ESC not working.

Shift to park switch malfunction. Switch is bad

Check engine light lit up on the dashboard. Did not go away, took car to dealership next day. Turns out that the fuel pump system (P & A Fuel Pump & Sending System) was faulty and also needed an ECM update to the programming system. The fuel pump breaking down confuses me because the car will only be 4 yrs old at the end of May, with only a little bit over 31,000 miles on it. This system should not have needed replacing this soon in the cars usage.

GM 2019 Chevrolet Malibu - Report Shift to Park Issue - Mileage 13,784. I would like to report a Shift-to-Park problem I had with my 2019 Chevrolet Malibu. Approximately two weeks prior to this service call I started experiencing a problem with Engine Start/Stop button and “shift to park” message on instrument panel. Pressing Start/Stop button would not turn off engine. It took several attempts to completely turn off engine. Two weeks and issue was getting progressively worse. Finally on Wednesday, March 29th and having started driving errands, I could not turn off engine at all. I could not get out of the car without warning beeps going off. I immediately drove to Dealer Service as I felt unsafe to drive. Dealer Service performed and I picked up car on Thursday, March 30, 2023. They replaced shifter switch and installed jumper harness. Again, I do want to report issue as this car has only 13,784 miles. Thank you,

Vehicle cuts off daily. This has been going on for months. A message shows up saying put the car in neutral to restart. Battery and alternator have been tested more than once and they are not the issue. The car cut off while I was in traffic driving across a bridge! I had to get help pushing the car to the side of the road. This particular time the car would not start back up without a jump. Majority of the time while at a red light, it cuts off. After replacing rotors, brake pads, and brake pump, braking is still rough with screeching and grinding leaving lots of brake dust on the wheels. At times the brakes go all the way down.

all gauges shut off and turn back on while driving tire says it is flat and it is not car shuts off completely, resets, and turns back on while driving braking system not working code steering wheel jerks off to the side aggressively on its own while foot is on brake car hesitates to start up and hesitates to accelerate sometimes there are warning messages sometimes no warning steer assist turns off and shows message and jerks my wheel sideways AC control board only works half the time entertainment and GPS system blacks out randomly and doesn't turn back on the unpredictability is dangerous. the performance of this vehicle is unacceptable. having not one chevy service center properly repair this issue poses a extreme safety risk as the car's power toggles randomly and has to be restarted Multiple Chevy service centers have not given me definitive diagnostic. no one has fixed the issues. they only get worse daily. the service centers charge me money to "grease wires" and send me home every time.

I bought the car from Variety Auto in Abingdon VA, and then I had the accident on May 3rd 2022 I took it to the collision center and then after they repaired the body they noticed the airbag lights and the restraint system lights came on also, and when Ramey’s started doing the work for the air, module and wiring harness and air bag they noticed that the wiring harness was not working properly and the air bag was cut completely out they put diodes in the wiring to keep the lights off, they sold me the car saying that there was no airbag deployed but we later found out that it was, and also when I had the accident it didn’t deploy and that’s why is because there wasn’t a airbag in it to start with, if you need anything else we have all the proof of deception by someone and if you need anything else here is my phone number [XXX] you can call me anytime, thank you!!! I tried to up load all the pages and everything but it would only let me do the first Paige, so if need these let me know and I can probably get them faxed to you, thank you!!! INFORMATION Redacted PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).

The contact owns a 2019 Chevrolet Malibu. The contact stated that while using the Auto START/STOP feature, the vehicle would sputter before accelerating as needed. The contact stated that the failure only occurred during hot weather conditions with the vehicle on an incline. The contact had taken the vehicle to the dealer who stated that the battery and the battery terminal had failed. The contact stated that the battery was replaced; however, the contact was unaware if the battery terminal had been replaced. The failure had increased in frequency despite road or weather conditions. The contact stated that occasionally while driving, the vehicle shuddered and lost motive power and stalled. The contact was able to restart the vehicle and continue driving. The vehicle also displayed a driving assist reduced power message. The contact had returned the vehicle to the dealer. The vehicle had not been repaired a second time. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 1,500.

When you park the car and shift the car into park a message appears on the dashboard stating "Shift to Park" the car does not think it is in park and is telling you to put it into the Park Gear to turn off the car. You can not shut off the car as long as this message is displayed on the dashboard. Sometimes turning the car on and off 5+ times may get the message to go away but as time has gone on it has been harder to get the message to go away. At times we have been stuck in the car for over 10 minutes trying to shut off the car.

I have no Brake Lights when applying the Brakes and cruise control no longer works due to Service ESC message on display. I was advised by replacing the battery this would clear the ESC but it did not. I believe the service ESC message is tied into the brake lights and cruise control not working.

This car is displaying a shift to park on the dashboard. I have read several complaints and even lawsuits filed about this matter on the internet. Why hasn't this been recalled to fix on these vehicles it drains the battery and you aren't able to put the vehicle in park or lock the doors or anything

After shifting into park and turning off the car, a warning message to shift into park comes up. Pressing on the button on the shifter several times eventually gets it to stop.

Numerous times while driving my car both my son and I have experienced the same issues. Trying to get on the highway and pressing the gas pedal the car isn’t responding appropriately to the level of which the gas is being pressed. It isn’t accelerating appropriately. Than at stoplights or just trying to make a left hand turn from a stop position. You take your foot off brake and press the gas to go and it rolls a bit and you’re pressing the gas to go and the car isn’t responding. It’s just sitting there. Like paused. Then all of a sudden the car engages and takes off. It is very dangerous to not have the car respond to pressing the gas. And I don’t want to get into an accident because I’m trying to make a turn and get hit cause I’m just sitting there. Rather than it going when I’m pressing the gas. I am not getting any codes popping up on the dash. So the dealership has nothing to look at other than me saying this is happening to me and my son. I’m finding issues similar to this on previous models. But nothing on the 2019 that I can find. And with no error codes registering. But the issues occurring is highly concerning to me. There isn’t just one date this has occurred. This has happened now many times over the last 6mos.

When I shift the car into park the computer does not register it is in park. Still says place vehicle in park when you open a door. Have to shift it several times before it will read in park. I took it to the dealer and was told it is a common issue. They bent a bracket forward and got it to read for now. The tech said its a poor design flaw and GM should be replacing the sensor bracket but refuse to issue a recall on it.

Throttle body hose comes lose causing car to stall or shut off while driving, engine light come on saying engine power reduction issues

https://autoforums.carjunky.com/Automotive_Repair_C1/General_Discussions_F5/2019_Chevy_mailbu_LS_constantly_changing_spark_plugs_P209221/ That’s the mechanic forum I posted with my issues. It’s gotten so bad the vehicle is stalling out while driving and in busy roads and the highway. Here is the service bulletin: https://www.tsbsearch.com/Chevrolet/PIP5598#:~:text=Summary%3A,Cranks%20But%20Does%20Not%20Run%22

Driving along the interstate the car suddenly lost power. I was able to pull over and restart car and drive like nothing ever happened. Then once I parked the car at my destination the car would not start 10 minutes later leaving me stranded in an unfamiliar city. When trying to start the car it would click and the DIC would display Batter Saver Active following EMS following Power Steering. No check engine light was on in the vehicle before this incident. I was stranded in an unfamiliar city with no one around to help. After asking a random stranger for a jump the car started and allowed me to get home. No dealership can convey the problem with the car, everyone says there's nothing wrong with it. I have had the vehicle for about one year now with no problem up to now. The car often backfires and even completely cuts off at red lights (not from the auto stop feature). This is dangerous.

Numerous accumulated problems, all have complaints already on NHTSA site here. First, Start/Stop malfunction, when it is active when stopped vehicle will stall when it tries to restart when you take your foot off brake and it’s troublesome to restart at times, when that happens lights on dash all come on (warning lights) and radio/entertainment resets as well. Second, the traction control light on dash is on. The warning displays to have traction control system serviced, cruise control is disabled as a result, it’s been to the dealer for both above problems the start/stop problem they say they can’t get car to duplicate although it happens to us almost daily if not numerous times per day. This morning driving home from work the intake charge tube that attaches to intake keeps popping off and engine goes to reduced power mode on highway or wherever driving not safe at all. Saw a voluntary recall from GM going to contact dealer about tomorrow when open. Stereo resets often, completely shuts off and resets while driving at random. I also get the rushing/sloshing water noise other people have reported as complaints when coming to a stop, I read in forums that it’s something to do with low coolant but not low enough to turn on low coolant warning light. GM really needs to address this stop/start and traction control needing service light problems as I read all over the internet of owner’s complaints of same problems I have. Dealerships don’t want to do anything with the cars unles the issue a recall because it comes out of their pockets. So many complaints I read owners keep reporting that dealer “cannot reproduce identical problems” because they don’t want repairs coming out of their pockets only out of GM. I’m going to start filing formal complaints with GM until they get tired of hearing from me and fix some of this stuff or deem it a lemon and get rid of it finally.

“Shift to Park” message appears on dash information screen and prohibits the vehicle from fully powering off and can cause battery to fully discharge. This appears to be a known problem, as referenced in GM TSB 19-na-206.

Unable to leave vehicle because the car thinks the gear shift is not in park. The car is actually in park . I’ve tried wiggling the gear shift, turning the car back on several times and putting into gear and back in park. Nothing seems to work and it goes off whenever it decides to go off. This is causing a safety issue for me personally since I can’t leave the car. This started about 2months ago.

The throttle body charge pipe popped off there was a recall that on this car says it’s fixed. We replaced o ring and clip on charge pipe drove car. When we sped up to pass a car the charge pipe popped off car shut off. We had to push the car out of traffic. The car would not start. Error code check engine and engine power loss. Three hours under a Houston TX bridge got a tow. Only to be told that the gasket and clip needed to be replaced. Replaced again gm parts, car still can’t go up hills or sped up. Charge pipe will pop off. The throttle body was checked and the lip on throttle body is still good. But there is too much oil build up on throttle body it appears and the charge pipe can’t stay on. Causing engine failure. This almost got us killed on the highway. Very unsafe please help.

Front driver low beam Front passenger side marker Back passenger break light All won’t turn back on. Dealership cannot find a reason why lights won’t turn on.

The contact owns a 2019 Chevrolet Malibu. The contact stated while driving 65 MPH, the check engine warning light was illuminated, and the fuel gauge reflected EMPTY even though the tank was FULL. Additionally, the speed gauge was not operating correctly, and the temperature gauge was not functioning. The contact also stated she depressed the brake pedal to the floor but failed to stop. The contact stated she used the parking brake to stop the vehicle before it seized. The contact stated when shifting gears to park, she heard an abnormal noise and the vehicle began to hesitate. The contact stated it took 2 hours to properly turn off the vehicle. The contact left the vehicle overnight at that location and stated the following morning she was able to restart the vehicle and drove to her work. The vehicle was not drivable. The contact stated an independent mechanic came to the work parking lot and was informed it was an electrical system failure and was referred to the local dealer. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact towed the vehicle to the local dealer who was unable to duplicate the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact stated she continued to experience the failure. The contact called the local dealers AutoNation Chevrolet Laurel (500 Washington Blvd, Laurel, MD 20707: (240) 339-3932) & Sport Chevrolet (3101 Automobile Blvd, Silver Spring, MD 20904: (240) 293-0442) and made them aware of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired but was pending repairs. The manufacturer had been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 45,000.

Unknown car shutdown without warning an will haste when given it fuel.

While sitting at stop lights the car has shut itself completely off and restarted itself. This has happened atleast 6 times in the past 24 hours. The first time it happened, a message was on the dash screen that said "corrupt ......" with an explanation mark. I was unable to catch the full message. No message has displayed since that I believe. The vehicle shows no history/issue in the mychevy app.

Get “Shift to Park” message when car is placed in park and turn off ignition. This seems to be a common error reported widely on 2016 through 2020 Chevrolet vehicles. I have even seen service bulletins mentioned. Why has Chevrolet not recalled this since it seems to be a weak switch used? This is not covered under the bumper to bumper warranty since I have 54,000 miles on a two year old car. This shouldn’t be failing after two years. Maybe after 10 years but not two!

CAR HAS ENGINE LIGHT ON. IT SHOWS ENGINE POWER REDUCED. ITS NOT GOING OVER THAN 30MILES AN HOUR. CAR HAS ONLY 41K MILES.

AFTER CAR IS TURNED OFF AND IN PARK, THE DASH LIGHT STATES TO "PUT IN PARK" EVEN THOUGH THE CAR IS IN PARK, THE LIGHT WON'T GO AWAY UNTIL THE SHIFTER IS WIGGLED BACK AND FORTH, AND SIDEWAYS WAY TOO MANY TIMES, I AM AFRAID THE BATTERY WILL RUN DOWN IF LEFT LIKE THAT, WITH THE LIGHT STILL BEING ON.

THE 2019 MALIBU OWN WHICH IS AN LT WITH A SUNROOF AND HEATED FRONT SEATS, HAS HAD AN ISSUE WITH THE BATTERY CONNECTION WHERE AS THE CAR WAS BRAND NEW OUT FROM THE SHOP. AND THEN A WEEK OR TWO LATER I GOT INTO MY CAR TO LOOK FOR MY HEADPHONES, THEN I JUST WANTED TO SIT INSIDE MY BRAND NEW CAR FOR A MOMENT. AND THEN I TURNED THE RADIO ON TO LOOK AT THE TIME, AND THEN THE GAUGE CLUSTER CAME UP WITH A MESSAGE SAYING BATTERY VOLTAGE LOW. SO THEN LATER WE GOT AN EMAIL FROM CHEVY TALKING ABOUT THE ISSUE AND HOW CHEVY WOULD LIKE TO FIX IT FOR US. SO THEY FIXED IT. BUT I WOULD LIKE FOR OTHER PEOPLE TO KNOW ABOUT THIS. ALSO! I HAD A PROBLEM WITH MY SUNROOF WHICH ISN'T A SAFETY CONCERN BUT IT'S WORTH NOTING. SO AS WE GOT THE CAR. WE DIDN'T KNOW WHY THE SUNROOF WOULDN'T OPEN WHILE WE WERE DRIVING OR ANYTHING. AND SO WHEN WE GOT HOME WE TRIED FIGURING IT OUT AND AT THE TIME IT WOULD ONLY OPEN UP IF YOU HAVE YOUR FOOT ON THE BRAKE, IN DRIVE WITHOUT MOVING. GOT IT FIXED AFTER TRYING TO GET THEM TO FIX IT. AND THEN THEY MESSED UP THE HEADLINER IN THE CAR AND HAD TO GET THAT REPLACED AND THEN THEY WANT TO TRY AND CHARGE US FOR USING THEIR LOANER CARS WHEN THEY MESSED UP THE HEADLINER. LIKE WTF.

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2019 CHEVROLET MALIBU. THE CONTACT STATED THAT WHILE THE VEHICLE WAS PARKED WITH THE IGNITION IN THE OFF POSITION, THE INTERIOR LIGHTS REMAINED ILLUMINATED. THE CONTACT ALSO MENTIONED THAT WHEN THE VEHICLE WAS IN PARK AND THE IGNITION WAS TURNED TO THE OFF POSITION, THE RADIO WAS STILL OPERATIONAL. THE PUSH TO START BUTTON WAS DEPRESSED AND THE RADIO TURNED OFF. THE CONTACT INFORMED AN UNNAMED DEALER OF THE FAILURE. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOT INFORMED OF THE FAILURE. THE APPROXIMATE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 14,359.

FAULTY FUEL PUMP COMMUNICATION SYSTEM AND KEY KOB READER