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2020 Chevrolet Malibu Other Problems

24 owner-reported other complaints from NHTSA data

24
Complaints
Jan 2026Nov 2025
Date Range

Data sourced from NHTSA public database. For informational purposes only. Always consult a qualified mechanic.

Owner Complaints (24)

criticalUNKNOWN OR OTHER
Filed: Jan 2026

Your transmission developed metal particles in the fluid and subsequently failed. This suggests internal wear or damage to transmission components that released metal debris into the fluid, ultimately causing the transmission to stop working.

NHTSA #: 11710683
highUNKNOWN OR OTHER,ENGINE,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM
Filed: Jan 2026

Your car is having trouble shifting into park, and fuel or transmission fluid appears to be mixing with your engine oil. This could indicate a serious internal leak or seal failure that needs immediate inspection. The repair will likely involve inspecting seals, gaskets, and fluid lines to locate and stop the leak.

NHTSA #: 11708881
mediumUNKNOWN OR OTHER,VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Filed: Apr 2026

Reduced Engine Power Light: The car limits acceleration, often accompanied by a check engine light. Stalling or Hesitation: Engine stalls or acts sluggish when accelerating, particularly in traffic. Limp Mode: The vehicle restricts speed, making it difficult to accelerate. The car stop working in the middle of the freeway and I was in the car with my child when it stop acceleration all gages in the car were going crazy, car was shaking bad finally car turn off. I was able to make it to the emergency lane of the freeway. There's similar complaints for 2020 Chevy Malibu but no recall has been done. Per my research it looks like a lot of this type of vehicles have problems with throttle body causing Engine stalls. Do the right thing and open up a vehicle recall, thank you!

NHTSA #: 11728914
mediumUNKNOWN OR OTHER
Filed: Nov 2025

Your car occasionally displays a 'shift to park' error message on the dashboard, even when you're trying to shift normally. You have to move the gear shifter multiple times before the error clears and disappears. This problem has been happening since you bought the vehicle, but the dealership couldn't make it happen during their inspection, so they didn't repair it.

NHTSA #: 11698313
mediumUNKNOWN OR OTHER
Filed: Aug 2025

When putting the vehicle in park, the vehicle states please shift to park but the vehicle is already parked.

NHTSA #: 11684186
mediumUNKNOWN OR OTHER,ENGINE
Filed: Jul 2025

For over a year now my car has been giving me the SHIFT TO PARK warning when I am in park. Happens several times a day, every day. Seems to be taking longer for the warning to shut itself off and allow my to turn car off and lock. Im not sure if my car is included in the recall but if it is NOT then it needs to be added as I am suffering on a daily basis with this issue. I am a single mother and cannot afford to miss work due to this and cannot afford to attempt to fix issue out of my own pocket. Please add my car to the recall list and help me fix this issue.

NHTSA #: 11671000
mediumUNKNOWN OR OTHER,SERVICE BRAKES
Filed: Mar 2025

Very hard to brake, like stepping on a brick. Have to start breaking way in advance. Also keep getting a "shift to park" alert and car won't shut down and can't get out of it sometimes.

NHTSA #: 11651001
mediumUNKNOWN OR OTHER,SERVICE BRAKES
Filed: Oct 2024

Faulty Vacuum pump caused catastrophic engine failure. The vacuum pump exploded cracking the cam shaft sending metal shards into the engine. $12000.00 to repair and mechanic will guarantee the work because the replacement vacuum is an only OEM part. I was having braking problems prior to the vacuum pump failing. The brakes would intermittently freeze up and I couldn't get the car stop and had to use the emergency braking system to stop vehicle. Car is still at shop I can't afford the repair and I'm am still paying finance company for car. I have a disabled child and am low income. This has put hardship on me as I live in an area that does not provide public transportation. I don't know what to do.

NHTSA #: 11622197
mediumUNKNOWN OR OTHER
Filed: Sep 2024

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.

NHTSA #: 11616537
mediumUNKNOWN OR OTHER
Filed: Sep 2024

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

NHTSA #: 11614343
mediumUNKNOWN OR OTHER
Filed: Sep 2024

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?

NHTSA #: 11613378
mediumUNKNOWN OR OTHER
Filed: Sep 2024

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.

NHTSA #: 11613548
mediumUNKNOWN OR OTHER
Filed: Aug 2024

When I turn my car off it tells me to shift to park when it’s already in park

NHTSA #: 11609855
mediumUNKNOWN OR OTHER
Filed: Jun 2024

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 .

NHTSA #: 11595296
mediumUNKNOWN OR OTHER
Filed: Oct 2023

Started today, I would put my car in park and I’d would display in the dashboard “Shift to Park” even though I’m already in park. I tried to turn my car on and off and switch gears but everytime I turn it off and it’s in park, it would keep reading that message. It eventually stopped but I don’t want this to keep happening.

NHTSA #: 11550560
mediumUNKNOWN OR OTHER,ENGINE,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM
Filed: Oct 2023

Car has stalled out, or acted like it's going to stall out several times. No check engine light on so unable to identify the issue. There are recalls for other Malibs for similar problems, but it states this model is not affected.

NHTSA #: 11548224
mediumUNKNOWN OR OTHER
Filed: Jul 2023

This car locked up about 2 Years Ago. It Told Me To Put The Car In Neutral While Driving It. The Brakes No Longer Worked And Neither Did The Steering. The Car Just Rolled Backwards No Matter The Gear It Was In Other Than Park. I Took It To Two Dealerships Who Told Me It Was A Problem With The Computer of the Car. I Seen About Three Lights on The Dashboard On And Off Typically When The Car Was Turned of And Restarted They Went Away. I Was Told That Since Nothing Was Showing Up It Couldn’t Be Diagnosed And That Since The Lights Were No Longer On The Dashboard It Was Fine. If I Seen Something Bring It Back In. Well Two Years Later It Happened Again On 7/3/23. I Had It Towed To Be Serviced Again. Just For Them To Give Me The Same Answer. It Has Been Driven 4 Times Since Then. As Of Today (7/12/23) I Got I Got In My Car And Literally Drove To The Stop Sign Of My Complex Before Having To Turn Back Around. The Car Was Smoking From The Inside Something Was Burning. The Car Is Having Issues That I Cant Even Get Resolved Because The Computer Of The Car Is Malfunctioning Some How & Its Costing Me Money & Putting Me Out Of A Vehicle. Something Is Wrong With The Computer System. & Now Ultimately Something Else Now.

NHTSA #: 11531782
mediumUNKNOWN OR OTHER
Filed: Jun 2023

There have been four incidences (11/21, 10/22 (2x), 5/23) where my vehicle has completely stopped running while I am driving. The dash lights come on, it says to service ESC, it will say to put vehicle in park (even if I have done so already), it says I have low fuel (even with a full tank) and I lose power steering. This has happened when driving on city roads and at high speed on the freeway ( which is extremely dangerous). This puts me in danger because my vehicle stops accelerating and I must coast to the shoulder, which could very easily cause a collision, especially on the freeway. My vehicle has been to the dealership for each instance and they find nothing wrong.

NHTSA #: 11525690
mediumUNKNOWN OR OTHER
Filed: Sep 2022

This car is a rental. After driving the car, I parked it at my final destination, shifted it into park, and attempted to turn the vehicle off. The vehicle would not turn off and flashed a warning on the instrument panel instructing me to shift into park even though the car was already in park. The car would only finally turn off after several attempts at shifting in and out of park.

NHTSA #: 11485411
mediumUNKNOWN OR OTHER,ENGINE
Filed: Sep 2022

Sometimes when I drive my car it loses power especially when I’m turning into on coming traffic it will lose speed and I’ve almost been hit on numerous occasions. I’ve taking the car to Chevy dealership 4 times already the last time they discovered transmission issues they repaired it. They tell me they don’t see anything else wrong. I have read reviews from other owners and they are experiencing the same exact problem

NHTSA #: 11483410
mediumUNKNOWN OR OTHER,ENGINE,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM
Filed: Apr 2022

while driving down a mountain in monterey tenessee from visiting a friend the car started blowing white smoke and all dash lights flickered before car shut off no brakes or steering while coasting down mountain almost got rear ended by pickup this was around 9pm it was dark i coasted into a gas station after a few attempts to start car . i called roadside assistance that night and got towed to dave kirk chevy dealer next town over after having issues with car i encountered issues with manager of dealer ship and roadside assistance neither could help til i started raising my voice i was stranded there in town for 2 days my friends felt bad the paid for my motel since i was so stressed out they didnt want to look at my car that manager said he knew nothing about after diagnosing my car they found a bad fuel injector that he said was open 100 percent so after 2 days i was on my way back to florida bad experience all the way around

NHTSA #: 11461527
mediumUNKNOWN OR OTHER
Filed: Sep 2021

Shift to park displays when I put my car in park and the vehicle will not turn off. I have read that there have been recalls on this issue up to 2019 but nothing for 2020. My car is not even 2 years old...I shouldn't have a problem turning my vehicle off especially since it's been an issue in the past

NHTSA #: 11431536
mediumUNKNOWN OR OTHER
Filed: Jul 2020

RAIN IN GETTING INTO THE TRUNK AREA BY A LARGE AMOUNT OF WATER. LEAVING THE SPARE TIRE SITE FULL OF WATER.

NHTSA #: 11341452
mediumUNKNOWN OR OTHER
Filed: Feb 2020

MY 2020 CHEV MALIBU, NEW 10/19, WAS PROMISED 29 MPG CITY BY CHEVROLET'S WEB SITE AND THE VEHICLE SALES STICKER. I AM ONLY GETTING AT THE VERY MOST 25 MPG AT THE VERY MOST. I LIVE IN SAN DIEGO AND DO DRIVE IN THE CITY FOR ALMOST ALL THE CURRENT 2,000 MILES. THIS IS THE PRIMARY REASON I BOUGHT THIS CAR! I TOOK IT TO THE DEALER ON 1/17/20 & THEY TOLD ME ALL WAS WORKING PER SPEC'S.

NHTSA #: 11309963

Other 2020 Chevrolet Malibu Issues