2021 Chevrolet Malibu Transmission Problems

Your transmission's shift-to-park switch may be malfunctioning, causing your car to lose power while driving in traffic. This creates a serious safety hazard as other vehicles have to swerve to avoid you. An independent service center confirmed this issue. The fix will likely involve inspecting and replacing the shift-to-park switch mechanism in your transmission.

Your engine is experiencing a serious problem that caused your car to suddenly stop while driving in traffic. Before it stopped, you noticed the car shaking during startup, received a message to press the brake to start (even though it was already in Park), and got warnings about putting the car in Park when it already was. Your car was towed to the Chevrolet dealership to determine the cause. The fix will likely involve diagnosing the engine control system and fuel delivery to identify why the engine stalled and is having startup issues.

After your Malibu was taken in for a fuel pump control module recall repair, you experienced a new problem where the vehicle wouldn't turn off when you tried to shut it down, even though it showed "Shift to Park" while already in Park. The vehicle then unexpectedly shut itself off after you exited it. The dealer diagnosed that your shift lever had failed and needed replacement, but the repair wasn't completed at the time of your complaint.

Your transmission may not engage properly after backing up, and you might hear grinding sounds when driving. Your blind spot warning feature randomly stops working, which could increase the risk of a side-swipe accident. Your radio also randomly switches from regular audio to Bluetooth without your input. These issues have been confirmed by a Chevrolet dealership, and the vehicle is available for inspection.

Your car sometimes fails to accelerate smoothly when you step on the gas pedal after stopping. Instead, the transmission unexpectedly downshifts and then suddenly slams into gear, which can jolt you back into your seat. This happens particularly when the transmission fluid reaches 180 degrees, and your dashboard may show a "Shift to Park" message even though no warning lights come on. The dealership replaced the solenoid valve, but the problem continues to occur.

Your car's transmission won't shift into Park properly — even though you moved the shifter to Park, the dashboard keeps showing a "Shift to Park" message. When this happens, you can't turn off the engine. Your dealer wasn't able to diagnose or fix the problem. This could be caused by a faulty shift interlock solenoid, shift cable misalignment, or transmission control module issue that may need replacement or recalibration.

Your car's gear shift display shows an error message telling you to shift to park even after you've turned off the engine. The engine takes extra time to shut down completely, and if you need to exit the car in an emergency, you may have difficulty getting out. Your check engine light is on and indicates a filter-related issue. The shifter mechanism and engine control system may need diagnostic testing and possible replacement of the filter or related electrical components.

Your car's gear shifter is stuck in Park, but the dashboard keeps telling you to shift to Park even though you already have. The car eventually returns to normal after several attempts, but this problem keeps happening. Your electrical systems continue to work fine, and no warning lights appear on the dashboard.

While your car is parked, you may see a 'Shift to Park' message appear on the dashboard, and your car may intermittently fail to completely shut off or lock. No warning lights appear, but the issue happens off and on. The dealer hasn't been able to diagnose the problem yet, so it remains unfixed.

When you put the car in park and shut the car off a message displays on the dash saying place vehicle in park. You have to wiggle the gear shifter for the message to disappear. It appears the gear shifter has a bad sensor

Placing the car in park, turn off the car and a message appears saying to shift to park. The vehicle is not recognizing when the car is in park not allowing me to turn it off. I have to turn the car on and off multiple times until it decides it wants to finally shut off.

The contact owns a 2021 Chevrolet Malibu. The contact stated that after parking the vehicle and pressing the START/STOP button, the vehicle did not immediately turn off with the message "Shift to Park" displayed. The cause of the failure was not yet determined. The local dealer was notified of the failure. The manufacturer was not yet contacted. The failure mileage was 34,200.

The contact owns a 2021 Chevrolet Malibu. The contact stated that on several occasions while attempting to park the vehicle, the gear shifter was shifted to park(P); however, the vehicle did not recognize the gear selected. The contact stated that the "Shift to Park" message was displayed. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 15,000.

The vehicle display states to "Shift to Park" when the vehicle has been put in park and the ignition turned off. I have seen model years from 2022 through 2025 have been recalled in California for the same issue. It also can affect the cars ability to start. it first appeared two weeks ago and i have tried all recommended suggestions of putting your foot on the brake when turning it off, letting is sit a minute before turning it off and those have not changed the situation.

The transmission is not working in first gear. The dealership says it needs to be replaced and they have at least 2 other cars with the same problem of the same model and year. This problem has stranded us multiple times.

The computer was not recognizing my car being in the correct gear shift. It did this for a few days until finally, I couldn't drive it. The car would not recognize any part of the gear being in the correct position. The car would not move forward or reverse, resulting in a tow. The mechanic at Reed Lallier Chevrolet in Fayetteville NC was even able to guess my car make and model from the symptoms I reported (which was later discovered, in my case, the gear shift link had loosened), and confirmed that if this happened while in motion, it would have been very dangerous. He also said they had 3 other cars that SAME DAY that had different causes but the same exact faulty gear recognition, with all of them being recent-year Malibu Chevrolet models AND the following day when I was doing my follow-up call concerning my car, 2 more were brought in with the faulty gear recognition issue.

Had the car for less than a year and it started jerking badly on the highway almost caused an accident. Took it to the Chevy dealer and was told I need a new transmission on a 2021 vehicle because of a STRETCHED DRIVE CHAIN CAUSING WEAK DRIVE AND CAUSED METAL DEBRIS TO GET SENT THROUGH THE TRANSMISSION SETTING DTC'S .

Warning light appears on dash "Shift to Park". Car is in park. Engine will turn off, but ignition stays in accessory mode and will run down battery if ignored. Have to wiggle shifter back and forth repeatedly to get the warning light to go away and the ignition to completely shut off. Started as a once in a while occurrence 3 months ago. Now doing this almost every time. Car is a 2021, has 100k miles, so out of warranty. No active recall. There was a recall for 2016-2019 models, and a class action lawsuit but no recall on 2021 model.

When trying to park shift disappears . Parking feature unavailable. Have to try several times to or wait until parking shift appears. System glitch trying to park. Afraid car will run off by itself and hit other cars and crash. Family of four very concerned for our safety. It has been a known issue on several Chevrolet Malibu since 2015 This should have been on a recall since 2015. Why haven’t there been any recalls on this vehicle for this problem. This problem needs to get resolved and if we have to pay out of pocket money reimbursed for everyone. Fear for our safety using this car now.

Every time I shift my car into park and try to power it off I get a warning saying shift car to park when already in park. Now I’m afraid that one day the car will display the shift gear improperly and the car will start to move on it own causing the safety anyone around it.

“Shift to Park” message appears in the car's Driver Information Center, even when it is already in Park. It doesn't recognize that the vehicle is in park. I have to wiggle the gear several times before the message clears. It doesn't allow me to lock my vehicle when this happens, I believe the vehicle stays on while this message is on the DIC, making it very unsafe. I see that there are several complaints about this issue but no recall has been made. The dealer refuses to do a free diagnostic test knowing that these vehicles have had issues. My vehicle is no longer under warranty at 54,000 miles, I will be out of pocket the expense but it's definitely unfair that this has not been an issue recalled by GM.

The contact owns a 2021 Chevrolet Malibu. The contact stated that when the gear shifter was shifted into park(P), the vehicle started to roll. The contact stated that the shift to park message was then illuminated. The contact turned off and restarted the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to the dealer but was not diagnosed or repaired by an independent mechanic or dealer. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 66,000.