25 complaints reported

2020 Chevrolet Malibu Power Train

Owner-reported problems and safety issues filed with NHTSA. Review common failures, severity levels, and complaint trends over time.

Reports
25
Crashes
0
Fires
0
Injuries
0

Complaint Timeline

Chronological view of owner reports

Nov 2025

Problems with my transmission for over two years, I’ve searched the website and have taken it to a dealership since. The vehicle has had a hard shift and problems to accelerate. The issue continues to get worse and my car has stopped while in drive, only allowing me to go backwards. It was within warranty and low miles. I was told that that’s what new cars do. Transmission fluid has always been full and topped off. In order to know what is wrong I am told I would have to pull my transmission and was suggested to replace it because it would be an easier fix. The steering also pulls. I’ve contacted the dealership and was told to contact Chevy for recall and since it was not in their data they could do nothing for me.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2020 CHEVROLET MALIBU, Manufacturer: General Motors, LLC
Incident: Oct 2022
Nov 2025

The contact owns a 2020 Chevrolet Malibu. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the vehicle lost motive power and failed to accelerate while depressing the accelerator pedal properly. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer, who discovered metal debris inside the transmission and advised the contact that the transmission needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not yet repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 106,000.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2020 CHEVROLET MALIBU, Manufacturer: General Motors, LLC
Incident: Mar 2025
Sep 2025

The contact owns a 2020 Chevrolet Malibu. The contact stated that while parking the vehicle and shifting from drive(D) to park(P) the message "Shift to Park" was displayed. The contact had shifted to park (P). The contact repeatedly shifted from neutral(N) to park(P) before the warning light turned off. The contact stated that the failure was intermittent but was a recurring failure. Additionally, if the contact had not reset the "Shift to Park" issue, the electrical system and the audible chime were still active even though the vehicle was turned off. The contact had not yet taken the vehicle to a local dealer or independent mechanic to be diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was informed of the failure and referred the contact to the NHTSA Hotline to report the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 80,000.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2020 CHEVROLET MALIBU, Manufacturer: General Motors, LLC
Incident: Sep 2025
Aug 2025

The contact owns a 2020 Chevrolet Malibu. The contact stated that on several occasions while attempting to park the vehicle, after placing the gear shifter in park(P), while attempting to turn off the vehicle, the message "Shift to Park" was displayed. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 113,000.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2020 CHEVROLET MALIBU, Manufacturer: General Motors, LLC
Incident: Jul 2025
Aug 2025

When putting the vehicle into park, the vehicle says it is still not into park even though we shift it into park. The vehicle will roll down a grade.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2020 CHEVROLET MALIBU, Manufacturer: General Motors, LLC
Incident: Jul 2025
Jul 2025

Put the car in drive and it sounded like a bomb went off and the car jerked very hard. Every light on the dash came on. The car did not want to go…when shutting off the car it says it is NOT in park and it is.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2020 CHEVROLET MALIBU, Manufacturer: General Motors, LLC
Incident: Jul 2025
Jun 2025

The contact owns a 2020 Chevrolet Malibu. The contact stated that while the vehicle was parked, the shift-to-park warning light was illuminated. The contact shifted the gear shifter until the warning light turned off. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed with a failed transmission shifter assembly. The contact was informed that the transmission shifter assembly needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and a case was filed. The failure mileage was approximately 31,803.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2020 CHEVROLET MALIBU, Manufacturer: General Motors, LLC
Incident: Dec 2024
Apr 2025

The contact owns a 2020 Chevrolet Malibu. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the message "Power Reduced" was displayed, and the vehicle decelerated and failed to exceed 30 MPH. The contact was able to drive to the destination and turned off the vehicle; however, the vehicle failed to restart and was towed to the residence. There was no warning light illuminated. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired by the dealer or an independent mechanic. After investigating the failure, the contact related the failure to Special Coverage Adjustment Number: N182188250; however, the model year was not included. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 131,000.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2020 CHEVROLET MALIBU, Manufacturer: General Motors, LLC
Incident: Apr 2025
Mar 2025

I had a constant message when turning off the car to shift to park. When the car was off, it would say shift to park on my screen. Apparently there is a recall for this, but my VIN number was not included in the recall. I had Several instances where I had been driving and my brakes locked up, and it caused my car to stall out. I would have to turn my car off and back on and sometimes it would work and that message would go away to shift to park. I eventually had to get a new transmission on a four-year-old car.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2020 CHEVROLET MALIBU, Manufacturer: General Motors, LLC
Incident: Jan 2024
Mar 2025

Park switch in gear shift is faulty

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2020 CHEVROLET MALIBU, Manufacturer: General Motors, LLC
Incident: Oct 2024
Nov 2024

Trouble going into forward gears. hard shifts into reverse. Hard idle, had transmission valve body replaced in october. Same issues before and after replacement

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2020 CHEVROLET MALIBU, Manufacturer: General Motors, LLC
Incident: Nov 2024
Oct 2024

The contact owns a 2020 Chevrolet Malibu. The contact stated that upon parking and attempting to turn off the vehicle, the message "Shift to Park" was displayed while the gear shifter was already in park(P). The contact stated that upon shifting out of park(P) and shifting back to park(P) several times, the vehicle failed to respond as needed, and the failure persisted. The contact stated that upon researching the failure online, the contact became aware that it was a common failure and that the battery needed to be disconnected. The contact disconnected the battery. The dealer and the manufacturer were not notified of the failure. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 75,000.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2020 CHEVROLET MALIBU, Manufacturer: General Motors, LLC
Incident: Oct 2024
Aug 2024

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!

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2020 CHEVROLET MALIBU, Manufacturer: General Motors, LLC
Incident: May 2024
Aug 2024

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

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2020 CHEVROLET MALIBU, Manufacturer: General Motors, LLC
Incident: Aug 2024
Jun 2024

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.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2020 CHEVROLET MALIBU, Manufacturer: General Motors, LLC
Incident: May 2024
May 2024

Shift to park issue . When the car is shifted to park, the system does not recognize the car is in park mode even though the stick is in Park. It starts beeping and that dash board screen shows SHIFT to PARK. It happened several times in October 2024. The dealer says it does not cover under the warranty and it has on 20000 miles and bought in 2021.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2020 CHEVROLET MALIBU, Manufacturer: General Motors, LLC
Incident: Mar 2024
May 2024

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.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2020 CHEVROLET MALIBU, Manufacturer: General Motors, LLC
Incident: May 2024
May 2024

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.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2020 CHEVROLET MALIBU, Manufacturer: General Motors, LLC
Incident: Jul 2024
Jun 2023

After you shift the car into park and shut the motor off, the car flashes a warning on the instrument panel to shift the car into park. Which it already is. Appears there was a recall for this for 2016-2019 cars, but not the 2020 year like mine. Happens consistently.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2020 CHEVROLET MALIBU, Manufacturer: General Motors, LLC
Incident: Jun 2023
May 2023

My vehicle malibu2020. When I park sometimes It says shift to park sign. On dash board. The makes it difficult for car. To shut. off i have to keep pressing the plus and minus sign on the gear shift to cut off.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2020 CHEVROLET MALIBU, Manufacturer: General Motors, LLC
Incident: May 2023
Feb 2023

I put the car in park and it says a message that says shift to park but I am in park already and now my battery keeps draining and the lights on shifter blink continuously when I’m in park if I click shift button the message goes away but I don’t think it should be doing this and I’m not the only person from what I have read.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2020 CHEVROLET MALIBU, Manufacturer: General Motors, LLC
Incident: Aug 2022
Jan 2023

The contact owns a 2020 Chevrolet Malibu. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the engine revved loudly while coming to a stop. Additionally, the vehicle lost motive power while driving uphill. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, and the dealer confirmed that the vehicle performed as designed. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The contact related the failure to Technical Service Bulletin: 21-NA-004 (Continuously Variable Transmission). The failure mileage was 27,344.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2020 CHEVROLET MALIBU, Manufacturer: General Motors, LLC
Incident: Jan 2023
Jul 2022

A few days ago, when I put the car in park and turned it off, there was a message on the screen saying "Shift to Park." It was in park. I could not get out of the car because it was still getting power. If I tried to lock the doors, it sounded the alarm. I had to turn the car on and off multiple times to get it to go away. It would've drained the battery if I'd left it. Who knows if it was really in park either. It's been doing it ever since. I called the dealer and they want $350 to fix it. The guy told me they've been seeing this on Malibu's and "now it's happening on the Traverse models, too." I've been reading online how this has been happening since at least 2016, but there is no recall. Why NOT?? This is dangerous and they're aware of the problem. They've issued service bulletins on how to fix it!

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2020 CHEVROLET MALIBU, Manufacturer: General Motors, LLC
Incident: Aug 2022
Jun 2022

The shifter gear control/ shifter assembly keeps failing on and off. It’ll give me a warning shift to park. It did this while drive on a major highway then my car loss all power as I was in the second lane causing so much safety concerns. It is also alerting me when I’m in park now that I need to shift to park more frequently. Extreme issue.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2020 CHEVROLET MALIBU, Manufacturer: General Motors, LLC
Incident: May 2022
Mar 2022

I need my pistons and rings replaced. My car only has 57,000 miles. My car has been diagnosed with excessive piston blowby from 2 different independent service centers. Both times I have been to Chevy to get it fixed under warranty, they’ve charged me $200 for diagnostics each time and told me it is my PCV valve that needs fixed. I had them fix my PCV valve and I still have excessive piston blowby. Chevy just wants to keep bringing my car back in for more diagnostics. I have spoken with GM customer service 2 times and somehow every single time I give them my VIN they hang up. My car is a 2020 with only 57,000 miles on it. There’s absolutely no reason why I should need all new pistons and rings and why Chevy service centers won’t just get it done! I have diagnostic reports, receipts, and videos of everything.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2020 CHEVROLET MALIBU, Manufacturer: General Motors, LLC
Incident: Jan 2022

Trend Over Time

Complaints by year

Quick Summary

The 2020 Chevrolet Malibu has 25 Power Train complaints on file. Review the timeline above for detailed owner experiences.