6 complaints reported

2021 Chevrolet Malibu Electrical System

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

Reports
6
Crashes
0
Fires
0
Injuries
0

Complaint Timeline

Chronological view of owner reports

Sep 2025

My car has about 82000 miles and while driving it stated that I was shifted to neutral and needed to be restarted. After a few seconds the steering wheel locks up and I can’t press the gas anymore, even though the car is still in drive. This happened about 6 times on the half mile drive home. I haven’t been able to diagnose it yet since the dealership is backed up for a month. I think it’s the neutral safety switch

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2021 CHEVROLET MALIBU, Manufacturer: General Motors, LLC
Incident: Aug 2025
May 2024

The vehicle says shift to park. Even though the vehicle is in park. It then causes the vehicle power to remain on and kill the battery. I’ve seen multiple instances of this same problem on the same vehicle as mine and many other GM models. My warranty ran out in January (of course) and now the issue is occurring. I’ve been stranded with a dead battery 3 times already due to this. It’s literally a microswitch not functioning correctly to tell the computer that the vehicle is in park.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2021 CHEVROLET MALIBU, Manufacturer: General Motors, LLC
Incident: May 2024
Oct 2023

When I move my car to park and shut off the vehicle it shows a "shift to park" message. This keeps my car from shutting off on a regular basis.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2021 CHEVROLET MALIBU, Manufacturer: General Motors, LLC
Incident: Aug 2023
Jul 2023

Malibu will be in park, engine off, but when exiting the vehicle a message will appear "SHIFT TO PARK", although the vehicle is in park. The electrical will not shut off, which is a hazard, as the vehicle's battery remains on. I am forced to turn the car on, shift to a different position (not "park", and then forcefully shift back to park). I contacted the dealer that has done all of my work, they were aware of the problem and offered to fix under warranty. They claim to have replaced my transmission harness. The problem was fixed for about one week, but now the problem has resumed sporadically. I have contacted the dealer again as of this morning to seek resolution. The consumer stated that the manufacturer has not resolved the issue yet.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2021 CHEVROLET MALIBU, Manufacturer: General Motors, LLC
Incident: Jan 2023
Mar 2023

When trying to turn the car off, it will not allow me, warning light comes on saying shift to park. This has happened several times over the past week. I have to continuously turn the car on and off, put in drive then back to park before the message goes away, allowing me to turn off the car. I am 3k miles out of my bumper to bumper warranty, so the dealership is charging me $500.15 for a new shifter assembly for what they said was a common failure in GM cars. If its common then it should be a recall for several make and model years. My coworker has 2021 Blazer and the same thing happened to her but she was still under warranty so her repair cost $0.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2021 CHEVROLET MALIBU, Manufacturer: General Motors, LLC
Incident: Oct 2023
Feb 2021

THIS WAS A RENTAL CAR, EQUIPPED WITH AN ELECTRONIC KEY FOB AND A STARTER/TURN ENGINE-OFF BUTTON ON THE DASHBOARD. THIS PARTICULAR VEHICLE COULD BE LOCKED REMOTELY FROM OUTSIDE THE VEHICLE, WHILE IT CONTINUED TO RUN. ADDITIONALLY, IT APPERED THAT AN OCCUPANT OF THE LOCKED VEHICLE WHO DID NOT HAVE AN ELECTRONIC KEYFOB IN HIS POSSESSION COULD NOT OPEN THE DOORS FROM THE INSIDE. THUS, ADULTS OR CHILDREN COULD BE ASPHYXIATED UNDER CERTAIN NOT-TOO-HARD-TO-IMAGINE SITUATIONS.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2021 CHEVROLET MALIBU, Manufacturer: General Motors, LLC
Incident: Jun 2021

Trend Over Time

Complaints by year

Quick Summary

The 2021 Chevrolet Malibu has 6 Electrical System complaints on file. Review the timeline above for detailed owner experiences.