5 complaints reported

2021 Chevrolet Malibu ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,UNKNOWN OR OTHER

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

Reports
5
Crashes
0
Fires
0
Injuries
0

Complaint Timeline

Chronological view of owner reports

Nov 2025

Vehicle has a repeated issue recognizing that it is in park when trying to turn vehicle off. This causes concern that the vehicle may not actually be in park, will not fully power down therefore draining the battery and leaving driver stranded, or lead to other body control module/shifting problems. This is a known issue with GM spanning multiple years and multiple models. The only official fix is to replace the entire shifter assembly with an updated version which can be a couple of thousand dollars. GM refuses to cover the cost knowing that they installed a faulty part during assembly.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2021 CHEVROLET MALIBU, Manufacturer: General Motors, LLC
Incident: Jan 2023
Nov 2025

I recently purchased this vehicle. Within the first week I was trapped in the vehicle sporadically. When I try to put my car into park, the car keep repeating "shift to park". I have tried to put the car through all gears, backing up and parking repeatedly to attempt to put the car back into park. I have been trapped in my car for hours trying to put it in gear. When I reached out to the dealership they stated that even though there is a recall for most Malibu's; however, my VIN number does not qualify for the recall.

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

After shifting into park and turning vehicle off -warning beep "place vehicle into park" comes on. It takes several "jerks" of gear shift to turn off. I'm scared its not in park and may roll.

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

Car is not registering that is in park. When I put the car in park the message on the dash will ding and say "shift to park" even though it is already in park.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2021 CHEVROLET MALIBU, Manufacturer: General Motors, LLC
Incident: Apr 2024
Apr 2024

When I turn off the car it displays a 'shift to park' message and the car tries to roll if I take my foot off of the brake. My [XXX] was beside the car and was almost run over. This is a problem that the car rolls away. I have to restart the car continuously and toggle the gear shift to get it to stop. It will not let the lights turn off and radio and/or the other components in the car and is running the battery down. There is a recall for this problem but it is VIN specific and my car is not included. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

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

Trend Over Time

Complaints by year

Quick Summary

The 2021 Chevrolet Malibu has 5 ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,UNKNOWN OR OTHER complaints on file. Review the timeline above for detailed owner experiences.