I've had this car for almost 3 years now, and the steering problems started about 3 months ago. I noticed my steering wheel was really loose, and I noticed a rattle in the front end, and a clunking in the steering column. I had a tie rod replaced, and I also had a new rack and pinion installed. The rack and pinion seemed to do the trick...for about 2 weeks, then the steering wheel is all loose again.

The clunking in the steering column has returned, which the clunking is different when I turn left or right. It also sounds like something is going to break when I go over bumps. Unfortunately, my warranty has expired, and I don't have the money to fix whatever problem is going on now. I feel like I'm driving a death trap.

Had I known about the steering defect, I would have never bought this piece of junk and would have gone to Ford.

While driving the car has a noise almost a chatter like I am driving on a very bumpy road, but the road can be smooth yet the chatter is still noticeable. I thought it was a tie rod or something of that nature, but everything has been checked out and reports to be fine. The noise is becoming very annoying and worries me that there might be something wrong yet nothing is visibly wrong. I am afraid that something might break while driving to work on the interstate at high speeds or that my wife might be driving with my newborn son and something might break. I have read many complaints about the steering and I have received a recall about the electric power steering unit but I am not covered under this recall because I am not receiving the warning chime. I have hard that many people have had this issue fixed only to have it break again. Chevrolet needs to take a serious look at the steering issues with this car and find a solution to this problem. This is my second Chevrolet vehicle i have own with some sort of steering issue, get it right Chevrolet or this is the end of our business and I will buy something else this year.

JUST WANTED TO SAY THAT THE 2006 CHEVY MALIBU'S ARE GARBAGE AND THAT GM SHOULD RECALL THEM REASON BEING THAT ALL THE POWER STEERING COMPONENTS ARE FAULTY NO MATTER HOW MANY TIMES THEY GET REPLACED THEY ALWAYS FAIL AT A CERTAIN AMOUNT OF MILEAGE DURING MY OWNERSHIP OF THIS VECHICLE IT HAS GAVE ME NOTHING BUT PROBLEMS MAINLY THE POWER STEERING I HAVE HAD IT REPLACED AND NOW IT IS ACTING UP AGAIN BUT MORE RAPIDLY I CALLED THE LOCAL CHEVY DEALERSHIP AND TOLD THEM I HAVE GOTTEN A LETTER STATING THAT THEY WOULD REPLACE THE STEERING COLUMN FOR FREE BUT THE DEALERSHIP DID NOT COMPLY THEY WERE GONNA CHARGE ME 1300.65 IN ORDER TO REPLACE IT AGAIN ALL THEY SAID IS FOR ME TO HOLD ON TO THE LETTER AND WAIT TILL GENERAL MOTORS DOES A RECALL AND THEY WILL REIBURST ME SO NOW I HAVENT GOTTEN IT REPLACED AGAIN BECAUSE I HAVE HAD IT FIXED BEFORE AND NOW THE PROBLEM IS BACK AND FOR ALL THE OTHER CAR OWNERS OF THIS YEAR MAKE AND MODEL WE SHOULD GET A PETITION GOING FOR A RECALL OF THIS VECHILE INSTEAD OF WAITING AND SPENDING OUR HARD WORKING MONEY TO FIX A PROBLEM THAT GM SHOULD HAVE STEPPED UP TO FIX FOR FREE LIKE THE TOYOTA PIRIUS BUT OTHER THAN THAT I WAS GLAD TO SHARE MY COMMENT ONE LAST THING I HAVE TWO OTHER FRIEND WHO HAVE HAD THE SAME PROBLEM AND THEY HAVE HAD TO PAY OUT OF THERE OWN POCKETS AS WELL AND ALL OF OUR CARS ARE UNDER 100,000 MILES AND WE HAVE ALL GOTTEN THE LETTERS FROM GM BUT NO FREE REPAIR THANKS FOR READING

Hello, I own a 2006 Chevrolet Malibu LT, the clicking noise that I hear started when the vehicle had approximately 40,000 miles. The Front wheels click whenever I turn the wheels left or right, and I can feel the click also in the steering wheel. I few weeks ago, September 1, 2010 I received a letter from Chevrolet stating that my vehicle has electical power issues and that if the electrical system goes out there is a device in my car that will signal them automatically. They will cover the expenses of fixing the electrical problem for up to 10 years or 100,000 miles.

When I called the Chevrolet dealorship that I purchased the car from, they said the the electrical power steering has nothing to do with my steering problem. They hadn't even looked at my car yet. Since reading the many complaints related to mine in AutoBeef, I wonder if Chevrolet should be held responsible for the problem or should have disclosed this universal steering problem to me before I purchased the car. It would seem that as many people who have the same problem would warrant a recall. Does anyone know the consumer laws on this particular issue?

Had noise issues from front end at 29000 miles when I bought car and dealer lubed the intermediate shaft which temporarily resolved but problem came back. Had mechanic re-lube the shaft/replace linkage there. Now miles later the problem has come back but a bit louder and more persistent. Mechanic wants to replace the entire rack of the rack and pinion steering system. For $600. Sounds from the blogs here that warranty repair is out of question so I either live with it for awhile or get it fixed. Needless to say this is my last Chevy. Government owned GM is same as the old GM, I afraid so things will remain the same, and its just sad.

I noticed the issue 2 days after the warranty expired...I brought it in to the dealership right away and they said it was the intermediate steering shaft and it would cost $300 to fix...heartbroken, I said it was really sad that 2 days over the warranty and my car was turning into a piece of junk. The people at Don Brown Chevrolet in St. Louis were super nice and understanding. They told me that they would fix it free of charge...when I got home I Googled the issue and it turns out that many 2006 Chevy Malibu owners have this issue. Why hasn't GM issued a recall on this known defect??????

The car developed a binding noise when turning, got under the car and had wife turn the steering wheel while the car was running and you could see the torque on the steering rack. Bought a new A1 Cardone rack and installed it. Had the car aligned. Now 4 months later the same exact problem is worse. Just bought another rack (will be under parts warranty but no labor for the alignment) Getting ready to buy myself another 4 months or hopefully more. The electric assist power steering is absolute junk. I am wondering if it puts too much stress on a rack that was designed as a non power steering rack. Without the electric motor thats all the car is....no power steering. On a car that has no power steering no one tries to muscle the steering, they wait till the car is moving to turn. The electric motor forces the rack putting alot of stress when not in forward motion. Thats my only guess. This problem is like having monthly payments.

OK, so here's the issue. It sounds like I am not the only one that has been dealing with this damn Malibu problem. I must say after dealing w/ this I will never again buy another Chevrolet car, and that makes me sad. My issue was present when I first looked at the car to buy from a Chevrolet dealership last March, 2008. I told them they needed to fix it and I would buy the car, and it was under warranty so it didn't seem like an issue. Until the 'clunking' in the steering column came back a few months later. So I had it "fixed" while under warranty again. Both times they were supposed to replace the intermediate steering shaft, but they didn't replace it, they only greased it up. A quick fix that only lasted a short while. So just recently I had to take it in AGAIN for the same issue. They told me it would cost $360 now because it was no longer covered under the standard warranty! EVEN THOUGH THEY WERE SUPPOSED TO FIX IT WHILE IT WAS UNDER WARRANTY!! So I called the customer service line and then talked to 5 different people over the course of 2 weeks who had to call all of the auto shops that I had been to to see what they had and hadn't done. Like I said, no one had yet replace the intermediate shaft like they were supposed to. So, since I didn't have a regular body shop (bc I didn't trust anyone bc the problem continued to reoccur) I had to pay for half of the repair!! AND NOW I am having alignment/steering issues without the noise! No wonder GM is broke, never again!!