6.8

fairly significant
Crashes / Fires:
0 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
0 / 0
Average Mileage:
9,275 miles

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problem #2

Jul 042011

Malibu Hybrid

  • 10,250 miles
Vehicle would not go more than 20 mph after startup from intersection. Left front & right rear brakes applied themselves. Vehicle would not go above 20 mph even at 4100 RPM. Pulled off to side of road. Turned engine off. Went from wheel to wheel - left front and right rear too hot to touch. Right front & left rear cool to touch. Applied moisture to left front and right rear brake rotors; boiled off immediately. Turned engine back on & vehicle resumed normal operation. Same failure happened in May 2011 at 8,601 miles. Not tdc's either time. In March 2011 at 6,849 miles, ESC malfunctioned with 3 tdc's.

- Washington, DC, USA

problem #1

Apr 222011

Malibu Hybrid 4-cyl

  • 8,300 miles
Car refused to go above 30 mph when accelerating from light on river road even when applying full throttle. Went about half mile until I smelled friction material. Pulled car over to side of road. Walked from wheel to wheel to see how hot they were. Left front wheel was exceedingly hot as was right rear wheel. Left rear wheel & right front wheel were cool enough to touch. Car had been driven about 5 minutes in urban traffic when this happened. When car was restarted, the brakes released & no further trouble encountered. Two days early, car had intermittent mild, low-frequency jerking while driving which went away after a couple of minutes. Again, this happened in urban driving about 5 minutes after starting. Both days clear weather. No dash trouble messages displayed. Car had been in for reprogramming of ESC module about a month earlier after three different ESC trouble messages appeared on dash - traction control, ESC and hill start.

- Washington, DC, USA