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Chevrolet Malibu New Owner Reports

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    richslumsrichslums Member Posts: 12
    Yeah i have the same problem. The "service air bag" light come on and off. Seems to be at random times. I havent serviced it yet because it hasnt came on in about a week. I did thou, recieve a letter from my dealer telling me that i need some type of saftey harness and need to take the car into the shop for service. I would service the car sooner, but i travel alot for work etc and dont have the time. I am servicing the car for body repair this weekend, i might have time to service the airbag as well, if i do i will keep you posted. I know i have a lame excuse for not servicing the air bag, but, i have been in accidents already lol and been to shops 3 times already (accident related). I figure it was due to accidents that my service airbag light comes on. Still, now reading this, i will service it this week lol
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    macoliciousmacolicious Member Posts: 3
    edited October 2010
    I contacted "Mariah GM Customer Service" about 6 weeks ago. This began the most completely useless time-wasting exercise I have ever experienced. An agent at GM customer service is impossible to reach by phone.

    I have an excellent relationship with my dealer (at least I did before this event). My dealer is unable to diagnose the problems with my car. They are making a best effort but the solution eludes them.

    I would have thought GM customer service would have marshalled engineering resources within GM to assist the dealer with these problems. Wrong. They have, in total, just angered my dealer by telling him that his performance is poor. Then they call me and tell me what I already know. Absolutely and completely useless.

    The agent "assisting" me, "Mary" is, quite frankly, a waste of oxygen. She calls me at home during the day and at work at night (we're in the same time zone). You could not find a worse representative for General Motors if you tried.

    Have others had success with GM customer service? If so, how did you achieve this?
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    dispencer2dispencer2 Member Posts: 299
    edited September 2010
    Keep taking it back to the dealer and inform them if it doesn't get fixed you will take advantage of the lemon law and give it back to them. This appears to be a serious problem and if no error codes are generated it would be difficult for the dealer to pinpoint the problem. I'd say goodbye as soon as I could. Check your state's lemon law. This is not a classic -it is just one of a million Malibus. I can sympathise with you regarding the customer service. When I bought a Buick back in the '90's I recieved all sorts of questionnaires from Buick asking me how I liked the car. I've recieved zip from Chevrolet on my 09 Cobalt or 09 Traverse. I'm considering a Malibu but will get an extended warranty and if I have problems like yours I'll dump it as fast as I can legally. I don't have any emotional ties to new cars.
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    dispencer2dispencer2 Member Posts: 299
    Actually after reading the complaints about new Malibus I'll buy a used one. Since they depreciate from 27k to about 15k in a year or two it is a no brainer. I'll then get a GM Protection Plan extended warranty for 3 years. I've bought certified Cadillacs with no problems. I'll try and get an ex-rental car. At least I'll know how it drives and sounds when I buy it. I've had several recalls and warranty repairs (related to the steering column and electric steering) on my 2009 Cobalt bought new. Used sounds better and better.
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    crosbys3crosbys3 Member Posts: 2
    My car has 40,000 miles under extended warranty with GM. The car has been to the dealer 3 times to clear codes last time changed a cam actuator to clear the P0014 code. Still getting a miss at high way speed it sint the problem of searching for a gear this is a miss in the engine or Trans comes up with a check engine light flashing and tractions control coming up saying service ESC. i had onstar check out the check engine light and it came back with a code of P0300 Misfire dealer has car now for 2 weeks they have driven it and it mis fires for them too code P0300 comes up they reflashed the computer didnt help. I do have the Zone office involved when i dropped the car off 2 weeks ago. Anyone have any ideas what it could be
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    djm2djm2 Member Posts: 712
    Good Morning All:

    I have purchased many new vehicles. ----- When I take delivery of my new vehicle, I make it VERY CLEAR to the sales person, that we will be taking a final test drive with DEALER Plates on the new vehicle, prior to signing the final papers and taking ownership! ----- This insures that the vehicle is prepared properly. ----- If the vehicle is NOT operating properly, I will have NO PROBLEM backing out of the deal! ------(I only put $100.00 dollars on the deal when I sign the contract. ----- My trade is the down payment!) ------ I make sure that I take the vehicle out on the highway, and in city traffic. ----- I accelerate HARD, and I look for smooth positive shifting. When I approach a stop light I look for smooth down shifting. ----- The sales person then takes me through the entire vehicle to make sure that everything is operating properly. ---- At this point in time we then go into the office and finalize the sale! ----- (I MAKE THIS PROCESS VERY CLEAR AT THE TIME OF PURCHASE! ---- If the dealership cannot accommodate "my process of taking delivery," I thank them for their time, and I find another dealer. ------ Not all problems can be found, but this can eliminate most of them! ----- As long as you hold the "MONEY," ----- you are in control of the purchase. ------ If you find something wrong with the transmission, the dealer cannot force you to take delivery of the vehicle! ---- You can force them to give you another vehicle! ----- Why, because you have not signed the final papers! ----- Best regards. ----- Dwayne :shades: ;):)
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    jpk720jpk720 Member Posts: 1
    I have a malibu that has had electrical problems for a while. I moved the carpet under the emergency brake and the whole wire harness is corroded and bule with copper oxidation. is this a "known problem"? i cant find anything on the web about it.
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    25tango25tango Member Posts: 4
    I had the "Service air bag" warning light come on intermittently for months. This was for the passenger side bag since the on light would not come on when a passenger was in the seat if the warning light had come on in the DIC. I could turn the eng. off and then re-start and all would be ok. After reading that some of the connectors under the pass. seat could be the problem, I removed the seat, applied some dielectric grease and worked the connectors several times to make sure a good contact was made. This did not seem to help.

    So a couple of months ago, it occurred to me that the battery was getting some age on it and I installed a new one. The problem went away. I don't know why a new battery would make a difference. Maybe disconnecting the battery caused the warning code to drop out or reset. Maybe the ground was not all that good. The cables and connections on the battery looked good, so who knows.
    I thought I would write this up hopefully to save someone $$$ and time.
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