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Chevrolet Malibu

Every model year 2016–2025: recalls, owner complaints, NHTSA crash ratings and EPA efficiency side by side, each value traced to the file it came from.

10 Model years 2016–2025

30 Recalls NHTSA campaigns, all years

3,010 Complaints owner reports, all years

A Newest grade 2025 Safety Signal

2019 Best on record cleanest filed year

The 2025 Malibu →Which years to avoid Compare it

Chevrolet Malibu — photograph via Wikimedia Commons — Chevrolet Malibu · Photo: Benespit · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Every Chevrolet Malibu model year

Source: NHTSA · EPA · one row per year

Year	Powertrains	Safety	Recalls	Complaints	Crash	Best efficiency
2025	Gas	A	1	11	★★★★★	31 mpg
2024	Gas	A	2	43	★★★★★	31 mpg
2023	Gas	B	2	72	★★★★★	30 mpg
2022	Gas	A	1	99	★★★★☆	32 mpg
2021	Gas	B	2	90	★★★★☆	32 mpg
2020	Gas	A	1	199	★★★★☆	32 mpg
2019	Hybrid Gas	A	1	195	★★★★☆	46 mpg
2018	Hybrid Gas	D	6	711	★★★★★	46 mpg
2017	Hybrid Gas	C	4	725	★★★★★	46 mpg
2016	Hybrid Gas	F	10	865	★★★★★	46 mpg

Which model year the record favours

Source: recalls and complaints per year on the road

Years to avoid, with the reasons →Best on the record 2019

On the filed record so far, the 2019 is the cleanest Malibu year we hold, and the 2016 the one to check hardest.

Both figures are divided by the number of years the car has been on sale, because otherwise the oldest year on the page loses every time simply for having been around longer. The current model year and any year under three on the road are left out: their records are not finished.

Year	Safety Signal	Recalls /yr	Complaints /yr
2019	A	0.1	28
2020	A	0.2	33
2022	A	0.2	25
2021	B	0.4	18
2017	C	0.4	81
2023	B	0.7	24
2018	D	0.8	89
2016	F	1	86

Which Chevrolet Malibu years reported which system early

Source: NHTSA complaints, odometer at report

Earliest on the record: 2016 power train complaints at 0.83× the mileage of same-age vehicles (median 43,000 miles). Latest: 2018 vehicle speed control at 3.73× (52,224 miles).

Year	Engine	Power Train	Electrical System	Vehicle Speed Control	Electronic Stability Control	Service Brakes
2022	1.95×	—	—	—	—	—
2020	1.54×	1.83×	—	—	—	—
2019	1.24×	1.78×	—	—	—	—
2018	1.0×	1.27×	2.06×	3.73×	—	2.64×
2017	1.01×	1.22×	1.4×	2.73×	1.84×	—
2016	0.85×	0.83×	1.16×	2.0×	1.37×	1.5×

Each cell is that model year’s median odometer when owners reported the system, divided by the median for the same system across every make’s complaints on the same model year. under 0.67× reported early; 1.5× or more late; a dash means too few readings. When problems get reported, not how often — complaint counts are in the table above. Across the whole fleet: which systems go first.

What owners filed about the Chevrolet Malibu, by system

Source: NHTSA complaints, recalls, investigations and manufacturer communicationsEvery system, every year →

The systems the federal record is deep on for this nameplate: the complaints per model year, the mileage owners reported them at, and every recall, investigation and manufacturer bulletin filed under the heading — each one linked, none a failure rate.

engine problems 1,068 complaints, every model year electrical problems 820 complaints, every model year transmission and drivetrain problems 689 complaints, every model year brake problems 338 complaints, every model year fuel system problems 284 complaints, every model year stability control problems 130 complaints, every model year

What changed year to year

Source: computed from the filed record

2024: best combined mpg 30 → 31
2023: best combined mpg 32 → 30; 2 → 1 EPA configurations
2020: dropped hybrid; best combined mpg 46 → 32; 3 → 2 EPA configurations
2017: 4 → 3 EPA configurations

In the studies

Source: computed from the same record, method on each page

Odometer at first complaint · rank 71 of 79 2.07× the mileage of same-age vehicles Chevrolet Malibu owners reported problems to NHTSA at a median 49,000 miles across 2018–2020 (fleet 23,512), later than vehicles of the same model year. 406 readings.

Common questions about the Chevrolet Malibu

Source: EPA, NHTSA and manufacturer press kits

Which Chevrolet Malibu year is the best used buy?

On the recall record, the 2019 Malibu comes out top of the years before the current one: Safety Signal grade A (92/100), 1 recall and 195 owner complaints on file. That ranks paperwork, not condition — a specific car's history and service record still decide it.

What Chevrolet Malibu years should I avoid?

2016, 2018 have the weakest recall records in this range. The year pages list every campaign, its severity and whether a repair exists yet. Every Malibu model year ranked, with the reasons.

How many recalls does the Chevrolet Malibu have?

Across model years 2016–2025, NHTSA has posted 30 recall campaigns for the Chevrolet Malibu. They are counted per model year in the table above, because a campaign almost never covers the whole run — it covers a build range.