The Used Car Index

2005 Chevrolet Malibu Maxx problems

NHTSA lists 326 complaints for the 2005 Chevrolet Malibu Maxx, 13 of them mention a crash and 10 mention a fire. 8 complaints mention an injury, with 9 injuries and 0 deaths reported.

Data build 2026-10-09.

NHTSA lists this vehicle as CHEVROLET MALIBU MAXX.

At a glance

Complaints
326
With crash
13
With fire
10
With injury (complaints)
8
Injuries
9
Deaths
0
Recalls
3
Do not drive recalls
0
Park outside recalls
0
Recall potential units (maximum)
2,440,524
Investigations
1
Open investigations
0
Manufacturer communications
176

Complaints per 100k sold unavailable. No sales source is available for this record.

Where the complaints are

Top systems
SystemComplaintsShare of this vehicle's complaints
STEERING18556.7%
EXTERIOR LIGHTING5115.6%
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM4012.3%
SEATS3912.0%
EQUIPMENT113.4%
SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC103.1%
SUSPENSION103.1%
AIR BAGS92.8%
ELECTRONIC STABILITY CONTROL (ESC)92.8%
FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM82.5%
Top subsystems
SystemSubsystemComplaints
STEERINGELECTRIC POWER ASSIST SYSTEM10
STEERINGRACK AND PINION9
EXTERIOR LIGHTINGTURN SIGNAL5
SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULICFOUNDATION COMPONENTS4
SUSPENSIONFRONT4
ELECTRICAL SYSTEMIGNITION3
EXTERIOR LIGHTINGHEADLIGHTS3
STEERINGHYDRAULIC POWER ASSIST SYSTEM3
STEERINGLINKAGES3
ELECTRICAL SYSTEMSTARTER ASSEMBLY2

One complaint can name several systems, so shares can add to more than 100 percent.

Model-generated complaint tags: This model year has not been tagged.

Recalls

See new recalls and investigations this week.

3 recalls.

14V252000

Date: 2014-05-14. Systems: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, ELECTRONIC STABILITY CONTROL (ESC), EXTERIOR LIGHTING, VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL.

Defect: General Motors LLC (GM) is recalling certain model year 2004-2012 Chevrolet Malibu vehicles manufactured May 16, 2003, through October 11, 2012, 2004-2007 Malibu Maxx vehicles manufactured June 25, 2003, through April 5, 2007, 2005-2010 Pontiac G6 vehicles manufactured May 26, 2004, through January 4, 2010, and 2007-2010 Saturn Aura vehicles manufactured April 24, 2006, through May 26, 2009. In t (excerpt)

Consequence: Any of the above failure conditions increases the risk of a crash. (excerpt)

Remedy: GM will notify owners, and dealers will attach the wiring harness to the BCM with a spacer, apply dielectric lubricant to both the BCM and harness connector and the BAS and harness connector, and will relearn the brake pedal home position, free of charge. The manufacturer distributed an Interim letter to customers on July 14, 2014. The recall began on August 18, 2014. Owners may contact General M (excerpt)

Do not drive: No. Park outside: No.

14V224000

Date: 2014-04-30. Systems: POWER TRAIN.

Defect: General Motors LLC (GM) notified the agency on April 29, 2014, that they are recalling 56,214 model year 2007 and 2008 Saturn Aura vehicles. On May 22, 2014, GM increased the recall to include an additional 1,074,899 model year 2004-2008 Chevrolet Malibu vehicles manufactured from May 16, 2003, through October 5, 2007, model year 2004-2007 Malibu Maxx vehicles manufactured from June 25, 2003, thr (excerpt)

Consequence: If the transmission shift cable fractures while the vehicle is being driven, the transmission gear selection may not match the indicated gear and the vehicle may move in an unintended or unexpected direction, increasing the risk of a crash. Furthermore, when the driver goes to stop and park the vehicle, despite selecting the A PARKA position, the transmission may not be in A PARK.A If the vehi (excerpt)

Remedy: GM will notify owners, and GM dealers will replace the shift cable assembly and mounting bracket, free of charge. The manufacturer has not yet provided a notification schedule. Owners may contact General Motors at 1-800-553-6000. GM's number for this recall is 14152. (excerpt)

Do not drive: No. Park outside: No.

14V153000

Date: 2014-03-31. Systems: STEERING.

Defect: General Motors LLC (GM) is recalling certain model year 2004-2006 and 2008-2009 Chevrolet Malibu, 2004-2006 Malibu Maxx, 2009-2010 HHR (non-turbo), 2010 Cobalt, 2008-2009 Saturn Aura and 2004-2007 Ion, and 2005-2009 Pontiac G6. In the affected vehicles, there may be a sudden loss of electric power steering (EPS) assist that could occur at any time while driving. (excerpt)

Consequence: If power steering assist is lost, greater driver effort would be required to steer the vehicle at low speeds, increasing the risk of a crash. (excerpt)

Remedy: GM will notify owners, and dealers will perform one of four bulletins. Parts are not currently available. GM expects to send an interim notification around May 28, 2014. When parts are available, owners will be mailed a second letter to come in to have the applicable bulletin applied. Bulletin 14115 covers model year 2004-2007 Saturn Ion, 2009-2010 Chevrolet HHR and 2010 Chevrolet Cobalts. De (excerpt)

Do not drive: No. Park outside: No.

Investigations

1 investigations; 0 open.

EA09004

Opened: 2009-03-20. Closed: 2010-08-12.

Turn Signal Lamps

GM designed the MY 2004 and 2005 Chevrolet Malibu and Malibu Maxx vehicles with a daytime running lamp (DRL) system that uses the same filament (the high power filament of a dual filament bulb) as the front turn signals.The high power filament operates at full battery voltage when functioning as a DRL.The DRL is illuminated whenever the headlamps are off, increasing the duty cycle of the front tur

Systems: EXTERIOR LIGHTING.

Linked campaign numbers: None listed.

Manufacturer communications

176 manufacturer communications.

Communications by system
SystemCount
EQUIPMENT43
ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING34
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM30
POWER TRAIN21
STEERING14
UNKNOWN OR OTHER11
ENGINE10
STRUCTURE9

11020816

Date: 2025-07-18. Type: Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions. Systems: UNKNOWN OR OTHER.

This PI communicates the requirement to provide a pico file to receive diagnostic assistance from TAC.

11019072

Date: 2025-05-30. Type: Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions. Systems: UNKNOWN OR OTHER.

This Preliminary Information communication provides information to the technician about the use of J-35616-64B and Mini 50 terminal test probe, replacement terminals, and terminated leads.

11019073

Date: 2025-05-30. Type: Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions. Systems: UNKNOWN OR OTHER.

This Preliminary Information communication provides information to the technician about the use of J-35616-64B and Mini 50 terminal test probe, replacement terminals, and terminated leads.

11019074

Date: 2025-05-30. Type: Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions. Systems: UNKNOWN OR OTHER.

This Preliminary Information communication provides information to the technician about the use of J-35616-64B and Mini 50 terminal test probe, replacement terminals, and terminated leads.

11008956

Date: 2024-09-09. Type: Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions. Systems: UNKNOWN OR OTHER.

This service bulletin provides information for dealers/technicians on When and How to Submit a Field Product Report (FPR) (U.S. and Canada Dealers Only).

11007208

Date: 2024-09-06. Type: Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions. Systems: UNKNOWN OR OTHER.

This Preliminary Information communication provides information to the technician about changing the tire and wheel size on vehicles. General Motors will only support a tire calibration for tires that have been sized, tested and designed for the vehicle in question and its applications. Technician s

11006621

Date: 2024-08-26. Type: Service Campaign. Systems: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM.

Vehicle Wide Programming (VWP) is a new process to update software on GM Vehicles. It provides the ability via a single selection within Techline Connect to first identify which modules need updating and then proceed to updating affected modules (with some exceptions). The updating of modules is com

11007091

Date: 2024-08-05. Type: Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions. Systems: ENGINE.

This service bulletin provides guidelines and diagnostic/repair information to technicians regarding vehicle engine oil consumption.

11006421

Date: 2024-07-24. Type: Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions. Systems: POWER TRAIN.

GM is receiving damaged (cracked or broken) transmission cores returned to the reman facilities. The damage is being caused either in the removal process by the technician, or inadequate packaging or shipping. This bulletin advises the dealers to be more careful not to damage the transmissions durin

11004761

Date: 2024-06-28. Type: Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions. Systems: ENGINE, FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM.

This service bulletin advises of a new fuel injection cleaner kit used for decarbonizing the intake valves to correct conditions of rough idle, Crank no start, extended crank or misfire, MIL with DTCs, and explains how Top Tier fuels should be used to reduce carbon build-up.

Notes on this record

  • Complaints from the API and bulk file are merged and deduplicated by ODI number; the API alone misses records.
  • System and subsystem counts are numbers of distinct complaints, recalls or communications that name them. One record can name several systems, so shares across systems can add to more than 100 percent; a single share never exceeds 100 percent.
  • Recalls are counted once per campaign, investigations once per action and manufacturer communications once per NHTSA id, even when NHTSA lists several model names for the same record.
  • A sales denominator is a calendar-year proxy, not the population of vehicles still in use. Rates are copied from verified pipeline output.

Other names NHTSA uses

None listed.

Matched NHTSA models

Matched labels and complaints
NHTSA model labelComplaints
MALIBU MAXX326

Same model, other years

All model years | All Chevrolet models

Other Chevrolet models, 2005

Sources

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