Eighth generation
2015 Chevrolet Malibu
The most reported problem on the 2015 Chevrolet Malibu is airbag, with 49 complaints, usually around 48,000 miles.
- 267owner complaints
- 3recalls
- 18involved a crash
- 53,800median miles at failure
Newest report Aug 24, 2026 · checked Oct 2, 2026
What is your Malibu doing?
Each one opens a sheet built from the owner reports of that problem on the 2015 model year.
Is the 2015 Chevrolet Malibu reliable?
The 2015 Chevrolet Malibu has 267 owner complaints on file with NHTSA, close to the median of 270 for 2015 sedans on this site. Of the 12 Malibu model years since 2014, it has the 5th most complaints. Complaint counts rise with sales as well as faults, so read what owners report below before deciding.
At a glance
- Next to other model years
- Complaints filed before 2015 aren't in the files this site reads, so the 2015 count runs short and isn't compared with the model years next to it.
- Top problem
- No problem dominates. The largest, airbag, covers 49 of the 267 complaints (18%), and stalling is next with 30 (one complaint can fall under more than one problem, so these overlap). A quarter of the 29 owners who gave a mileage for airbag saw it by about 26,000 miles, and half by about 48,000.
- Crash, fire and injury reports
- 28 of the 267 complaints (10%) report a crash, a fire or an injury. The typical vehicle on this site sits at 6%, so this one runs well above it. Counted separately (one report can carry more than one), 18 reports mention a crash, 9 mention a fire and 13 people were hurt. The reports record 1 death. The most crash reports, 8 of 18, fall under airbag.
- Recalls behind the top problems
- Airbag has a recall on the same system (15V-666). Stalling has none. A recall on the same system doesn't always cover the failure owners describe, so compare its summary with the complaints.
- When owners filed
- Filings peaked in 2020 at 52 (full calendar years only). In 2025 there were 13. So far in 2026, 8 more have come in. Filings on record start in 2015.
When each problem shows up
Each bar covers the middle half of the mileages owners reported for that problem. A quarter saw it earlier, a quarter later. The tick is the median. Most reported: airbag warning light or recall, 49 complaints.
middle half of reports, median tick. The heavier grey bars have 75 or more reports.
Behind you
Around your mileage
Ahead of you
How this compares
267 complaints is about the median for a 2015 model on this site and about the median for a 2015 sedan. Among the 7 Malibu model years here it ranks 5th for complaints. Counts follow sales volume as much as reliability, so a truck that sells 700,000 a year draws more reports than a sedan that sells 200,000.
Service bulletins for the 2015 Chevrolet Malibu
Chevrolet filed 1,481 bulletins and other notices with NHTSA that list the 2015 Chevrolet Malibu. 116 of them deal with a problem owners have reported on this car. Newest first.
Federal rules make a manufacturer send NHTSA a copy of any notice about a defect that goes to more than one dealer or owner. Most of these are service bulletins, the repair instructions manufacturers send to dealers. NHTSA generally leaves safety recall bulletins out of this file, and recalls are listed separately.
Airbag warning light or recall 1 bulletin · 49 complaints
Intermittent Airbag Indicator Light ON with Communication DTCs Set
Engine stalls or loses power while driving 2 bulletins · 30 complaints
This Preliminary information communicatesIn ambient temperatures 100F (37.7 C)degrees or higher, DTCs P2635 and/or P018B may set.The vehicle may also exhibit a hesitation or stalling condition.Excessively Hot and sustained ambient temperatures over 100F (37.7 ...
This preliminary informational bulletin provides repair information to correct a customer concern of loss of power steering assist, hard to steer, and/or "Service Power Steering" message on in DIC.
Check engine light or misfire 35 bulletins · 23 complaints
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 ...
This technical 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 ...
33 more on this problem
This Preliminary information communicates information that will need to be provided to TAC to aid in diagnosing if a vehicle comes in with misfire and DTC Codes P0300 - P0308 and/or P050D
This service bulletin provides diagnostic tips/steps on testing for possible EVAP leaks in the system to correct a customer concern of an MIL Illuminated with DTCs P0442 and/or P0455 Set.
This service bulletin provides repair procedures, depending on model year, to correct a customer concern of a Malfunction Indicator Lamp (MIL) Illuminated with DTC P0172, P06DE and/or P0521 Set.
This service bulletin provides a repair procedure to replace the oil control valve (OCV) to correct customers driveability concerns of Chuggle, Surge, Misfire and a Malfunction Indicator Lamp (MIL) Illuminated.
This Preliminary Information communication provides information to the technician about vehicles that have a Service Engine Soon Malfunction Indicator Lamp. Technician may find Diagnostic Trouble Code P06DE set in the Engine Control Module.
This Preliminary Information communication provides information to the technician about engine block of possible cylinder bore damage, scoring or out of round as the possible cause of engine oil consumption, misfire, cylinder leakage or blow by.
This informational 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 ...
This Preliminary Information communication provides the technician with the diagnosis and repair steps for a vehicle with a check engine light on with Diagnostic Trouble Code P015B or a reduced engine power message with Diagnostic Trouble Code P1101.
This Preliminary information communicates additional diagnostics and repair to assist in resolving a malfunction indicator lamp illumination due to any combination of diagnostic trouble codes P0068 P0101 P0106 P0171 P0131 P0137 P0324 P0326 P0331 P0506.
This engineering information PI ends the need for information from the field on vehicles that have the condition of Smoke or Burning Odor from Underhood with Malfunction Indicator Lamp Illuminated with DTC P305F or P058D.
Plus 23 older ones not listed here.
Infotainment, screen or backup camera fails 60 bulletins · 23 complaints
This Preliminary Information communicates diagnostic tips for a condition of No GPS location on Radio.
This technical bulletin provides a repair procedure to correct a customer concern of radio display blank, instrument cluster gauges Inoperative or steering stiff conditions.
58 more on this problem
This Preliminary Information communication provides information to the technician for a concern with the radio going blank briefly after an auto stop event and the engine is cranking to restart.
This Preliminary Information communication provides information to the technician about vehicles that the Navigation radio does not have a global positioning system location but OnStar is able to accurately locate the vehicle.
This Preliminary Information communication provides information to the technician about vehicles that may have an issue when using Bluetooth voice recognition with an iPhone.
This technical bulletin provides a procedure to install a battery ground cable to correct a radio display blank, instrument cluster gauges Inoperative or steering stiff conditions
This informational bulletin provides information for the technicians on multi-media infotainment tester (MIT), does not function properly when diagnosing infotainment complaints, which may lead to mis-diagnosis.
This technical bulletin provides a procedure to clear the codes and re-evaluate the XM radio channels to correct a condition of audio muting when listening to some Sirius XM channels but if they change channels they will find others that experience normal ...
This preliminary information bulletin provides a procedure on how to check for the customer concern of a blank radio with/without audio, by checking the the wiring harness, ECU and reprograming the HMI software update, if the wiring or ECU are not the cause.
This technical bulletin provides repair information for repairing the IP to body harness connector to correct a customer concern for intermittent Malfunction Indicator Lamp (MIL) illuminated with Reduced Engine Power displayed and DTC P2138 set.
This Preliminary Information communication provides information to the technician about vehicles that have a Diagnostic Trouble Code B101D-37 history in the Vehicle Communication Interface Module or telematics communication interface control module.
This Preliminary Information communication provides information to the technician about customers that may complain of various concerns when using Bluetooth components.
Plus 48 older ones not listed here.
Battery dies or the car will not start 6 bulletins · 22 complaints
This technical bulletin provides a procedure on how to diagnosis a possible resistance concern in the battery system.
This Preliminary Information communication provides information to help the dealership technicians perform a parasitic drain test for the OnStar module.
4 more on this problem
This preliminary informational bulletin provides a Diagnostic Tip for DTC P305F to inspect for a unsecured ground wire at the auxiliry batter cables
This preliminary informational bulletin provides technicians a diagnostic tip when DTC P305F: Dual Battery Control Module Performance, has been set.
14395 - CUSTOMER SATISFACTION. ON SOME VEHICLES, A PERFORMANCE ISSUE WITH THE ONSTAR® MODULE MIGHT IMPACT THE VEHICLE'S BATTERY LIFE. THIS CAN CAUSE A DEAD BATTERY IF THE VEHICLE IS NOT STARTED FOR APPROXIMATELY 4 DAYS.
OnStar® Module Battery Drain
Seat belt or seat problems 6 bulletins · 18 complaints
This bulletin provides a procedure to adding new brackets and repairing the front seats to correct the seats excessive movements.
This technical bulletin provides repair information to correct a customer concern of the driver and/or passenger power seat height stuck in the full-up position, intermittent inoperative seat adjustment or not lowering.
4 more on this problem
THIS PRELIMINARY INFORMATIONAL BULLETIN PROVIDES A PROCEDURE TO REPOSITION THE FRONT SEAT BELT LATCH PLATE FOR CONCERNS REGARDING THE SEAT BELT WEBBING OR LATCH PLATE COMING TWISTED.
THIS TECHNICAL BULLETIN PROVIDES A PROCEDURE TO INSTALL A CLIP ON THE SEAT FRAME TO ELIMINATE A NOISE ORIGINATING FROM THE SEAT PAN AND SEAT FRAME COMING IN CONTACT.
This preliminary informational bulletin provides repair information to correct a customer concern of front seat lateral movement, clunk, squeak, click noise or shift while cornering.
This informational bulletin provides information to advise dealers about seat belt buckles not operating and/or seat belt warning light illumination, as well as difficulty latching and unlatching the buckle or the buckle release button sticking.
Brakes grind, pulse or wear early 5 bulletins · 16 complaints
This service bulletin informs dealers that a new Power Brake Booster Vacuum Cap will need to be replaced when installing the revised Power Brake Booster Vacuum Pipe to correct DTCs being set due to misrouting of brake booster vacuum pipe.
This service bulletin provides information for tire pressure monitoring (TPM) system concerns.
3 more on this problem
This Preliminary Information communication provides information to the technician about vehicles that have a brake pedal may not raise or seem stuck down after a normal braking event. Technician will need to replace the brake pedal arm.
THIS TECHNICAL BULLETIN PROVIDES A PROCEDURE TO REPROGRAM THE BCM TO CORRECT THE CUSTOMERS CONCERN OF THE BRAKE LIGHT STAYS ON WITHOUT THE BRAKE PEDAL BEING PRESSED.
This Preliminary Information communication provides information to the technician about vehicles that have a Diagnostic Trouble Code C025E sym 5A set history in the Electronic Brake Control Module.
Traction control or StabiliTrak light comes on 1 bulletin · 15 complaints
This informational bulletin provides information on Some vehicles may rock or move slightly forward or rearward while in Park at start up after cold soak. This condition may be accompanied by a clunk noise.
Complaints filed by year
52 complaints came in 2020. Owners file in waves when a problem gets press or an investigation, so a spike measures attention as much as failures.
Recalls that include the 2015 Chevrolet Malibu
Whether your car is included depends on its VIN. Check yours at nhtsa.gov/recalls.
General Motors LLC (GM) is recalling certain model year 2016-2017 Buick Verano and 2016 Chevrolet Malibu as the electronic park lock lever may allow the ignition key to be removed without the transmission being in PARK. Also, certain 2013 Buick Encore, 2011 Buick Regal, 2013-2014 Buick Verano, 2011-2016 Chevrolet Cruze, 2010-2013 Chevrolet Equinox 2013-2015 Chevrolet Malibu, and 2011-2013 GMC Terrain vehicles may have been serviced with similar defective replacement electronic park lock levers. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) number 114, "Theft Protection and Rollaway Prevention."
Risk and remedy
Remedy: GM will notify owners, and dealers will inspect and if necessary replace the key cylinder lock housing, free of charge. The recall began on October 14, 2016. Owners may contact Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020, Buick 1-800-521-7300, and GMC 1-800-462-8782. GM's number for this recall is 50490 and 50491.
General Motors LLC (GM) is recalling certain model year 2015 Buick LaCrosse, Cadillac XTS, Chevrolet Camaro, Equinox, Malibu, and GMC Terrain vehicles. The affected vehicles have front seat-mounted side impact air bags whose inflator may rupture upon its deployment.
Risk and remedy
Remedy: GM will notify owners, and dealers will replace the side impact air bag modules, free of charge. The recall began on October 19, 2015. Owners may contact Buick customer service at 1-800-521-7300, Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020, Cadillac customer service at 1-800-458-8006, or GMC customer service at 1-800-462-8782. GM's number for this recall is 01320.
General Motors LLC (GM) is recalling certain model year 2013-2015 Chevrolet Malibu vehicles October 24, 2011, to March 5, 2015. In the affected vehicles, the Slide or Tilt switch for the roof panel may not be adequately recessed to prevent the switch from inadvertently being pressed. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 118, "Power-Operated Window, Partition, and Roof Panel Systems."
Risk and remedy
Remedy: GM will notify owners, and dealers will update the Body Control Module (BCM) software to remove auto-close feature for certain switch positions, free of charge. The recall began April 21, 2015. Owners may contact Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020. GM's number for this recall is 15176.
All 3 recalls on the 2015 Chevrolet Malibu, with the owner complaints on each recalled system
Guide Buying one used? How to research one car’s history before you pay
Questions
What is the most common problem on the 2015 Chevrolet Malibu?
Airbag, with 49 of the 267 complaints. Owners who gave a mileage for it put the median at about 48,000 miles.
At what mileage do 2015 Chevrolet Malibu problems start?
Of the 156 complaints that give a mileage, a quarter came by about 30,000 miles and half by about 54,000.
How many 2015 Chevrolet Malibu complaints involve a crash, fire or injury?
28 of them (10%). The typical vehicle on this site is at 6%.
Is there a recall for airbag on the 2015 Chevrolet Malibu?
Yes, NHTSA lists a recall on the same system: 15V-666. Its summary says which failure it covers, and that isn't always the one owners describe.