NHTSA Complaint #11172152 — 2016 CHEVROLET MALIBU

AT CRUISING SPEED ON THE FREEWAY, APPROXIMATELY 65 MPH, THE CAR JERKED AND LOST A SIGNIFICANT AMOUNT OF POWER. THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT ILLUMINATED AND THE WARNING "ENGINE POWER IS REDUCED" DISPLAYED ON THE INFORMATION PANEL. THE CAR CONTINUED TO LOSE A SIGNIFICANT AMOUNT OF POWER UNTIL I WAS ABLE TO GET OUT OF A SEPARATED TOLL LANE AND TO THE BREAKDOWN LANE. AFTER RESTARTING THE CAR, IT WAS ABLE TO AGAIN GAIN POWER. OVER SEVERAL DAYS, THE CAR WOULD GO IN AND OUT OF THIS MODE AND THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT WENT OFF AND ON MULTIPLE TIMES, IT AGAIN LOST POWER ON THE FREEWAY, LOST SIGNIFICANT POWER WHILE DRIVING UP HILLS (DROPPING FROM A SPEED OF 55 MPH TO BELOW 20 MPH WITHIN A MINUTE). CARS BEHIND MY CAR HAD TO MOVE OUT FROM BEHIND ME AND I HAD TO PULL IN TO THE BREAKDOWN LANE ON SEVERAL OCCASIONS TO LET OTHER CARS PASS ME AS I WAS UNABLE TO MAINTAIN A LEGAL SPEED. THIS PROBLEM WAS ASSESSED BY QUIRK CHEVROLET AND DETERMINED TO BE CAUSED BY THE THROTTLE POSITION SENSOR IN THE GAS PEDAL AND THE ENGINE CONTROL MODULE. QUIRK IDENTIFIED THAT THESE COMPONENTS ARE NOT COVERED UNDER THE POWERTRAIN WARRANTY (DESPITE THE FACT THAT THEY ARE NECESSARY COMPONENTS IN THE POWERTRAIN) AND THAT THE TOTAL COST TO REPLACE THESE WOULD BE APPROXIMATELY $520 PLUS THE COST OF A RENTAL CAR. THEY ALSO WERE NOT ABLE TO LOCATE AN AVAILABLE GAS PEDAL/THROTTLE POSITION SENSOR ASSEMBLY BY THE END OF THE BUSINESS DAY AND WERE UNABLE TO IDENTIFY A TIMEFRAME FOR THE LENGTH OF TIME THIS WOULD TAKE TO COMPLETE BECAUSE OF THIS MISSING PART. THEY ALSO IDENTIFIED THAT THEY WOULD NOT BE ABLE TO RESET THE ECM UNTIL THIS SENSOR ASSEMBLY WAS COMPLETED.