liz109

Hello all!
This ismy first time posting here, although I have been reading these forums off and on over the last year.
I will try and keep my "history" with my 2008 Malibu short here.

11/2008-Purchase from dealer in NE as CPO with around 9K miles
11/2008-Drive across country to CA (I'm in the military)
--Last day of driving in Bakersfield from Flagstaff, AZ, I tap on the brakes to exit. Car vibrates violently in the brakes/steering wheel. Had my kids with me and scared the CRAP out of me. Felt like a blown tire. Pull into gas station and get out to do a walk around. Everything looks fine. No tire pressure was even lost. Went to pull the car around to get gas and it worked just fine. No problems whatsoever. Totally forgot about it even happening.
Happens again, I call GM and they have me take it to dealership. No problem can be recreated by 2 different dealerships.
Since then, this same thing has happened mysteriously at LEAST 20 times. I have brought it to my trust dealership mechanic to have checked out over and over. Problem is, they weren't able to recreate it. However, I have managed to get it on video TWICE. Each time sounding absolutely horrible! Loud thumping/pedal pulsating/steering wheel violently shaking. Then when I go to accelerate, it seems to have lost some power (still shaking a little). Weird thing is once I pull over and come to a complete stop, I put it in park, turn it off, turn it right back on and it runs like nothing ever happened.
Over the last 9 months, my dealership mechanics have done an alignment, replaced 2 badly worn tires (both out of MY pocket), resurfaced the rotors, changed the brakepads and changed out something under the hood. It was explained to me that I may have my steering wheel set too low and it activates the ABS, or something like that.
Still, no complete fix to date.
I am waiting a call back from my GM rep. This is the THIRD case that has been opened with them on this exact same problem. Last time it was NOT a friendly conversation. The dude was a complete jackass and told me that the dealership didn't even have to look at my problem if they didn't want to, even though it's still under warranty. WHAT? Anyways----
So, here I sit. Waiting on a call. I decided to run a carfax report out of curiosity. Nothing in the history being reported as bad. Decided to do an Equifax Autocheck..............IT HAS BEEN IN AN ACCIDENT!!! The only thing is says is "Data Source:Accident Source and Event Detail: Minor accident or vehicle damage reported: Left front corner" Yes, reported as minor accident, but maybe it was more?

I am so sick of dealing with this. I wonder if GM wants me to just be a crash test dummy and is waiting until me and my family end up being medivac'd to the local hospital because my brakes failed to see that this car is NOT SAFE.

Does anyone have any recommendations?

Any questions to help fill the voids that I may answer to make this more clear? I'm just so frustrated with GM right now I want to throw my hands in the air and scream.

liz109

Oh dear. I am so sorry. I am typing too fast and I did not proofread.
Yes, English is my first language. How embarassing!

To date, I have not been able to find a "common denomonator". I don't ride my brakes, it happens in all types of weather, it happens going both up and down hills, it happens on straight aways and it happens on winding roads. Actually, it ONLY happens when I'm doing highway (60MPH+) speeds.

liz109

Here's a sample video
This was on our family road trip to vegas this past spring break

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lli1JZnMMn8

mattthehoople

Is this problem only happing at higher speeds? Does it only happen when breaking? It looks and sound like warped rotors. You said the dealer resurfaced the rotors. That will only make the rotors thinner and therefore warp faster. If you want you could buy quality drilled or slotted rotors to help dissipate the heat better, but there not cheap.

P.S. I’m no car expert. This is just my first thoughts after reading your post.

scorpion48

I find it hard to believe your dealer doesn't know what is wrong with your car. I have had 2 new Chevys ('90 Cavalier and a '07 Malibu) and a used '94 Lumina. They all had this same problem. All covered under warranty and all they will do is turn the rotors and/or change the pads if worn down. I was told with the Cavalier (by the dealer service manager) that GM uses a really cheap rotor. I didn't keep the Cavalier long enough to have it happen a second time but the Lumina, it happened once under warranty and the second time I replaced all 4 rotors (front and rear) with lifetime rotors from Advance Auto Parts. Never happened again. Now with the '07 Malibu, I was in WV mountains and it sounded and felt like the car was falling apart. You said the steering wheel was violently shaking, was this what you were trying to show in your video? If so you would not want to have been in mine. Your steering wheel was barely moving compared to what mine was. But anyway it's your rotors and if they turned them that doesn't fix it, it's just all they can do. They could replace your rotors if you threw enough of a fit, but all your gonna get is the same rotors that will warp again. And turning them will just make them seem better at first but they will warp faster the second time. And the reason I'm guessing the service guys couldn't replacate it was because they were going to slow. It seems to show up more at high speeds (above 50mph and under harder braking, like exiting a freeway). But I'm sure there are service bulletins that would have let them know. I'm guessing they found a way to make some money in a bad economy. Good luck.