Originally Posted by greenfield3

This has happened to me 4 times in the past two weeks, and I am honestly lucky to be alive. I have a 2011 Chevy Malibu with 58,000 miles on it. My husband and I just moved from Dallas to Atlanta, so I have had to make several trips back and forth to handle things with our home in Dallas. The first time this happened, I was about 70 miles outside of Atlanta going 70 MPH on the highway surrounded by 18 wheelers. Suddenly my traction light and service engine light came on and the reduced power notification came on, the car slowed to about 10 miles an hour very suddenly and the car was shaking violently.

The 18 wheeler behind me could not stop fast enough and the only reason I was not hit was because I was able to veer onto the shoulder. Terrified, I sat on the side of the road for several minutes after turning the car off. I started it again and it began driving normally, but the service engine light stayed on. Since I was pretty much in the middle of nowhere and it was extremely dark, I got back on the road again to get home. I made it to Atlanta, but the same thing happened again when I was entering the city on the loop. I basically coasted home. We took it to Goodyear the next day because that was the closest place. They told us it was the gas pedal sensor and charged us $265 to replace it. The car seemed to work normally until a week later I was back in Texas when the exact same thing occurred when I was going 60 MPH on the highway.

Luckily, I was close enough to yet another Goodyear to coast in. They told me there was a frayed wire on the throttle body pigtail and they replaced that for $113.40. Again, the car seemed to work normally for a few days until I was again on the highway, this time in Jackson, MS and the same situation happened again. I was able to coast into a Chevy dealership this time. Here they told me that the problem was the Engine Control Module and they replaced it free of charge saying it was under warranty. Since I spent all day there, I was now faced with driving to Atlanta in the dark, not trusting that this would not happen again. Thank God I stopped in Birmingham and got a hotel room, because the whole thing happened yet again. I got it towed to a Chevy dealership the next morning, and because it was now Christmas Eve, no one would even look at it since they all wanted to go home at noon.

So that I would not have to spend Christmas alone in a hotel room, I rented a car to get to Atlanta. It is now the day after Christmas, and the Chevy dealership just called to tell me it is an internal failure of the throttle body, and it will cost $550 to fix it. So, I am faced with driving 3 hours back to Birmingham, paying all that money, only to risk my life driving it 3 hours back to Atlanta, hoping this won't happen again. Oh, and if you are wondering why I didn't trade it in somewhere in this whole process, it is because I currently owe more than the trade in value. Sorry for the long post, but I feel helpless and hopeless at the moment, not to mention I am broke now. I hope I make it back to Atlanta in one piece.

Thanks, Chevy, and Merry Christmas!

Originally Posted by greenfield3

The final solution for my 2011 malibu seems to have been replacing the whole throttle body. The reduced engine power situation has not happened to me since. I have encountered several gm car owners who have experienced the same problem and they have said replacing the throttle body was the solution. I was told by chevy dealership it was only covered under warranty up to 35000 miles. I was getting my car inspected yesterday and while i was waiting anotger customer walked in who was driving a chevy. He described the same problem and said it happenedto him on the highway while he was driving 70 mph. The mechanic immediately stated that it must be the throttle body and said it was a common gm problem. Sounds like the next class action lawsuit to me. I hope nobody has been hurt by this as i was nearly in a wreck over it. As soon as i am able i will be buying a non gm car.

Originally Posted by Davidclan

Traded in my Chevy Cruze back in February due to this problem (my daughter could have been killed). Have had issues with my Chevy Traverse not related to this but similar in that Checy does not want to issue a recall so I traded that in Maexh 2015. Bye bye Chevy forever 😀
U]

Originally Posted by Chevrolet Customer Service

Greenfield3,

I am sorry to hear about your experience. I would like to look into this for you. Please private message me your name, VIN, phone number, address, and dealership. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Erica Tiffany
Chevrolet Customer Care

Originally Posted by Chevrolet Customer Service

Hi Nyocam82,

We apologize for the unexpected situation with your vehicle, and we can understand how out of pocket expenses can be frustrating. We do rely heavily on the dealership to provide us with the technical information based on their diagnosis. However, we would be happy to reach out to them on your behalf and add an extra layer of assistance. Feel free to send us a private message along with your VIN, current mileage, contact information and preferred dealership. We look forward to your response.

Patsy G
Chevrolet Customer Care