Friday, August 7, 2026
RecallGazette

Vehicle problems, recalls & safety intelligence

2001 Chevrolet Malibu service brakes, hydraulic problems

78 owner complaints filed with NHTSA name the service brakes, hydraulic on the 2001 Chevrolet Malibu11% of all complaints for this model year.

78
Service Brakes, Hydraulic complaints
11%
share of all complaints
34,133 mi
median reported incident mileage
2 / 0
crash / fire reports

What owners report

  • Dangerous brake rotor warpage every 16,000 miles like clock work. Causes weak brakes and extreme ware to front end moving parts. New top of the line rotors and pads will not cure problem. It is an engineering screw up. This is an ongoing engineering problem and why gm is going broke. *tr

    filed Nov 16, 2008

  • Bought 2001 chevrolet malibu new on march 14,2001 engine started knocking around 35,000 miles. Has gradually gotten worse. Sounds like a diesel. It is either piston slap or bad lifters. Dealer would not fix issue at the time. Car continues to run. Also this vehicle has poor brakes. Replace rotors…

    filed Mar 14, 2008

Verbatim excerpts from complaints filed with NHTSA. Reports are not independently verified.

Counts are unique NHTSA complaints naming this component group. Complaints are unverified owner reports; mileage is computed only from complaints that included a usable odometer reading.