2001 Chevrolet Malibu Brakes Problems

“When we would just start the car it would rev up to between 3000 to 4000 RPM and it would stay that way. This was only one way that it would act up. The other ways were when you were just driving along and the car would start to accelerate on it's own. Both ways you had to ride the brake and ride it hard in order not to hit the person in front of us. We had it in to one dealer twice with nothing getting fixed. We took it to a different dealer three times, they randomly replaced different things (guessing) at our cost, but problem still persisted. …”

“On wednesday, july 11 our daughter was driving our 2001 Malibu on I-75 at 70 MPH in the rain. The left front brake seized and she went into a 180 degree spin, hit the guard rail and rested facing oncoming traffic. About one year ago the identical thing happened on I-275, also in the rain. The only difference was that she spun to the right after the brake seized. We took the car to a mechanic one year ago and he said the problem was the heat shrink connector on one of the power wires going to the caliper. He was certain he had repaired the problem. …”

“I have had the brakes and rotors replaced twice since buying the car in april of 2001. I took the car to jim butler Chevrolet for the turn signal/flasher problem which was later recalled and I was reimbursed. I took it to don darr chevy which fixed a faulty switch operating the air conditioner/switching to outside air. I had the car towed to dobbs when it would not start, they said it was the fuel pump and assembly module. …”

“I purchased a 2001 Malibu ls used back in feb 2002. I have had nothing but problems with the breaks making a grounding noise when I come to slow stops. As time goes by it seems to be happening more and more oftern. At first it was only when I would be in drive thru lines waiting or the brake noise would come and then go away for awhile. The noise is like a grounding or metal rubbing noise. When you press on the brakes it sound like the brakes are going to snap off. …”

“In 2001 we purchased a new Chevrolet Malibu. After just 17,000 miles we were informed it would not pass a safety inspection because the brakes had worn out. Gm replaced the brakes for us. 13,000 miles later the same thing happened. After much complaining and letter writing, GM replaced the brakes again. I inspected the brakes in both instances and noticed that only the inner brake pad was worn, the outer pad looked brand new. The caliper is cast aluminum and it bends when the brakes are applied much like a cheap c clamp that you might find in a dollar store. …”