Other fuel system problem on the 2008 Chevrolet Malibu
1 fire 1 of the 12 reports for this failure mention a crash, a fire, an injury or a death. Those are the owner's words on the complaint form, not a verified finding, and one report can mention more than one.
When other fuel system problem gets reported
Owners of the 2008 Chevrolet Malibu report other fuel system problem at a median of 85,000 miles. A quarter of the reports come in before 50,000 miles and a quarter after 110,000 miles, from 10 reports that carried an odometer reading.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 90,000 miles. It is the 26th most-reported problem on this model year.
The mileage distribution
The reported range runs from 20,000 miles at the tenth percentile to 175,000 miles at the ninetieth, a spread of 153,473 miles across the middle 80% of reports.
A spread this wide points at use rather than design. Towing, climate, service history and city mileage all move a failure like this, so the median is a weak guide to any individual car.
20% of the dated reports were filed under 36,000 miles.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19,077 miles | 51,000 miles | 84,427 miles | 108,622 miles | 172,550 miles |
Read the 10th percentile as “one report in ten arrived this early”. Exact figures are shown in this table because it is the table of record; everywhere else on the site they are rounded to the precision the sample can carry.
What a percentile can and cannot tell you here
These five numbers describe the readings owners gave, in order. The median is the middle one: half the reports arrived below it. The 10th and 90th are the edges of the bulk of the distribution, and the distance between them is the part worth reading. A tight spread — say 70,000 to 95,000 miles — points at something that wears out on a schedule, and the schedule is knowable. A wide one, 20,000 to 190,000, points at a fault that hits some cars and never troubles others, which means the mileage on the listing in front of you tells you very little about your odds.
What these figures are not is a survival curve. Every reading here comes from a car whose owner filed a complaint, so the sample contains only failures: it cannot say what share of the fleet made it past 150,000 miles untouched, because those owners had nothing to report. Nor is the mileage the moment of failure — it is the odometer reading as recalled at the time of filing, which may be weeks later and is sometimes rounded to the nearest ten thousand by the person typing it.
Percentiles are shown at all only once 8 readings exist for the vehicle and mode. Below that the middle of a handful of numbers is noise wearing a decimal point, so the figures are withheld rather than dressed up.
What happens, and what it costs
Of these reports, 1 a fire is mentioned. Owners write their own complaints and the agency does not verify them, so read this as what the reports say happened rather than as a confirmed count.
Putting it right typically runs $300–$2,200 at an independent US shop. That range is an editorial estimate held in this site's failure-mode catalogue, not a figure from NHTSA, and it is a repair cost rather than a diagnosis cost.
The same failure on other years
The same failure is reported on 23 model years of this car. It shows up earliest on the 2015, at a median of 5,000 miles, and latest on the 2004 at 155,000 miles.
By volume the 2018 carries the most reports, with 67; the 2008 has 12. A mode that appears across most years of a model is usually a design choice rather than a bad batch.
If one year stands out to the left, that is the year to avoid; if the whole line sits at a similar mileage, this is wear rather than a defect in one production run.
Tick median reported mileage Solid middle half of reports Faint 10th to 90th percentile Colour how bad the failure is when it happens
What owners wrote
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint narratives, trimmed for length. The mileage is the one the owner gave.
Tl*the contact owns a 2008 chevrolet malibu. Upon purchasing the vehicle, the contact noticed oil all over the front rims and tires. The dealer reassured her that the oil came from the brakes and there was nothing to worry about. She also stated that she would not get ample gas mileage as stated at the time of purchase. While driving less than 70 MPH, the accelerator pedal would not depress and the vehicle would not gain speed. On-star performed a diagnostic and found that the traction system malfunctioned. The gears would not change, there was a loud, persistent screeching noise, and smoke was coming from the front driver's side of the vehicle. The contact was able to maneuver the vehicle off the highway and take it back to the dealer for repairs. However, the failure still persists. The failure mileage was 6,000 and current mileage was less than 8,000.
My 2008 chevy malibu ltz has transmission problems. It stalls out when you go from park to the 1st gear, than from 1st gear to 2nd and from 2nd gear to 3rd gear. What happens is the transmission stalls out long enough to cause an accident or other type of incident. This problem happens most of the time and has been going on now for six months. It has stalled out climbing vail pass, the eisenhower tunnel climb and descent and I-70 est of I-15 in utah through the high elevations. This vehicle intermittently goes into neutral and than re-engages. Furthermore, when the car shifts from 2nd to 3rd it goes into a stall and the RPM's increase to around 4000 before it actually changes into the next gear... The other severe problem is while driving my car through a very long tunnel on 9-17-09; the fuel gage went from full to empty (no fuel) and low fuel lamp came on. On-star said "system has an electrical problem". The cause: fuel vapor line hanging up fuel level sender causing gauge to read inaccurately j7815 (code p0461) found in bulletin #09-06-04-007a. *tr
Gas gauge fluctuates from empty to full mostly remains in the empty position except after a turn or a start/stop. Check engine light comes on. I have another 2008 chevy malibu (that my son drives), VIN # [xxx] with the same problem. The mileage at failure for that vehicle was about 40000 miles. I was told by chevy customer service rep that these VIN #s are not on the list associated with NHTSA # 10030685. I contend that there is a material and/or design defect with the fuel sensor on these vehicles and that a recall should have been initiated by general motors. Furthermore, this failure can represent a significant hazard to driver and passengers of affected vehicles. I believe owning two of the same make, model, and year vehicles with the same problem represents a more than random occurrence. I therefore request the NHTSA to conduct an investigation into this equipment failure and possible safety hazard. Information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6). *tr
Also reported on the 2008 Chevrolet Malibu
Other steering problem
Other electrical problem
Other body or interior problem
Other powertrain problem
Control module (ECM/PCM/BCM) failure
Loss of power steering
How far this goes
Complaints are voluntary, so 12 is a floor and not a count of affected cars. Mileages are typed in by owners and cluster on round numbers. And the mode itself is assigned by software reading the complaint text, which is reliable in bulk and fallible one report at a time.
Questions this page answers
At what mileage does other fuel system problem happen on the 2008 Chevrolet Malibu?
Across 10 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 85,000 miles. A quarter were filed before 50,000 miles and a quarter after 110,000 miles. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.
How common is other fuel system problem on the 2008 Chevrolet Malibu?
12 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 0.2 per 1,000 vehicles. Complaints are voluntary, so this is a floor rather than a count of affected cars.
What this is and is not. These are the mileages at which owners chose to complain to a federal agency, which is not the same as the mileage at which the part fails on every car. It skews toward failures that happened outside warranty, cost real money, or frightened someone. It is still the only public dataset that carries failure mileage at all, and the shape of a few hundred readings is informative even when a single one is not. Methodology · JSON · this failure on other cars
Source Owner complaints and recall records published by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, model years 1996–2027 Figures rebuilt Published by AtWhatMileage How every figure is computed