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2020 Chevrolet Malibu Recalls & Complaints

1

open safety recall on record

Serious

328 owner complaints filed · Severity Index 0.25 · updated 2026-08-07

The recalls

Serious21V649000

Seat Belts:Critical Fasteners

improperly secured seat belt retractor may not function properly in a crash, raises the risk of injury.

Remedy & full details

Dealers will inspect and tighten the rear seat belt retractors, as necessary, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed on September 17, 2021. Owners may contact Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020 and Cadillac customer service at 1-800-458-8006. GM's number for this recall is N212333380.

General Motors, LLC (GM) is recalling certain 2016-2021 Chevrolet Malibu and 2019-2021 Cadillac XT4 vehicles. The rear seat belt retractors may be improperly secured with loose or missing fasteners.

Complaint volume

328 this model-year 6 median, same year

Volume alone is not a fault rate — popular vehicles attract more reports. Read it next to the severity mix below.

What owners reported happened

16Crashes
0Fires
10Injuries
1Deaths

Across 328 complaints. Severity Index 0.25.

Severity Index weights each complaint's reported outcome (death ×10, injury ×4, fire ×3, crash ×2) and divides by total complaints. It measures how severe reports are, not how often faults occur.

What owners report most

Engine59 · 18%Electrical System55 · 17%Power Train54 · 16%Unknown Or Other44 · 13%Service Brakes40 · 12%Vehicle Speed Control17 · 5%Fuel/Propulsion System14 · 4%Steering14 · 4%
  1. Engine — 59 reports
  2. Electrical System — 55 reports
  3. Power Train — 54 reports
  4. Unknown Or Other — 44 reports
  5. Service Brakes — 40 reports
  6. Vehicle Speed Control — 17 reports
  7. Fuel/Propulsion System — 14 reports
  8. Steering — 14 reports
  9. Air Bags — 4 reports
  10. Service Brakes, Hydraulic — 4 reports

What to do

  1. Find your 17-character VIN on the driver's door jamb or the base of the windscreen.
  2. Check it against NHTSA's official lookup at nhtsa.gov/recalls — the authoritative record for your exact car.
  3. Book the repair with any franchised dealer. Safety recall work is free, with no time limit and regardless of who owns the car now.

Other model years

1997 (6) · 1998 (5) · 1999 (3) · 2000 (5) · 2001 (4) · 2002 (4) · 2003 (3) · 2004 (9) · 2005 (6) · 2006 (9) · 2007 (6) · 2008 (5) · 2009 (6) · 2010 (4) · 2011 (4) · 2012 (3) · 2013 (10) · 2014 (6) · 2015 (3) · 2016 (9) · 2017 (4) · 2018 (6) · 2019 (1) · 2020 · 2021 (2) · 2022 (1) · 2023 (2) · 2024 (2) · 2025 (1)

Numbers in brackets are open recall campaigns for that year.

Questions

Does an open recall mean the car is unsafe to drive?

Not usually. NHTSA issues a "do not drive" or "park outside" advisory when a defect is dangerous enough to keep you out of the car — those are flagged Critical above. Everything else should be repaired promptly but is not an immediate stop-driving order.

Do I pay for recall repairs?

No. Federal law requires the manufacturer to fix a safety recall free of charge, including parts and labour, whether or not you are the original owner.

Why are there complaints but no recalls?

Complaints are unverified reports filed by owners. They can prompt an investigation, but many never become recalls — either the fault isn't safety-related or it isn't widespread.

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