- Vehicles
- 3,137
- Built between
- Feb 2016 – Mar 2016
- Models
- 1
- Recall type
- Vehicle
- Initiated by
- Manufacturer
- Owners notified
- 14 April 2016
- Repaired
- 98%
- Unrepaired
- 63
Does this affect my vehicle?
This recall covers vehicles built between February 2016 and March 2016. If yours was built outside that window, it is not part of this recall.
- 2016 Chevrolet MalibuBuilt February 2016 to March 2016
Repair progress
63 of 3,137 vehicles in this recall had still not been repaired as of Q3 2017.
98% repaired — 3,074 of 3,137 reported
Manufacturers file these figures with NHTSA each quarter. Vehicles the manufacturer could not trace, or that have been scrapped or exported, are counted separately and are not included in the unrepaired figure.
What the defect is
General Motors LLC (GM) is recalling certain 2016 Malibu vehicles manufactured February 16, 2016, to March 5, 2016. The two weld studs that mount the front and rear side impact air bags may fracture and separate from the air bag during deployment. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 214, "Side Impact Protection."
What could happen
Fractured weld studs may allow the side air bag to move out of position during deployment, increasing the risk of injury.
What gets fixed
GM will notify owners, and dealers will replace the side air bag modules, free of charge. The recall began on April 14, 2016.
Timeline
- Vehicles builtFebruary 2016 to March 2016
- Recall reported to NHTSA11 March 2016
- Owners notified14 April 2016
- Latest repair reportQ3 2017 — 98% repaired
Your rights
A safety recall repair is free. Under US federal law the manufacturer must fix a safety defect at no cost to you — no charge for parts, labor or diagnosis — whether or not you are the original owner. A dealer cannot charge you for recall work, and cannot require you to have bought the vehicle from them.
That entitlement is not unlimited. It applies where the vehicle was first sold less than 15 years before the recall was announced — 5 years for tires. Past that a manufacturer may still do the repair free of charge, and many do, but they are no longer obliged to. This recall was reported on 11 March 2016.
To arrange the repair, contact any franchised dealer for the brand. If a dealer refuses the work or tries to charge for it, you can report that to NHTSA at nhtsa.gov/recalls or on 1-888-327-4236.
Manufacturer contact
Owners may contact Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020. GM's number for this recall is 31820.
Official source
- Manufacturer's recall number
- 31820
- Recalling manufacturer
- General Motors LLC
- Safety standard
- FMVSS 214
- Recall initiated by
- MFR
Everything on this page — the models listed, the build dates and the repair figures — comes from the manufacturer's filing to NHTSA and describes the vehicle line as a whole, not any individual car. Only the manufacturer can confirm whether a specific vehicle is affected, and whether its recall work has already been carried out. Check yours by VIN and read the official notice at nhtsa.gov/recalls.
Additional notes
Owners may also contact the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Vehicle Safety Hotline at 1-888-327-4236 (TTY 1-800-424-9153), or go to www.safercar.gov.
Check your own vehicle
This page describes the recall, not any one car. To see which recalls cover a specific vehicle, search by make, model and year.
A VIN lookup here identifies your vehicle and shows recalls issued for that make, model and year. It cannot tell you what is still open on your individual car - only the manufacturer knows that. Search by VIN instead, or check your VIN at nhtsa.gov for whether a recall is still open on your individual car.