The 2004 Chevrolet Malibu is a midsize car that came with a choice of 2.2L 4-cyl and 3.5L 6-cyl engines. At 22 years old, many are reaching the point where repairs cost more than the car is worth. Running or not, we'll make you an offer and tow it away for free.
| Body style | Midsize Cars, Large Cars |
|---|---|
| Engines | 2.2L 4-cyl, 3.5L 6-cyl |
| Transmissions | Automatic 4-spd |
| Drive | Front-Wheel Drive |
| Fuel | Regular Gasoline |
| Fuel economy | 19–21 city / 28–31 highway / 22–25 combined MPG |
| EPA annual fuel cost | $2,700–$3,050 a year (EPA estimate at current fuel prices, 15,000 miles) |
| Tailpipe CO₂ | 355–404 grams per mile |
| Versions tested by EPA | 3 configurations: Malibu, Malibu Maxx |
| Age | 22 years |
Specs, fuel cost and emissions from the EPA's fueleconomy.gov data. Your car's exact equipment may differ.
NHTSA lists 7 safety recalls covering the 2004 Chevrolet Malibu. Open recalls don't stop you from selling or junking the car, but check your VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls to see which apply to yours.
This defect can affect the safe operation of the airbag system. Until this recall is performed, customers should remove all items from their key rings, leaving only the ignition key. The key fob (if applicable), should also be removed from the key ring. General Motors LLC (GM) notified the agency on July 3, 2014, that they are…
Risk: If the key is not in the run position, the air bags may not deploy if the vehicle is involved in a crash, increasing the risk of injury.
General Motors LLC (GM) is recalling certain model year 2004-2012 Chevrolet Malibu vehicles manufactured May 16, 2003, through October 11, 2012, 2004-2007 Malibu Maxx vehicles manufactured June 25, 2003, through April 5, 2007, 2005-2010 Pontiac G6 vehicles manufactured May 26, 2004, through January 4, 2010, and 2007-2010 Saturn Aura…
Risk: Any of the above failure conditions increases the risk of a crash.
General Motors LLC (GM) notified the agency on April 29, 2014, that they are recalling 56,214 model year 2007 and 2008 Saturn Aura vehicles. On May 22, 2014, GM increased the recall to include an additional 1,074,899 model year 2004-2008 Chevrolet Malibu vehicles manufactured from May 16, 2003, through October 5, 2007, model year…
Risk: If the transmission shift cable fractures while the vehicle is being driven, the transmission gear selection may not match the indicated gear and the vehicle may move in an unintended or unexpected direction, increasing the risk of a crash.
General Motors LLC (GM) is recalling certain model year 2004-2006 and 2008-2009 Chevrolet Malibu, 2004-2006 Malibu Maxx, 2009-2010 HHR (non-turbo), 2010 Cobalt, 2008-2009 Saturn Aura and 2004-2007 Ion, and 2005-2009 Pontiac G6. In the affected vehicles, there may be a sudden loss of electric power steering (EPS) assist that could…
Risk: If power steering assist is lost, greater driver effort would be required to steer the vehicle at low speeds, increasing the risk of a crash.
Some of these passenger vehicles have an electronic control unit (ecu) that may calculate a higher than actual vehicle speed because of an erratic rear-wheel speed sensor signal, and cause ABS activation where it is not needed or needed ABS activation to be extended during braking as the vehicle speed drops to about 3 mph.
Risk: Unexpected ABS activiation could increase stopping distance up to about 11 feet dpending on the grade of the road, increasing the risk of a crash.
On certain passenger vehicles, analysis of an a side impact crash test conducted by the NHTSA;s new car assessment program (ncap) indicated that the outboard anchorage of the driver's seat belt could disconnect because of contact between the seat trim and the anchorage connector when the seat was adjusted to its lowest position.
Risk: If this occurred in a crash, the driver could receive greater injuries.
Certain passenger vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of federal motor vehicle safety standard (fmvss) no. 208, "occupant crash protection." some of these vehicles that were not equipped with an advanced occupant restraint system (aors) have driver and passenger side sun visors with aors labels. The aors labels do not…
Owners have filed 1,263 complaints about the 2004 Chevrolet Malibu with NHTSA. 55 reports involved a crash and 9 reports involved a fire. Owners reported 35 injuries.
Complaints are reports from owners and aren't verified by NHTSA. One complaint can list several components. Mileage is the median odometer reading owners reported for that component.
Manufacturers have filed 630 technical service bulletins and communications with NHTSA covering the 2004 Chevrolet Malibu. These are repair instructions for known issues, not recalls.
This PI communicates the requirement to provide a pico file to receive diagnostic assistance from TAC.
This Preliminary Information communication provides information to the technician about vehicles that have an unusual noise and is difficult to identify, isolate or pinpo
This Preliminary Information communicates to the dealer the process for downloading or updating operating software for the Tire Pressure Monitor, Active Fuel Injector tes
This Preliminary Information communication provides information to the technician about vehicles that the Heater-Vent-Air Conditioning blows warm air. Before calling Gene
This Preliminary Information communication provides information to the technician about changing the tire and wheel size on vehicles. General Motors will only support a t
Vehicle Wide Programming (VWP) is a new process to update software on GM Vehicles. It provides the ability via a single selection within Techline Connect to first identif
Source: NHTSA manufacturer communications (technical service bulletins).
NHTSA opened 4 defect investigations covering the 2004 Chevrolet Malibu.
Turn Signal Lamps
GM designed the MY 2004 and 2005 Chevrolet Malibu and Malibu Maxx vehicles with a daytime running lamp (DRL) system that uses the same filament (the high power filament of a dual filament bulb) as the front turn signals.The high power filament operates at full battery voltage when functioning as a DRL.The DRL is illumi
Turn signal lamps
The subject vehicles may experience loss of function of one or more of the park, turn, stop or daytime running lamps (drl).failure of the bulb may also include discoloration (heat damage) to the bulb socket.general motors (gm) technical service bulletin (tsb) number 06-08-42-004c instructs technicians to examine the la
Loss of electric power steering
In performing this engineering analysis, odi determined that the electric power steering system in the subject vehicles can malfunction or fail, causing the driver to lose power steering assistance; however, due to the following reasons, odi has decided that further expenditure of agency resources on this investigation
Loss of electric power steering
Odi opened pe04-031 based on eight reports of alleged power steering failure in the subject vehicles.the complaints allege that the driver suddenly lost all electric power steering assistance without warning making the vehicle difficult to steer. The subject vehicle utilizes an electric power steering assist system (ep
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It depends on its condition, whether major parts like the engine, transmission and catalytic converter are still there, and current scrap and parts prices where you live. Its parts make up much of its value. Enter your ZIP code above for a free offer on your specific car.
Yes. We buy 2004 Malibus that don't start, were in an accident, failed inspection or have a blown engine or transmission. Towing is always free.
Yes. Open recalls don't prevent a junk sale. NHTSA lists 7 recalls for the 2004 Chevrolet Malibu; you can check whether any are still open on yours with the VIN lookup at nhtsa.gov/recalls.
Usually the title and a photo ID. Rules differ by state, including what to do with your plates and whether to file a notice of sale. Check our state-by-state car title guides for the official forms.
Data retrieved October 2026.
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