Hi everyone. I have a 2015 Chevy Malibu that is randomly trying to start itself. The key fob is the original when I bought it. It has the auto start on the fob but is the kind that requires the key in the ignition to drive. I will admit the fob has seen better days, it is being held together by hair ties as it wants to spring itself apart, but all the buttons (lock/unlock/trunk) still work, including the auto start and it has been like this for years. Maybe this is the issue and I just need a new one, idk.
Anyway, the scene is thus - car completely off (not in aux) but the key is in ignition, could be for 2 minutes or hours, and randomly it will try and start, but not fully turn the engine and actually start, just that little half second of a start and then go right back off. Today it did it 3 times in a row. Obviously I won’t be leaving my key in the ignition any longer as it does seem to require that, I don’t recall it ever happening if the key was out.
Otherwise car runs great and no current issues.
Curious if anyone has encountered or knows about this? Thanks in advance for any help!
If it is like mine the auto start needs to first have the lock button pushed two times, then the remote start button will work. Therefore I would focus on a worn or malfunctioning key cylinder or possibly a mal adjusted ignition switch on the steering column. I don’t understand the reason for leaving the key in the ignition though.
Buy a new FOB, have it programmed to the car.
While you sort this out, you do have a carbon monoxide detector in your house, right? If the car ever manages to fully start in your garage while you’re sleeping, it could kill you if you don’t.
Thanks for the heads up but no garage. She has to endure the elements!
Thanks for the advice, I’ll look into that. And there is no good reason to leave the keys in, I’m just out in the boonies behind a locked gate and I forget sometimes.
Concur w/advice to renew the questionable key fob. Just a note though, starter motors sometimes develop failure modes like that. Usually though the ignition switch is not involved. Tom and Ray had a caller on their radio program, the car (Porsche I think), after being parked would randomly drive away all by itself. They’d find it up against a tree, some distance from where they’d parked it. Manual transmission, parked in gear, faulty starter motor engaged when nobody looking. One of my co-workers had a similar problem, car caught fire.
I just started having the EXACT same problem (2014 Malibu). I ran into a convenience store, left my daughter on her phone in the car. When I came out she was FREAKING OUT! The car locked the doors, and would attempt to start. Since then I’ve had the same thing when I was sitting in the car. It’s just like the auto-stop/start when I’m stopped at a light, except it can’t start. AND a related problem: I stopped at a light, the auto engine shut off, but wouldn’t start again! Even after I took the keys out, opened the door (to reset the electronics), put the key back in and tried to start, and it wouldn’t even turn over. Nothing. Starter Solenoid? Ghost?
Did you name it Christine?
HA! Maybe I should! She’s been a really good car for me, 220,000 miles, and except for the ghost ignition issue, it runs great. I’d buy a new one today if I could, but GM decided we should have EV’s instead.
You do realize that there are many brands besides GM that might have something you like.
Plus this current vehicle has problems that might not be solved.
While GM–plus Ford, Stellantis, and most other vehicle mfs–is pivoting to trucks, SUVs, crossovers, and EVs, you can still buy a Chevy Malibu… if you don’t delay too much.
2025 is the last year of production for the Malibu, and that is–of course–based on sales figures. Car companies market the vehicles that sell in sufficient volume to warrant their production. Clearly, most sedans no longer sell in sufficient quantities, otherwise they would be more available than they now are.
Anyway…
No matter what you wind up buying, you should be aware that the car has reached–or, more likely, exceeded–its design life.
Chevrolet has 6 ICE SUVs and 3 EV SUVs. The Trax is like a compact car in size. Both the Trax and Trailblazer have MSRPs lower than the Malibu in basic trim.
The federal government made that decision several years ago with the 54-mpg requirement for sedans. Vehicle manufactures must sell a good number of hybrid and/or electric vehicles to offset the lower mpg of the traditional gasoline powered cars.
Sport coupes must be the exception to that rule. During the last 10 years Toyota has sold less that 12,000 GR86 per year. More that 100,000 Chevrolet Malibu sedans are sold each year.
Actually, if you add that 12,000 figure for US sales to the number of GR86 sales in Japan, plus the sales of the identical Subaru BRZ (made on the same assembly line), it was more like 25,000 sold in 2023. I guess that quantity is sufficient for them.
I don’t remember if it was the WSJ or AAA report that I read polling the vehicles people intended to buy next time. Just 20% intended to buy an EV. I couldn’t get beyond the paywall enough to see if hybrids were also looked at.
Main issues infra structure, cost, current technology etc. so we may be seeing some public push back coming.
I’ll go a little off topic from the original but still fob related. I change batteries once a year in my fobs just to be safe, at least the ones with the push button start on the dash. Wife said it didn’t want to read the fob to allow the start button to work. So I put a new battery in. Then I had it happen with the driver 2 fob and no matter where I put the fob by the start button would not read it. Had to go get the driver 1 fob to start the car.
So I’m thinking maybe the package of Duracell 2032 were weak. So I bought a package of energizers and will change the batteies out again and throw the old ones away. Should last more than 6 months though. As a precaution I put a spare battery in the glove box so I could swap it out if I had to on th3 road. The removable key still allows unlocking th3 door to get in but you can’t start th3 car without the fob.
Causing me more unrest, when I changed the battery, one of the buttons was out of alignment an in the process all th3 parts got dumped on the floor. Got it back together again except for one piece that fits cross wise in the fob. The buttons all work but now I’m Leary of the whole set up. I think I’ll just end up getting a new fob from the dealer when it’s in for plugs and service.
At any rate long story short, anyone else have short lived batteries or are the fobs just wearing out?
Don’t know if it’s a factor for you, but I’ve found the ‘YUK’ chemical applied to these types of batteries interferes with electrical contacts if they’re on the edge of the battery.
The Odyssey fob batteries lasts for a couple of years. They used to last longer, but that was before all the remote uses for the fob cam into being. The Odyssey alerts us with a message on the driver console that the fob battery is weak. Nice feature.
I’m going to suggest a much much cheaper alternative. Odds are the electronics in the fob have nothing wrong, but the case is broken. Buy a new case for less than $10 and move the electronics from the old one to the new one. It doesn’t take a lot of mechanical ability to do this. I’ve done this three times now with my 2011 Camaro, and I assume you don’t have a switchblade key which makes it much harder. Here is a link to a swap. You can get the case from many vendors on Amazon but be careful you select the correct one.
