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I only buy those metal cans with the funnel attached (I think eagle makes them) they're expensive but save so much frustration.

Edit: these. actually not a bad price, the last time I bought one it was like $55

Oooh I have a perfect thing for you.

https://www.amazon.com/Readers-Digest-Complete-Care-Manual/dp/0895770881

This book will cover every major component and type of maintenance for modernish and old vehicles alike. This is essentially an ELI15 for working and learning about cars. Couldn't recommend it more, it's really easy to understand and extremely in depth

My rule of thumb generally is that most of the cars with the white lights have an auto dimming feature. So I won’t flash at them, but if they have overbearingly bright yellow lights ill flash them for sure.

I’m not 100% sure on this but I’m sure someone has made some sort of driving glasses that tone down the harshly of light without dimming the surrounding area.

Edit: A company called night view makes anti-glare glasses, which is what you’ll want if headlights continue to bother you. Here’s an amazon link. There are lots of other alternatives on the site as well, these are just the one’s made by night view.

First thing I would do is take out the brake lamp bulbs and see if it's still draining. If that fixes it, add them back in one-by-one until the vampiric drain comes back -- at least that will narrow where the problem is.

If that doesn't fix it (and I would guess that it won't, honestly -- I don't see how a bulb could trigger a vampiric drain, but I'd still want to test it because it's easy to check off), you're unfortunately looking for a short somewhere (which is going to suck tracking down).

The possibly-easier-but-maybe-a-terrible-idea (and honestly what I'd probably do in an older car, though this will be harder in a more modern car) would be to move the electric feed for that circuit from always-hot to ignition-on. That's not ideal (because now your brake lights don't work with the car turned off, which is how they are supposed to work) but its better than the battery dying all the time.

Other, less invasive/janky options: plug it in nightly. You can get a quick-disconnect battery tender (http://products.batterytender.com/Automotive/Battery-TenderR-5A-Power-Tender-Series-High-Efficiency.html) but you (obviously) need one that can cover the 5A draw, so the cheaper (low-amp) ones won't save you.

But the easiest and cheapest option is get a battery disconnect (like https://smile.amazon.com/Ampper-Battery-Disconnect-Isolator-Vehicle/dp/B07413JWLD/ref=sr_1_4), but if you have stuff that depends on a constant feed (like radio settings or whatever), that could be annoying. And, of course, you have to remember to switch it off when you park it.

Always had good luck with this stuff. It was used by a dealership I worked at to detail cars.

personally i wouldnt speculate on what your check engine light might be caused by, any of the answers listed by other people could be the cause. Someone else has mentioned going to an auto parts store and getting the codes read, thats the best idea, or buy your own reader, they're $15 on Amazon it spits out a code you look it up by googling 'chevy malibu code xxxx' and it will tell you the issue, and the chevy forums can tell you whether you need to worry about it or not.

Google search tire step. They can be picked up for about 25 to 35 bucks.

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/G/01/stores/auto/detail-page/B0002Z9KE0.01.lg.jpg