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2000-2011 Chevrolet Malibu
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I understand the Cavalier has a good motor, as to performance I don't know. I've never seen a stick sift in Bu. Do they make one? sorry to hear that the import dealers just don't give a person a break.. I guess they don't have to and it's a common story. the Bu is hardly a BMW but it should do the job and the prices are right. Have fun. Wilf1
I just found out an aquanitance of mine bought a 2003 Corrola for $400 above MSRP and 5.9 APR for 2 years. Talk about being ripped off.
I wonder if it will have the hood ornaments, opera windows, and cordouroy seats of the '74 models?
1. I just got rid of my '92 Lumina, same engine, which I had for 10 years and 193,000 miles. Never did anything but change oil every 3500 miles...never gave me any trouble. Had ORIGINAL shocks and EXHAUST system. Stainless Steel, same as my new 'Bu. How much did that save over past few years????
Had serious problems all along with Brakes...not a bad driver, but the brakes wore out every 15K, then found a Class Action suit vs. GM for brake probs. Had something to do with the brake lines, not the pads...
Love my '02 'Bu, feel very comfortable in it.... like putting on an old pair of shoes. Tried a Camry, Mazda 626, and Honda before final decision....definitely not worth the extra $4-7K. Yeah, might not be as luxurious, but I'll have the car for 8-10 years, and know that I'll get my money's worth out of it.
Sorry for the length of this post, but I've read almost all the other posts and know some of you are on the fence about the Malibu, and all I can say is, if it's as good as my 10 year old Lumina, I'll be ecstatic. And, thanks for the tip about the tire pressure (increase by 3 lbs.)...seemed a bit low when I read the manual.....now I'll adjust it.
Congrats credman41 on your new purchase. Hope your Malibu experience turns out to be even better than the Alumina. And it is good to hear another positive testimony. I thought the recommended tire pressures were weirdly low too.
Our Malibu is running great, good handling and ride, and good gas milage. As far as whether imports offer better everything, I don't know what good a $6000-more-expensive import with a VTT engine will be If you drive the way my wife drives (never accelerate hard, gentle braking, etc). The money could certainly be better spent elsewhere for us. The varous convenience and safety features , e.g. remote lock unlock, trunk release, auto headlight, auto window, and yeah easy car seat fitting, rear door child safety etc, really turn out to be much much more important than I previously thought, and they make life so much easier. And when you think about it, all these things come at a mere $16300 price tag. You see I still can't help praising our Malibu. And this is why I'm getting increasingly upset when some people just act like they've eaten a fly at the idea of buying a domestic.
Through the bad times, and the good.
I've got to celebrate you, baby,
I've got to praise you like I should!
http://www.msnbc.com/news/818605.asp
I would be interested in the Class Action Suit ,if you have any info.
If the 02 gives us the same service as the Lumina we'll be more then pleased. PS I drive the Lumina and my wife has the Bu, I find time to putter around an older car.... waxing,checking for rust not a spot after 11 years. Not much fun with an 02 under warranty!!.Wilfj1
The interesting thing is to see if this trend continues of 0% financing, rebates and a glut of used cars. At some point, something has to give. The manufacturers can't afford to keep this up (or can they). At some point people will start to realize that they should hold onto their cars for a coule of more years instead of trading them in once the new car smell wears off. Then what happens.
I am obviously no economist, maybe someone has better understanding of the situation, so let's hear it
Theoretical loss in value doesn't necessirily translate into real world loss. If you try to trade your car to a dealer, sure. But not necessirily if you're buying from a private party or selling on your own. Just try telling this to the private owner you're buying from after a price is agreed on:"I just found out because new cars are so cheap due to heavy rebates, according to the market theory (or whatever) your car just had a value loss of $3000. Can you deduct the same amount $3000 from the price we just agreed on?" I doubt the owner of the car will say "Sure! That's how it's supposed to work right?"
So the net result is used car owners will either hold on to their cars or opt to sell themselves. And the used car dealers might actually benefit from setting the price by the book--buyer have better luck lecturing them on the theoretical value loss on used cars and consequently getting a better deal, so more people will go to the dealerships for used cars. That said, I doubt even dealers will automatically cut their used car prices by $3000 even though they did that to people with trade-ins.
The truth is probably somewhere in the middle. The whole thing might not be as bad as it theoretically is.
Also, people should really check out interest rates before accepting that 0% financing.... I had a choice: take the 0% or the $3,000 rebate- I checked, found a 5.5% loan which would cost me just a total of $1980 over 5 years... so I took the $3,000 rebate, and earned another $1,000 off the cost of my "Bu. Also, since the Lumina had over 190,000 miles, would have gotten nothing from the dealer, wound up calling a charity to pick 'er up, and got a slip authorizing a $4,000 donation to the charity...worth about $1,300 off my taxes this year..... all in all,, a sweet deal.
The rebates hurt the re-sale value as well fleet and rental sales. any rebate offered is like taking money right off the top for the car. If think about it, imagine if you bought a Malibu or any other car it was reduced by $3000 off the invoice price because of the rebate. And you happen to be able to pay cash. Say a week or month later you decide to trade the car in for another. The value of the car is what you paid for it minus the rebate (since it came form the manufacturer, you got the money at the sale, you can't get back on the trade), minus the wear and tear for however long you had it.
The fleet and rental sales hurt re-sale because these car tend to have higher then normal miles on them. And they tend to hit the used car market before lease returns. So you have the same model year vehicle, one with 24,000 miles and the other with 40,000 miles. The higher mileage car is worth a few thousand less then the newer car, plus the additional miles tend to mean that parts need o be replaced sooner then the lower mileage car. The value of the higher mileage car drags down the value of the lower mileage car. Plus the used car market is normally flooded with the fleet and rental vehicles. And these cars typically are not pampered like a vehicle that a consumer owns.
What is saving Ford, GM and DC is they sell so many trucks, minivans and SUV that have a hgigher profit margin then their cars. I think I read that Ford makes close to $7000 on each Explorer they sell and break even (and sometimes lose money) on the Escort (the article was a few years ago). But you could make up the money on the financing. So i imagine that both GM and DC are inthe same boat.
Tamu: you have to remember that it's supply and demand. There are a ton of used cars on the market so they have to be priced to sell. The used car dealers can't even inflate the prices if they wanted to. If they cahrge too much, people will jsut take advantage of the new car deals. Imagine if a dealer tried to charge you $15000 for 2001 Taurus SE with 17,000 miles. I would laugh at him. Because I know (and he does too) I can get a brand new one with the rebates for about $16500 and maybe even less. Plus I could get a lower finance rate then for a used car.
This is why I find this whole 0% financing and huge rebates interesting. Right now, if you are short on cash, you can get some dynamite deals on the used car market.
I look at the re-sale price of the 2001 Malibus and it's scary. But I know I'm not trading in this car for at least another 4 years. Luckily I am enjoying my experience with this vehicle. It has been a very good buy for me and my family.
An analyst from ?? just came put with a study that the incentive war is not hurting the big 3 as much as originally thought. Also, the incentives have kept the metal moving and has stopped costly plant slow downs.
Our current car is a 1999 model. We were dumb enough to get it after GM took our 1997 back under the Washington State Lemon Law. We thought lightning would not strike us twice so to speak.
The 1997 car had repeated brake problems (warpage, brake booster failure among other things). In addition speakers broke as did electric mirror motors. It was in the shop more that my wife drove it the first six months we owned it.
The 1999 has 41K on it. The battery went dead after a month. Then things quieted down for about six months. Then the brake warp issue came up. We are still dealing with that today. The A/C control unit failed at 37K. GM replaced that saving us $400. But in the process they found a gasket under the troddle body that was failing. If not replaced we would have failed the engine due to hydro-lock. That cost $900. We need to have that inspected by a GM tech. tearly to assure it's ok. Now at 42K interior trim items are falling off. Is this car made by Yugo?
This car is my wifes car used to drive kids to school etc. It's never stranded her or refused to start. But it's built really cheap. I've never had these problems with a Toyota, Honda, or Ford product. I grew up with Chevy's. Dad had a 1966 PU and Mom drove a 1970 Impalla. Those vehicles were solid. But based on my experience with the Malibu my wife wants a Toyota next time. And She'll get one.
My sons 99 Honda civic just had the main module go out$ 800 plus to replace. They claim gas tank was over filled recently and damaged the module... they are taking it up with Honda HQ for a ruling.
Plus its not like importants are all that problem-free. One's mentality plays a very important and subconcious role here. Its like if you have a positive opinion of somebody you tend to look at whatever he does in a positive way and find excuses for yourself to continue your belief in him, even when he's not living up to your admiration. The same holds true when you don't think too highly of someone. That person will have an awfully hard time changing your opinion about him because you subconciously look at whatever he does in a negative way and tolerates no imperfection.
As for Camry requiring you to pay $250 (plus tax?) every 12K miles, it's outrageous. That's another 750 + tax before the warranty is up! Talk about a ripoff, hehehe
There was a discussion about this in Edmunds. I'm sure if you do some searching around, you can find the discussion. But it is a known problem with this engine.
How long (the distance in miles or kilometers) do you have to drive with either your left or right turn indicator turned on before you hear a warning chime?
The car is running just fine, no squeaks or rattles, but my 90 day "POWELL TEST" period is just about up. What happens now? Pray...
Some times I wonder... my sons buddy who has worked in the service business implied I'm a marked car as I have a non deductible warranty and electrical work is a real winner for the dealer. It just can't be so...tell me so.
It's suggested to leave it be unless something else occurs . The point being when they get into the dash to remove the instrument cluster it's all one piece ,and with module checks I could have never ending electrical problems and rattles for the life of the car.
Thanks for your help and I'm just going to ignore it unless something major occurs. I just can't handle the hassle knowing that they will make it a major testing program with days of trying to locate the flashing lights...the problem will be corrected but what else could they mess up in doing so . Just not worth the risk at this point. Cheers Wilf1
Returned home and turned off the car. On re start all went according to the manual!.
What could have happened? It is possible that by not doing up the belt for an extended period and on re start the computer self adjusted to it's default. This may have got out of sink when the oil change was done as they drive the car without buckling up. Heaven knows...sure glad it's back in the right sequence. I take back what I said about the dealer or do I: time will till. say good night, good night. Wilfj1
Can't afford to pay over $1000 for the dealer to do it so decided to do it myself. It took a week during my evening hours and weekend to get everything moved out of the way, but I finally got there.
When I got to the lower intake manifold, I noticed there were 8 bolts holding it on, the bolt only need a 10mm socket wrench. Seems kinda small.
Anyway, all eight bolts were loose! No wonder I'm losing coolant! So I pulled those bolts out and removed the lower intake manifold then saw embossed on one of the head blocks, "Made in Mexico."
So much for buying American.
BTW, the bolts had no loctite on them, so I'll be sure to put some on when I install the new gasket.
And it looks like coolant leaked both out and in, meaning my engine oil has been running with coolant for beaucoup miles. Explains why the engine sounds like it's always low on oil.
ps:I noticed this when we drove from daytime till late evening.
As one Service fellow said to me one time " get in the car and drive the damn thing " I did and drove 180000 km , oil, tires and brakes on a 1992 mustang. Great cars.Wilf1