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2000-2011 Chevrolet Malibu
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Comments
for example, try opening the glove box. how does it open? now check the other two car's glove box in question.
Flint is right when he claims that it is all about perception. I get a charge about the folks who pay big bucks for scheduled service on their Hondas, where all sorts of stuff gets replaced, then turn around and claim that they are trouble-free. Meanwhile the typical GM car maybe gets the benefit of an occasional oil change and tire rotation. The CR reliability ratings are based on owner reporting, remember. So the typical Honda owner says nothing broke. Whether or not it actually did may be another matter.
2017 Cadillac ATS Performance Premium 3.6
See ya there!
I see just as much plastic in the BMW and Accord as in the Malibu. Unless somebody convinces me that the BMW and Accord has "better plastic". I'm going to take a tape measure and measure the area of plastic in all three cars. I'll measure the gaps in the doors. I'll see which doors close with the most satisfying thunk. I have a project now for my lunch break now. I'll keep you posted.
Malibu is a value leader in the midsize segment in my opinion. As word gets around and CR gives it a buy rating as I'm sure they will, sales should continue to pick up.
There is a lot of sophistication in the design of the Ecotec engine that tends to missed at first glance.
forget about your tape measure. there are different levels of plastic quality!
after you open and shut the glove compartments of the cars in question try looking at the exterior mirrors. are sure you don't see a difference in quality?
next. try closing the trunk lids of these cars.
part replacements (like belts) are NOT part of any scheduled maintenance until you get to a very high mileage interval.
So what are we really looking for here? I was in the plastic manufacturing business for many years and can tell you most car manufactures are sourcing their plastic (it's actualy PVC - polyvinylchloride) from the same source. PVC is is usually made using the DuPont process. UV stabilizers are then added to protect against sunlight. I suppose a car manufacturer could ask the blenders to cheapen the product. I don't know. Hopefully the plastic will last the lifetime of the car.
my "plastic" observations just go by looks and feel. surely you can see some cars have higher quality plastic than others. VW/Audi very very good. GM (excluding cadillac) not so good.
Maybe I'm going blind but I see nothing wrong with the exterior mirrors on the Malibu. Warts and all, the new Malibu is a very fine motor car and I'm not sorry I bought one. I see the Ecotec model is being sold for $17360 now. I was able to get mine at that price with 0% APR over 3 years. I had no car to trade so the dealer wasn't able to screw me there. I think that's a fair deal.
BTW, in you observations of fit and finish, did you notice how the windshield and rear window on the new Malibu were attached. VERY interesting. Take a look next time you see one.
These discussions are linked to from a number of places on our host site and elsewhere, and it is important that the folks who follow the links find the conversation that the title represents. This discussion is not a comparo, so we can't really get lost in comparison discussion, especially when we have another very appropriate place for that to take place.
So please follow that link to continue. Thanks - I appreciate your understanding.
no argument with me on that. just think some competing cars have better fit and finish.
"in you observations of fit and finish, did you notice how the windshield and rear window on the new Malibu were attached"
nope, but i'll take a look next time i see one and hopefully i won't be chased away by the owner.
I finally had both key fobs at the same time, and my wife had recently been driving the car. When I unlocked the car with my key fob, the radio was on to the station I normally listen to. I turned off the car, and locked the car using my fob. Then, using my wife's fob I unlocked the car, and upon starting the car, the radio had switched to the station she listens to!
I went back and forth several times in this experiment. It seems to me that this would be a feature worth advertising.
So far our 04 Malibu LS with nearly 7,000 miles has performed flawlessly, with awesome mpg.
Jeremy
Link to full article:
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=568&ncid=- 749&e=2&u=/nm/20040419/bs_nm/autos_gm_recall_dc
Yeah, right.
I'll admit I'm totally biased, but no accidents or injury has ever occurred because of these circumstances, and I'm glad that GM is taking the initiative to improve them without pressure from an outside group.
It has been my impression that the Asian car companies would rather hide or ignore a problem rather than fix it, as evidenced by the post from hbund216. Remember the Asian economy crashing and hearing "Oh, me so sorry." a few years back? Remember Firestone?
As for GM's giant pile of recalls, please note that the vast majority of recalls are done as preemptive strikes. 'In case, one day, in certain situations, this part might break, we'll replace it now.' There are also many dinky recalls, such as one that crossed my desk the other day for '04 malibus. It involves the information sticker on the passenger's sunvisor. Affected owners will be sent a new sticker, with instructions for installation, within the next month or so.
If you want to know if your vehicle is involved in a recall, call your local dealer. Be sure to have your vehicle identification number handy. Also note the media has info on new recalls quicker than the dealers do. Usually we get detailed information a month or two after the media does a story on a recall.
GM picks and chooses what they are going to recall based on waht woudl cost them the most money if it were to fail. So you recall the steering rack becuase it's failure could lead to injury or death. But you let the alternator go becuase its failure doesn't affect human life. It may cause road rage from other drivers which could endanger your life.
Don't get me wrong, GM is not the only manufacturer to do this. But to try and claim that they are trying to save the general public is absolutely ludicrous. It's about PR and the almighty dollar. Oh yeah and the lawyers.
There really IS nothing to see here. Can we get back to discussing the Malibu?
Anyway... my post was in reaction to Mizij post. My read on that post (please correct me if I am wrong) was that GM was being honorable in doing these recalls. Honorable has nothing to do with any recall by any manuafacturer including the Asian car manufacturers. They recall for one of a few reasons: safety, lawsuit, or sales/reputation. The recalls on the Malibu are necessary because of safety concerns and sales. The Malibu is a very important vehicle for the future of GM. They have many cars that are to spinoff this platform in the coming years. So they must restore (which is what the re-design is suppose to do) and preserve (improved reliability) this model name for the future of their car line. HOnda did not issue a full recall on their transmission until they saw their sales for the minivan starting to decline (Sienna is outselling the Odyssey this year) and their reputation for reliability is being tarnished. So it's not just the domestics but all car manuafacturers do this. I'm not a GM basher and I know they along with Ford and DC are improving theri reliability. It bothers me that they have let so many other things go like the alternator, rotors, manifold gasket, etc.
Now back to the Malibu.... Is it me or did they raise the "beltline" on this vehicle? I finally saw one up close yesterday. Our college uses the Malibu in their fleet and I notice this. Is this due to the revised thicker grill and trunk? It seems liek a lot of upcoming cars (300C, Taurus replacemnt) have this feature.
Entry Midsize Car:
(1) Hyundai Sonata
(2) Oldsmobile Alero
(3) Chevrolet Malibu
Premium Midsize Car:
(1) Buick Century
(2) Chevrolet Monte Carlo
(3) Mitsubishi Galant (tie)
(3) Toyota Avalon (tie)
So where's your precious Accords and Camrys?
Here're some good quotes:
Domestic automakers as a group ranked last, behind Japanese, Korean and European automakers. But the difference in number of problems from the top-ranked Japanese to the bottom-ranked American automakers was so small it was statistically insignificant, said Kim Hill, an auto industry analyst at the Center for Automotive Research in Ann Arbor.
"You're talking about one defect per Lexus (the best-quality vehicle in J.D. Power's study) and two defects for a Hummer," which was the bottom-ranked brand in the study, Hill said.
Japanese automakers had an average 111 problems per 100 vehicles, while Korean manufacturers ranked second with 117 problems. European automakers posted 122 defects per 100 vehicles while American automakers had 123 problems.
Hill and other analysts say a better gauge of vehicle quality is J.D. Power's annual Vehicle Dependability Study, which measures reported problems after three years of ownership. That survey is expected to be released in late June..........
In J.D. Power's study this year, GM was the top-ranked American automaker with 120 problems per 100 vehicles, a 10 percent improvement from last year.
http://www.mlive.com/news/statewide/index.ssf?/base/news-4/108319- 20023120.xml
So, here we are. Buy a domestic and face 1.23 problem per vehicle, or overpay for a foreign car and face 1.11 to 1.22 problem per vehicle. The choice is yours.
Of course, long-term reliability may differ substantially, but that's another story