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2000-2011 Chevrolet Malibu

18911131496

Comments

  • vocusvocus Member Posts: 7,777
    I bought a used car warranty for a used 1993 Bonneville, and had great luck with it. I bought it from AutoConnection (http://www.autoconnection.com), but the administrator was in Chicago (don't remember which one). Since the car had 67K on it when I got the warranty, I got some good use out of it (brake master cylinder, water pump, power window motor, etc.). Also, when I sold the car, I got a prorated refund on the warranty. Paid $1037 for 3/36K coverage, used it to the tune of like $1500, and still got back $450 at the end (which was at 77K and 6 months). Gotta love it. :)
  • yurakmyurakm Member Posts: 1,345
    Thank you!

    By the way, did you replaced the tires already at your 99 Malibu?
  • malibu99malibu99 Member Posts: 305
    No, I still have the Affinitiy tires on. They've worked ok for me, a little noisy at highway speeds but I'm not the kind that is bothered by road noise. I want to try and keep them for a while. I'm extending my lease on my Malibu until the redesign is released ( I hope by late 2003 ) so I might have to replace them before then. Still love this car though :-)
  • yurakmyurakm Member Posts: 1,345
    I also was happy with the Affinity, till they became worn-out at about 32-35k. But after replacing them at 37k by SH-30, I know what the car needed from the very beginning.

    There was a joke popular in Russia in 1980-th: "the Soviet shoes are very good. Everybody would be happy with them, if only he could not try the Italian ones".
  • crazymalercrazymaler Member Posts: 16
    I replaced my Affinities at 20,500 miles (they were almost worn out) with Michelin Pilot XGT H4s. Now there's absolutely no more squealing tires, even on hard turns, and the car handles so much better than with the Affinities. The Michelins were pricey ($90) but are worth it. I've also read that the SH-30s that yurakm has are great as well. Just get rid of the Affinities ;-)
  • maw1982maw1982 Member Posts: 62
    I am looking at a '98 Malibu LS with all options including CD, leather and sunroof. It has 70k mi and looks like a very good deal but I wanted opinions on buying one of these vehicle sespecially with high mileage. If I can get it cheap enough Iwould invest in an extended warranty. I read some reviews on the '99 Malibus and wondered if the following item are included on the '98 also:

    Cupholders and tabletop in the rear center armrest?
    Split-folding rear seat?
    Sunroof that opens to the outside of the vehicle (doesn't slide back into the headliner)?
    Battery Rundown protection?
    Programmable door locks?
    Automatic Headlights?
  • yurakmyurakm Member Posts: 1,345
    1. My base 98 Malibu definitely have cap holder, just on front of rear center armrest and behind the transmission handle. Plus there are two cap holders behind the armrest, for rear seat passengers. My son is using it all the time. The forth cap holder, to the left from steering wheel, is never used. Probably the feature is intended for left-handed drivers.

    Do not understand what you name "tabletop".

    2. When shopping for my car, I read somewhere that the 98 Malibu LS has the split rear seats as standard (option for base Malibu). Not 100% sure though.

    3. Do not know anything about Malibu sunroof.

    4. Battery protection - if you mean the car switches off itself the lights after several minutes, than yes. I read about it in my car manual, but never tried to experiment.

    4. Do not remember anything about programming door locks.

    5. Automatic headlights - definitely yes. Very convenient.
  • yurakmyurakm Member Posts: 1,345
    Concerning the extended warranty: my currently is in the shop with repair covered my extended warranty. In my experience it does not pay. Too much troubles and delays. And my mechanic, who have a huge experience with the warranties, told me the same.

    Mechanics do not like the warranties, and for good reason: the warranty companies make it difficult to collect the payments, possibly intentionally. Manager of the repair shop, or its owner, or mechanic must call the warranty administrator (a separate company) to approve the repair. It typically takes a hour or so on hold. The mechanics are too busy for this nonsense.

    In my case the administrator has a voice mail, but it took two days to receive the call back, and only after I called the customer service of warranty company and asked them to push. Even for them it took 15 minutes on hold to connect the administrator with the shop manager/owner. With him on hold too!

    Now, with engine disassembled, the mechanic prepared the full payment sheet and faxed it to the administrator this morning for payment by credit card. But it is Saturday today, and to the best of my understanding, the administrator will be open on Monday only. Another two days of delays - even if administrator will answer immediately.

    I bought the extended warranty for peace of mind. Now, with the experience, I would rather check the car thoroughly before buying, and would take the feature risk myself.

    The 98 Malibu is not very reliable car, but only two expensive problems are common.

    One of them are brake rotors prone to warping. Most usually develops at 7-15k miles. Most probably, the rotors are already replaced after 70k miles and this is not relevant. Though:

    The symptoms: pulsation of the brake pedal, initially at highway speed, about 70 mph. It may cost about $400 to replace at dealership, with genuine GM parts, but much less at independent shop, with aftermarket parts. Some of the parts, like Rasbestos, have better reputation than the OEM ones, and often are covered by a long or even lifetime manufacturer warranty.

    By the way, the rotors are never covered by extended warranties.

    The second problem, which usually develops with time, is a coolant leak from the engine intake manifold gasket. If it leaks slightly outside engine, for time being owner can just add the coolant for time being. Much worse if it leaks inside the engine, leading to its corrosion.

    The repair costs about $550 at independent shop and takes several days. Probably much more expensive at dealership. But the problem is not expensive to diagnose with pressure test of the coolant system - about $25-$30.

    With my experience, I would not buy a used Malibu without this test. And would not buy the car at all if my mechanic find the traces of the internal coolant leak.

    The only other problem which merit to mention in my experience were speakers. The right rear speaker simply died, and the right speaker at door started to make noise - probably was blown-out after the first died.

    Had several nuisance problems, but the most expensive of them costs $24 if I remember it right. Other costs $5 or so, or were solved with a drop of lube.
  • maw1982maw1982 Member Posts: 62
    Some coarifacations for yurakm

    I was confused about the tabletop in the rear center console. Like I said, I got these feature out of the review of a '99 model. I think what they mean is a flat plastic area on the rear armrest. Here is an excerpt from that article to clear things up:

    Standard equipment in the LS includes such popular staples as anti-lock brakes, air conditioning, automatic transmission, power windows, power locks and AM/FM stereo with cassette, plus a few other goodies such as tilt wheel, power trunk release, remote keyless entry, cruise control and a fold-down rear-seat armrest with dual cupholders as well as a small tray to hold snacks.

    By programmable locks I mean they are automatic and you can change the behabvior of them (IE you can turn them off, have them no automatically unlock and have the locks lock and unlock when shifting into and out of park). My parents' '99 silhouette has this feature and it is incrediblly handy. If the malibu has programmable locks, there should be a section in the owners' manual about how to program them. I know it involves removing a fuse and hitting certain switches certain number of times to cycle through options.

    Thank you for al of you advice though.

    BTW, I noticed that you said that your car is the base model. Is it the 4-cl or the 6-cyl. The one I am looking at is a 6-cyl and I don't which engine the coolant leak is common in. Thanks
  • yurakmyurakm Member Posts: 1,345
    My Malibu is base, but with the same 3.1l V-6 engine, as LS. I do not know statistics, how common is the coolant leak - very possibly only 5% or 10% of engines develop it. But it is frequent enough to be mentioned several times at the board.

    The engine is also used with several other GM cars. There is a separate discussion board dedicated to problems with the engine and its close relatives:

    rbenton "Common General Motor's 2.8, 3.1, 3.4 V6's engine problems" Feb 4, 2001 12:15pm

    My base Malibu have no rear armrest. Do not know about LS.

    I do not remember reading anything about the programmed door locks. The car manual is in the glove box, while the car is sitting at repair shop, so currently I cannot check. The locks are optional for base model, if I remember it right. My car is equipped by the power locks, but without remote control, and we are using them manually.
  • malibu99malibu99 Member Posts: 305
    THe LS has the armrest built in to the back seat ( maybe the base model has them as well but not sure, the LS for sure has them ). The Malibu does not have programmable locks, unfortunately, they saved this feature for the Impala and up.
    The LS is pretty much well equipped witrh every option ( except sunroof). The sunroof opens to the outside of the car, it sort of pops up and slides back a bit so it doesn't hide inside the roof area. Let's see, yea I think I covered some of the questions. Good luck, you'll find you will like the car, very smooth. Good luck!
  • yurakmyurakm Member Posts: 1,345
    on the board poisondartfrog "Common General Motor's 2.8, 3.1, 3.4 V6's engine problems" Apr 4, 2001 8:36pm


    boardpoisondartfrog put a very useful link


    http://www.imcool.com/articles/antifreeze-coolant/dexcool-macs2001.htm


    Look at the pictures. The last one, with coolant tank, is especially informative for Malibu owners.


    There are tell-tale signs of rust (iron oxide) in the coolant system. The rust is very easy to see on the inside walls of coolant tank. A retired housewife can recognize it. With my car the sediment was more thick, and was also on the floor of the tank and even on its cap. Had it from the very day I bought the car used, one year old (from build date) and with only 15k miles.


    The only problem is the rust have the same color as the orange DexCool coolant. The sediment looks natural.


    My car had serviced by ASI certified mechanics, first at dealership, than at very good local Firestone shop. They added the coolant every 3 months, but never mentioned the rust. Probably even mechanics do not know this is rust, not natural...

  • yurakmyurakm Member Posts: 1,345
    The following link:


    http://www.imcool.com/articles/anitfreeze-coolant/dexcool-johnbrunner.htm


    tells that at least 3 types of the dark-brown sediments can be found in the coolant system filled by DEX-COOL. The rust (iron oxide), hose material, and sealant pellets. All of them are looking the same.


    The rust is the worst, it can clog the radiator. If the rust is developing, the system needs in chemical flush. Fortunately for the Malibu owners, the 3.1l engine is not prone to the rust sediments. Only to the two other ones.


    GM is also suggesting to overfill the system a bit. To fill it to the full (hot) mark with the cold engine.

  • stnelstnel Member Posts: 338
    yurakm - I used to see your name come up in the Impala forum when I was considering buying an Impala. I then went on to the Taurus and had to eliminate that because of blind spot. A lot of cars are making head rests that go a good bit over my head causing a problem for seeing merging traffic for lane changes - I don't like to rely strictly on mirrors. I test drove the Malibu today and the vision was so-so but I enjoyed the test drive. I'll have to test drive it again. Surprisingly enough, the Impala may give the best view so will retest that.

    I thought my top priority was reliablity, safety, etc. but now it's just blind spots.

    Anyway, if I buy the Malibu, I may be posting over here some. Hopefully I'll be buying this week sometime. I like the Malibu price better than the Impala price but seeing traffic will have to come ahead of price.

    truckdude struck the Taurus forum this weekend. Maybe he's just a kid cutting up. I guess we get a few pranksters from time to time.
  • yurakmyurakm Member Posts: 1,345
    The Malibu drivers have decent field of view. At least my wife and I had no problem with driving, changing lanes, etc. I am using mostly mirrors, but my wife looks back.

    It was somewhat difficult at first to backing up at parking garage at our work (we work together). The garage is very tight - an old city building, converted. We are backing up usually till there is two inches left to the wall, and with the high Malibu trunk lid touched the wall several times by bumper. Well, I touched - my wife is more accurate.

    Though, the Impala and other W-body cars have outstanding field of view. Much better than Malibu. Our other car is Buick Regal; we are comparing the view from the car to the view a fish have from a glass tank.
  • stnelstnel Member Posts: 338
    backing up. That's something I will do on the next test drive. I got into a fender bender several years ago in a parking lot and hit a Mercedes Sports Coupe. Didn't do much damage but it sure was expensive! I definitely want to see backing up.
  • snowmansnowman Member Posts: 540
    It seems like we are looking at the same cars. I like Malibu too but two star side impact rating makes me think, I spoted 2000 Taurus 17K miles they are asking 14.5K. 2001 Malibu (brand new) $16.1K (w/power windows). I love impalas too but even second hand is high. My favorite is Accord but I don't want to dump 18K-19K for a car. So in my virtual garage I have 2 Taurus, 1 Impala, 1 Malibu, 1 Buick. They are al ranging 13K 14K except Malibu that is 12K. My consideration is crash test results, component reliablity. Ford appears to be the best bang for the money but transmission is scaring me in a long run.
  • stnelstnel Member Posts: 338
    I was concerned about the transmission on the Taurus as well. If you test drive one, see how it does at lower speeds. When I test drove one, it seemed a little jerky at 20 to 30 mph. Maybe it was just that particular car.

    I do like the prices on the Malibus. And I also liked the way it handled on the test drive - lots of pickup. Guess you have to weigh the crash test results with the price. I've got to test drive the Malibu again before I decide. If I can't see backing up, I'll have to move on to something else.
  • vocusvocus Member Posts: 7,777
    I just got my June issue of Consumer Reports. It recommended the LS version of the Malibu as a good value and good performer. Only thing they did not like was the poor side-impact scores it gave, because there are no side air bags. Pretty good for a design that's 4 years old, they said. It competed with the Olds Alero, Hyundai Sonata, and new Chrysler Sebring sedan. It came in third. A feat, might I add, since the Sebring is all new this year and the Malibu's design is 4 years old.
  • stnelstnel Member Posts: 338
    In the cars that I looked at, the Impala has the best side impact scores (a 4 out of 5). Both Taurus and Impala score a 5 for front end crash. The Malibu scores a 4 for front end crash and 2 for side.

    I may be sacrificing safety to find a car I can see out of when looking over my left shoulder for traffic. Although it's even more unsafe when merging onto the interstate where cars are usually going 80 and I hit one because I can't see.
  • scaredofmalibuscaredofmalibu Member Posts: 2
    I read some of the other messages regarding the loss of power on the malibus. I agree with it all. Recently I was trying to cross three lanes of traffic and my car refused to go faster then 30mph the speed limit is 45. A car came up behing me fast and had to move qucikly. I actually braced myself for inpact. I thought I was going to get hit. I toke my car in to the Chevy dealership, talked to everyone even the general manager, and I called the Chevy number. Everyone I talked to told me the problem could not be reproduced even when they saw it do it they told me that I needed to Floor it. Well that doesnt work. Now I wont drive my car I am scared of a terrible accident.
  • acordell2acordell2 Member Posts: 1
    At 5000 km the brakes were pulsing and so the dealer changed the rotors. Now at 15000 km there is a creaking noise coming from the front discs just before stopping. Creaking can be heard from inside the car and outside as well.

    The dealer said the calipers were the problem: leaking, rusting, etc. They changed (and or rebuilt) the calipers. You guessed it. Creaking continues. Dealer says bring it back. Any suggestions on what I might suggest to the service people on what might be the problem?
  • mk12345mk12345 Member Posts: 2
    Hi, all! I am new to this board and have a 98 Malibu LS (sympathy and cash donation accepted:-)bought as new at the end of 97. Currently has 54k on it. Coolant leak started less than a year ago. Had to top off about every two weeks and got it fixed recently(bad gasket was the culprit). Now, there is another problem. After every cool start, engine seems to stall or choke(??) while stopping for red light and after every gas fill. Grinding noise come from bottom of the car. My mechanic friend did a computer diagnostic and it showed P1441 problem but w/o explanation. I searched on the internet and found it means "Evaporative System Flow During Non-Purge". My friend said it means a leak in the fuel system. I am wondering if anyone has the same problem and know how much it will cost to fix it?


    I recommend http://www.carreview.com/reviews/midsize_compacts/product_241.shtml and read other owers' reivew to anticipate any upcoming problems. Good luck to you all.

  • spindly_mspindly_m Member Posts: 1
    I have a '98 Malibu LS--piece of unreliable crap. Anyway the switch that detects whether parking brake is on is busted (yet again, was fixed under warrenty), and every time I stop and then start the car I am treated to a 10 second dinging of the warning bell. Anybody got any ideas how to simply disable the switch? Since it serves no purpose other than breaking I think it can get the boot.
  • stnelstnel Member Posts: 338
    Just a note to let you know I finally found a car I can see out of. It's the Grand Prix sedan. I think it has to do with the fact that the headrest has a hole in it and I can see through that.

    I've been to a couple of places and couldn't work out a good deal so will keep looking. I hope I can find something this week.

    I'm curious about one thing, though. In an earlier post, you mentioned the W body. Would the Grand Prix be a W body? The vision between the Grand Prix and other cars I've sat in is like night and day.
  • yurakmyurakm Member Posts: 1,345
    A lot of GM cars are sharing few basic designs, or "platform". The following current cars are built on the "W" platform: Buick Century and Regal, Chevrolet Impala and Monte Carlo, Oldsmobile Intrigue, and Pontiac Grand Prix. All of them have close dimensions, a lot of common parts, etc.

    The sheet metal (the upper body) is different, but the windows / vision is the same or very similar.
  • stnelstnel Member Posts: 338
    Thanks for the explanation on the W platform. I hear this mentioned all the time but never knew what it was.

    I finally bought a new car today and got the Grand Prix SE. It's a 3.1 L engine so I would guess it's the same engine as the Chevy Malibu. I think the crash results are about the same too.

    I've owned white cars for 20 years so it seems strange to have something in the garage that isn't white--got the dark bronzemist. I liked the galaxy silver but couldn't work out a deal with the car place that had one.
  • yurakmyurakm Member Posts: 1,345
    Congratulations!

    I saw the dark bronzemist color, and like it very much. Definitely more than silver.
  • stnelstnel Member Posts: 338
    I've been enjoying my car but haven't been doing a lot of driving. I thought my insurance company was going to send me my policy by overnight express. I called them today and they sent it out in bulk mail. They said it could take 2 weeks before I receive it. I'm nervous about driving a car without having the proof of insurance card with me. I'm having them send me the card anyway by overnight express.

    I've read several posts about pings and my car does have that ping sound when I get out of it. I'm hoping it's just from being new and it will quit with time.
  • yurakmyurakm Member Posts: 1,345
    Dealer would not release the car to you from his parking lot without the proof of insurance. The insurance company must fax a copy of a new insurance card to dealership.

    The proof of insurance is required by banks: no loan without insurance. I am not sure what if you paid cash, but I believe that in most of states the dealer still must check for current insurance. Either it is explicitly required by a state law, or because the dealer do not want to be sued in case of an accident with an uninsured motorist.

    So I am pretty sure that your dealer have a copy of the insurance card. Probably you already received it with other documentation for your car. If not, you can ask the dealer to Xerox it and to provide the copy to you.
  • stnelstnel Member Posts: 338
    The dealership may have gotten a fax copy of insurance coverage and I didn't notice it--so much going on. When I called the insurance company yesterday, they offered to fax me a copy of the proof of insurance card. Some states won't accept a fax copy of the card and it turns out that Louisiana is one of those states. Hopefully, I'll get the card today.

    I'm probably worrying about nothing. When people buy a new car, they've got to drive it off the lot. And no one is going to get their actual card that moment.
  • tomhameltomhamel Member Posts: 2
    I had the same problem. It's been pretty much fixed by installing raybestos ceramic pads as recommended at another Malibu site. I hear that you should also put in aftermarket rotors ("cross-drilled" I believe). My rotors were replaced by the dealer on warranty with a newer version (my car is a 99). I have 85,000 kms (51,000 miles) on this car now and the brakes have improved with age since the ceramic pads. They are expensive: List is $107 CDN for the pair (I got them for $80 CDN, but I have an "in"). I installed the pads myself with the help of a mechanic friend. The local dealer quoted me $83 CDN to install my pads, labor only.

    I've also put on Michelin Xone tires. This was a big improvement over the stock Firestones, which were very poor tires that wore out within 30,000 miles, handled poorly and were noisy.

    Except for little annoyances, the car is working out pretty well at about 60% the cost of an Accord (though I'd buy the Accord in a second if it were in the budget).

    Tom
  • yurakmyurakm Member Posts: 1,345
    I have a 98 Malibu, base with 3.1l V-6 engine. Bought used with 15k miles 2.5 years ago, 09/1998. Currently approaching 41k miles.

    I have three questions:

    1. Does Malibu produce a chime warning when trying to drive with parking brake engaged? I have a slight remembrance it did this when we bought the car. Did not hear the chime for years, though. Not sure if this is a false memory, or the chime simply does not work for years.

    2. My son pointed yesterday to what looks as small lights on the power window buttons. Small clear strips on the the big square buttons. Do not remember the lights ever to work, though. Is Malibu equipped with the lights?

    3. The air flow knob is somewhat tight. I mean the left-most air condition knob. The 5 position switch, directing the air flow to windshield, feet, the dash vents, etc.

    Do I remember right that the knob was very easy to turn - as easy as the air speed knob?
  • malibu99malibu99 Member Posts: 305
  • malibu99malibu99 Member Posts: 305
    1) Yes a chime warns you that the brake is on, it makes 3 dings.

    2)The window switches for the FRONT ONLY are iluminated.

    3) The knob gives more resistance when switching it all the way to the right.

    Hope that helps.
  • yurakmyurakm Member Posts: 1,345
    Thank you!
  • sparky51sparky51 Member Posts: 2
    I recently purchased 2001 Chevy Malibu LS. When starting up the car, anytime it has been parked for eight hours or more I noticed a ticking noise that goes away in a couple minutes. When I took the car in for an oil change I asked for this to checked. I was informed that the reason for the ticking noise was because the 3.1 liter engine uses a short skirt piston. This reason sounds like BULL to me, I suspected valves or lifters. Has anyone experienced this?
  • stnelstnel Member Posts: 338
    I just purchased a new Grand Prix about 10 days ago. It's the one with the 3.1 L engine so I would imagine it's the same engine as the Malibu. I haven't heard any ticking noises in my car. If you're already getting an oil change, I imagine you've had your car longer than mine. How long did you have your car before this started?
  • njdevilsrnnjdevilsrn Member Posts: 185
    GM issued a service bulletin about this. It is more than likely piston slap. It is a know manufacturing defect in GMs 3.1 V6. Speaking from experience, I would be leary about getting the repair done unless you absolutely need it.

    It took the dealer 5 days to do the job (Would have cost almost $2000 if I had to pay for it).

    Problems since the repair...1- The car almost overheated one day. Checked the coolant, and it was bone dry. Oil also had a funny smell to it, I thought for sure the head was blown. Dealer had it half a day, said there was an "air pocket" in the coolant system which worked it's way out with driving, therefore when it looked full, the coolant was actually low as air was in it's place. They filled the coolant, changed the oil for free. It still smells the way it did, so I hope I was wrong. 2-Burning smell coming in vents. Beats me as to what is wrong.
  • stnelstnel Member Posts: 338
    How do you find out about service bulletins? I know some are mailed to car owner but is there a web page for looking these things up?
  • njdevilsrnnjdevilsrn Member Posts: 185
    GM is so on the up and up with this, that it is a service bulletin sent to dealers. I believe you can read about it on the NTSB or NHTSA web sites. Owners of the vehicles are on their own to find out about this potentially serious engine problem. GM has not come out on their own to say anything, and the government has not made them. Nice, huh?
  • bill138bill138 Member Posts: 1
    It's been a while since I've posted something on this board although I do check in regularly to see what's going on. I have a 2000 Malibu with a ticking V6. My dealer swears the problem is NOT piston slap, but actually the fuel injectors. I'm really concerned about the post from sparky51 who has a 2001 with the ticking problem. This has been going on for a while now, more than a year, right? Does this mean CM still has not corrected the problem during engine production?
    Another question I have is what are the long-term affects if repairs are not made? I don't know whether my dealer is correct, or not, about the fuel injectors, but they are not about to replace the pistons in my car. After 16000 miles, the engine is reliable, powerful, and does not use any oil, etc. If this is piston slap in my car, I'm inclined to think, maybe incorrectly, that it's not all that serious.

    The only thing that is occurring in my car now is rattles showing up from several places. One particularly annoying rattle is coming from under the dashboard. I'll try to fix it myself as the dealer claims they don't hear anything. I guess I can't really blame them too much for not wanting to tear the dashboard apart for just a rattle.
  • malibuinscmalibuinsc Member Posts: 10
    Hello everybody. I have a 1998 Chevy Malibu LS and has owned it since new. The V6 has roller lifters and rockers for fuel efficency and more power with less friction in the valvetrain that will rob power. Those noises are most likely the pushrods pushing up on the rockers and the rollers on the lifters and rocker arms making noise until properly lubed with engine oil and engine operating temperature reaches the first or second notch above the half mark on the temperature gauge. This is completely normal. I have over 70,000 reliable trouble free engine miles with no oil use in between 5000 mile oil changes. Do not worry or panic. The only major repairs I have had were Alternator and a brake job that was first done at 56,000 miles. Yes I get some brake rotor vibration with the so call new rotor design, but because I ignored it for awhile, it has actually smooth out. To get that perfect new car brake smoothness I'll get them resurface one day. This car has been driven every weekend for 3 years (no lie) for over 300 miles and she's still strong as brand new with 27 to 32 mpg of gas. Small gas tank makes this car look like a guzzler but it actual isn't.
    Anybody with A/C problems meaning system cutting on and off at will should have dealer look at wires near the Air Intake hose on a sensor. Had to a chevy dealer that had the car every spring and could only temporarily fix it. Took it to my selling dealer and the fix was done right and hadn't been back since. These compressors are the Delph Thermal System V5 model and it's a continuous varible operating unit that cools interior on the demand of the system and outside ambient air conditions. Ex. Very hot outside, compressor runs at full capacity and both varible engine cooling fans run at full speed. Cool outside, Compressor runs at lower capacity and the engine fans run slower and quieter. It's a smart car but it can be annoying when you want cold air anytime, but it saves gas and part wear.

    Thanks.
    Malibu in SC
  • yurakmyurakm Member Posts: 1,345
    I had an intermitted dash rattle with 2000 Buick Regal. No rattle at all most of time, but a very bad on some pavements with some speed, for miles. Not a big problem - my wife did not pay attention at all. However, the specific pitch was annoying me very much.

    The service adviser at dealership refused to fix it: too much work for the small nuisance.

    I found a road near the dealership where the rattle happens reliable every time. Than I made an appointment for a test drive with service manager. He did not like the rattle too and ordered the problem to be fixed.

    My car was at dealership for 3 days. The dealership mechanics had to dismantle the dash three times - the rattle disappear only after the third attempt.

    A month later the same rattle appear again. This time the mechanics and manager found the dash panel to be warped. They ordered the whole new dash panel, replaced it, and the rattle disappear.

    So it helps to be persistent.
  • stnelstnel Member Posts: 338
    My brother bought a Malibu a couple of days ago so I'll keep up with the service bulletins posted in NHTSA and NTSB. He doesn't have much use for computers. As long as I'm looking up stuff for my car, I may as well look up stuff for his as well.

    The dealers are supposed to notify us of recalls aren't they or do we have to find out about them on our own as well?
  • joe3891joe3891 Member Posts: 759
    TSB is not a recall,safety problems are a recall and you will be notified.An engine knocking is NOT a safety related problem.
  • katty2ukatty2u Member Posts: 3
    Hi, I looked at several '97 Malibus this weekend. They are nice looking cars, in my opinion. I'm worried about their reliability though, or lack of. (I'm new to this community). Consumer Reports says to avoid the '97 and '98 models, and other places I've visited on the internet don't think much of these cars either. Edmunds here likes them, and so does a Consumer Guide book I bought. I'm confused as to what to believe! Would some of you be nice enough to give me your opinions? I'd appreciate it.
  • yurakmyurakm Member Posts: 1,345
    Most probably, the reliability is already reflected in the car price.

    I have a 98 Malibu, built in July 97. Base with 3.1l V-6 engine. Bought is used, with 15k miles, and have it for almost 3 years now, 41k miles on odometer.

    In my experience the car was not exactly reliable - a lot of things was repaired. On the other hand, none of problems was dangerous or made the car undriveable. Mostly small things like bad speakers, sticky door sensor, bad resistor in the A/C switch, a cord holding the fuel tank cap broke. Fixed them when changed oil. Often just a drop of lube was enough to fix. Was covered by warranty.

    Currently the illumination of the power window switches does not work, and the glove box door became creaky... Do not plan to fix this till the 45k miles service.

    There were three expensive repairs, though:

    1. The first does not concern reliability: the car was rear-ended, and needed $5,000 body work. The repair took almost a month.

    2. Warped brake rotors needed replacement. Cost about $400 at dealership, took couple of hours.

    3. A coolant leak developed through the intake manifold gasket. Costs $550, covered by extended warranty. I was for a whole week without the car: the repair itself took 3 days, plus 4 days waiting for the extended warranty approval and payment.

    As you see, most of repairs needed only couple of hours or so and are not expensive. Though, the car have two weak points:

    1. Some brake rotors are prone to early warping. At 8-15-20k miles. 50k would be normal... This is not a safety item: the brakes works even better. But the warped rotors are eating pads rather fast - they will serve only 7k miles or so.

    The symptoms: the brake pedal is pulsating when braking, at first at highway speed only, 70 mph or so.

    Most probably, with the problem is already fixed with older car, built in 1996-97. Or the specific car have no problem with this random production defect. Nevertheless, check for warping when test-driving.

    Adjust the price $400 down if rotors are warped. Replacing rotors and pads will cost about $400 at dealership, and probably half of this at independent service stations. Some aftermarket rotors are better than original, and have a warranty.

    2. This concerns the V-6 engine only, and happens much less often than the brake rotor problem:

    The intake manifold gasket is somewhat prone to leak. If the coolant leaks outside the engine, this is less important, but if antifreeze gets inside, into oil, corrosion will happen soon inside the engine.

    The pressure test of the coolant system costs than $30. I would suggest to perform this test before buying the car. I probably would not buy a car if my mechanic has a slight suspicion that the coolant ever leaked inside the engine.
  • dottiez1dottiez1 Member Posts: 1
    I currently drive a 1988 Chewy Celebrity (used to be my Dad's car) and Ii am going to have to buy a new car since this "GM Senior Citizen" is in the shop on a monthly basis with something new wrong with it (it's currently there now having the engine mounts replaced). I've narrowed it down to either a 2001 Impala (which I lust after) and the 2001 Malibu, which is more in my price range. Would it be wise for me to purchase a Malibu? The base or the LS? Any major problems? Next year, we'll be moving out of Chicago to the Las Vegas area and I will need a car that is a real "road warrior" since you drive everywhere; do you think the Malibu can handle it? Not to mention the 1700+ miles drive out to Vegas in the first place? Do you think it would be a good car to have in the desert? Safety?? I know I sound kind of silly but I'm so confused!!! I've done research on soooo many cars, and the Chevy models keep coming back to me!! I refuse to put any more money into "Ye Olde Rust Bucket" (even though it has sentimental value attached) and I may have to do this car purchase sooner than I wanted. I'm hoping the Celebrity will last me at least until September (WITHOUT any more costly repairs) and then shop around for the new car. Any input would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.. and sorry this is so long.
    By the way, that ticking noise that was mentioned I also hear in the Celebrity's 2.4 V6 (think it's a v6) engine. I thought it was just a normal sound coming from a GM engine!!
  • katty2ukatty2u Member Posts: 3
    Like my title says, I'm still thinking of buying a Malibu. The brake problems worry me. I don't want to be in the repair shop every month. Yurakm was kind enough to post his opinion. What he said about a coolant leak worried me. I had a coolant leak repaired in my '90 Buick Century earlier this year, and it was quite expensive to repair.... now I"m told my Century needs an exhaust manifold, so I am looking to get rid of it. that's why I'm considering a Malibu. Also, my car with a 3.3 liter engine has a tick in it too, especially when I accelerate. I'm still confused though, and I"m rambling now!
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