2000-2011 Chevrolet Malibu

malexbu

About four years ago I bought a bottle of GM Dex-Cool at the dealership and have been using it since then on my three cars -- there is very little you need to add (and you dilute it with water, one to one). You should be able to find a Dex-Cool compatible coolant at an auto parts store, but I would only use the GM Dex-Cool. About $30 for a big bottle that will be serving you for years, on the one hand, and an expensive engine on the other. "True/not true" do not make sense here: do what the manual says -- this is not the case worth experimenting.

gonogo

Dexcool can be bought in Walmart for about $14 a unmixed gallon.
Dealer is rip off.

vdotb

First of all, the bulbs are way to easy to find and you can find those at walmart, secondly i done about 15 oil changes since i had this malibu and the oil filter is not hard to change at all, takes less then 5 minutes.

I have had no problems with my 1998 chevy malibu but minor water pump issues and that is not bad at all !!!

1998 chevy malibu 2.4 l has a quad engine the plastic in there tends to crack making your car vibrate at stops.(vacuum leak)

So as far as i can tell you suck at your job !! i am not even a mechanic yet i have changed bulbs without any issues and changed oil filter/flush without any issues.

Only thing i do not like is the anti freeze in these cars !!!

fawng

I heard a popping noise every time I went through the car wash, at first I had no idea where it was coming from until the last time I took it through and it damaged my roof. I checked my car out each time I washed it because of the popping to make sure there was no damage Well the last time there was damage, the roof had a dip in it. There is a major flaw with the roof it has no support. The roof flexes with the slightest bit of pressure. This damage was caused from the blowers at the car wash, this should not have happened with the proper support in the roof of the car. The roof just could not take anymore flexing after so many washes and just gave away. I am having a GM rep look at this to see if they are willing to fix this problem. This is a manufacturing flaw, the roof should not be so weak.

philprof

I have a 2010 Malibu LS. I bought it new in March 2010 and since June 2010 I have had an intermittent problem with the air conditioning and heat blowing out of the defrost rather than the front vents or the floor. It mainly happens on very cold or very warm days. I have had it addressed by my dealer five times (actually more, but they could only replicate it five times). They replaced the computer the first two times, the vent door (or equivalent of it), the holes that the fan blows into, and finally they re routed the ground wire. None of these fixes have worked or worked for very long. I now have 40000 miles on the car and am wondering what to do. It is very annoying to hear it switch back and forth and then having it come out of the defrost only. I have spent a lot of time addressing this problem. Do you have any suggestions on what to do next?

gmcustsvc

We're sorry that you have had such an ordeal with your HVAC system, philprof. Have you contacted Customer Assistance on this yet?

Sarah, GM Customer Service

philprof

Sarah,

Thank you for the reply. I did contact them after the third repair did not work and was told to take it back again. I will try calling them again soon. The dealership claims to just be following what they are told to do by GM when it comes to the repairs.

gmcustsvc

Good morning,

I hope we're able to move forward in this with you! Please keep us updated!

Sarah, GM Customer Service

philprof

Here is the update:

I called customer service and she set up an appointment at the dealership. I mentioned that I could do that. She said it was for an "evaluation" of the car. I took the car in the next day. It seems that they just wanted to fix it again. The dealership looked at it again and said that they called GM engineering. GM did not give them a call back, so I was without a car for the day. The next day (Thursday) they got me a rental car.

GM called the dealership the day after that. They got in touch with a regional service representative who told them to do a temporary fix of rewiring all three HVAC circuits to see if it works before he is willing to come and look at it. I got the car back (took it in on Wednesday Morning and got it back Friday afternoon), but I will still have to take it back to get the fix made permanent even if this works. It seems to be working, but I have only driven it twice.

The dealership said that I missed one fix. This is now their seventh attempt at fixing it. They said that the regional person will come the next time. I suggested nicely that maybe he should have done that a long time ago. So, one step forward and perhaps a step back.

I am not thrilled with the continual hassle and loss of trust in the car. Customer Service called on Thursday to say that she had not been able to talk to the dealership yet. Friday she left a message saying that the regional representative would give a call (I guess to the dealership). I called back and left a message, but did not hear back.

philprof

Sarah and others,

The seventh fix does seem to be working, but we have not had very cold weather to really test it.

I received a call from a regional GM customer service advisor and was told that they will extend the warrantee on the HVAC system of the car. I am happy that they are doing that, but also was hoping for more. She said it was all that she could do.

When I asked, "How many times do you fix a car before that you say 'that's enough'?" She said that I could look into consumer protection laws. Am I being told litigate it as a lemon? I was hoping it would not resort to that. It is not my style.

My worry (on top of the HVAC system working right) is that the car's value is less due to this constant problem. I have also spent considerable time, money, and carless days working on this issue. Any suggestions are welcome. Who should I talk to?

dispencer2

Back a year or two ago there was a discussion on which tires should replace the Firestone FR710 original equipment ones on my 2011 Malibu. I have the red tintcoat package so I have the 18" tires. The car rides fine with the existing tires and I do not want a hard "performance" ride. What tires would offer a similar or smoother ride?

mr_smith

I have 2011 malibu and the usb port won't recognize my iphone at times. Anybody else having this problem??

gmcustsvc

I checked my resources for you, mr_smith, and did not see any troubleshooting that I could help with. Have you spoken with your service center about this in the past?

Sarah, GM Customer Service

dispencer2

Come on - SOMEBODY on this list has replaced the factory tires. I'd like to know a better substitute. Thanks - Karl Spence

philprof

I am happy after a long process that my dealer was able to work with GM to help me with my Malibu problems. Although it was not easy, I was impressed with GM in the end. It took the dealer's help, but they did help me get a very good deal trading in my Malibu for a new Cruze. It cost me some money, but I think I came out well financially in the end as well as the dealer (the dealer made very good money on this deal, but helped me as well). I hope this will be a good car. I like it so far. Faith in GM is restored.