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Comments
Whatever...only time will tell how the Maxx fares. Hopefully a better version will be around when day comes to buy again!
JIm, must have been the hot water.......havent had any problems with freeze up on the wipers or the fluid with our weather..... stay warm all
I discovered the neat little feature of adjustable pedals( brake and accelerator). With snow boots on and winter clothing I needed to adjust my reach to the pedals. I did in my Maxx and was amazed at what I had been missing all these years in other cars. This feature in itself gives a lot of versalitily to the Maxx. Wow!
Its Maxx for me.
Malibabe
Seems like I need to find an aftermarket clock with illumination.
Seems like the 2nd line of info display is mostly wasted as always viewing trip, oil life, economy, average speed, etc, is not necessary.
Is this the same with all of the radio options?
Thanks.
One of the display lines is pretty much devoted to Driver Info Center type info and the other line to radio/time/temperature.
You have control to a certain extent for both these lines to display what you want.
For the DIC line you can change what it is displaying using the INFO button
For the radio/time/temperature link you can change what it displays by pushing the DISPLAY radio button (center of right knob). There are 3 or 4 alternative displays for each mode you are in (AM/FM, XM, or CD) . In order to make that Display "stick" you should hold the button for a few seconds, I think you will hear a beep like when setting radio stations, I didn't have a vehicle readily available to double check that.
Try a bit of silicone grease (the stuff plumbers use for O-rings ... GM also sells it for use on the rubber weatherstripping) on the rubber stops on the cargo panel. It will help them slip into the slot more easily and reduce the problem of rubber "scuff marks", but the panel will remain secure.
GM also makes its own silicon lube for door seals. This should be available at any GM parts counter.
For now my shelf "rubber" bumpers are wrapped in viva paper towels, which has helped keep the shelf quiet.
Per my past threads....
after 2 months of dealing with incompetent local dealers I drove 33 miles away from town to go to a different dealer where the GM regional rep doesn't cover problems .
Here's the problems that I had that 2 local dealers couldn't figure out so the Regional Rep put a red flag next to my name stating not to touch my car any longer. The WI DOT states this is a breach against warranty and is still investigating.
1. car pulls to the left while accelerating/decelerating
2. while making a left turn the steering wheel sticks to the left at about 10 o'clock which is the same position it sticks to when accelerating
3. while driving highway speeds and accelerating, the car pulls to the left.
I drove the car to the other dealer who test drove my car and another maxx lt and told me the steering wheel feels like a magnet and it wants to keep pulling left.
The SA then told the mechanic what the problem was. they hooked up a TECH 2 machine to my steering module and it tested out 2 codes that fixed the problem in a matter of 10 minutes! We took it for a test drive and all is well. As far as the other 2 dealers who were incompetent and told me not to bring my car back to them for warranty work, the WI DOT will take of them I'm sure.
TO: GM/Chevrolet
Doesn't it feel great when you beat the system?
I'm OK with the service department where I bought my car, but because of the sales department I will not buy there again, and probably not a Chevy.
The "Tire Kingdom" chain stores in my area offer a free 4-wheel alignment check. Rather than complain to the dealer, I'm first going to try a rotate/balance and alignment check to see if that makes any difference.
The poor training the Chevy dealers service departments appear to have is becomming a worry.
I took a big hit in getting rid of the vehicle (got 13,500 trade in which means a hit of around $10,000 for the 8 months I had the vehicle). Ended up with a Subaru Outback 2.5i ltd. Somewhat less peppy than the MAXX, but I can learn to live with it & I feel a whole lot safer in the vehicle.
I have driven just about everything, just about everywhere, and while we all know that the greatest safety feature is the safe driver, I still find my '05 Maxx LS to be very good in the snow. You mentioned that you had 24,000 miles on the car...I would assume the only winter weather you have encountered are the last several months, and by my quickie calculations you had almost 20,000 to and including 24,000 miles on those tires during this period of poor winter driving. Maybe the car is not the greatest in the snow, but those worn out tires may have contributed to it's poor performance(I'm assuming you had the OEM tires on it).
I find the car to be excellent in the snow, but, I have only 2400 miles on it in the last 3 months, I've owned it..and the TC, whether it's coming on or not, seems to work well. My guess is, if it's coming on a lot, you may be doing something wrong..It won't protect against foolish driving..Anyhoo, good luck with the Subie....Jack(from snowy, icy, upstate NY)
Within last ten years I had 04'Accord, 04'Probe,06'Altima, 00'Diamante - all bought new.
So far with the stock tires 04'Maxx is the best snow driving/handling vehicle and we have plenty of it in New England this year.
I have seen people on this forum rating ABC, TC etc,. for Malibu MAXX and just wandering what's the benchmark?
Has anyone noted differences on snow .vs. ice ?
And lately I've seen way more Maxx's than I ever have, mostly new ones with dealer plates. I hope everyone is happy with their Maxx's too.
I have a '98 Outback with 185,000 and it has been great. I really haven't done anything to it except routine maintenance and got 89K out of my first set of OEM tires and brakes. I have $3500 built up on a GM card and want a new wagon. That leaves me with the $45K Caddy and the Maxx if I want to use the points. The 626, Magnum, Pacifica or the new Ford would be OK but I can't use my GM points. GM is WAY WAY behind in wagons and the new PT Cruiser on steroids they are coming out with doesn't sound too promising. Even if the styling works out the Maxx introduction with all the TSB problems (19?) would scare me away from a first year GM product.
I want a simple wagon, preferably with all wheel drive, that won't break down. I do realize that getting to 185,000K may not be the manufacturers idea of a good customer but it does build loyalty. I would buy another Subaru in a second if the $3500 in points didn't keep talking to me.
All the extra electric components on the Maxx scare me with big service bills down the road. Maybe I should buy the 100K warranty and trade it in before 100K? That is what my mechanic suggests for cutting my liability. On the other hand, maybe I should get another Subaru and hope I get 7 more trouble free years? I can save my points for another couple of years and maybe GM will have something my wife is interested in by then.
Good luck with your Subaru! I'll keep reading posts here as I will probably have to make a purchase sometime this year.
I took a __real__ gamble on this car in that the CU frequency of repair records blacklists the Malibu for brake and electrical problems (much worse than average at the 3+ year mark).
If you decide on the Maxx, be __very__ sure your dealer is competent and well trained. My local ones are half baked (lucked out on the steering columm fix, bombed out with interior trim fixes I ended up doing myself).
Then again, a co-worker had major problems with his new Subaru (gas tank/fuel hookups, turbo overheating), so they are not foolproof either.
Yes the GM card points do talk. I waited till year end for the best use of the points. After test driving the 2004 Maxx I nearly walked away. But three 2005 Maxx test drives and I found the car I wanted with terrific brakes and handling. I gave up $1500 to buy a better 05 Maxx vs an 04. I think it was a good decision.
No complaints at 1800 miles. I have started using cruise control to keep from driving at 70-80 because the car does so naturally. Its 55-65 or get ticketed. Well no tickets and January is over. Got lucky and still have a clean record.
The lesson I learnt was test drive several cars of the same model before making a decision to pass or buy. Of course all other factors such as dealer expertise do matter.
Take a look at the 2005 Pontiac Montana. I would not buy a 2004 because I was not impressed with the 3.4 engine. My son has 2 vans with that engine. He likes them, but I hear a noise I don't like. The new 2005 has the same engine as the Maxx and the styling is revamped. I know it looks like a soccer mom van, but it might be an alternative to the Maxx and you can still use your points. It is available in AWD. I needed a car last March and Pontiac had nothing I wanted. The Vibe was underpowered IMHO. Also every Vibe I looked at was empty, no air bags, no ABS. If Pontiac had this vehicle last March I would be driving one now.
Good luck.
Then again, there is no AWD for Maxx, yet.
"However, it had limited tire grip, which impeded handling"
I have a feeling, because the wheelbase was extended 6 inches on this compared to regular Malibu, this may have had something to do with poor traction. I cannot believe the OEM tires were solely to blame for the problems I had.
Hope Maxx keep going and going strong. I love my Maxx.
I also highly recommend dedicated snows (on a separate set of steel wheels) for real Winter driving areas. "All season" tires are like "One Size Fits All". A set of snows is about what your insurance deductible is, so if you avoid ONE "minor" accident by buying them they pay for themselves.
My $0.02. :-)
Although I'm amazed at all the electronics, there are a few features I miss with the Elantra--
1. Headlights that go off with the ignition switch rather than having the thing chime at me.
2. The ability to lock my door with keys in the ignition-- the Elantra would pop the locks back up. Haven't actually checked this out but salesman told me that this wasn't a feature of the car.
Do miss having a five speed, but do like this so far.
No such purchase flim-flams with Chevy. Got a quote of $16.1-- more than $6000 off-- and I let my GM card expire or I'd have an even bigger discount. Most of the dealers I contacted were low key and professional (lessons learned from Saturn?)-- at least compared to the Hyundai dealers.
As you can tell from the cars that I was considering (also a Scion xB which was great except that it was turning over 3500 rpm at 70-- not acceptable for a road car, needs a 6th. gear), I was looking for some storage space and good mileage. Although I don't normally like a car with an automatic, the Chevy's big torquey slow revving engine works well with the transmission and the mpg so far has been excellent for this large a car.
To ehelper - is there any computer re-flash for this?
Also: What is a "rough idle" - I mean how rough is rough is?
I can feel vibration on the steering wheel and sometimes it is not even, but not like it is going to stall on me...