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Comments
I'm interested in buying the '05 LS. My question is with the rear seats folded down (they do right?)can I fit a bike back there? Thanks.
Been reading my owner's manual, and I noticed that for those of you who have the DVD (RSE, or rear seat entertainment system), it gives you what amounts to an aux input. You can plug in your ipod or whatever, using a, what is it, a 16th inch pin to RCA, turn the rear unit off, and select with the source button on the radio "RSE enable". Nice feature, though I still wasn't able to convince myself to pay $995 for the unit.
First impressions of the car: very solid, excellent ride, nice torque, great mileage if you're easy on it (got 31 mpg on mix of highway/city). Certainly the finest car I've ever owned (all foreign up to now).
With shift lever in Low (L) position pressing the + and - sides of the switch will cycle through gears 4, 3, 2, and 1. Don't confuse it with manumatic though since this design is dictated by lack of space for 3, 2, 1 on the shift console.
Ugh, I thought GM had gotten much better on making those lamps easy to change out.
BTW there are 3 actuators: 1 for temperature, 1 for "mode" and 1 for air inlet selection (outside air or recirc).
Why did the dealer decide to replace the CHMSL? Did it seem to be inoperative? If so, were you getting a Service Vehicle Soon indicator on instrument cluster? Because if you were.....well I'll stop there for now
BTW the 2004 Malibu only allows cycling between L3, L2, L1 which makes a whole lot more sense when you understand the reason for it.
shellane - did you get an owner manual with your vehicle? If not you could register your vehicle with www.mygmlink.com and download an electronic copy.
I haven't actually tried any of this but was quoting from the Maxx's supplemental manual which mentions gear 4; maybe for the '05 model year?
I own a 2005, and I can shift through all 4 gears in L.
The right rear seat-back release handle had to be replaced after 8 months, and I'm not sure the replacement part will hold up any longer. Other than that, the car has been trouble free. However, at the rate we are putting on miles, we may need to modify our GM Major Guard plan (72 months/72,000 miles). We had been averaging >500 miles per month on my wife's previous car.
I got a close look at a 2006 Maxx recently. I think almost everyone will agree that the new grill is a definite improvement. I hope whoever decided to put the "truck" front fascia on the 2004s has been appropriately reprimanded. It appears that the headlights and hood for the 2004, 2005 and 2006 are identical, so one should be able to fit the new front fascia to the earlier models. I also noticed some minor decontenting on the cloth interior of the 2006. There was no pocket on the front edge of the driver's seat nor on the left side of the front passenger's seatback.
IMHO, the Maxx is one of the best designs GM has every produced and the most versatile sedan currently available in the U.S. Honda, Toyota and Nissan currently offer no direct competitors to the Maxx. Now if GM would just do a Buick version ...
I'll have to disagree on this one. Being able to shift electornically through all the gears makes the process more like a manumatic and less confusing than having to go back and forth shifting the lever and/or pushing the side button. My Maxx is a 2004 and I don't like the convoluted manual shifting.
Ive got a few minor road warrior dinks now..but hey...52k cant complain...am dissappointed in the windshield though...as it seems easily pitted by your standard road debris.....and I didnt manage to scratch the window with the windshield wipers as well....but it is not in the line of sight......but still amazed at how "soft" the glass seems to be...otherwise...still ticking off the miles....back on my OEM tires, 17inch rims in garage for the winter......so 30K on them..now about 22K on the OEM tires..and they are wearing nicely.....
http://www.quirkcars.com/specials/chevy/ad.htm
I bought my one there a year ago and I guess I am buying one for my kids godmother (she pays anyway)..
Who is offering 84/84 - I could not find this plan anythere. Could you give me a link?
pao: sorry about your windshield. At 19k, I have not noticed the pitting issue. However, I have noticed it on my Vibe and the lense covers on the Vibe. After only 3 years, the paint and glass is so bad that I wish I could throw away the whole exterior. I sure hope the Maxx holds up better!
maxx4me...well over 52K on my maxx..so that almost 3 plus years of regular driving in less than 18 months..but am disappointed in the windshield....lens covers are doing fine...no pitting..no hazing...etc....have a 96 Bronco with 163K on it..and the windshield looks better than in my maxx.....only really noticeable during a sunny day driving directly into the sun..otherwise..tolerable...
paint holding up..event the repair portion...so cant complain....didnt get it the front end aligned when I place the OEM rims back on the maxx..but otherwise..no problems....and back to getting 32 plus on the highway andn around 27-28 in town....so still enjoying it
No aux input, but I knew that...the fact that there is a source button on the radio (for selecting the audio portion of what's playing on the DVD player on those Maxxes equipped with the rear passenger entertainment system) has me wondering if you could do a simple hook up (with the proper connector) for an iPod type device. MP3 My Car makes a device called the Neo that uses the plug input of OEM car radios used for controlling an external CD changer (Malibus are not so equipped). So you'd be without control of your iPod via your steering wheel buttons (which is one of the pluses claimed by the maker of the Neo. This however means that each Neo unit must be designed for a specific application, and so this gadget isn't offered for that many models, and most of them are foreign at that). I emailed these folks, but no response from them yet...
Otherwise, typical likes...great ride, nice and quiet, no squeaks or rattles (well, it's got only about 400 miles on it). Incidentally, the 50 series tires don't seem unduly firm riding to me.
I think the engine sounds fine. Maybe not a sewing machine, but not 'coarse' as so many reviewers seem to like to describe it. And very torquey. Transmission a good match for the engine, and the shifts are for the most part seemless. Far better than my wife's CRV, which clunks as you add power from rolling a stop sign, and lurches slightly on each upshift. The Maxx has a nice, firm brake pedal feel. Haven't tried a maximum brake effort. Steering is very light, but yeah, maybe a bit lacking in feel. But the steering of my wife's CRV is kind of heavy, and a bit lacking in feel. I like mine better. Lights are fine (high beam and low). I like the auto turn-on/turn-off feature. Likewise auto dim of rear view mirror (only available on LTZ or if Comfort/Convenience group is ordered on other models).
With my mirrors properly adjusted (seems that maybe many people are not doing this correctly), I can see the tail end of a car in the adjacent lane with my rear view mirror while seeing the nose of him in my side mirror. So no blind spot. Rule of thumb is that if you can see the side of your car with your side mirror while centered in your seat, then you're going to have a blind spot. It needs to be adjusted outwardly. People like the warm and fuzzy feeling of seeing the side of their car, I guess figuring that if they can see that, then they can see what ever's beside them. But it doesn't work that way. I realize you all know this, but I just had to get that off my chest. So anyway, complaints of the Maxx having blind spots are only partially valid. Yes, it does have a somewhat thick C-pillar, but that I can work around.
I do wish that the rear parcel shelf lifted up with the lift gate. It seems to me that this could be designed in without loosing its versatility. As it is it makes access to the storage area difficult with the shelf in the top position. Can't imainge the middle position being that useful. So I just leave it flipped over in its lowest position.
The rear lift gate sounds solid when it's shut firmly, but a weak attempt will have it closing only partially, while making a little chirping sound. I'm not sure what's making the noise, but I'll look into it when it's not raining. Do the lift gates of any of your Maxxes make a similar sound?
My wife loves the open feeling of the car when the sun shades are retracted and the sunroof shade is pushed back. It is nice, if I do say so.
So overall, I'm very happy with my purchase, and am pleased with the fit, finish, materials and driving experience of the car. Good mileage too (so far 26.5, with many cold remote starts so baby can be warm). Makes me wonder how much better can the next generation Malibu can be?
Driving down the road there is no blind spot, but try backing out of a spot and it can be awful. If you turn around and look back, there is no way to see out the driver's side of the car. It is even worse if there is an SUV parked next to you. Its like backing out blind. I've nearly hit a few cars because of this blind spot.
I completely agree. One of the nicer sounding stereos in cars IMO. Problem I have is my radio always resets itself to the Jazz preset which has lots of bass. :mad:
Now that you mention it redmaxx, I do feel a little uncertain as I back out of a space with cars on both sides.
BTW, can anyone explain to me exactly how that cargo net is supposed to be installed? There's a brief mention of it in the owner's manual, but no diagrams. Seems pretty useless so far.
When I first discovered proper mirror alignment I too was thrilled with how much better multi-lane highway driving became.
Have you tried resaving your radio presets using whatever equalization setting your prefer?
The XM receiver, DVD player and OnStar all use aux audio inputs on the Malibu radio to play thru the speakers but all of those devices communicate over a serial data bus for "audio arbitration". The Malibu uses "GMLAN" serial data network which is somewhat new so likely not as much aftermarket stuff out there as with Class 2 but we are into the 3rd year of Malibus now and many more GM vehicles are using it (there is now even a second generation of it starting with new Impala and DTS - it isn't compatible with version in Malibu!)
You would need to do this for each preset.
From owner's manual
"...This mode is helpful when you are trying to limit odors from entering your vehicle.."
"Thank you for your interest in the *Neo iOn *iPod car integration kit. Unfortunately, the Neo iOn is currently not compatible with your vehicle’s stereo. Compatibility with additional radios is presently in development and we look forward to having an iPod car integration kit
for your radio very soon."
I haven't confirmed this, but it sounds as though these Neo units will be iPod specific (i.e. they won't work with other digital audio players). In which case that my make the decision for me as to which d.a.p. to buy.
I'll update once the Neo becomes available for the Malibu (they said they would notify me when it does). Perhaps the market for these type devices will close up as aux inputs become standard equipment on virtually every car.
Thanks
Not sure how much room is allowed for trip odometer calcualtion. I will see if I can find out.
I know with older vehicles using a mechanical trip odometer they were limited - although I forgot what was typical.
Just to confirm this....
Do you have a Maxx LT with automatic climate control or a model with manual climate control?
What position do you have the knob on far right in?
On the manual system that knob has 5 major positions - the last 2 clockwise positions are defog and defrost postions which will blow air on the windshield which is when recirculation mode is not allowed.
Auto system is pretty similar from a mode standpoint it just has a 6th postion for Auto Mode.
As to why - Likely it is trying to mimic old mechanical trip odometers which I think only went up to 999.9. The metric point chosen was probably just a convenient value to choose.
Nice observation
No, there is no way that you or dealer can modify the max miles the trip odometer will display.
If that is the case then I would have to say that, Yes, your control head doesn't sound like it is working correctly and you should take to the dealer for evalation.
Thank you E2. (And all of the other extremely knowledgeable forum members).