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2000-2011 Chevrolet Malibu
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Comments
As far as the Grand Am, I still say it and the Alero have poor crash test results (the Bu doesn't). For proof, see the links below:
http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/testing/
http://www.iihs.org/vehicle_ratings/ratings.htm
I'm very surprised that the silver Bu sold so quickly. Used cars are a dime a dozen around here and sitting unsold "forever".
Dealer says should be in toward the end of Sept and he will deliver as soon as it is in. I'll do a full review with comparisons to the old model as soon as possible so interested people can have a "regular guy" opinion as soon as they are for sale.
http://www.thecarconnection.com/index.asp?article=6328
thnx in advance
I hope they can pull it off.
This was also posted over in the Malibu Maxx forum:
Well, here we go again with the end-of-the-month routine. Last month, Motor Trend beat them all with a "First Drive" piece on the new Malibu that was, well, mostly positive. Automobile had a short blurb in their "New Cars '04" section that was, well, mostly positive. Car&Driver and Road&Track had zilch.
Since I'm in FL, I tend to get the mags late (only subscribe to MT and C&D). Has anyone rec'd their 10/03 C&D or R&T? They are both (as well as MT) the annual "New Car Issues" and might well be late because of that. AND, I'll bet there's the first ad for the new Bu in all of them.. Can't wait to see how Chevy advertises it.
Harry
Finished devouring the 10/03 C&D issue. Lutz claims "world-class quality", yeah right. Have heard it before. You all need to read this article; too funny to be beleived. And on the road, it's UGLY. Poor thing. And the Maxx ain't in no beauty pageant either. In some pix, it's even uglier than the sedan.
300,000 per year? In my dreams.
Harry
We have a 2002 LS with a little over 10K miles. We bought it last July, and so far not a single problem. Last winter was very long and rough and our Malibu handled that quite all right. The heater worked really fast in cold weather. We were coming from Texas and my other car really got beaten up by the change to cold climate with stripped paint, stuck-open thermo, bad engine oil. But not a thing on the Malibu. It's extremely easy and comfortable to drive, has good pick-up and good mpg. We get 21mpg around town and 29-30 highway with occasional "spirited" driving. And the widely-hated firestone tires have been fine in my opinion. They did a fine job handling the snow and ton of slush.
Bottom line is the Malibu is a functional, comfortable and dependable car. That's what the car was designed to be.
Since I'm already writing, I might as well rant a little bit. I'm really getting tired of those pretentious auto reviewers who don't review a car for what it is meant to be and can't stop complaining about pathetic little stuff and trashing decent cars that everyday folks can actually afford, especially those made by domestic auto makers. Is a 2-second 0-60 (tested, not real life) difference (which you have to rev those OHC engines to redline to get) and the location of the radio knob really worth the $7000 difference in price? Or for that matter, would a more "high tech" engine and fancier styling be worth it? Sure if I earn $80K. But for now with a family to feed and ends to meet, a big no. Give me a break!! Different cars are made for different needs and people with different incomes. Honestly the camcords and the like ARE better cars, and heck for the prices they'd better be. I won't buy a Malibu if I have an $80K salary, but I won't trash it. It's a decent car for who it's designed for. That said, if you put an ordinary person behind the wheels of similar cars can he or she honestly feel that high tech vtti engine, 10% difference in braking, handling, "comfort", etc?
I have seen too many people who buy cars based on what they are told what's good and what they should like. Pathetic.
One last thing, I saw an article the other day on USATODAY.com's car page titled "rebates are not so great". I was curious to check out his theory and found the following comment--A domestic model with rebates generally costs $1000 more to own in 5 years than an import without rebates based on the Edmunds' "True Cost to own"....We all know that so called "true cost to own" is largely based on resale value. So say I lose $1000 virtual value on my car after 5 years, so what! HALLO, I paid $3000 less when I bought it! And I'm just talking about the rebates and not the real difference in out of pocket prices! If I keep it for another few more years, will the resale value even matter? Let me tell you what my "true cost to own" for our Malibu in last year is: under $40!! (I did the oil changes myself) Come on people, where is our common sense?
Sorry for the long post. I'm a little cranky lately...
the $3K less when the car was brought was taken into account. so the "true cost to own" your malibu was only $40. i guess your car doesn't run on gas and it hasn't depreciated at all.
As far as the Firestones are concerned...use them 'til they need replacement, then get something else. I've had no probs w my "Bu in a year, now have 23K, oil chges every 3.5k prox. I still love the car. Hope to get another 150K out of it....end of discussion. Go for it...
Keith
Some examples of the $7000 price difference:
2003 Toyota Camry
XLE V6 4dr Sedan (3.0L 6cyl 4A)
TMV: $22,882
We got our 2002 Malibu (different year but...) for $16300 (with $2500 rebates), had we waited one more day we'd have gotten another $500 off. So that makes it $15800 for a V6 LS, granted the Camry has more HP. The difference is $7082.
This figure would be a lot higher if compared to a VW.
A while ago Cavaliers had about $4000 rebates on them to make them below $10K . Corolas were and are still selling for what, $16000? Even though we are talking about different carshere and these figures are not entirely scientific, they do make the point, don't they?
Freshly out of graduate school we were looking for the cheapest midsize sedan. I had my eyes on the Hyundai Sonota (a very good car) but ran into the Malibu and was stunned by its value. Testdrove it, liked it, bought it and have been happy so far. It's like an old plain faithful servant that doesn't get noticed but gets the job done
I'll start complaining when we have problems with it...
Edmunds has the best auto discussions on the net with lots of knowlegable and erudite folks, but there is a bit of elitism that casts disparaging comments on moderately priced (usually domestic) vehicles. Our Malibu is not the equal of a new Accord or Camry, but it offers the same funtionality in a lower priced package - and I, too have a problem with those cost to own figures. My domestics have generally been less trouble-free and cheaper to maintain than the imports I have owned.
A Malibu may not be the equal of a new Accord and Accord is not the equal of a Maxima and a Maxima is not the equal of a Cad CST, which is not the equal of...you get the point.
There are good and valid reasons for buying a Malibu or an Impala just as there are good reasons for buying a Camcord or a BMW. Price is a major consideration and I don't like to have my choice dumped on by an owner of a more expensive depreciating asset.
My 2003 Malibu is my first GM vehicle. Other than the blower and odometer problems I mentioned in my previous post, I am quite satisfied with the performance of the vehicle overall.
I definitely agree about the price. One reason I chose the Malibu was the value for money. For $14,000 Canadian I got a 2003 Malibu with CD Player, A/C, Power Windows and locks, Remote Keyless entry and much more.
Personally, I don't really like what Toyota or Honda has to offer. I tried Chrysler (my previous car was a Plymouth Breeze) and didn't like it. In my opinion, GM vehicles are the best value.
The reason most people are disappointed with the Malibu is everybody remembers the ad campaign and the slogan "the car you knew America could build". And the car was plagued with numerous problems such as bad seals, electrical problems, warped rotors, A/c unit, alternators, cheap interior, intake manifold gasket, etc. That was 1997 and may of these problems still exist in 2003. Also remember that this car was suppose to be in direct competition with the Accord an Camry. The sales numbers reflect the dissatisfaction with the current Malibu. The numbers have dropped from a high of 250k to 182k last year with higher percentage going to rental and fleet sales. Not sure how the numbers are doing this year but considering that GM car sales are dropping even with $3000 and $4000 rebates it can't be too good. BTW, the Camry and Accord numbers have increased in that same period.
Some believe the 2004 Malibu shows promise (I'm not one of them). I don't think GM went far enough with this re-design. And I use the example when Ford re-designed the Escort and made the Focus. There mission was to make the best small car in America nad knock the Civic off its perch. And they did this the first year. But the recalls have killed that car. If they had a successful launch minus the recalls, the Focus would be the best selling small car in America by along shot. But the goal was ambitous and they built a car to match that goal and priced it competitively. I give them credit for their vision. Unfortunatley, thy didn't communicate with their suppliers and it cost them. But this car is still recognized by a number of experts as the best small car even after 4 model years.
I understand that GM has limitations because they have so many divisions. Chevrolet is the "value" division and Buick is the "luxury" division, Pontiac the "sporty" division, etc. By building a good Malibu, they actually takes sales away from the Century, Impala, Grand Am, L Series, etc. not from the imports. Time will tell.
Enjoy your Malibu. I enjoyed mine the first year. The sophmore year has been a little rough. Not looking forward to the Junior year when my warranty runs out.
Guess all plants have their good days and bad days.
It's really only in the last 4 years that quality has really come up.
Agree about the quality issue. Interesting question: Oshawa now has 2 plants. Back in '96 it was only one. Impala and M/C come down #1, while the Century, Regal and (now) '04 Grand Prix come down #2. Wonder if there's a quality difference??
When I was at the local Chevy dealership buying that new turn signal flasher, there on the showroom, sat a nice shiny navy blue 04 Malibu LS. I really like the way it looks, I even picked up litarature for the car. As I was reading through the book, I noticed Chevy has changed a few things. First of all, there are 5 models now, Malibu,Malibu LS,Malibu LT, Malibu Maxx LS and Malibu Maxx LT. The Malibu LT has almost everything the old LS had, but you can only have leather interior, no cloth. Of course, the LT has in dash 6 disc cd changer, auto climate control, remote start, tilt/telescoping steering column, steering wheel radio controls, heated front seats. This list goes on. You can't have fog lights on the LS anymore, but I guess the new traction control makes up for the loss, and OnStar is an option on the LS. I do think Chevy did a great job in redesigning the Malibu.
point 1: because a car has more problems does not mean it's of better quality.
point 2: the jd powers survey was based on the current malibu where it has had a long long time to work out the bugs on this aging platform. The camry and accord are just off of new designs.
The Japanese USED to introduce new models in Japan first, improve them over the course of a year, and then and only then bring them to America (while they were still produced back home in the Japanese plants). They no longer do that. To some extent, it shows.
While I was busy posting, I see dindak snuck in. I am not sure it is enough time to say how the Grand Prix launched yet.
- Great fuel economy
- Fold-down front passenger's seat
- Euro styling cues
What I don't like:
- Black plastic mirrors
- Rear drum brakes, no standard ABS
- Ugly grille
- Appears to have red rear signal lamps instead of the correct amber color
If the above dislikes aren't examples of "dumbing it down" for the American market, I don't know what is.
Making them available to motorists who leave them on all the time and/or use them as a substitute for headlights ought to be illegal.
1. I'm going to college in a year and I can't have somebody elses problems on my hands. I'd also be getting a 50K warranty.
2. If I'm gonna pay 15K for a 1 year old Jetta with 20K on the odo, I should just pay 16.5K for a new one. Then I know that it's been well taken care of and never abused.
3. VWoA (Volkswagen of America) is advertising great APR deals right now, though the end of September: 1.9 percent for 48 or 60 months (I can't remember).
Jeremy
Second, you've been warned about VW reliability. I would trust a three year old Malibu of unknown origin over a new VW anyday.
But that's just me.
And I am no GM apologist. In fact, my next car may well be a Mazda.
Last of all, I can't imagine college expenses AND a new car to pay for. Again, just me!
I think I'd buy a Hyundia before I bought a VW right now.
Window regulators
Coilpacks (1.8 Turbo engine)
Oil consumption (2.0L engine)
Premature rear brake wear
Premature tire wear
If you're going to college, you'll probably run up the 4 year warranty limit before you rack up 50,000 miles.