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2000-2011 Chevrolet Malibu
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Comments
Pressure test the coolant system. It will find coolant leak, if any. Used to cost $20-25, 4-2 years ago, probably still not expensive. I did it at dealer and at local Firestone.
By the way, the car manual recommends to do the pressure test yearly. I have a 1998 Malibu.
I know nothing about ABS, except that the parts are expensive.
(I know Venus really cares about keeping up with the latest stuff No offense intended, could you really FEEL it?)
As far as hyundais go, you do have a point. For example, even though the Sanata has the best initial quality in its class, its long term reliability leaves a lot to be desired. Its the 2001 Malibu that has the best reliability in its class beating Camcords per J D Power. I can see why judging by our 02 LS.
So far with newly changed synthetic oil and premium gas, we averaged 24-32 mpg in so far 1400 miles. We drove from Indiana west on 94 and 90 through WI, ND, MT, and ID. In all, we ascended 6000 some feet in elevation and were running against fairly strong wind the whole time. The low 24 mpg was obtained on one leg of the trip in NORTH Dakota doing consistently 85 mph. The rest of those miles averaged around 30 mpg doing 75-85 mph. I'm sure the 85 mph speed must've hurt the milage a lot.
Since we drove through a lot of mountainous terrain, I had an interesting observation of how the cruise control worked. When going up not too steep uphills, the transmission didn't downshft untill the car almost made it over the hill, which was quite strange because at that point there really wasn't a need to catch up with the speed anymore. On steep hills the cruise control always downshifted very readily.
I couldn't find shell stations so can't comment on their V-power gas. BTW, maybe using premium gas actually hurt the gas milage as well?
http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/problems/RepositoryFiles.cfm?mo- - - - - dule=DEFECTS&IfsDocId=PE04031
Select Document #2 and jump to page 14.
Another main reason is my company is paying for our move (including gas money I hope), so it'll be a free experiment
So far from what I can observe, the engine runs about the same as far as temp and RPMs. The mileage numbers make sense too considering the driving conditions. I'll go back to regular after this long haul.
BTW, we have a 2002 LS with 20K miles.
Here is my question - is the steering "tighter" on the G6 than the Malibu?
My father has a Malibu and really likes the electric steering. For my tastes it is way over assisted. It would seem to me that the G6 should have a tighter calibration to go with the "sporty" nature of Pontiac. I
The G6 steering has a "tighter" feel than the Malibu like you expected. It still has the variable assist based on speed so parking lot manuevers are still a breeze but not as much as with the Malibu from what I remember.
What is so cool about the electrical power assist steering is how they can easily calibrate it to go with the "nature" of vehicle. The physical parts are the same but they just modify the calibration to give different feels for each model.
from what it says there looks like service stock was updated in very eary Feb 2004.
My question being, what version of the steering column do you believe I have? I have not had any problems with it so far and am happy with it. If it is not the new version, what is the potential for trouble with the steering later on?
Thanks!
Kristen
That is good news about your vehicle.
See my post (#4168); the door sticker indicates a mfg date 10/2003...a very early one? The steering column was replaced last week, and after talking with the service Manager, he assured me I will have no further problems because the replacement column includes a revised componet to eliminate the difficulty. If you have not replaced the column yet, I would strongly advise you to have it done because it is certainly a spooky experience, and I remain convinced an average female driver could not safely bring the car to a stop without a high probability of an accident...it is just that difficult to turn without power assistance! GM customer service from the web is no help...they deny the problem, and state their only function is to assure problems are repaired properly...possible safety hazards are seemingly of little concern to them
Now, we have about 14,000 miles on the car, and we've never had a problem with power steering since the fix.
I saw a really pimped out Maxx at the plant a while back. It didn't have any badging on it, which I thought was strange. I'm thinking it was the Maxx SS concept that was at one of the auto shows a while back. I thought it looked pretty nice.
GM - 72 hour sale - 0%
Toyota - 0% - About 1000 times better than any GM car
Honda - no deals
I would still buy the Toyota or Honda because they don't need to make deals to sell their cars, they just sell! The fact that toyota is doing deals is what peole should take advantage of, American companies always make deals. If GM didn't do cash back or 0% they wouldn't sell a car.
You say - "About 1000 times better than any GM car"
If I were you I wouldn't even waste my time trying answer the following question, but I can't resist asking:
Can you please specify ANY measurable or quantifiable characteristic about a Toyota that is 1000 times better than any competing car?
You might find this challenging, because it requires FACTS.
So, I'll give you a theoretical example: Let's pretend (I know you're good at that) that the Malibu gets 1 mile per gallon, and Toyota has a car that gets 1000 miles per gallon. When you do the math (don't be afraid to use a calculator), that means the Toyota is 1000 times better, and you've supported your claim! Oh Happy!
If that's that case, then okay, you've made your opinion known. There's no need to keep on about it.
Thanks.
GM leads the way with 24.9% jump
It picked up a strong 3.8 percentage points of market share compared with September 2003, capturing 31.7 percent of industry sales."
http://www.freep.com/money/autonews/sales2e_20041002.htm
Your descision to buy a Malibu helped Bring GM back to life! We don't need you toyota, nissan, America can make her own cars and trucks!
and what is really an "american" cars these days?
"we" americans like having lots of choices so the foreign makes aren't going anywhere soon.
The Malibu, for example is a better car in a number of respects (fuel economy and price bieng a few) than the accord, but many people have this perception that the accord is just the better car, offering a crazy incentive would get people with that perception to reconsider, and those who buy just saved themselves a load of money on a superrior product for simple, comfortable, fuel efficient transportation.
Good point...I test drove a Maxx and an Accord LX, back-to-back, over the same roads and within an hour of each other. The difference in the driving experience was *so* negligible. And the Maxx gives me 25% more horsepower, side-curtain airbags, traction control and a ton more cargo space all for less than the 4-cylinder Accord. (And not even counting my GM Card rebate).
~alpha
What i do know is that the little bit or extra execution in the accord accounts for and insane premium when compared with the malibu. And the Bu might not have some features standard (hence the price) but you could get them and still cost less than a comparable accord. Don't forget the incentives and GM card. The Bu is a killer deal, the only other reason to buy an accord is that type of styling, but the G6 will more than handle that
The V6 Accord is much more refined, but pricewise, you would compare the V6 Malibu to a 4 cylinder Accord, then the Accord has much less advantage.
A stripped Malibu compares to a Civic.
A stripped Malibu compares to a Civic? No way!
Some people say they have managed to get nearly the same gas mileage with the V6 as the Ecotec.