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"Sources tell SaturnFans.com that the General Motors plants in Lansing, Michigan and Wilmington, Delaware begin producing saleable 2008 models today, June 18th. The manufacturing facilities build the Saturn Outlook and Sky, respectively. The Fairfax, Kansas plant where the Aura is built reportedly won't switchover to the '08 model until August 6, 2007. The all-new Saturn Vue sport-utility, which is trickling into retail stores now around the country, went into production on April 16th. "
Not sure if 2008 Malibu production start is the same day but would be my best guess....
Makes the Camry Hybrid that much better, in comparison. :sick:
I like the idea of putting Camrys in GM showrooms, doh.
DrFill
That Automobile magazine would consider this car worthy of a design analysis is a sign that it is important debut.
One thing I wonder about is the difference in power between the standard 4-cylinder Malibu and the hybrid version - if the hybrid is quicker/more powerful AND delivers better gas mileage than the 4-cylinder, I think it'll be a great thing. If power/speed is the same between the two, I'd have to do the math and see if the extra mileage would save enough $$ to justify the added expense.
My current car is a 2000 Impala (which I've driven for 108k miles); my previous car was a 1989 Toyota Celica (which I drove for 113k miles). The Impala has been no less reliable than the Toyota, and actually interior-wise the Impala has held up much better. And now that I think about it, the paint on the Impala has held up much better than the Celica too. Considering the Celica was a last-year model version (which should have been bug-free), and the Impala was a first-year model (which should have been bug-laden), I think that speaks volumes as to the quality strides GM has made...and that was 7-8 years ago, so I assume things have gotten even better!
Admittedly I have a GM MasterCard, which was one factor that prompted me to buy the Impala versus a CamCord. But I'd have no qualms with buying another GM product next time, with or without the rebate. I cashed in my GM Card points last year to help my parents buy a new truck after theirs was totaled in an accident, so when I go to buy in the next year or so I won't have a great deal of savings there to sway me as before (maybe $1-1.5k max). I can't say for certain what I'll buy at this point, but I certainly wouldn't favor a CamCord over a Malibu if prices were the same. Due to the GM rebate last time I limited my search to GM products, but this time I'll be more apt to "play the field" and see what else compares. But I suspect the only way I might not buy GM is if gas prices have risen sharply by the time I buy again, and I end up buying a smaller car than currently planned. Right now I'm leaning towards the Malibu Hybrid, but time will tell.
My grandma owns a 2004 Impala LS, and it is by no means a bad car. When she got it, GM was having one of its fire sales. Tagged for over 27K, she got $4500 rebate, $500 card from my retired-GM-mechanic grandpa, and an extra $1500 for something else. She was able to get it, out the door with tax and title, for a little over 21K. Plus 0% financing for 72 mos. An amazing deal IMO. I LOVE to drive it, with its sport suspension, 3.8 V6, and amazing comfort, it is my favorite car to drive. It is FAR from being a "grandma" car.
We have had nothing but GM products, and have had very, very good luck with all of them. We have an '88 Chevrolet C30 Pickup truck w/ 454 c.i. V8 (5 mpg, not kidding!) 49K miles, '92 Olds 88 Royale w/ 141k nearly trouble-free miles, '99 Buick LeSabre w/ 86k miles, '02 Cavalier w/ 69k miles. We have also had 2 Chevy Blazers (both 2 door, 4wd, '89 and '94), '84 Chevy Suburban, '83 Buick LeSabre, '87 Olds 98, and the list goes on. All have had their small problems, but nothing too horribly bad, small things. The thing is, none of them were bought new, so we didn't suffer from depreciation shock.
I like my Accord, but I don't think its enough to keep me from buying a GM product. With the strides in quality that have been made in the last 3 years, it only makes their products more appealing. The new 'Bu looks really nice, and hopefully it will be a success, not to say the current one wasn't. You can't sell 245k Malibus and not be called a success. The thing is, GM needs to stop putting "cash on the hood" to sell their products. There's nothing wrong with $500 or even $1000 bonus cash special and/or special financing rates, but not $3000 and 0% every time you turn around. Heck, around here, even Toyota is offering $2500 "bonus cash" (The word Rebate is forbidden by the Japanese) on Corollas and Camrys. GM needs to let the products sell themselves, based on their merits, not the extra moolah. I think now, and especially later, this will be possible.
http://rides.webshots.com/album/559121225HrNjJa
I'm assuming from the tape, mis-matched bumpers and panel gaps that this is still an early preproduction vehicle...still anxious to see one in person on the road. I did check Chevy's site for an update, and about the only change I've seen to the 2008 Malibu page is the addition of the Hybrid icon. Still no mention in the text anywhere as to details on the hybrid, but at least the addition of the logo makes me think it might be coming with the introduction of the vehicle (as opposed to a year later). Also seems like I read somewhere that the hybrid Malibu would be built in Tennessee (I presume at the same plant as the Aura hybrid), though aren't the rest coming from Kansas City?
I wasnt a fan of the red car GM showed when pics first came out. I like this white and the grey shown on the chevy site. They had a dark color at the Philly autoshow, it was sharp.
Seems the current sticker says 40/38 city/highway. It looks like it will change to 33/34 for 2008. It still means that the Camry holds a big advantage in city driving. I would guess the Malibu will still fall short about 5 to 6 MPG. If it's priced aggressively (and I think we know Chevy needs to do that to make an impact and convert some - can I get an "AMEN" - of those "CamCord" folks) that should cover the difference in MPG. Plus I'm sure there will be some kind of tax credit too. So if it's priced a couple thou cheaper and there's a thou tax break that means you'd have to drive well over 100,000 to recoup the 3K difference in price.
Me, I think I'll forego the mileage savings and go with the 3.6L 6 speed with paddle shifters. Drove the Aura and loved the ride.
That's not really the news I was looking for, as I was hoping the car would be in showrooms by September or so. I am thinking of the Malibu or the Saturn Aura but I like the styling of the Malibu a bit better, not to mention I'm thinking it will be better equipped in the LTZ model (as compared to the Aura XR model) but I don't know that for sure.
How do others feel about not being able to test drive this car until November or December of this year?
Still, I heard at one point it would be early 2008 before the Malibu would be available, so any time before then is better than later...but I have my doubts about the availability of the hybrid at the outset.
I might just end up in the Aura XR with the Morocco leather. I would have no complaints about that, but it would have been nice to also try the Malibu.
My wife always regretted not buying a Toyota Highlander when she got her Accord; this spring break we tried to rent an Equinox for the trip, but they didn't have one available, but they did have a Highlander, so I got it to see what it was like. Granted we may just not be SUV people, and the Highlander may be great relative to other cars in that class, but we came away VERY happy that we had not bought one of these when we were thinking about it. I can carry far more stuff in the trunk of my Impala than you could even think of carrying in the back of most SUVs, I still don't get why they're so popular. We've found minivans are great on the highway and for big groups, but they're not much fun for navigating in more congested areas, so we keep coming back to sedans.
Granted the new Malibu won't be available as a rental, but certainly the current Impala might be available (I don't know if Saturns would be out there or not). Might be worth looking at a more base-model Impala as a rental, so you can have that experience to compare to what you end up buying (since the Impala is a little larger than the Malibu, you might find it more appealing in dealing with infant seats and the gear that goes along with them).
I had a very positive experience ordering my Impala, and would certainly recommend it to anyone who is pretty particular about what they want, and who can stand the suspense to wait 6-8 weeks to take delivery of the car. It'll probably take longer to have one built at the beginning of the production cycle than it would a few months into things though.
What state are you located in? Can you order one yet? I haven't seen any pricing listed yet. I think I'd love to order one too, if I know I could get one in October.
There are not going to be waiting lists for Malibus.
I live in Michigan and have lots of friends and family that work for GM. Everyone says that it's best to buy a car that was made in the middle of the week. I guess the theory is the workers are too busy thinking about the weekend on Friday and still recouperating from the weekend on Monday! LOL.
How is the quality of a weekend built car, just curious
Thanks for the reply though. Very interesting.
If it's true that a car gets built over several days, then mine could have been a Friday/Weekend/Monday car before it was completed on Tuesday; if that's the case then from my experience I'd say the dates don't matter. I do remember thinking at the time that at least I avoided the "Ides of March" by getting it completed on the 14th, plus I just missed St. Patrick's Day (and the day after, which would have been even worse)!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W0UJbaKHEyQ
http://www.onstar.com/us_english/jsp/services/video.jsp?videoVar=tbt
They seem to also have an iPod/iPhone interface that should work.
BTW it only takes three hours max to assembly a car ,maybe eighteen to twenty two hours to manufacture every part of the car and then assembly the vehicle.
They have developed a better ways to tackle and solve problems in the whole manufacturing and production of their cars. The toyota plant in Ontario pays only a few dollars less than the other plants but with all incentives offered to the workers they get paid more than the GM workers down the road. That's a fact, the plants quailty is very high compared to alot of the union ,assembly plants.
Yes, I noticed that yesterday too. They have some nice pics on there to give you a feel for the car. I'm not a big fan of the 2 tone interior. I hope all interiors are not like that. If so I'll have to go for the Saturn Aura. I really like the new look.
Two things that are just killing me. No release date (I guess technically if they get the first cars to dealers by 12/20/07 it's still fall, right ) Also, no pricing as of yet. Interested to see where it falls as compared to the Saturn Aura. Seems that it is equipped with all the same features. Not sure if it would be priced higher or lower. Saturn has taken a little bit of a different angle, almost filling that Oldsmobile niche (except it's not an old persons car like the OLDS). If that's the case I would hope to see the price of the Malibu LTZ in line with the Aura XR (about $25,000).
It really surprises me that GM is not adversising the Aura very much. I have yet to see a single television ad for it. I was near Detroit last week and I saw a billboard, but that was it. I don'l see how they expect to sell vehicles if people don't know about them!
As for the Aura, I cant imagine anyone NOT seeing an ad for one. I assure you they are advertising the car. I saw the Camry/Accord comparo ad at least 10 times alone. I also have seen numerous print ads. Lets not forget internet ads, Edmunds always has Saturn ads at the top of the page. If you are looking, you will see plenty of ads.
Even at the earlier Malibu 2008 site there was a place to sign up for email updates, which I've done several times and gotten nothing. When the update to the site was pointed out on this forum a few days ago, I again visited and checked it out, and yet again filled out the form for email updates, but have gotten nothing. You'd think if they had a database of people who were interested in this car that they'd have sent out an email to those folks letting them know the site had been updated. Or when they added the news several months ago about bringing out the hybrid version this fall, that would have been something worthy of sharing with folks interested in the car, but I had to find that out indirectly by reading various blogs and visiting the web site on my own (where the news didn't exactly jump out at you either).
I guess if I sign up for updates about a vehicle, I'd expect to be the first to know about some change or announcement, or at least get something exclusive for those that are obviously interested in the car. I'm sure they'll eventually send folks who signed up something, be it an email or an actual brochure when they're printed; but it would have helped build interest in the car if they'd feed us tidbits throughout this waiting period to keep the buzz going.
I doubt there's any chance you wont see Malibu ads once they start.