The engine hasn't fallen out yet.

Suspension, brakes, electrical - anti-theft device, blower fan.
It's falling apart.

I have a 1998 Chevy Malibu which I bought new. I drive many miles to work; minimum of 500 miles per week. In that way I tricked the Malibu into hitting 50,000 miles before it started to fall apart. {Hey look, a Malibu with a lot of mileage!! Just guess how much I've spent on repairs} Malibus have a really warped sense of humor, so here's my car's story ....... most from last summer and fall.
"Brakes are a good thing to do first. Then Malibu said - oh, she doesn't need front suspension. It's kinda bumpy on those NY roads. Replace lower control bushings and stabilizer link, but let's drag it out so that more trips to the repair shop are needed. And btw, the ABS needs replacing, but first I'll flick the ABS light off and on so the repair person can't find the problem. But wait, the front suspension problem isn't really fixed yet (heheheheheheehehee!) It's really the upper strut mounts. And of course I need alignment. New tires while you're at it. Having fun making that new car payment yet????? Hey, it's cold here in NY in the winter isn't it? How about no blower fan? That's a "cool" trick. But you don't even NEED a blower fan if you can't get in because the cylinder pass lock sensor ain't sensing anymore. All fixed for the winter you think? Well..... it's now SPRING. A whole new season for repairs. Let's start with locking you out again. (that is so much fun, I think I'll keep doing it...) Ya know, it's still not very warm out. Here's the no blower fan trick for your riding pleasure. Just for grins, I'm going to trick the repair people so you have to go back twice - second time to get the whole blower motor replaced, 'cause that's more money. And, the rear suspension tie rod is loosening; replace soon or regret it.. Of course, I also need re-alignment then. While you're at it, do the serpentine belt too. Hmmmmm.. about time for the ABS trick again. Bet ya she'll miss more work.."
I have contacted "customer service" - my story is that of "normal wear and tear". If this is your idea of normal wear and tear, go ahead and buy one.

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No comparison - have had Ford Festiva, Saturn station wagon, Subaru wagon and sedan. ALL were much better than the Chevy Malibu

- Plenty of driving room for the head and feet
- Alot of trunk space
- Rear seats fold for more trunk space
- Good pickup when hitting the gas
- Solid structure

- Lack of cool air from the air conditioner!!!
- Constant squeaking sound from the rear seat
- ABS sensor always goes on
- Clicking or Tapping sound coming from the pistons, was told there was a
bulletin and they need to replaced...hopefully under warranty
- Brakes seem to wear out frequently
-

My wife and I are very disappointed with this car. We've had nothing but problems and the service center we take it to are just as bad. Everytime
we go there (Paramus Chevrolet), they can never find or solve our problems and they're always telling us we need something repaired and we take it to another service center and they tell us there's nothing wrong. I would not recommend this car to anyone. We have two little boys and we never feel safe driving it. In the next couple of weeks we will be getting rid of it....thank God.

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Chevy Lumina - never had a problem with my Lumina. Thought I was
getting a similiar car but the Lumina lasted forever and I never had any major problems with it.

It smelled new when we bought it. It came with four tires.

Brakes!!!!!!! GM Dealer Service Department is run by felons. Resale value is equal to a "Low Mileage Loaded Moped".

Do not EVER consider buying a Chevy Malibu for any reason whatsoever. In fact, if you ever see a Malibu on the road (which is a rarity, since they are usually getting their brakes done again) say a litle prayer for the poor soul who has to send his or her hard earned money in every month to drive such an engineering mishap. You might as well just buy stock in General Motors. At least you will reap some financial benefit when the stock soars after you've purchased your fourth or fifth brake job. The worst part is that when you bring it back to the dealership when it is still under warrenty, you have to argue with them to get the stuff done. They try to act like they have no idea in the world that there is a problem with the Malibu Brakes and "We'll have to see if it's covered" in the warrenty. Two weeks ago we brought it in to get the brakes done again and they told us the "Intake Manifold" was leaking and that it would be and additional $1100.00 to fix it. The car has 58,000 miles on it but they say it's not covered because we didn't buy and extended warrenty. I assumed Chevy built cars like a rock. I guess it's true what they say about assuming! Well we told the dealer NO!. Two days later we went to the local Honda dealer and traded it in for a 2001 Honda Accord EX. They said our car was worth $7500.00 but we bargained for a bit more. What a joke! Now I can't sleep at night because I worry about the poor kid who is going to end up owning such a GM piece of crap who won't be able to pay for both brakes and college.

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We had a 1993 Ford Festiva that we bought new. This green midget of a car had hard plastic everywhere inside and did not even come with a radio and it was a thousand times more reliable than our "Malibu" ever was.

Roomy

BRAKES SUCK!!! Exhaust SUCK!!

Ok, At 3,000 miles the battery died, was stuck in the middle of winter. At 6,000 miles I needed new brakes (1st time) at 7,000 miles I needed new front tires (1st set) at 12,000 miles I needed new brakes (2nd set) at 12,100 miles the door handles inside became loose and needed retightened, at 12,433 miles I needed new front tires (2nd set) At 18,000 miles I needed new brakes (3rd set) At 20,000 miles I needed new front tires (3rd set) Now my brakes are squealing and its at 21,000 miles so im going to need new brakes again (4th set!) The center console becomes loose all the time, the dealer told me they could replace it at 150 dollars! The weather stripping around the taillight came off and needed replaced. The exhaust, when the engine is above 4,000 RPM rattles EXTREMELY LOUD. There is so much cold air running through the door handles inside, the heat in the winter has to be constantly on. This car is suck a waste, Iv driven chevy's before and they all were nice, but this car just flat out sucked, My dad has a 1991 Ford F-150 10 years old and not a single problem. I spend more time in the shop than the road with this car. I wish i never spent the money on it.

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Roomy.

None

The A/C shuts itself on and off. Nobody can seem to repair it properly.

The radio no longer recieves AM or FM stations but the CD player still works. Nobody knows why the radio doesn't work but the dealer says I can replace it for about $1000.00 (yeah, right!)

The brake rotors have been replaced twice

The fuel injectors have been cleaned four times in four years...and the dealer told me to put "new gas" in my car...as opposed to the old gas that some stations sell? Now I have to put new injectors in.

The suspesion sqeaks over small bumps.

The windows whistle on the highway and cold are floods in near the door handles.

My service engine light comes on frequently...but the mechanic can never find anything wrong.

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I'm never buying American again.

Affordable, good engine, roomy.

Brakes, GM technicians bad

I own a Malibu and so do my parents. Their car hasn't needed any work, and is a 1999. It ran perfectly the last time I drove it, which was about a month ago. I am very picky and can notice most obvious things. Mine has had many trips to the shop, but only one prior to the accident we had. My best guess is that Chevy makes some lemons, but even worse are the Chevrolet techs. The ones that tried to fix my car did crappy job. They didn't even bother to test to see if all the parts of the car functioned properly. I think that people get too worked up about the rotor problem. I've had mine turned once, but when the warranty is over I'll probably get them replaced with high quality vented aftermarket rotors. No big deal.

Giancarlo

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Looks like the good cars.

Malibu 97

The clunk is still in the front end,that was their the first week. Noises all over, water in the headlights. Seat belts never work right.leak in water pump. Anything that need fixing is twice as expensive as most other cars.really $675.00 to get a waterpump and gasket replaced. Three sets of tires and I have only gone 160000 Kl. Water is always in the hole where the spare tire is kept.

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78 Datsun was great

Rather comfortable ride, adequate acceleration, roomy interior and trunk

bad brakes, squeaks and rattles on bumpy road, poor resale value

Bought my Malibu in 1999. Brought it back to the dealer twice for pulsating brakes problem, first at 7k miles and then at 15k miles. I was told by the dealer to ease up on "fast" driving and don't tail gate (in fact I bought this vehicle as a family car and of course I don't tail gate). However, following their advice, I had since been driving like an old man with a more than adequate stopping distance. Still, now at 20k miles, the brakes begin to show signs of pulsation again.

However, in all fairness, the Malibu is a nice and comfortable car for its size and the price paid. How each one of us rate this vehicle depends on our expectations. The greater the expectation the greater the dissapointment when something goes wrong. GM marketed the Malibu as a contender against the Camry and the Accord, and I believe many Malibu owners expect the Malibu to perform and hold up in quality as the Camry or the Accord. I have a friend who bought a new Camry a year ago and now his Camry is already burning oil with only 21K miles. Does that make the Camry a bad vehicle? No, it's just his bad luck. Surely, I didn't expect to see warping rotors so early in my Malibu's life, but everything else either meet or exceed my expectations. Would I recommend this vehicle? I definitely would if GM solve the brakes problem. Good value. Worth considering if you plan on buying and holding-on to a car for about 8 years. Don't buy it if you plan to sell or trade within a few years because of its poor resale value.

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Ford Thunderbird, Ford Mustang, Honda Civic, Pontiac Grand Am

Attractive styling, nice size

What can I say that hasn't been said before? Here's my list of reasons you SHOULD NOT buy this car:
-Horrible suspension.
-Have replaced wheel bearing.
-Heating and A/C fan doesn't work on 1 & 2.
-Paint peeling on front bumper.
-Brakes wear quickly.
-Very loud engine noise.
-Air Conditioner shuts off by itself.
-Makes "moaning" nose when making sharp turns.
-ABS light was on for a year...shut off by itself...finally.
-Oil light comes on when turning quickly to the left.
Enough said?

I have owned 3 GM cars prior to this one, and not experienced any problems to this degree. A word of wisdom...if you value your money, DO NOT spend it on this car.

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Looks, roominess, functionality (fold down seats, seats 5, cruise control), radio with volume that increases with your speed.

Suspension!! And maintenance that shouldn't be a problem under 50,000 miles.
Under warranty I had the following fixed:
Left front control arm
Fogged headlight
Repainted the part over the left doors

After warranty (within the last YEAR) I had some very expensive repairs:
New Coolant bottle - leak from it affected the engine so I got a...
New Intake Manifold (total of those two cost over $650!) Give me a break!!
New rear left "stabilizer bar bushing" twice (same part within 9 months)
Left front Wheel Bearing - very expensive
Cleaned fuel injectors
Heater Fan - Only works on 3 and higher (quoted at $100)

I bought this car figuring I wouldn't have to make a car payment in the later years and that it would last. However, I've paid out way too much in the last year to make it worth it. Other people at work who have the same car, different year, have had similar problems with the suspension and the bearings. While I enjoy the look and how functional the car is, the costly repairs make me wonder how much longer I can afford to keep it.

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I've been told to buy a Toyota as my next car.