See ya later POS Malibu

I am freeeeee!!!! I traded in the Malibu. It had 79K miles and I had to fix the following in the 2 years I had it.

Starter
Gas Gauge
Rear power window
another rear power window
a/c control panel
engine rebuild w/ polymer coated pistons
front struts
strut mounts
battery
battery cables

it looked like it was in excellent condition. I got my dream car. Toyota 4 Runner Limited 4x4. DO WHAT I DID! GO FOREIGN OR AT LEAST RUN FROM THE MALIBU!

some people like the bu and respect it we dont need to know negative comments. So let hope you enjoy your 4runner cause i know some people that didnt have a good time with the bu and some that didnt have a good time at all for the 4 runner. after all these are cars you never know what can go wrong with them.

Don't get me wrong, i loved the way the 'bu drove. I think a lot of people underestimate their power and handling. The thing that pissed me off more than the car was Chevrolet's neglect. They knew that it was basically inevitable that the intake gaskets were going to fail, a/c control panels would go on the fritz and several other items were failing but they don't try to make things right. The malibu doesn't seem to have a reputation for longevity without dishing out some major bucks.

but really if you think about it no car lasts for ever... evertually you will have to replace parts... the gasgets thing is not normal but it seems like its only about 1 in 10 have that problem and otherwise its really not a bad car

I have a '99 Malibu with 155K miles. I've replaced the lower intake gaskets and one brake caliper. Total cost: about $100. That's it in seven years. With every model, you get some bad cars. My brother and one friend have had 4-runners and from the problems they've experienced and poor gas mileage, I'd say they're crap but that's from the only two people that I know own them (or did own them, they dumped them.) Once again, they could be the two in a 1000 but it's all about personal experience. AND, wait until something needs to be replaced on a Toyota and your wallet will be wishing you still owned a domestic.

I have a 2002 Malibu and a 1993 Lumina - both have the 3.1 but it is obvious the engines are nothing alike...the Malibu is a mechanical disaster! It is obvious GM is cheaping-out on all parts in newer vehicles, as are most manufacturers these days. Gapboi210 did the right thing and cut his losses...

BAH ! ,,, We have a 98 Malibu that we really like and Also a 2003 Impala.
All the reviews for the new Malibu say what a wonderfull car it is, and I must say I see a lot on the road. As far as the 4- runner ... i hope when you are on the freeway you do not have to make any sudden emergency manuevers 'cause that thing is going over. As far as the complainers go , sure you can get a bad car and yes the lower intake gasket is a pain, you also have to consider that it is unknown how a lot of these cars are treated or taken care of.

of course it is an suv. and i could not make any abrupt manuevers in the malibu cause it was always in the shop lol. and as far taking care of cars i am very strict on taking care of cars. my roommate owns his own mechanic-body shop plus it was under warranty so all needs were addressed immiediately. just seemed to have too many needs. every problem i had with that car there was a TSB out where several other Malibu owners were experiencing the same thing. according to; GM all design flaws but customers had to pay for the updated corrected version.

IE: Motor Tapping---said it was a flaw in the alloys and metals used in the pistons. Piston slap was occurring and you could opt to have the updated polymer coated pistons. hmmm design flaw.

rear end popping when turning over speed bumps dips etc. according to GM another design flaw. additional bushings needed to be added to the rear sway bar to keep it from moving and shifting. again up to the customer to pay for GM's engineers mistakes.

intake manifold were leaking supposedly due to 2 factors. improper torque specs on the intake bolts and for some reason DEX-COOL was acting somewhat caustic to the gasket. gm came out with a redesigned one but again if you want it fixed you are going to have to pay for the bad design.

and the price for repair on foreign cars is not a huge jump from domestic either unless you drive something exotic. the people at enterprise car rentals are going to miss me ha ha ha i think i put some of their kids through college i was there renting a vehicle so much. this forum can be very handy just search it. and blah to all you people who are taking this straight to the heart and being all whiney and wah wah wah all cars don't last foreverl well duh but they should not need a major repair every other month just to limp to 100K miles.

well at least in the malibu you won't be killed . LOL

I never experienced any of that in my Malibu :grinyes:

your starting to sound a little whinney yourself

What I could never understand is why GM takes so long to fix a design flaw. It went on for years on the intake gasket leaks, aftermarket had a fix before GM.
Transmissions the same, worn valve bodies, broken sun shell, aftermarket first on a fix for them.
Now GM is now on the verge of bankrupcy, the $3 a gallon gas may just be the last straw.

What I could never understand is why GM takes so long to fix a design flaw. It went on for years on the intake gasket leaks, aftermarket had a fix before GM.
Transmissions the same, worn valve bodies, broken sun shell, aftermarket first on a fix for them.
Now GM is now on the verge of bankrupcy, the $3 a gallon gas may just be the last straw.
Thank you!

I love how eveyone is comparing the handling ability of a 4x4 suv to the Malibu! lol no fu&#king sh$t! Ha ha ha. Just saying needing to replace intake gaskets, control arms, several sets of rotors, (all common problems) IS NOT NORMAL!!! And like he said GM did nothing to redesign or change until the next body style. And from reading this forum they seem to have dumb a$$ mistakes on them too. I see a ton of old hondas and toyotas on the road. you dont see as many old gm sedans with as high mileage on the road. whens the last time u saw a corisca or cavilier with 200K+ miles and still running great? ha ha lets see how many people get all pissy now. let the posts begin!!

gapboi210 Ya know, once you were slightly amussing now we have just grown tired of you.

I have never experienced what you have listed with my 98 Malibu.

..maybe it is just cosmic automobile karma , no matter what you get it will be a POS.

SO OFF YOU GO to the Toyota section to start complaing

good bye, too bad, so sorry ...don't come back

my point exactly.

gapboi210 Ya know, once you were slightly amussing now we have just grown tired of you.

I have never experienced what you have listed with my 98 Malibu.

..maybe it is just cosmic automobile karma , no matter what you get it will be a POS.

SO OFF YOU GO to the Toyota section to start complaing

good bye, too bad, so sorry ...don't come backand btw way don't crap over the net. how brave are u to be mr.bold smart a$$ by talking crap by typing it on your keyboard.

Na nah na na. I am rubber you are glue, whatever you say bounces off me and sticks to you.

seriously guys... wtf... why not go do something usefull whit your time... get a hobby...

but this is sooo much more fun! ha ha i do miss thae malibu forum. i posted some questions in the 4 runner forum and no one answers anything and the ones that do post don't know a damn thing.

My daughter just recently purchased a Malibu - so I can't say as to the Malibu - but I had a 1990 Cutlass Cierra with over 250,000 miles on it when I got it - and my daughter's car before the Malibu was a 1990 Pontiac with over 150,000 miles on it. They both run great and get about 28 mpg - only real problem was the multiple owners before us did not care for them - so the exterior is in really poor shape. Never having owned a Toyota or a Honda I can't really compare - but seeing how I paid about $200 for my prior GM cars - and did some minimal engine work to them and they get my daughter/wife to work and back - how could you beat em? Unfortunately I haven't seen many Toyota or Hondas that you could buy for less than $500 - or even $750.

You put ur wife and daughter in a $200 car? Hmmm you don't happen to be Jewish do you?

thats a little harsh............. come on dude... but anyway i agree, i would not want anyone i care about in a car i did not think was safe.... and a $200 it cant be much of a car...

hmm i wonder if it came with a body in the trunk. That reminds me I went to go look at a '01 Pontiac Trans Am with less than 20K miles for like 2 grand. Turns out some guy committed suicide in it by blowing his brains out all over the t-tops and back of the car. the car not even cleaned or stripped.

I had a 1992 Honda Accord which hit 260K(km) when I finally sold it and it needed a lot of work just to stay on the road...and the parts were/are extremely expensive. My 1993 Lumina now has 335k(km) and is running strong. The odd time it does need parts, they are seriously cheap in comparison. That's what led me to buy the 2002 Malibu. It only has 110K (km) and has needed quite a few repairs, but they are still relatively manageable. Bottom line - Honda and Toyota are not all they are cracked up to be.

gapboi210 I am telling you , we are no longer amussed,,,, somebody get rid of this guy.

as far as the cars from Japan. I had an 80's Toyota Corona, I had it till 80k. Sold it to a neighbor who gave it to his son, who imediatelly tried to kill it ( no maint) The car actually made it another 80k . The car was unsafe, the doors were a half inch thick. Yes there are a lot of old Japanesse cars around, just the sheer numbers that were sold, you could buy a 6 pack of them for what it cost for a Chevy. I also had an 85 Toyota Cressida , this was the biggest car toyota made, it was a cheap hand me down from a familly memeber. I am 6'5" and the only time i could really sit comfortably in the car was when the sun roof was open and my head stuck out by an inch.
Both of the Toyotas gave me the impression of something coughed up from a cad program, while every Chevy I have owned gave me the impression it was designed by a person, yes someone who loves the automobile. There is no other car or truck that can match the styling of GM,,, but thats just me talking, you may see it different.

he maybe negative, but all around quality with gm has been seriously suffering, u never heard of these problems 20yrs ago, unless they were a cheap manufacture. yes the looks and feel of gm vehicles are appealing, and yes they are american brand car, but come on the foreign market does put out a better car for reliability. I myself am a owner of a 98 old cutlass "same thing". and iv'e replaced the motor thanks to the gaskets. Starter, window motor, blower resister,..ect ect ect. and the car has 65,000 miles on it. So i have to agree that these cars are nothing but a joke of a gm vehicle, and never should of been made without proper testing, and gm recall all of them for these problems. I should not have to call them to squeeze some kind of break on the dealership fixing there underengineering piece of crap.

gapboi210 I am telling you , we are no longer amussed,,,, somebody get rid of this guy.

as far as the cars from Japan. I had an 80's Toyota Corona, I had it till 80k. Sold it to a neighbor who gave it to his son, who imediatelly tried to kill it ( no maint) The car actually made it another 80k . The car was unsafe, the doors were a half inch thick. Yes there are a lot of old Japanesse cars around, just the sheer numbers that were sold, you could buy a 6 pack of them for what it cost for a Chevy. I also had an 85 Toyota Cressida , this was the biggest car toyota made, it was a cheap hand me down from a familly memeber. I am 6'5" and the only time i could really sit comfortably in the car was when the sun roof was open and my head stuck out by an inch.
Both of the Toyotas gave me the impression of something coughed up from a cad program, while every Chevy I have owned gave me the impression it was designed by a person, yes someone who loves the automobile. There is no other car or truck that can match the styling of GM,,, but thats just me talking, you may see it different.

why are u comparing the imports form the 80's to a newer GM? Yeah they were smaller and lighter. Also, there were size limitations back then on imports look it up.

gapboi210 I am telling you , we are no longer amussed,,,, somebody get rid of this guy.

as far as the cars from Japan. I had an 80's Toyota Corona, I had it till 80k. Sold it to a neighbor who gave it to his son, who imediatelly tried to kill it ( no maint) The car actually made it another 80k . The car was unsafe, the doors were a half inch thick. Yes there are a lot of old Japanesse cars around, just the sheer numbers that were sold, you could buy a 6 pack of them for what it cost for a Chevy. I also had an 85 Toyota Cressida , this was the biggest car toyota made, it was a cheap hand me down from a familly memeber. I am 6'5" and the only time i could really sit comfortably in the car was when the sun roof was open and my head stuck out by an inch.
Both of the Toyotas gave me the impression of something coughed up from a cad program, while every Chevy I have owned gave me the impression it was designed by a person, yes someone who loves the automobile. There is no other car or truck that can match the styling of GM,,, but thats just me talking, you may see it different.

Oh yeah, NO ONE IS FORCING U TO READ OR REPLY TO THIS SO WAHHH!

For the record I am not a GM hater. I am a big fan of the GM Truck line. It seems to have a much more quality and reliability than the GM sedans. I have seen GM trucks go well past 220K miles on original motor and trans with routine maintence. It seems like the body wears out before the drivetrain does. Thats great. That durabilty and quality doesn't seem to float over to the car side of things. I wold definitly own a GM truck again but never one of their cars. They look great and drive great but..... looks can be deceiving. I am sure there are some malibus that will make it to 200K miles but those will be the exceptions. I don't think the Malibu will have a life span like the trucks that the same company produces.

I own a 99 Cutlass, same pos as Malibu. I also own a 1990 Volvo, that I got for real cheep. At least when things to go wrong with the Volvo it gives you enough time to fix it before it is completely broke down. I was a fan of GM as a whole for a lot of years, but when it comes to cars the years have been hard on GM. I also have a 94 Grand Am, 2.3 is a big pile. The Cutlass is like a street walker. It looks great on the outside, but is deseised below.

Yah, like a car company that raps its crap in a real nice bun. but it still leaves a bad taste in your mouth. here are the things I have changed on the 99 Cutlass; Brakes 3 times, rotors 2 times, 1 caliper,Altinator, water pump, intake gaskets, battery, and I still have the faulty heater control switch (70 dollars) ya I will buy that, not. All before 100,000 does the car just explode after that?

you guys need to remember that things like brake pads, rotors, and batteries you have to replace every so often on every car right? cause you are listing it like its some big deal.........

I own a 99 Cutlass, same pos as Malibu. I also own a 1990 Volvo, that I got for real cheep. At least when things to go wrong with the Volvo it gives you enough time to fix it before it is completely broke down. I was a fan of GM as a whole for a lot of years, but when it comes to cars the years have been hard on GM. I also have a 94 Grand Am, 2.3 is a big pile. The Cutlass is like a street walker. It looks great on the outside, but is deseised below.

Yah, like a car company that raps its crap in a real nice bun. but it still leaves a bad taste in your mouth. here are the things I have changed on the 99 Cutlass; Brakes 3 times, rotors 2 times, 1 caliper,Altinator, water pump, intake gaskets, battery, and I still have the faulty heater control switch (70 dollars) ya I will buy that, not. All before 100,000 does the car just explode after that?

Heater control, cheap DIY fix, use google sometimes.

ya, you should have to change them. but not when you only have 40,000 miles on the car. and 3 times before 100,000. battery was probably a fluke, but when you add up all the problems that you have with GM cars today. It equals junk, no if ands or buts. I think the people that run GM should be imbearest with themselves for running a good company name in to the ground. Infact if GM was not here tommarrow, I think that it would only be missed by all the people that worked there trying to raise a family. kind of like Enron!!!!

You know I still have not experienced what everybody else has gone wrong with their Malibus on this forum. I think it is sort of like a Doctor complaining that they only see sick people. Chevrolet , back 20 years ago had some quality issues. I worked for GM back then and we use to get cars in in all kinds of conditions. Also don't forget about the Vega. I beleive it had an aluminum block and the cylinders had no sleeves, sort of like a lawn mower.
Back then the UAW looked at this way, you got mad at GM, you bought a Ford, you got mad at ford you then bought a Dodge....etc,, you were still buying a UAW product. Then the imports changed the whole equation.

Yes I agree that the lower intake gasket manifold is unfortunate. I just can not see these ppl saying they lost their engine or what ever.... did't they ever think ,,, hey what is that dripping under my car. or did they never look under the hood while getting gas to check levels ? I still would rather have a Chevy any day of the week.
By the way where I live ,, I see a lot of new Malibus and a lot of new Impalas, everyday more than any other car manufacturer and I must say they look great. Where I work out of the 20 - 30 cars in the lot , there are 3 Impalas, 4 counting mine. Something else to that bugs me about Japanesse cars. When I went to buy my 2003 Impala I went to Toyota to test drive a Camry. I opened the hood , the motor did not look like a motor, just a bunch of stamped out metal parts. I know that is insignificant, it matters to me. I have also seen a couple of the new Malibu hatchbacks or station wagons and they look great. If I was going to buy a car tomorrow I would buy anothe GM product without hesitation.

Everyone obviously has their own opinion - but you totally missed the boat on my vehicles because of what was paid. In a college town, you can sometimes pick up a car real cheap - when they look bad and break down - kids just want to get rid of them and get another - and the repairs needed were minimal - a week-ends work and they were on the road again. One GM vehicle with over 250,000 miles and another with over 150,000 - both not taken care of until I got them - and they still ran great . And as far as them not being safe - my daughter drove hers for 5 years so if safety was a problem - I would have thought something would have happened during those 5 years.

If you are still not a believer - last summer I bought my younger daughter a 92 Bonneville with 140,000 - and I did actually pay more than $500 - but not much - the sellers had gotten an outrageous estimate for labor to replace a $45 part - not knowing how to fix it themself - they sold it. Ran a code check, replaced the $45 part and put on new struts and it's still going strong over a year later - you just have to be willing to do your own work.

I also have a 2000 Buick with 90,000 on it and the only problem I've had was tranmission that held out until 85,000 - and then just repairs - it didn't need totally replaced.

I used to buy Fords and after the Taurus constantly downshifting on the interstate, headlights and wipers starting and stopping madly, and the compressor catching on fire - I'll take a GM over a Ford anyday. Ok and if you are still reading for lack of anything better to do - my brand new employer supplied $65,000 Ford work truck is only 4 months old and the AC already quit - Everyone has their lemons.

Oh and by the way - when I got ready to get rid of my high mileage GM cars and upgrade to a shinier toy - I found a home for them within a week and got my money back and then some - Buyers didn't seem to care if there were any dead bodies in the trunk either.