2004 Malibu/Maxx

[wpbharry]

Hey folks. I'm a newbie, and just getting up to speed.

Have a (now) VERY troublesome '98 Malibu LS, and will be sharing lots of advice in other threads in the future.

I've spent a year fussing over the '04 Malibu/Maxx. A year ago it was my first choice for purchase between 8/04 and 12/04 (still have extended warranty on the '98, thank goodness). Due to numerous factors, it's now slipped quite a bit. Chances are remote, but still a chance, that I'll buy an '04 or '05 Malibu or Maxx.

My main beef right now is that the Fairfax plant is not cranking them out with any speed whatsoever (until 2 weeks ago). They've only produced 26K to date! I'd guessed supplier problems, and sure enough, I've now read that the 3500 V-6, coming from GM's Mexico subsidiary, has not been performing up to par. Unfortunately, it looks like some sorry examples have made it onto the streets.

Before this, I'd heard nothing but rave reviews over the quality.

Kindly share your experiences if you own one (or are seriously considering one). Thanks.

[burly]

One thing to keep in mind when buying a new car, is that if you can, it is usually a good idea to wait until it is the 2nd or 3rd year model of the car, so that the "kinks" can be worked out. If your extended warranty is still good until at least the 05 model year. This goes for all 1st model year cars of any make and model, albiet to varying to degrees. Hopefully someone with more intimate knowledge of the 04 Malibu will chime in to help out with the specifics you are inquiring about.

[regfootball]

wow, I had not heard of any issues with the '3500' v6.

Aside from the pushrods.......AWWWWWWW>>>>>>>>

Typically GM plants have had some troubles working up to full speed, or maybe it is just a ploy to keep demand high and incentives low.

Assembly quality on the bu/maxx appears much improved, but as they say, the devil is in the details. I had heard there MIGHT even be a n early 05 model year switchover.

[wpbharry]

Oh boy, I was really hoping for better, but guess they REALLY ARE on an extended "beer break" in Fairfax, KS.

It's the time of year to crash-test mid-size sedans, and while I'll run and hide now when the Bu comes down the runway, in a week or two, at 40mph, the bumper test was bad enough.

"Poor", the lowest rating. Oh well. My '98 got an "Acceptable", many years ago.

[ponchonutty]

Well at least GM thought of throwing in a remote starter to sugar coat everything. The funnier thing is that the remote start sucks just as bad as everything else does on the car! It's sad, I love GM but enough is enough. Heck, they made me live with my engine knock in my Silverado too!

[danv]

Originally Posted by ponchonutty

Well at least GM thought of throwing in a remote starter to sugar coat everything. The funnier thing is that the remote start sucks just as bad as everything else does on the car! It's sad, I love GM but enough is enough. Heck, they made me live with my engine knock in my Silverado too!

What are the problems with the remote start? I just got a 2004 Malibu LT and everything seems to work great so far....

[ponchonutty]

Originally Posted by danv

What are the problems with the remote start? I just got a 2004 Malibu LT and everything seems to work great so far....

The way it operates and the lack of range.

[wpbharry]

Had my '98 Malibu LS in the shop today for an oil change and something minor and got a chance to look at a loaded ($28K) Maxx LT up close. Very well built, too pricey and too much car for me (don't have rear seat riders much).

What was striking though, was the fact that my dealer has 100-150 Impalas on the lot and only this showroom Maxx and 2 LT sedans. Guess the plant is still struggling to make em. I do see that they've been on overtime for weeks now.

The dealer winced when I mentioned the bumper bash tests (will many more '04s really sell now that that was on TV?), and, within the last week, only a 4-star frontal rating from NHTSA (same as my '98, BTW). They think the '05 will commence production in June with stronger bumpers, but the 4-stars can't really be fixed without a complete redo.

Until we get more '04 owners on this site, check out Edmunds Town Hall for praises and complaints (you don't need to be a member to read posts, I'm not one). The car is by no means perfect, but so far anyway, seems off to a better start than the '97 was way back when. Except for the cardboard bumpers!

[burly]

Do people really buy a car simply based on its 5mph bumper damage rating ? I could kind of see it if you lived downtown in a major city, but the average person? It seems to me there are about 1000 other factors that are more important when purchasing a car, then the off chance you are going to involved in a slow speed accident And have to foot the cost yourself. With a $250 deductible, it doesnt matter if the damage is $251 or $900, you are going to be paying the same. I can see the importance of 40MPH ratings, but 5MPH? I dunno.

[wpbharry]

Valid point, which I considered AFTER making the post. Offset and side impacts would be major purchase factors, though, and we haven't heard about those yet.

Ironically, the only accident I've ever had in 30 years of driving was a slow-speed bumper incident in summer '02. Due to 5mph bumpers on my '98, I only had $300 damage; the other car with weaker bumpers had just under $1500.

Weaker bumpers also increase insurance premiums.

And make one wonder what other cost-cutting has occurred elsewhere.

[burly]

Yeah, I can see how it can be viewed as a partial indicator of overall build quality, but it could also be an isolated problem. For instance, several Japanese cars like the Nissan Quest, Toyota Sienna, and Infiniti G35 didn't fair very well, either. The German made Mercedes E class and the Saab 9-3 faired poorly as well. The E class took almost $3000 in damage in the rear-into-pole test. These cars and manufacturers are usually held in high regard for safety and quality, and they did as bad or worse than the Malibu. I've even heard that one of the big Japanese manufacturers new that a vehicle was going to fair poorly, and added a non-production model piece of foam to a critical area in hopes of making it score better.

From what I've seen so far, GM's build quality has been improving over the past several years, and the '04 Malibu seems to be built well. Heck, my '03 Malibu which is the lat year of the previous body style has an apparent build quality improvement over the '00 and previous year models of the same car. Of course, irregardless of Who makes the car, when you are talking about spending 10's of thousands of dollars, skepticism is usually a good thing.

[wpbharry]

Two quickies:

Consumer Reports' Annual Auto Issue (some like CR, like me, some dismiss it - to those folks I always challenge them to find something better) rates the '03 Malibu as above average reliability, the '02 as average and the '01 and before as below average. Very clear trend with no discrepancies.

Post from very early this morning in Edmunds Town Hall (think the Maxx forum) describes the condition I'd heard about with Service Engine Soon, and various other dash lights illuminating. Pretty scary, for a model that has been produced with such care and VERY slowly.

They can't seem to get the Maxx aluminum hatch closed easily either.

Maybe they HAVE been on an extended beer break

[rickd]

Think twice about buying this car. I purchased a new 2004 Maxx three weeks ago. It had a bad transmission out of the gate. The car was in the shop for nearly two weeks for a transmission replacement. I can't tell you how disheartening it is to see the drive train cradle lowered, the trans torn out, wires and hoses hanging from the bottom of the engine bay and the entire front suspension disassembled. My understanding is that GM has a bad production run of these transmissions and that my car isn't unique. Its sickening to see a car with only a few hundred miles on it go through this. The car is back now, but it simply isn't right. Pulls to the left, streering wheel is off center, and crunches everytime I make a right hand turn. It will be back to the dealer immediately until they put it together properly. In the meantime, if any of you are considering buying one of these, think twice, expecially if your test drive reveals a low pitched groaning sound, between 1,500 and 3,000 rpm, under moderate load, and more pronounced after shifts. General Motors . . . if you read forums, which you should, you ought to be embarrased by this enormous quality control lapse. In the meantime, I have to keep paying for a car that I do not believe will ever be right again.

[wpbharry]

I just returned from being out of town for 10 days, and luckily made it to the West Palm Beach Auto Show's final day.

I LOVED the Maxx LS (had only seen the overpriced LT before), and it, and the Sonata (talk about being different) are on the "final two" of the short list. The Maxx LS was one of the best built American cars (on the surface, at least, and a local dealer supplied all of the cars so this wasn't a "factory special") I've seen in a long time. LIGHT YEARS ahead of my '98.

The GM rep had enlightening words, and didn't sugar coat anything. The Malibu and Maxx are not selling well so far. The Equinox got far more attention than the Maxx (could've guessed that). He basically said 2 things: 1) the rebates on the Malibu and Maxx (which went back DOWN to $1,000 on 4/1, from $1,750) will go up dramatically come summer, and 2) MAJOR improvements are scheduled for the '05. Talk about a dilemma!

I APPRECIATE hearing about problems, which are, God forbid, not discussed much on Edmunds.com. One person has a lemon, but all the rest kiss their cars good night every night.

rickd: When was your car assembled? I believe production began in mid-late Dec., and they putzed along until late Feb/early Mar before they got up to full (and hopefully, trouble-free) speed. Check the driver's door jamb. Thanks.

[kevinj123]

Hey
The new Malibu's are awsome with the features they come with. I bought the Malibu LT two weeks after they came out. I love the car but it has problems. Lately the key has been sticking in the ingition and the power steering is going out. The other day I was turning left out on to a busy highway when all of a sudden the driver info center flashed "power steering failure." The car was a pain to steer into the closet parking lot. It scared me because it happened on a busy highway. this has happened at least 4 times now. The dealership is going to replace the steering column to see if that is the problem. I hope it is because i really enjoy the Malibu.