Looking to Buy

[Jesyka769]

I'm looking to buy a 1997 malibu. When i looked online they seem like great cars at first, but then i went to consumeraffairs.com and all i saw were complaints about the malibu. I really like the car but im not looking to spend more money and time on going to get it fixed every week. Can anyone give me some feedback about their experience good and bad.

[Sethkj]

Originally Posted by Jesyka769

I'm looking to buy a 1997 malibu. When i looked online they seem like great cars at first, but then i went to consumeraffairs.com and all i saw were complaints about the malibu. I really like the car but im not looking to spend more money and time on going to get it fixed every week. Can anyone give me some feedback about their experience good and bad.

I bought mine at the begining of the month. So far it's been a really good car. The only time I ever had to take it in the shop for was one of the sensor has gone bad. The only thing I like about these cars are their gas mileages and that my insurance seems to like this car a lot (My insurance premiums have drop quite a bit from my last car.) If you do decide to buy the car, ask the dealer or owner if they ever had the head gasket manifold replaced. That's common on most Malibus. I had mine replaced the day before I bought the car. I found that out when I took the car to my own mechanic. He found the problem and the dealership fixed the mainifold at no charge. It's a really good car. I like it a lot Oh and another thing is brakes. I haven't had any problems with the brakes (knocks on wood), but I have read on this forum and consumersaffairs.com, carsurvey.org, and so on. Which reminds me, I wonder if I need a tune up?

Let us know if you get it.

[bcopeland]

By now, all of the problems should have been fixed. Just look at some of the other threads in this forum - you'll get the message!

[bcleeper]

There are a lot of trade-offs in buying a used car and each one is going to have it's own little quirks. Price was a big factor in my choice of a Malibu. It was priced so much less for the year/milage than my other choices (Mazda or Honda) that I went with it. Even if you figure in the more expensive repairs, such as the head gasket, you probably will come out ahead.

Careful reading of this board will also prepare you for other things and give you advise on how to take care of them yourself. Things like the blower switch can be done fairly easy for only a few $$.

Also bear in mind while reading this board that GM has made between 1.5 and 2Million of these cars. This board probably documents fewer than 150 to 200 unique vehicles.

Also remember that at certain milage points you are going to have some expensive regular maintanence to do regardless of brand (i.e. 100K mile tuneup will probably run > $400).

[BlackWidowMali]

If well maintaned(oil changes on time, inspecting of belts, just general tune ups) The malibu is a very nice car to own. Good gas mileage, and pretty good power. I think it is a fun car to drive.