Advice on 2001 Malibu

[Hark]

My daughter is looking to buy a 2001 Chevy Malibu LS - any opinion on reliability? She has friends that have one and think it's a great car - but most of the reviews disagree.

Hark

[Hofmeister]

I would steer clear. They have poor long-term reliability. If she's set on a domesic family sedan check out the Grand Prix, and the Buick Regal/Century.

Although I'm a fan of most domestic vehicles, I would be more inclined to look at a slightly older Nissan Maxima, Toyota Camry or Honda Accord (not the V6 as it has tranny issues). They have a better track record.

[drdisque]

I've never heard of any particularly bad things about the Malibu, in fact its VERY similar to the Century that you recommended.

[Hofmeister]

They are similar but the Centrury is based on the larger W platform whereas the Malibu is based on the cheaper N-platform. I recommend the Century over the Malibu is because the Century was built in GM's fladship plant in North America which is located in Ontario. It's been rated as one of the most efficient plants in North America and been given many quality awards over the last few years.

The Malibu (incl. the plant is was produced in) hasn't recieved much praise.

http://www.gm.com/company/gmability/...wa_051905.html

[montefalconj]

I went to school and the car ran fine. went to lunch and the car would not start. It cranked over but would not start. After towing it home and tearing it apart it seems that the injectors are not triggering. The fuel pump works and the crank sensor was just repaced. Not sure that the BCM is sending the proper ground pulses to the injectors. If you spray gas into the throttle body the car start fine. Also the vehicle security light flashes. Not sure why. There is no remote access to the car? How and who can check to see if the BCM is bad?

Jemson

[tblake]

its not the bcm, its the little security resistor pellet in the key is missing or bad. Also could not be making contact with the terminals in the lock key cylinder. if you have a different ky, try that one. If not or it doesnt work, replace the ignition key cylinder before the bcm.