Advice on buying a 2001 Malibu

[Hark]

My daughter is look to buy a 2001 Malibu - any advice on reliability? She has friends that own one and think it's a great car - but some reviews seem to disagree.

Hark

[wymi]

Originally Posted by Hark

My daughter is look to buy a 2001 Malibu - any advice on reliability? She has friends that own one and think it's a great car - but some reviews seem to disagree.

Hark

I own a 2001 Malibu and I wouldn't let my daughter buy a used one. Stick with Honda, Toyota or Nissan for reliability.

[malibugtp]

i have a 2001 and love it,

[wpbharry]

Pick up a copy of Consumer Reports April 2006 issue on newstands now (but hurry). It's their Annual Auto Issue and gives reliability ratings for '97-'05 vehicles. It's the most comprehensive guide to long-term reliability available anywhere.

Alas, the '97-'01 Malibus qualify as POSs. '02s and '03s are getting there.

[richtazz]

They are junk. They go through hub bearings like crazy, they have known issues with intake manifold gaskets and fuel pumps, and they are cheaply built (lots of road noise, rattles, squeaks, etc...) Pass on the Malibu.

[ecko457]

They'll make your head hurt and your wallet skinny.... Don't do it!!!

[Eyebolt]

My wife has a 2000 that her dad got her a few years before we got married...I would have rathered he not gotten it for her and we had a car payment sometimes. We'll probably soon get rid of and get ourselves a nissan altima or something. There's just so many things that have gone wrong with it that GM has known about, re-engineeried the part (blower resistor block, intake gasket, etc...) but wait for it to break and have you pay the $1k to get your gasket replaced. So yeah...shy away from it...I would.

[tractorboy]

We have a 98 Malibu we really like it, also have a 2003 Impala. Well we have always had Chevrolets ever since my Dad brought home a two tone 57 chevy. Well actually he was sent to get that and brought home a Pontiac. Oh well in 63 he bought a Caprice, from then on we have had Chevys. We have had other cars at the same time. I had a Toyot Corona and a Toyota Cressida, they were nice, but there is something missing. They are so , ummm, so, like they were coughed up from a CAD program. And Chevys are like they were designed by a person, some one who really likes cars. To the complainers , well sure you can get a bad car and yes the lower intake gasket is a pain . You do not know how a car is treated either. It's like the field I am in, some one will get a mainboard and then break it trying to install it, and wine and moan trying to return it under warranty when it is their fault. I dirgress, sorry.

[needforspeed32135]

i have a 2001 3.1 V-6 malibu i love the car i had a wing and some performance upgrade done on it but the car is a great driving car to take trip in. I just don't like the new ones they look like for old people. I like the body of the 2001 malibu it look like a little bit like the S-13 240sx

bryan stodola

[philthyphil]

My girl friend bought a new one in 97. As a retired mech who HAS NO BRAND LOYALITY unlike some here. DO NOT GET NEAR IT thank god she bought the extended warrenty, I never recommend these but in this case it was worth while. Where to start, 20000 kms need new rotors, has gone through hub bearings, lower control arm bushings, of course manifold gaskets. Org tires went 40000km real crap.Air con switches, fan resistors...I can change that one in the dark. Radio ant wire sepperation, headlights full of water, front rack, rust holes ,constant brake pads, there old units off a holden from oz, way undersized. poor handling huge noise from rear suspension, air temp sensors.....welllll just on and on and on. At 140,000kms this car is ready for the scrap yard.

[bcopeland]

My sound, reasoned advice - DON'T. Based on the support from GM, I would NEVER buy another Chevy until they acknowledge what they did to us on this vehicle. I have owned Chevy as my favorite brand for over 31 years and it hurts like heck to say this, but I feel a 2001 Camry is a much better value. Almost to the point to never buy a GM because I am so pissed off at Chevy.

[PTG1212]

I recently bought a 2001 Malibu. It was my step mothers car. It was in like new condition and only 18k miles on it. Despite reading all the issues on this forum, I decided to take a chance since I bought it from her for $5500. It had already had the manifold gasket repair. The blower resistor was bad and I replaced that today. It wasn't a big deal to replace, just watch how covers come off and use a universal joint to get back bracket screw off.

The brakes are fine, no issue with rotors yet, but the car obvoiusly wasn't driven much the last 5 years.

I drove the car from NY to NC. It rode great and I got 31.8 mpg's on the 600 mile trip. Only time will tell if I made a good decision or not. With the car having such low miles and being in such good shape I decided that even if I had to put some money into it over time, it still would be a good deal.

Setting aside the reliability issues, it's a very nice car. It's a shame it's had so many issues. We'll see if I made a bad decision.

[67malibu]

I've had a '99 for seven years, put 150K on it. I've changed one caliper and the lower intake gaskets. Other than that, it gets 26/32 MPG and is comfortable to drive on long trips. I know several Malibu owners who have had no real issues. Keep in mind that this forum is NOT the best place to seek advice on buying a car. The reason is that the majority of people who frequent this site do so because they have had or do have a problem. This means that the advice you'll get comes from the population that have had the most issues with a car, not necessarily (and most likely not) the majority of owners. This site will give you an idea of what problems these cars have, and they do tend to have some (all quite repairable) but I've got friends that have had major problems with just about every brand (i.e. '02 Accord - two trannys in first 40K, '01 FourRunner - too many to list, '03 Pathfinder - too many to list.) There are lemons with every car line. I honestly hear fewer complaints from domestic owners than foreign makes. I think it's because domestic owners just fix stuff and foreign owners just get screwed over repeatedly by the dealerships. Use your gut, pick a car and go with it.

[bcopeland]

I have had my 1999 for 71/2 years and ahve put 171K miles on mine. I agree that this is where people come to seek answers regarding their problems so you may not get a true sampleing of customer satisfaction. I also will tell you that I have never had a car with the problems I have experienced with this one. Nor have i had such a lack of response from the manufacturer during the warranty period. I bought mine with 6 miles on it and I have had 3 intake/valve jobs; 3 brake jobs before 36K miles etc. So you must make your own decision. Do I love my Malibu? Of course. I have learned how to fix all that ails it here - at this forum. Would I do it over again (buy it if time could reverse itself)? No.