I've been looking at the LTZ V6 Malibu, Accord V6, Camry SE V6 and Altima SE V6. Drove all and they are all very well built cars. The Malibu had the quitest ride, period. I don't know what Chevy did but Honda and the rest better follow! I've been lurking on here a while and everyone seems to like their Malibus. Complaints i had was the upgraded stereo. It did not sound good at all. I clunk my head on the front pillar when getting in and thats it. Its been many years since i've had a domestic car (88 Escort). That domestic car gave me many problems. I like the Malibu but do not want to get that feeling again that the other domestic car gave me. So i have some questions
1. Is there any mechanical problems that the Malibu's 3.6 have weather it be yours or what you've read elsewhere? I've searched and can not believe i get hardly no results. It seems that engine is in many GMs.
2. What are you V6 owners getting to a tank of gas?
3. How much is the OnStar service? I have a Garmin, so is it worth it?
4. What makes this car so quite? Wow.
5. What is the uplevel instrument cluster upgrade on the LTZ?
6. How are the grey colored suede/leather combo seats holding up?
Can't think of any more but i'm sure more will come. More than likely i'll get the LT2 V6 for the fact i don't like the wood trim. The aluminum looked nice and can't be had in the LTZ.

Oh, who has installed an aftermarket radio? Looking to replace the stock because i was not impressed with it.

I don't like my BU...........I LOVE IT! And most of your questions can be found on this forum. Read the posts here. And I really like the V-6, haven't had any trouble with anything on this car. :D
Maybe some others will chime in here with some problems but I've had none.

I can't say for certain, but I'm am extremely confident in the 3.6. GM knows their engines and they will last a very long time.

What makes the malibu quiet is the acoustic glass in the front windows, the sound deadening material on the door panels and firewall.

The LTZ upscale cluster just has a sunburst ring around the needles.

Onstar is $199-$299 (guestimating here) based on what service you get.

The V6 gets 17-26mpg IIRC and I believe I've seen some people get 29mpg highway.

The Aluminum trim can only be had on the brown LTZ interior.

and another good way to make the car EVEN MORE QUIET, dynomat or use some rubberized undercoating ( helps prevent rust 2 !!)

Look I am getting 26.5 with 70/30 mix AC High. It's not perfect i.e. ac is loud,trunk opening small. I know can't stand to drive or be in any other car because it's to loud from road noise. And when I do get in a 60,000 dollar car I still think my 20,000 Bu is more quiet! Oh...and it will do a 90 degree turn at 60mph like a two-door the v-6 is kinda sick perfect gas mileage and power depending on how you drive. Plus it even looks good for a 4door. I don't know you want to be cool go by a BMW then I can say look another idiot bought a new car!

If you like the aluminum trim, you should be able to replace it into your "wood" car for little money. The BMW guys that hate wood switch to aluminum all the time.

Love it!

Yes there are a few issues (my main beef is with the shift points on the 6sp), but still think it is a lot of money for the car.

On-Star I found handy for getting to out of the way places, but if you have a Garmin box, it may not be worth it so no need to renew after the trial period.

At the moment getting 10.7L/100 (I am in Canada after all!) and that is 95% city driving.

Hope this helps.

Love mine. Only has 1100 miles on it but it has a better ride and as you mentioned much quieter then the Imports. The toyota and honda counterparts are simplely but ugly and more expensive. By the way just did my first oil change and it was a breeze. Easiest car oil change I have done, ever. The LTZ 3.6 with the 6sp is smooth and quiet. I got the Dark Grey with the black on black int. I wasn't sure about the suede on the LTs either. Kids + suede = stains.

For the radio, I had to play with it for almost an hour to get it to sound at least better than being in a tin can. It sounds pretty decent now that I have adjusted everything.

I do agree with you that the car is DEAD quiet. We got up to 90 the other day and it felt like nothing at all because its so quiet. I love it!

PeterH, there is a transmission update for both 6 speed autos that supposedly fixes the weird shift issues. It semi-fixed our issue.

I've been looking at the LTZ V6 Malibu, Accord V6, Camry SE V6 and Altima SE V6. Drove all and they are all very well built cars. The Malibu had the quitest ride, period. I don't know what Chevy did but Honda and the rest better follow! I've been lurking on here a while and everyone seems to like their Malibus. Complaints i had was the upgraded stereo. It did not sound good at all. I clunk my head on the front pillar when getting in and thats it. Its been many years since i've had a domestic car (88 Escort). That domestic car gave me many problems. I like the Malibu but do not want to get that feeling again that the other domestic car gave me. So i have some questions
1. Is there any mechanical problems that the Malibu's 3.6 have weather it be yours or what you've read elsewhere? I've searched and can not believe i get hardly no results. It seems that engine is in many GMs.
2. What are you V6 owners getting to a tank of gas?
3. How much is the OnStar service? I have a Garmin, so is it worth it?
4. What makes this car so quite? Wow.
5. What is the uplevel instrument cluster upgrade on the LTZ?
6. How are the grey colored suede/leather combo seats holding up?
Can't think of any more but i'm sure more will come. More than likely i'll get the LT2 V6 for the fact i don't like the wood trim. The aluminum looked nice and can't be had in the LTZ.

Funny. I did the same exact thing in December/January. I too have had a mix of imports and domestics (my last domestic also being an Escort) and I thought I'd written off American cars forever.

I eliminated the Camry right away because I've had issues with where Toyotas have gone. They've gotten worse in quality and design, and you pay for the name with an outdated reputation for quality.

I liked aspects of the Accord, but I didn't like the feel of the ride or steering, the noise and the price when you add options. I did like the performance, and in particulare for the Accord coupe.

For me it came down to the Altima (originally the coupe and then the practical side of me decided the 3.5SE Sedan), and I actually was set to buy that car over the Malibu before I gave the Chevy a fair shot. I still really like the Altima, and you get a little more HP and efficiency out of the engine. The problem with Nissan is again their pricing. If you want anything nice added to the car they charge too much. They're reliable, but I don't know that they're much more reliable than most modern cars. It'll probably be true that after 70,000 miles the Altima would still feel tighter than the Malibu will, but only time will tell, and so far reports suggest that the difference between the two is pretty tiny compared to how it used to be. The Altima also didn't match up as well in looks, performance, features, quietness, crash testing, etc. With the things that it did better being only slight, and the things the Malibu did better being pretty substantial, and the price being way better for the Malibu, it became a no brainer.

To get specific to your points:

1. No major mechanical problems. In fact the Malibu lead the pack for initial quality ratings. It may be too soon to tell, but people have put a lot of miles on some of their Malibus and nothing major. Yes, you will see the "I hate Chevy and here is why" posts on the internet and some will be about the 2008 and 2009 Malibus, but if you look for those from ANY manufacturer, you'll find them. Lemons exist with every brand, as does bad luck and stupid owners. You have to figure out what brand or model is having too many issues vs. not many. You wont find any with none at all, and for the price range, this car is competing very well with imports and domestics that cost a lot more.

Every model has kinks to work out and there have been some minor body issues on some of the Malibus, an issue with bluetooth on others, and relatively minor transmission issues on some as well. The Malibu has a great warranty and so far GM has been proactive in fixing these things when they pop up and pretty simple, painless fixes have people back on the road.

Personally, I wish the shift points on my transmission were slightly different, but not because they're wrong. It's just my preference. This can be changed. I love how the manual mode holds gears though. The bluetooth stopped working on my car, and that was fixed with a software update. The transmission was fine, but they checked/fixed that for free too just to be sure as some had issues with the wrong gear being shown vs. what it was actually in.

2. At first the mileage will suck. You need to break in your engine, learn the car and the car needs to learn you. This will get better. The engine has a lot of pep and a huge power band for acceleration at a wide range of RPM, which beat the competitors in my book. As such, if you drive the car hard and get on the gas a lot, it will perfom very well, but the efficiency will drop a lot. If you baby it and try to drive efficiently, you certainly can achieve it. I have a pretty decent mix of city and highway. I am on the highway for about 90% of my daily commute, but when not going to work or back I'm off of it quite a bit, so over a typical week I'm probably doing 60/40 highway/city, and sometimes I'm hard on the gas and sometimes not, but it averages out to about 24/25 mpg. This weekend I took a long road trip and now that it's warmer out (I saw less mpg on road trips in the dead of winter) I saw a nice efficient ride. I drove about 400 miles. I was able to stay on the cruise control for some of it, but with traffic jams and such I couldn't the whole time and half of the trip was on highways. They didn't have stops, but there was cross traffic and sometimes only 2 or 4 lanes. I still averaged 31 mpg on this trip. If I had been on a flat interstate, setting the cruise (I tried to go 65-75 as much as I could) and kicking back I could see getting 32 or 33mpg average. I filled up at about 2/3 of the trip for cheap gas, but I was on pace to get almost 500 miles on 1 tank. Normal driving at home I get 320-360 miles before I fill up, and don't let it get completely empty.

3.Onstar depends on what package you get. You get 1 yr to try it out. I have a Garmin too and it's better than the OnStar turn by turn navigation, but if I led someone my GPS, I have it as a backup, and it would be nice if you didn't have GPS, but not as nice as a built in GPS unit. This is something the other cars did better. The homelink (or whatever GM's version is) is cool. The OnStar is also cool. I initally thought I wouldnt renew it, but I check traffic, weather, etc. all the time and like the security of it, and being able to unlock my doors with it. I'll likely renew dropping the navigation feature.

4.The car is quiet because they used laminated glass up front and put insulation throughout the car. I wish they'd used laminated glass in back because the car would be as quiet as a Mercedes. This comes at a cost. The car is heavy and looses efficiency from it, but I don't care. I like it. I'm spoiled already. I get mad at how much noise the car does make because I'm so used to it being quiet. Any heavy wind days and the corresponding noise drives me nuts. Riding in other cars is an eye opener.

5.The LTZ instrument cluster is a halo effect of light around the dials. It looks cool, but not a reason to buy the LTZ, and I think in 2010 they're dropping this. There are other reasons to get an LTZ, if you're interested though. Consider some of the options as well like the power package (adds a A/C power jack in the back... pretty cool)

6. I love the seats. I think I might have liked the light colored leather better, but it's true that the faux suede is nice in hot or cold, and leather isn't always like this. It's held up good so far, but I've only had it since January. I have a 2LT and it has wood trim. I like it, but I think it's an option depeding on color, etc., and not all 2LTs are without wood tone trim.

For the radio, I had to play with it for almost an hour to get it to sound at least better than being in a tin can. It sounds pretty decent now that I have adjusted everything.

I do agree with you that the car is DEAD quiet. We got up to 90 the other day and it felt like nothing at all because its so quiet. I love it!

PeterH, there is a transmission update for both 6 speed autos that supposedly fixes the weird shift issues. It semi-fixed our issue.

I'm curious as to what you changed your settings to on the radio. Care to share?

I'm curious as to what you changed your settings to on the radio. Care to share?

Bass-1 click left
Mid- 3 clicks left
Tre-3 clicks right
Bal-3 clicks to the rear

When I say left or right I mean on the screen if that confuses you. Ive found that the rear speakers are FAR FAR better than the front ones so changing the balance had the biggest effect to me.

Funny. I did the same exact thing in December/January. I too have had a mix of imports and domestics (my last domestic also being an Escort) and I thought I'd written off American cars forever.

I eliminated the Camry right away because I've had issues with where Toyotas have gone. They've gotten worse in quality and design, and you pay for the name with an outdated reputation for quality.

I liked aspects of the Accord, but I didn't like the feel of the ride or steering, the noise and the price when you add options. I did like the performance, and in particulare for the Accord coupe.

For me it came down to the Altima (originally the coupe and then the practical side of me decided the 3.5SE Sedan), and I actually was set to buy that car over the Malibu before I gave the Chevy a fair shot. I still really like the Altima, and you get a little more HP and efficiency out of the engine. The problem with Nissan is again their pricing. If you want anything nice added to the car they charge too much. They're reliable, but I don't know that they're much more reliable than most modern cars. It'll probably be true that after 70,000 miles the Altima would still feel tighter than the Malibu will, but only time will tell, and so far reports suggest that the difference between the two is pretty tiny compared to how it used to be. The Altima also didn't match up as well in looks, performance, features, quietness, crash testing, etc. With the things that it did better being only slight, and the things the Malibu did better being pretty substantial, and the price being way better for the Malibu, it became a no brainer.

To get specific to your points:

1. No major mechanical problems. In fact the Malibu lead the pack for initial quality ratings. It may be too soon to tell, but people have put a lot of miles on some of their Malibus and nothing major. Yes, you will see the "I hate Chevy and here is why" posts on the internet and some will be about the 2008 and 2009 Malibus, but if you look for those from ANY manufacturer, you'll find them. Lemons exist with every brand, as does bad luck and stupid owners. You have to figure out what brand or model is having too many issues vs. not many. You wont find any with none at all, and for the price range, this car is competing very well with imports and domestics that cost a lot more.

Every model has kinks to work out and there have been some minor body issues on some of the Malibus, an issue with bluetooth on others, and relatively minor transmission issues on some as well. The Malibu has a great warranty and so far GM has been proactive in fixing these things when they pop up and pretty simple, painless fixes have people back on the road.

Personally, I wish the shift points on my transmission were slightly different, but not because they're wrong. It's just my preference. This can be changed. I love how the manual mode holds gears though. The bluetooth stopped working on my car, and that was fixed with a software update. The transmission was fine, but they checked/fixed that for free too just to be sure as some had issues with the wrong gear being shown vs. what it was actually in.

2. At first the mileage will suck. You need to break in your engine, learn the car and the car needs to learn you. This will get better. The engine has a lot of pep and a huge power band for acceleration at a wide range of RPM, which beat the competitors in my book. As such, if you drive the car hard and get on the gas a lot, it will perfom very well, but the efficiency will drop a lot. If you baby it and try to drive efficiently, you certainly can achieve it. I have a pretty decent mix of city and highway. I am on the highway for about 90% of my daily commute, but when not going to work or back I'm off of it quite a bit, so over a typical week I'm probably doing 60/40 highway/city, and sometimes I'm hard on the gas and sometimes not, but it averages out to about 24/25 mpg. This weekend I took a long road trip and now that it's warmer out (I saw less mpg on road trips in the dead of winter) I saw a nice efficient ride. I drove about 400 miles. I was able to stay on the cruise control for some of it, but with traffic jams and such I couldn't the whole time and half of the trip was on highways. They didn't have stops, but there was cross traffic and sometimes only 2 or 4 lanes. I still averaged 31 mpg on this trip. If I had been on a flat interstate, setting the cruise (I tried to go 65-75 as much as I could) and kicking back I could see getting 32 or 33mpg average. I filled up at about 2/3 of the trip for cheap gas, but I was on pace to get almost 500 miles on 1 tank. Normal driving at home I get 320-360 miles before I fill up, and don't let it get completely empty.

3.Onstar depends on what package you get. You get 1 yr to try it out. I have a Garmin too and it's better than the OnStar turn by turn navigation, but if I led someone my GPS, I have it as a backup, and it would be nice if you didn't have GPS, but not as nice as a built in GPS unit. This is something the other cars did better. The homelink (or whatever GM's version is) is cool. The OnStar is also cool. I initally thought I wouldnt renew it, but I check traffic, weather, etc. all the time and like the security of it, and being able to unlock my doors with it. I'll likely renew dropping the navigation feature.

4.The car is quiet because they used laminated glass up front and put insulation throughout the car. I wish they'd used laminated glass in back because the car would be as quiet as a Mercedes. This comes at a cost. The car is heavy and looses efficiency from it, but I don't care. I like it. I'm spoiled already. I get mad at how much noise the car does make because I'm so used to it being quiet. Any heavy wind days and the corresponding noise drives me nuts. Riding in other cars is an eye opener.

5.The LTZ instrument cluster is a halo effect of light around the dials. It looks cool, but not a reason to buy the LTZ, and I think in 2010 they're dropping this. There are other reasons to get an LTZ, if you're interested though. Consider some of the options as well like the power package (adds a A/C power jack in the back... pretty cool)

6. I love the seats. I think I might have liked the light colored leather better, but it's true that the faux suede is nice in hot or cold, and leather isn't always like this. It's held up good so far, but I've only had it since January. I have a 2LT and it has wood trim. I like it, but I think it's an option depeding on color, etc., and not all 2LTs are without wood tone trim.

Wow. You said a mouthful there, thanks! The Altima was nice but i could not get use to no shifts in the tranny. The cvt is a one speed and i like hearing the shifts. It also had a loud ride, louder than my 01 Sentra.

PeterH, there is a transmission update for both 6 speed autos that supposedly fixes the weird shift issues. It semi-fixed our issue.

Thanks for the update, will go bug the dealer when I get the oil change done.

Does the 2LT have illuminated cup holders? I know the front handles are illuminated but is that distracting. Are the rear handles illuminated too?

No,no,and no. On my 2LT anyway.

FWIW, my BMW is quite a bit quieter than my Malibu.

The door handles in front are lit and not distracting. The rear handles are not. There is a light in my 2LT that shines down into the cup holder and also not distracting.

I've been looking at the LTZ V6 Malibu, Accord V6, Camry SE V6 and Altima SE V6. Drove all and they are all very well built cars. The Malibu had the quitest ride, period. I don't know what Chevy did but Honda and the rest better follow! I've been lurking on here a while and everyone seems to like their Malibus. Complaints i had was the upgraded stereo. It did not sound good at all. I clunk my head on the front pillar when getting in and thats it. Its been many years since i've had a domestic car (88 Escort). That domestic car gave me many problems. I like the Malibu but do not want to get that feeling again that the other domestic car gave me. So i have some questions
1. Is there any mechanical problems that the Malibu's 3.6 have weather it be yours or what you've read elsewhere? I've searched and can not believe i get hardly no results. It seems that engine is in many GMs.
2. What are you V6 owners getting to a tank of gas?
3. How much is the OnStar service? I have a Garmin, so is it worth it?
4. What makes this car so quite? Wow.
5. What is the uplevel instrument cluster upgrade on the LTZ?
6. How are the grey colored suede/leather combo seats holding up?
Can't think of any more but i'm sure more will come. More than likely i'll get the LT2 V6 for the fact i don't like the wood trim. The aluminum looked nice and can't be had in the LTZ.


1) We have just over 40,000 Miles on our 08 LTZ and have had NO mechanical problems what-so-ever. I have been very impressed with the engine and trans. The only complaint I have is transmission seems to get confused about whether or not to downshift in some passing situations.

2) We get 24-25 mpg consistantly in mixed driving on 87 octane (20% city 80% highway). Last Sepetember we drove form San Antonio, TX to Tucson, AZ to the Grand Canyon and back to Texas. On that trip we got 28-29 mpg. This mileage is based on normal driving doing the speed limit + and using the cruise control. If you drove mileage minded 30+ mpg would be no problem.

3) The Onstar is IMO a personal choice you'll have to make and you'll get a full year to try it out. We down graded to the 'safe and sound' plan after our year was over. The Nav system is pretty good but we didn't use it enough to justify the price.

For the radio, I had to play with it for almost an hour to get it to sound at least better than being in a tin can. It sounds pretty decent now that I have adjusted everything.

I do agree with you that the car is DEAD quiet. We got up to 90 the other day and it felt like nothing at all because its so quiet. I love it!

PeterH, there is a transmission update for both 6 speed autos that supposedly fixes the weird shift issues. It semi-fixed our issue.

can you elaborate on the update? what issue does it fix/semi-fix? I sure hope to get rid of 6-4 shift on highway acceleration, 5th gear is there for a reason :)

It got rid of it for us for the most part. However, we have an Eco. Our main problem was that it was going into 5th with cruise on and then staying in it for WAY too long after a hill. Ours rarely did the 6-4 shift unless I was doing it manually or in auto mode and I slammed the pedal down to the floor.

At first we had some minor issues, first the iss and a bad purge solenoid, all fixed and have had no problems since. no car is perfect, But i have to say that this one has really grown on us. Just passed 15,000 and every time i get behind the wheel the V6 still impresses me with it's power range. Getting over 26 now on the highway and the interior still is as solid as the day i drove it off the lot. Really like this car!!!!

Dude just joined this forum, but thats not the point. Have had my 08 malibu LTZ for all 17,000 miles and its worth tha hype.
1. No mechanical problems as of yet more like errors from aftermarket parts, customizing this car is hard! Great warranty though.
2. On a tank of gas I'll get about 21 MPG average overall although I do step on it a bit.
3. Forget onstar forget garmin, go get yourself an lcd deck in place of the factory deck, navigation deck looks sick and plays dvd's lol. Plus the factory deck is weak so you need some amplification.
4. Quietness was a big step from the maxx version to the new ltz version at least with my experience. As explained above they had more material for the firewall than previous versions. Alot of noise also comes from the tires, so they insulated the wheel wells rather thick. But let me tell you that when you dynamat 1/2 the car it is solid and very quiet from outside noise. I can barely hear a train with windows up.
5.not sure about the cluster, probably gives you more to look at as far as gauges.
6. Have the black/burgundy interior. Leather wipes dont work so well, but I use a non greasy formula to keep them clean. I forgot the brand. Seats are looking they are new still.

It got rid of it for us for the most part. However, we have an Eco. Our main problem was that it was going into 5th with cruise on and then staying in it for WAY too long after a hill. Ours rarely did the 6-4 shift unless I was doing it manually or in auto mode and I slammed the pedal down to the floor.

I have almost the same car as you - but with build date 4/09. I also have found this situation with the trans, and it is somewhat irritating.

We have had the car for only 1,200 miles! I know it's early but we still really like it. Even though I have the 4 cyl. I really enjoy driving it. I have changed the oil, love the fact that the oil filter is accessed from above (much less messy).

What I don't like:

1. Visibility. It seems like I'm always afraid that I'm missing spots around me when I'm passing. The pillars are pretty big.
2. Low seat. I'm 6' tall and feel like I need to "fall" into the car. Once I'm in it's fine.

It's a great car. One other car to consider is also the Ford Fusion. It is a big roomier than the Malibu (1" wider I think), but very comparable (I think) with the Malibu.

For the Love of God!, if you haven't bought a Mali/GM/American car then PLZ don't. You will regret it, trust me... i learned that the hard way. (unless the Said GM car was made before 2000)

Sorry helio2, but I guess you can't be trusted. I still love my 08 Malibu, as I did my 04..

luckycat- I agree about the Fusion, especially the new refreshed model. It would've been a drive-off event for me if that car'd have been available back when I was shopping. Ford's done a nice job on it.

For the Love of God!, if you haven't bought a Mali/GM/American car then PLZ don't. You will regret it, trust me... i learned that the hard way. (unless the Said GM car was made before 2000)

You just lost all credibility. Saying that GM's from the 80's & 90's are better than what is offered today is just ignorant. I won't say anything in the last 10 years is without problems, but take a look at Buick, the Malibu, Cadillac, Corvette, etc. and you'll definitely see a huge improvement in innovation and quality.

Since you went there, don't buy a Toyota Tundra anytime soon. Chasis rusting through in a matter of years, engines failing, among other things wrong with their entire lineup. Let's not forget Honda, who's been having more issues lately. Do we even want to mention Mitsubishi or Mercedes?

It's really sad that there are ignorant people like yourself out there. You're part of the reason GM isn't doing so well. You have this one sided mindset that Domestic = BAD and Foreign = GOOD. There are good products on both sides, you just have to do your homework first.

It's a shame the latest GM efforts (Malibu, Lamda crossovers, bringing over the G8) really didn't help them avoid the situation they are in now.
Those all are definitely nice and competitive models.

You just lost all credibility. Saying that GM's from the 80's & 90's are better than what is offered today is just ignorant. I won't say anything in the last 10 years is without problems, but take a look at Buick, the Malibu, Cadillac, Corvette, etc. and you'll definitely see a huge improvement in innovation and quality.

Since you went there, don't buy a Toyota Tundra anytime soon. Chasis rusting through in a matter of years, engines failing, among other things wrong with their entire lineup. Let's not forget Honda, who's been having more issues lately. Do we even want to mention Mitsubishi or Mercedes?

It's really sad that there are ignorant people like yourself out there. You're part of the reason GM isn't doing so well. You have this one sided mindset that Domestic = BAD and Foreign = GOOD. There are good products on both sides, you just have to do your homework first.


To be fair GM, Ford and Chrysler did their part to cement that mindset for the majority of people. They are right to question it and fear American cars, as those same manufacturers haven't done enough, yet, to dig out of that hole, or at least make it known and be trustworthy. However, I do feel things have changed, and when making such an expensive purchase you should do your homework and inform yourself. If this is done, you will find that things have changed, and in some cases for quite a while now, and helio2 likely wouln't have such an opinion.

lucky, i've checked out the ford fusion forums and the fusion has had some very serious problems with engines ticking, oil leaks, interior noise and the best is the transmission coming out of park and rolling away on it's own. it wasn't even a choice when I considering a new car. Malibu is a way better car hands down.

For the Love of God!, if you haven't bought a Mali/GM/American car then PLZ don't. You will regret it, trust me... i learned that the hard way. (unless the Said GM car was made before 2000)

I do not agree with you at all. Gm makes some good cars. Not all are great but the malibus are. I hated mine when I first got it. It grew on me. Now I love it. It's reliable and comfortable. The only thing I would change on it is the ride height, suspension, and power. I am a fan of fast great handling cars. So when I got it I was disappointed. It was a present from my family when my fiance and I were in a really bad spot. I know from experience, there is no reason to make this car fast. Keep it a DD and get a performance car on the side.

Second, and I don't mean this negatively.... Most people who hate cars with that much passion are normally the ones who do not take car of their cars. I've seen it a million times.

There are 2 kinds of Vw owners. The ones who will always own them. And those who hate them. And it all comes down to the same result. Those who hate them are the ones who don't take care of them. The reality of it is, there is more to maintaining a car than just an oil change.

To be fair GM, Ford and Chrysler did their part to cement that mindset for the majority of people. They are right to question it and fear American cars, as those same manufacturers haven't done enough, yet, to dig out of that hole, or at least make it known and be trustworthy. However, I do feel things have changed, and when making such an expensive purchase you should do your homework and inform yourself. If this is done, you will find that things have changed, and in some cases for quite a while now, and helio2 likely wouln't have such an opinion.

Oh trust me, I'm well aware. I owned a '99 Grand Am for 8 years, and my wife had an Alero for 3. I'm well aware of how crappy their cars can be. That's why I bought the Mazda 3, which didn't give me a single problem for the 3yrs/20k miles I had her for.

I'm all about giving a company a 2nd or 3rd shot, but I will be more cautious.

I liked the Fusion as well but the antique looking radio font and HORRIBLE color killed the car for me. Im a big guy (6'6") and the room wasnt near as useable (if that is the right word) as in the Malibu.

Dont get me wrong. Its a great car for sure. Just wasnt the right one for us.

Dont get me wrong. Its a great car for sure. Just wasnt the right one for us.

I can respect that. It's like me and my friends S2000. I'm 6'2 and it's just not practical. Yeah it's fun to drive around, but to drive it in traffic and daily.... I'd rather not. It's a fun car, but not for me. He even has coil overs on his so I have an extra hard time getting out of it.

lucky, i've checked out the ford fusion forums and the fusion has had some very serious problems with engines ticking, oil leaks, interior noise and the best is the transmission coming out of park and rolling away on it's own. it wasn't even a choice when I considering a new car. Malibu is a way better car hands down.

Interesting I was not aware of that... thought I heard from various folks (including some GM engineers) that the Fusion is a quality car, of course I could be wrong! And in the end I got a Malibu :D

From what I read, Ford's also going to manufacturer more Fusions in order to try and capture GM & Chrysler customers. That probably doesn't bode well for resale values.

Only 1200 mi on my 09 but it is the most solid GM car I have ever owned, was actually tighter and quieter than the imports.Hopefully it stays that way. Chevy has a winner here, I just hope it' enough to save them.

I still love my Malibu. I have the 08 LTZ 3.6 v6 . Had it for a year now and I put all highway miles on it. I get the great MPG at usally 33.2mpg going around 65 to 70mph with the cruse control on. I still cant hear any outside noise unless the usally big trucks. My car was a great buy for me with the power and sporty look in and out trust me i still like and love my malibu.

I enjoy driving my Bu every day. I bought it used from carmax Sept, last year. I consider myself lucky as I have not had any single problem with it since then, compare to some bad luck people had on their brand new Bu's.
This is my first American and Chevy car. I have owned Toyota and Honda. Last year, I started shopping for a replacement in March. After tested Camry, Accord and the Bu, I was sold to the Bu for its quietness and luxury look. I got some budget issue at that time when trying to get a brand new: I set out a 21K paid-off limit but all of my local dealers refused to make lower than 22K on the LT 2 model I like. I was thinking to pull the trigger on a brand new Accord LX for 19K. Then I saw CarMax had the car for 19K with 1K miles on it. I test drove it and bought it on the same day.

Since then, the price has been down and up but I never regret about that decision. Some days, I found myself sneaking down to the garage, get on my Bu and drive around town for a break. I really enjoyed it

I still love my Malibu. I have the 08 LTZ 3.6 v6 . Had it for a year now and I put all highway miles on it. I get the great MPG at usally 33.2mpg going around 65 to 70mph with the cruse control on. I still cant hear any outside noise unless the usally big trucks. My car was a great buy for me with the power and sporty look in and out trust me i still like and love my malibu.
X2, love my 08 LTZ :D

X3, the wife's '08 'Bu is everything she wanted in a car and serves extremely well. She loves the Red Jewel Tintcoat.

I've been looking at the LTZ V6 Malibu, Accord V6, Camry SE V6 and Altima SE V6. Drove all and they are all very well built cars. The Malibu had the quitest ride, period. I don't know what Chevy did but Honda and the rest better follow! I've been lurking on here a while and everyone seems to like their Malibus.

LOVE IT!!!!!!!!!! I have the four cylinder, 6 speed automatic transmission, and it really goes! Nice and quiet, good acceleration, awesome setup, and you can get all the features of the best luxury car for a fraction of the price (got just about everything but Blue Tooth :( My aunt has a Cadi and said if there had been a new Malibu then, she would've seriously considered it. I didn't like the wood trim either, but if you haven't seen it, ask to check out a Cocoa-Cashmere interior, it actually looks good with the dark brown and cream color combo (and I ordinarily HATE fake wood). Believe it or not, but the Malibu gets some looks too! Can't say enough good about it (but then again, I bought it last week, so I'm still honeymooning!)

I haven't even made the first payment on my Malibu yet and so far I'm loving it.

I've driven Hondas in the past and always thought the ride was rough and noisy. I drove
an '09 Camry and couldn't stand the cramped feeling and no head room. I also didnt like bumping my head on the driver's side handle above the window every time I turned my head to look for traffic at intersections.

I have to say, everything I read about the Malibu for the year preceeding my purchase was pretty much on target. Its a comfortable ride, its quiet, and it is fun to drive. I knew I was doing something right when I overheard a couple teenage boys admiring my car, saying that is the car they'd like to have. It's considered a family sedan but it has a sporty look that does draw some attention. It's been great to drive, whether I'm out for a casual joy ride on some back roads, or whether I'm pushing it to 90 mph on the highway (which it did with ease).

By the way, my 2LT with ebony interior does have the wood strip trimming the dashboard. So far everybody that's seen it has said they like the wood trim. There isn't a lot of wood trim but it is just enough to break up the all black dash and add a little personality.

Do I still like my Malibu?

Sure.

Do I still want an '08/'09?

Yes.

Hang in there Fenwick ;) :D

I want to lick/molest my Malibu right now but it's been raining.

TMoney, thanks for that comment. Now I'm looking at my Malibu a whole different way!

When IS this rain going away?

Ugh. Glad the rain has moved on from here now. We've been dry for a few days now, with several more dry days in the pipeline, if all the forecasts can be trusted.

But back to the car. Now that I've started driving without cruise more often, over the speed limit a bit, more on twisty roads, etc., I love it even more. It's probably the most enjoyable vehicle I've ever owned to drive- lots of power, great handling, terrific ride. I'm enjoring it so much that while I'm driving I completely forget about issues with the shallow trunk with narrow opening and minor issues (soon to be handled by the dealership under warranty), or those 'problems' suddenly don't seem to amount to a hill of beans compared to what the car gives back when behind the wheel.

The styling isn't getting stale either- SHARP vehicle in parking lots, whether a base model or an LTZ!

Do you still like your Malibu?

Yes, a lot!

For the Love of God!, if you haven't bought a Mali/GM/American car then PLZ don't. You will regret it, trust me... i learned that the hard way. (unless the Said GM car was made before 2000)

Sorry but I cannot under any circumstance agree with you. I had a 2002 Olds the served me well for over 100K miles and a '03 Suburban which I still have and does great. My '10 Malibu is a wonderful car and I plan to run it up to well over 100K miles. By then I'll grow tired of it and get something else. Ok, the Saturn sucks, but 3 out of 4 ain't bad.

You can love your Toyotas, but remember, they never wanted to admit they had accelerator problems, along with all the other quality issues they are having but want to cover up. Same with Hondas and Nissans. They are having a few quality issues too, but you won't want to mention those will you.

No, traded my 04 Malibu Z body with 40K miles, started to fall apart.

For the radio, I had to play with it for almost an hour to get it to sound at least better than being in a tin can. It sounds pretty decent now that I have adjusted everything.

I do agree with you that the car is DEAD quiet. We got up to 90 the other day and it felt like nothing at all because its so quiet. I love it!

PeterH, there is a transmission update for both 6 speed autos that supposedly fixes the weird shift issues. It semi-fixed our issue.

I think the stereo in our 09 sounds great! Maybe you guys are used to higher quality sound than I am.