I just crossed 70,000 miles on the Malibu and all is well. The car is still very solid feeling. I've projected that it will hit 200k mid 2014. Do you think 200K with no major problems is reasonable? I'm more worried about the transmission and AC then anything else. I've seen people beat the hell out of poorly maintained GM engines and still get 200k.

That should be:
a set of plugs
2 more sets of tires
2 more bake jobs
2 more transmission services
6 more air filters
26 more oil changes

Off the top of my head, I can think of:

Coolant drain and refill
Serpentine belt
Wheel alignment (with struts and front-end suspension wear items as necessary)
Catalytic converter(s)
Various sensors as necessary
Optional fluid changes (brake, and power steering if you have it)

With proper maintenance 200,000 is no big deal. Have the trans serviced. It will last much longer that way. GM transmissions are much better than they were in the past. A friend of mine has chevy Colorados and 1500 Silverados for his business. He is careful to do maintenance on them. They are driven by employees so thats not good for them. He has a few with over 300,000 with only 1 needing a trans. He changes the oil every 5000 and has the tranys serviced every third oil change. Several others have over 200,000. No major engine work on any of them.

With proper maintenance 200,000 is no big deal. Have the trans serviced. It will last much longer that way. GM transmissions are much better than they were in the past. A friend of mine has chevy Colorados and 1500 Silverados for his business. He is careful to do maintenance on them. They are driven by employees so thats not good for them. He has a few with over 300,000 with only 1 needing a trans. He changes the oil every 5000 and has the tranys serviced every third oil change. Several others have over 200,000. No major engine work on any of them.

Here's hoping it's better than our 2000 Chevy Venture. The tranny completely failed at 24,000 miles, while still under warranty.

At 65,000, the tranny now has a sticking solenoid (common problem), and it's going to cost $770 to fix.

I haven't bothered to replace the fluid since it was completely flushed when the tranny was rebuilt.

This is my wife's soccer mom car, so it's not like it gets a lot of abuse.

I also have to replace the leaking steering rack, had the intake manifold problem fixed (common problem), and had the rear wheel bearings replaced at 55K. The 3.4 engine's been rock solid, but it's rediculous how soon some of the other components are failing. Very disappointing.

I'd trade it in, but the trade in values are horrendous on a domestic 10 year old minivan.

I had a '98 Malibu back in the day. I put 140,000 on it. All it needed was a alternator and water pump.

I had a '98 Malibu back in the day. I put 140,000 on it. All it needed was a alternator and water pump.

Yes, we had a similar experience with our 2003 Malibu - one of the most problem free cars I've ever owned. Aside from rotors, the only repair was a $15 part for the ventilation fan. At 6 years, 50K, I sold it to a family member and bought an '09 Malibu.

You're lucky with a '98 since you didn't have the intake manifold problem. That afflicted many Malibu's of that vintage (unless you had the 2.4 engine).

I'm still smarting on the Venture since that has proven to be such a disappointment in comparison.

Yes, we had a similar experience with our 2003 Malibu - one of the most problem free cars I've ever owned. Aside from rotors, the only repair was a $15 part for the ventilation fan. At 6 years, 50K, I sold it to a family member and bought an '09 Malibu.

You're lucky with a '98 since you didn't have the intake manifold problem. That afflicted many Malibu's of that vintage (unless you had the 2.4 engine).

I'm still smarting on the Venture since that has proven to be such a disappointment in comparison.

I had the 3.1. But I guess I got lucky. Car was a station car for when I used to work in NYC. But it never let me down. Amazing how much the Malibu has changed....so much more upscale.

i had a 1999 that hit 195000 before trading in for my current malibu.
Some issues were brake lines rotted out and all had to be replaced, once you fix one pressure forces through in another location etc.
Alternator died, this happened really suddenly and was the first major problem after about 4.5 years and 145000 miles
the last few years i had several brake issues that couldn't be fixed permanently the last which i didnt fix was a leaking master cylinder, the cost to repair was more than it was worth so i drove it until i could trade it in.
minor maintenance helps keep em going