[Yefeng]

Im curious about what you guys dont like about your car, Since I've owned this car I had almost no problems whatsoever and im satisfied however there are some things that made me disappointed about this car and im curious about what you guys dont like about this car

My list of complaints for the 08 Malibu would be
No rear armrest
No Navigation Option
Interior material (door panel, glove compartment, dash) looks and feels cheap
non color matched bumpers
Tail lights look cheap and scratch very easily
Retarded Bolt pattern on the wheels

Those are my main complaints about the car, but besides that I really enjoy this car. Just wish that those complaints were non existant then I would love this car even more.....

 

[ucantcme]

If I kept the car stock the way it was when I bought it - I'd prolly have no "dislikes" but here we go:

1) Too many vibrations...with subwoofers in the car, the inside of the car rattles like crazy, especially the rear view mirror. If I want to have loud music, say good bye to the rear view mirror!

Well I thought I'd have more, but I guess I don't. Wonderful car, I love it!

 

[Slide81]

My biggest complaints about my 03 Malibu...

#1 Lack of power...
#2 Lack of manual trans for the V6 [I know it's swappable, but I lack time/room/money/tools]
#3 Lack of aftermarket performance parts.
#4 Squeaking seats [dunno if it's play or loose bolts, going to look into it shortly]
#5 Weak brake system all around.
#6 Owing $8k on a car that's 7 years old and has 62k on the odo >.> {My fault, I know -.-]

 

[KURLY]

My complaint is that there's only one key lock on the car outside of the ign. I would like to a least be able to lock the glove box. I.m probably the only one that would also like a trunk key lock.

 

[closer9]

Hmmm... Aside from the service issues, which two of the three are fixed...

1. Steering wheel and controls SUCK. I usually have to take my hand off the wheel to use the controls which defeats the purpose. I loved the wheel in my Avalanche which was the same as the previous body style Malibu.
2. You can't clean the back window behind the brake light, and the sides where the plastic "package tray"/back dash curves up.
3. Plastic wheel covers.
4. Small trunk opening.
5. Cup holders in the doors. Seriously, does anyone use this for anything other than something to catch your foot on?

Wow, I really sound like a nag, don't I? I really like this car. It's very smooth, quiet and plenty of power... and great economy for a V6... I've never cared for 4 doors, but I'm changing my mind on that. The things above are nothing I can't live with...

 

[mrnelson]

I have found a few things:
1. The back window is hard to clean in general; I keep hitting my head on the glass... smudging it, cussing, and cleaning it again.
2. The lack of power ports in the front.
3. My turn signal doesn't like to cancel on soft left-handed turns.
4. No factory projector headlights.

Other than that, I absolutely love my Malibu.

 

[Red LTZ]

I love my Malibu so far. I would love it even more if:

1. the 3.6 V6 was available with Manual Transmision (I almost bought the Altima for this)
2. the steering wheel control buttons could be used without looking at them
3. the trunk opening came closer to matching the size of the trunk.
4 the wires going to the center rear view mirror hadn't come from the factory wrapped in electric tape.... I mean WTF you couldn't come up with some kind of shrink wrap or flexible conduit?????
5. it could wash itself

I know I am being picky about the last two, but I really love my car.

 

[catfang]

hmm, I'm probably in the minority here, but I'm not a big fan of the 6spd auto...its fine and very smooth when accelerating but in slow traffic its clunky and feels like its "loose"...hunts around alot...try jumping into an open spot in slow freeway traffic and there is a HUGE delay in the response...finally the paddle shifters are useless...there is at least a second of delay between hitting the up or downshift button and the trans actually shifting.

But I do love the car.

 

[Malo83]

No problems here i'm probably the only one but I can't find anything wrong with my LTZ

 

[Marshmellow_Malibu]

1. No Factory Projectors

And thats pretty much it =D i guess i can just stick some HIDs in my headlamps and atleast pretend like i have projectors

 

[86lxjunker]

hmm, I'm probably in the minority here, but I'm not a big fan of the 6spd auto...its fine and very smooth when accelerating but in slow traffic its clunky and feels like its "loose"...hunts around alot...try jumping into an open spot in slow freeway traffic and there is a HUGE delay in the response...finally the paddle shifters are useless...there is at least a second of delay between hitting the up or downshift button and the trans actually shifting.

But I do love the car.

100% agree - it almost feels like the torque converter is too loose....as for the paddles - I have become acustomed to the 'second' delay - so I hit the paddles a 'second' before I really want the trans to shift.

As for the problems - there was another thread just like this and my major complaint then and still now - is the dumb piece of plastic that sticks out from the pillar - I hit my hip on every time I get into the car !!!!

Also - the brakes are pathetic....next time you are washing your car - take good look to see how much room there really is between the rim and the brake rotors....there is TONs of room - they could have put on a set of 1" bigger Rotors and calipers to assist with the braking with this car.

 

[closer9]

I drove the 3.6 6-spd, and didn't seem to mind the shifting, but the paddle shifters were cheesy and annoying. I was so glad to find my 3.5 4-spd...

 

[Slide81]

Also - the brakes are pathetic....next time you are washing your car - take good look to see how much room there really is between the rim and the brake rotors....there is TONs of room - they could have put on a set of 1" bigger Rotors and calipers to assist with the braking with this car.

4 wheels disc + up sized rotors for the older Malibu's would've been nice. There's tons of room on my 03 and it's only running 15" wheels!

 

[JDouglee]

3. the trunk opening came closer to matching the size of the trunk.

+1 on that one.

 

[engineer25]

How about the fact that you have to take the whole front bumper just to change a light bulb.

 

[TVIDboo]

From Closer9:

2. You can't clean the back window behind the brake light...

5. Cup holders in the doors...

From Red LTZ:

4. The wires going to the center rear view mirror hadn't come from the factory wrapped in electric tape....

For me, you guys hit it on the button with those...
There are dirty water spots behind the rear window brake light that I can't clean (how they got there is beyond me!!), and on my LTZ the electrical tape at the harness behind the rear view mirror already melted and separated from the wires!

 

[batbu]

1. Steering wheel sits to low for me, when I turn my hands hit my knees. The wheel is on the highest level also.
2. When I close my doors, they sound so cheap. I don't know if this is just me or everyone.
3. I hate the fact that the chevy bowties are bolted on. (personal preference)

 

[Red LTZ]

How about the fact that you have to take the whole front bumper just to change a light bulb.

Say it ain't so....Say it ain't so......Please

 

[redneck70]

Say it ain't so....Say it ain't so......Please

I'm with you there, I want the engineer at GM to look me straight in the eye and tell me that there was no other way to design the front of the car so that when you want to change a headlight you have to take the whole bumper cover off. I mean seriously $200-$300 worth of labor for a $8 headlight bulb. I'm sure they could make a access area under the hood that you could get your hand in so you could just reach in and change the bulb.

This isn't a Malibu related problem either, I looked at getting a Traverse before I got my Malibu and it has the same problem, and I'm sure there are others.

Other than that, and that's more of a down the road kind of gripe, I don't have any complaints.

 

[bandit]

My "complaints" are truly minor. This is a terrific car.

For one thing, the turn signals are too quiet. When you leave one on accidently, you really can't hear it clicking.

I agree the steering wheel controls could be better designed to be pressed without looking. The wheel buttons are all too similar. I end up just using the center console.

A/C controls: I wish they reversed the -0- (off) and the AUTO control for the A/C. All the way counter-clockwise should be OFF. Instead, it's AUTO and to turn it OFF you need to turn to the the first detent stop on the way clockwise. A little annoying. I guess they expect you to leave it on Auto all the time, but I enjoy turning it off and opening the windows when the weather allows. Also wish they had a simple hot/cold bypass for alternative manual control. The temperature-based climate control does random things and I'd rather be able to control the exact level of coldness. Right now you can only control fan speed and vents (LTZ).

I wish visibility were a little better. The A pillars take out a lot of the field of vision and on a curve I sometimes have to lean to see around them. I also find it hard to see out the back when in reverse. That's partly a design issue -- the car has small windows for a streamlined look. And lots of cars now have a thick A pillar to get better crash ratings.