car has lots of room and great mileage

GM knew of transmission problems - had issued notice to dealers but had not yet done a recall

Purchased car 6/22/07 with 23k miles. I have owned it for 59 days of which it has spent 8 days (and counting) in the shop for major repairs. It has had security system replaced and is currently in the shop to rebuild the transmission. Dealer, Quirk Chevy - Portland, ME, first offered to replace the vehicle for something comparable. They then decided to replace but NOT at full price I paid.

Style,roominess,quiet interior

Front end wobble, high depreciation,

2006 malibu ls 4 cylinder had shake in the front end when accelerating from rest..Gives the feeling as if the front tires are wobbling and makes the car feel unstable on the road. I tested another similar vehicle and noticed the same. GM considers this normal since another malibu off the lot did the same. Perhaps there is an inherent problem in all the 4 cylinder malibus but GM would have to accept this before they can look at resolving or until it causes an accident for someone...Other than this, I like the car and have had only minor problems covered by warranty.

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Ford contour..Drove much nicer in terms of handling and stability.

Steering/handling
Standard V6 Engine.
Comfortable Interior/bucket seats
easily navigable center console display
roomy.
design that is classic and wont die with the trends.
Courtesy fade lights.
automatic sensor headlights
large trunk with lighting.

bumpy ride.
paint job.
minor costs that add up.
lack of power features
Breaks wear out easily
Dashboard indicators go off without anything wrong.
gas filter needs to be replaced often
standard tires wear easily.

overall this car has been nothing but a problem. one thing after another seems to fall apart. Brought the car with a newly replaced engine with less than 40,000 miles on it... First thing I noticed, the horn didn't work! and because of that the car failed inspection. 400 dollars down the drain to replace a tiny clip. The cars gas filter needed to be replaced within two weeks of me owning the car, which makes accelerating the most annoying thing. Many of the interior features which seem sugar coated nice fell apart so quickly. the center console is on its last leg... the glove compartment came broken. (i assumed it was the work of the previous owner.) The car rattles easily and the door panel switches pop out constantly because of how much the car shakes. Then, this evening on my way to work. the check engine light pops on. and I was late to work because I had to stop and see what was wrong. the gas cap wasnt screwed on all the way and I had to pay 40 dollars just to reset the dash light. not to mention the doors creak... the seatbelts are dug so far into the seat. the paint chips easily. and the cup holders are so shallow that drinks spill everywhere. you're better off holding your morning coffee. Not so great features for a car that comes with many standard features and then some. and it sucks gas. which isnt good when gas is 2.78 a gallon for regular.

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2000 Mazda Protege
2000 Oldsmobile Intrigue
2000 VW New Jetta

Comfertable, Looks, Good on gas

explained in review

We bought a 2007 Malibu and since day one the front shakes when you take off. When I took it to the dealer to get repaired they found that thier other 2007 Malibu was doing the same thing. They can't figure out what is causing it, they think it's a design flaw but unless there are "so many complaints" it won't be brought to Chevy's attention.
Me and my husband both have a hard time keeping the car straight, we feel like we are driving drunk!
Also it takes a long time for the heater to get warm. The exhaust fumes are strong.
Other than that we have had no other problems in the 4 months we've had it, beeing a Chevy I'm just waiting for something else to go wrong!

Had no problems real problems till 76,000 miles. Pretty reliable car.

Intake gasket

The intake gasket will definatly need to be replaced. If you have coolant leaking and you don't know where is going take it in right away because if you don't it will lead to the head gasket needing to be replaced.
It happened to me at 76,000 miles and $1,300 later. I was told this is such a common problem with the Malibu that they have made a better intake gasket and this auto shop always has all the parts on hand.
You know it's a problem when the mechanics can make this repair blindfolded.

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2002 Malibu
1989 Escort
1997 Tornodo

decent acceleration, not much else

Poor quality of just about everything on the car.

What a crappy car. Got it new 6/03. Only has 38,000 miles on it, but a lot of annoying crap has gone wrong. I'm just going to list problems as they come to mind...Right front wheel bearing went bad at 7,000 miles. Replaced under warranty, then went bad again at 22,000. Horn randomly starts blaring when not being touched in hot weather. Engine belt has gone bad and become noisy and was replaced twice. CD player stopped working at 14,000 miles. New cd player now fails to eject cd's properly. Driver door armrest has broken through already. Interior panels creak and rattle. Flip up center console's hinges are hanging by a thread. Thermostat just went bad a month ago causing my car to overheat and leaving my stranded. Stock tires were worn out after 25,000 miles. Gas pedal was sticking in hot weather. Paint is showing tiny pinhole rust spots - we don't use road salt here when it snows so I don't know why this is. Fan speeds 1 and 2 no longer seem to exist either. Headlights somehow become misaligned every other week. Last time I tried adjusting them, the stupid plastic adjuster I was turning broke off. Why they made the one adjuster out of metal and the other plastic is beyond me. I do not drive my car hard or abuse it. I keep it very clean and try to treat it with care but things keep breaking which shouldn't. All these dumb things add up and what it amounts to is GM losing me as a customer for life. Next time I'm buying an Acura.

None

Horrible gas mileage.. Money sucking car!!

This care is the biggest piece of crap you can find...It worked great for a year, but this last year has been horrible. I have put over $1000 into just this last SUMMER!! I have had problems with a water pump leak, anti-freeze, and the problems still aren't fixed!!

strong V6

front end, everything electrical

Purchased car w/ 24k on it. Impressive power from the V6, however there are A LOT of dead spots during acceleration. Not a very comfortable car for long trips. Car now has 40k on it... has been brought in to have entire dash cluster replaced, CD player replaced, car was draining battery due to electrical issues, starter sticks, air leak in the rear passenger side door, weak front end, loose headlights like every other GM vehicle, not happy w/ this car!

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2002 Chevrolet Impala

Gas mileage great and lots of room in both front and back. Rode over 2000 miles in the back seat in 2 days and was surprisingly comfortable.

Front seats sit low. Low trade-in value, that's okay since I'll just keep it 2 more years!

After 3 years and 54K miles, only 1 warranty repair - CD's would not eject.
Needed brakes with rotors at 48K. Otherwise, very good car. I have owned lots of new cars to compare it with.

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2002 Grand AM, 1997 Chrysler Sebring

AUTOMATIC START-UP,XM SATTELLITE RADIO, V6 ENGINE, SPACIOUS, OPERATE RADIO FROM STERRING WHEEL

NO LOCK ON GLOVE COMPARTMENT

I PURCHASED MY VEHICLE BRAND NEW AND I HAVE NO PROBLEMS, VEHICLE IS VERY RELIABLE, FEATUES ARE EXCELLENT, SPACIOUS AND I JUST LOVE MY CAR

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2005 MALIBU LS