2008 Chevrolet Malibu V6

[08MalibuChris]

Greetings,

My name is Chris. I bought a brand new 2008 Chevrolet Malibu 2LT 6 Cyl yesterday. It is silver with black inside.

I have been a long time Honda owner (4 of them) and recently decided to buy a larger car. I test drove several cars and decided on the Malibu. I closed my deal around 6PM EST yesterday (Saturday 4.19.08)

Today I was driving home after picking up a few things from Safeway and suddenly the car started making horrible noises. It sounded like something slapping and flying around in the engine bay.

I hit the OnStar button and they run a diagnostic. It shows nothing is wrong. The helpful representative sends road side assistance. The flat bed arrives and they guy looks at my car. He says it looks like my belt broke and was hitting the engine (reason for the noise)

He towed the car to the dealership where I bought it from. They are closed on Sundays not I have to go tomorrow morning before work.

Does any have any suggestion on what I should do? What might have happened? The car has less that 100 miles on it.

I am scared I have a lemon. I was nervous switching to Gm for reliability reasons and the first one a buy has problems not even 24 hours later!

[FenwickHockey65]

First of all, welcome to GMi. I applaud your choice in a car, and I appreciate your choice to switch to GM.
If your belt broke, that's not a GM issue. It's more of a freak accident, belts can break for any number of reasons. Right now, that sounds like what the problem is. I'd take it to your dealer and have them look at it, it'll still be covered under warranty. They'll replace the belt for you.
Don't believe what Consumer Reports and the media tells you. GM has great reliability as long as you properly maintain them. It's just unfortunate that a few people have lemons and some people are too lazy to properly maintain their cars and get mad at the manufacturer when their lack of maintenance leads to their car breaking down, leading to a bunch of these people complaining about GM's quality. They've had problems in the past, true, but for the most part, they've been resolved.
Anyways, I hope that this truly is just a freak accident and your Malibu isn't a lemon. They're good cars, and I wish you the best.

[08MalibuChris]

Thank you. I appreciate the response I hope my car is not a lemon. I love the Malibu. I do not want to get stuck with an Accord. I did not like the test drive.

Since the car is only a day old. Should I ask the dealer for a different car?

Does anyone have any ideas why the belt would brake so fast?

[nsap]

I wouldn't worry about it. Ask the dealership why the belt broke, if it was simply a freak thing...so what. Belts break at times, regardless of how long they have been used. It was likely a defective belt and got through the system.

[FenwickHockey65]

Originally Posted by 08MalibuChris

Thank you. I appreciate the response I hope my car is not a lemon. I love the Malibu. I do not want to get stuck with an Accord. I did not like the test drive.

Since the car is only a day old. Should I ask the dealer for a different car?

Does anyone have any ideas why the belt would brake so fast?

Hahah, you could ask for a new Malibu, but I highly doubt they'd oblige.
I find the accord very unappealing myself. Quite boring compared to the Malibu.
Belts are very fickle things. I've had them break just because it was too hot or too cold. It may have been sitting in a parts bin for too long or something.

[HoosierRon]

Originally Posted by FenwickHockey65

If your belt broke, that's not a GM issue.

Originally Posted by nsap

Ask the dealership why the belt broke, if it was simply a freak thing...so what. Belts break at times, regardless of how long they have been used. It was likely a defective belt and got through the system.

If it was a belt on a GM car, it is a GM issue. If GM is putting defective belts on its cars, a lot of people should be worried. I really hope that GM says something more than "s*** happens". I hope it figures out why it happened. Did a supplier send out a bad batch? Did a GM employee getting ready to strike slice the belt? Are the belts getting mounted too tightly?

How disappointing.

[08MalibuChris]

I hope they fix it and I have no more problems. I am too busy to deal with a troublesome car.

[FenwickHockey65]

Originally Posted by 08MalibuChris

I hope they fix it and I have no more problems. I am too busy to deal with a troublesome car.

Well...I'll trade you for my '07 Malibu if the '08 is too much trouble...

[member12]

I'm sure they'll fix it.

Obviously you should show your concern. A day old car with a belt is NOT ACCEPTABLE under any circumstances. Not for Chevy, not for Honda, and not even for Toyota.

Let us know how it turns out.

[FenwickHockey65]

Originally Posted by HoosierRon

If it was a belt on a GM car, it is a GM issue. If GM is putting defective belts on its cars, a lot of people should be worried. I really hope that GM says something more than "s*** happens". I hope it figures out why it happened. Did a supplier send out a bad batch? Did a GM employee getting ready to strike slice the belt? Are the belts getting mounted too tightly?

How disappointing.

Well, we haven't seen anything about it. This is the first time I've heard of a belt snapping that easily. Who knows, maybe the belt itself was just a lemon, maybe he's having bad luck. Doesn't mean that all the belts will be bad.

[giagastormer]

Should have bought an Accord.

Happy GM ownership to ya.

[08MalibuChris]

Originally Posted by giagastormer

Should have bought an Accord.

Happy GM ownership to ya.

This whole situation is very concerning to me. I thought GM was working on its quality.

I am heading to the dealership first thing in the AM. Trust me I am going to be asking for some answers. I will keep everyone updated.

Anything like this happen to anyone with the 3.6L V6 in any other Gm car?

[KillerMRK]

From what I've heard, the 3.6 has been a pretty good engine. It was probably just a freak accident. I hope it doesn't give you any more trouble, because they're wonderful cars.

[01sunfire01]

you think gm has proplem? tell that to my girlfriend and her pos acura CL 3.0 the tranny blew out on her last year 2500 to get a rebuilt. Now the power steering shaft is leaking and can die any time over 1000 to fix that. we are done puting money into the junk of a car and finally takeing it to carmax i dont care if they give my 1 cent for it i want it gone. same thing goes for my aunts Accord tranny blew out on that. yea honda makes great cars!

you had a freak thing happen to it. i have 4 GM cars in my family one with over 250k and the rest over 16k none of them had proplems

[OneMeanChevy]

Originally Posted by 08MalibuChris

Greetings,
I am scared I have a lemon. I was nervous switching to Gm for reliability reasons and the first one a buy has problems not even 24 hours later!

Find Out why it broke. You could have pick something up off the road that bounce up into the engine bay and got between the belt and the pulleys and broke the belt.

I was changing my Air Filter a Month ago and found something in my Air Cleaner that I have never seen in it before. I expect to see Bugs in my Air Cleaner but a Cigarette butt . I still can't figure out how in the world It got in there. There is NO direct route to the Air Intake in the front of my OLDS. That Cigarette butt had to do some serious bouncing around to get in their.