Frustrated new 08' Malibu LTZ V6 owner

[AMERICA 123]

Soooo...... where's the simple, easy to use, incredibly useful On Star feedback ??????

At about mile 30, after the problem became 'more noticeable' that would've been the easy move - on what was left of a 1400 mile trip.

[fp115]

Just press the blue star and tell them your problem and they will do it all for you and in some cases call in an engineer on the phone.

[ChevyRules]

Originally Posted by Rob J

What I mean by missing is, it idles rough, as in a cylinder or two may not always seem to fire. It's not a smooth consistent idle. It will miss fire, which results in vibration you feel through the car. Think back to the old days if a spark plug was not gaped properly, the engine would misfire. I also feel this misfire, vibration while coasting in gear, and on light normal acceleration.

Rob.

Ah, so it doesn't sound like idle walk. I second the recommendation of calling Onstar and taking it in.

[SHOWMAN]

Originally Posted by roteague

Don't take his post personally or even seriously, he was being satirical at your expense.

yeh i see where he's coming from though. He boss just bruch it off and take the other serious comments to heart

[caddycruiser]

Onstar won't help. No lights or errors seem triggered, it's just an undesirable but common setup that "runs like that". Shouldn't, but it's not enough to trigger an error or anything remote diagnostics would pick up.

Being that my barely driven '08 G6 with the completely different 3.5L is doing the same things, it definitely feels amiss...but not enough to cause any errors. Just that it's "that way". Well, until I have it checked out tomorrow.

Again, being that this was a common thing with past and few present Aura's and such as well, but not many if any current Malibu and other drivers seem to be reporting it...take it in and have the dealer compare to another on the lot if there's any question.

[zinner]

Put your VIN into here and see if their any updates available.

http://tis2web.service.gm.com/tis2web

[DeliveryDave]

I had a problem with my Silverado a 1500 miles where it acted like bad gas, bucking and hesitation, rough idle but it didn't do it all the time. Of course when I took it in it worked fine so I said if they needed to do a parts run or something I would give them permission for a longer test drive. They hooked up the computer and got 12 miles up the road and died on them but the computer didn't show anything. To make a long story longer the found a broken plug on the ICM that when I was making proper connection it was fine but it would wiggle too much. Fortunately for me the plastic tab completely broke on the tech.

[Rob J]

Update. First, Thanks to those who have actually offered help. To the others, you should be ashamed of yourself. I've been a member of ffcobra.com forum for almost 4 years with over 4,000 post, and have built my own Shelby Cobra Replica. Never in those almost 4 years have I ever been insulted by anyone on that forum. You people who feel the need to provoke, have issues. My rant is done.

Now, back to my issue at hand for those that care.

I've taken the car to the dealer twice, and have had no luck. They say it is normal, it's not droping any codes, and there is nothing more we can do. I'm not buying it, the normal part that is. Even my wife, it's her car, and I've never informed her of the issue, has brought it to my attention. I never told her of this issue, as I wanted to see if she would notice it on her own. Mind you, my wife knows zilch about cars, but has been complaining of the same issues shortly after we got the car. It's gotten to the point where I don't even want to drive the car anymore. Believe me, I want to like this car, because if it weren't for this issue, I would be extremely happy with it. I like alot of things about the car, but these herky jerky driving dynamics are killing me, and her. I don't know what else to do.

BTW, I test drove another Malibu V6 LTZ at a different dealer, and it did not exhibit these issues. I'm at a loss here as to what to do. I'm ready to trade it in, and take a loss on it, and believe me, that's not what I want.

[osv_alero]

Originally Posted by Rob J

Update. First, Thanks to those who have actually offered help. To the others, you should be ashamed of yourself. I've been a member of ffcobra.com forum for almost 4 years with over 4,000 post, and have built my own Shelby Cobra Replica. Never in those almost 4 years have I ever been insulted by anyone on that forum. You people who feel the need to provoke, have issues. My rant is done.

Now, back to my issue at hand for those that care.

I've taken the car to the dealer twice, and have had no luck. They say it is normal, it's not droping any codes, and there is nothing more we can do. I'm not buying it, the normal part that is. Even my wife, it's her car, and I've never informed her of the issue, has brought it to my attention. I never told her of this issue, as I wanted to see if she would notice it on her own. Mind you, my wife knows zilch about cars, but has been complaining of the same issues shortly after we got the car. It's gotten to the point where I don't even want to drive the car anymore. Believe me, I want to like this car, because if it weren't for this issue, I would be extremely happy with it. I like alot of things about the car, but these herky jerky driving dynamics are killing me, and her. I don't know what else to do.

BTW, I test drove another Malibu V6 LTZ at a different dealer, and it did not exhibit these issues. I'm at a loss here as to what to do. I'm ready to trade it in, and take a loss on it, and believe me, that's not what I want.

Did you call GM on the issue yet? I would see if your local Regional GM Manager can help you out. Try the 800# to get the info forwarded.

[caddycruiser]

Originally Posted by osv_alero

Did you call GM on the issue yet? I would see if your local Regional GM Manager can help you out. Try the 800# to get the info forwarded.

True, if anything, that gives an extra push. It was where I recently started after a few too many incessant issues on my G6, and had to escalate it to the next step via the BBB, but in this case it seems fixable...just terribly annoying, not normal, and also not figured out by the dealer.

I know all too well what it's like to drive a new car with weird and varied shudders, shakes, stalling feel, etc. at random times for 3 months straight--let alone other issues--and it isn't fun. Daily driving can be fun one minute and like a studdering, beat up old mess the next on a smooth road and just not feel right. It needs to either be fixed or escalated further.

In your case, given that you can take a new one off the lot and it NOT do the same things, that should be a very good point to make to all--the dealer (well, I assume already done, but you know) and GM.

[mpoczobut]

Rob J, I too have the exact same problem with my 08 Malibu LTZ. Unlike you however, I drove a brand new LTZ that was on my dealer's lot and it was worse than my car. The dealer has already done a road force balance, rotated the tires, replaced the rear tires and found a brake shoe that was hung and therefore turned the rear rotors. I still have the same vibration/pulsing sensation that you are speaking of. My dealer told me that they contacted GM and they have heard lots of complaints and state that it is related to the 18" tire package.

There seems to be more LTZ owners that are not complaining about this issue than those that are, so I definetly agree that there is a problem.

[Rob J]

Originally Posted by mpoczobut

Rob J, I too have the exact same problem with my 08 Malibu LTZ. Unlike you however, I drove a brand new LTZ that was on my dealer's lot and it was worse than my car. The dealer has already done a road force balance, rotated the tires, replaced the rear tires and found a brake shoe that was hung and therefore turned the rear rotors. I still have the same vibration/pulsing sensation that you are speaking of. My dealer told me that they contacted GM and they have heard lots of complaints and state that it is related to the 18" tire package.

There seems to be more LTZ owners that are not complaining about this issue than those that are, so I definetly agree that there is a problem.

Hi, I really highly doubt this issue is attributed to the 18" wheels and tires. Issues with the wheels and tires would exhibit totally different symptoms than what I have.

I'm going to take it back to the dealer soon, and start getting a bit more firm on finding the root cause of this issue.

Rob.

[mpoczobut]

Originally Posted by Rob J

Hi, I really highly doubt this issue is attributed to the 18" wheels and tires. Issues with the wheels and tires would exhibit totally different symptoms than what I have.

I'm going to take it back to the dealer soon, and start getting a bit more firm on finding the root cause of this issue.

Rob.

I too am skeptical that it is the 18" wheels. The dealer test drove a 2LT with 17" wheels and felt the same vibration.

[mpoczobut]

Just an update for this forum as well. I had my 17" winter tire package installed last week and my vibration still exists (that eliminates the 18" wheels and tires). It is going back to the dealer on Wednesday for them to keep digging into this vibration problem. I'll let you know if they find anything!

[mp11477]

Originally Posted by mpoczobut

Just an update for this forum as well. I had my 17" winter tire package installed last week and my vibration still exists (that eliminates the 18" wheels and tires). It is going back to the dealer on Wednesday for them to keep digging into this vibration problem. I'll let you know if they find anything!

.

My '08 G6 with the 3.5 and 17'' tires is having the same lurching problem upon letting up the gas. It's at the dealer as we speak. I had an '06 with the 3.5 up until October, and never had this problem, and didn't notice it on the initial test drive either. It has about 2200 on the clock.