My 2009 Malibu Review

[rodslinger]

I know you've probably had a lot of Malibu reviews. But I'm someone that, until today, wouldn't touch a GM product with a ten foot pole. I had such a distaste, I wouldn't touch one with somebody else's ten foot pole.

This all comes from having to work on GM cars in the 80's and early 90's in my high school and college years. Overdone plastic on Pontiac, dashboards coming apart on Lumina, bad alternators, coil packs, broken trim, etc... It seems I never saw a GM product come in the door, not even one a few months old that didn't have something broken or falling off that honestly shold not have. So my experience with the new Malibu is refreshing and I can honestly say I might have to give them some credit.

What I drove was an 09 Malibu LS. It was a rental in Ft. Lauderale. I had it for about a week and put about 300 miles on it. Overall I was very impressed. The car has a solid feel, the exterior has a nice, clean look to it. The controls are simple and easy to read. The interior was comforable and relatively quiet. No squeaks or rattles on a 35k mile rental. The general feel of the buttons, controls and interior materials was good for a base model vehicle. Interior and truck space was excellent (compared to my smaller Mazda3). Very good gas mileage also. Engine was smooth and quiet and the transmission shifted smooth under normal accelleration.

My only two gripes would be the A/C controls and low speed transmission operation.

The A/C defaults to fresh air mode when the car is turned on. It does not stay in the recirculate mode as left when the vehicle was turned off. This really drove me crazy. I would expect a safety devcie to have some sort of default but leave the temp settings where I leave them. It would be the equivalent of the radio always starting on a station you don't like every time you start the car.

The transmission torque converter would sometimes give a little jerk when engaging at low speed. There were times we were driving in low speed traffic. About 20 to 30mph. When coming on and off the gas lightly the converter would give a little jolt. Not real annoying but hard not to notice.

I'd be very interested in testing one with the new 6-speed auto and see what available features these can be equipped with. Overall, good job GM.

[K-1]

Originally Posted by rodslinger

The transmission torque converter would sometimes give a little jerk when engaging at low speed. There were times we were driving in low speed traffic. About 20 to 30mph. When coming on and off the gas lightly the converter would give a little jolt. Not real annoying but hard not to notice.

I'd be very interested in testing one with the new 6-speed auto and see what available features these can be equipped with. Overall, good job GM.

The 6spd does the same thing at low speeds. The "grabbiness" is a tad annoying.

It's safe to say the GM products of today are nothing like that of the '80s or '90s. If only the rest of the import-driving public would give the cars the same shot.

[rodslinger]

Originally Posted by K-1

... If only the rest of the import-driving public would give the cars the same shot.

If we had driven one before buying my wife that new Mazda3 I might have tossed it in the consideration pool. A GM car just wasn't even in the radar due to past experiences with them.

I would like to see more available feature content. I look at my wifes new 3 and things like the adaptive HID lighting, rain/speed sensing wipers, navigation, etc.. and wonder why it is so hard for the domestic automakers to make these features more available.

[mbukukanyau]

A clear reason why, rentals are not so bad. If a car is well made, people drive it and like it.
My mother and father in law (in their 60's) have a hybrid accord, went to DC to visit some friends, rented an impala, came home and commented how good it was, even compared to their fully loaded accord..
They ended up replacing their old passport with a vue. Their first domestic since the mid 70's

[Neanderthal]

Originally Posted by rodslinger

If we had driven one before buying my wife that new Mazda3 I might have tossed it in the consideration pool. A GM car just wasn't even in the radar due to past experiences with them.

I would like to see more available feature content. I look at my wifes new 3 and things like the adaptive HID lighting, rain/speed sensing wipers, navigation, etc.. and wonder why it is so hard for the domestic automakers to make these features more available.

Good question. Perhaps all GM's best and brightest are assigned to the Let's-Change-The-Name Committee.

Originally Posted by mbukukanyau

A clear reason why, rentals are not so bad. If a car is well made, people drive it and like it.
My mother and father in law (in their 60's) have a hybrid accord, went to DC to visit some friends, rented an impala, came home and commented how good it was, even compared to their fully loaded accord..
They ended up replacing their old passport with a vue. Their first domestic since the mid 70's

Rentals give a good car lots of exposure. Same with a crummy car. Good reason to build good cars. Hopefully GM is learning this.

Originally Posted by K-1

The 6spd does the same thing at low speeds. The "grabbiness" is a tad annoying.

It's safe to say the GM products of today are nothing like that of the '80s or '90s. If only the rest of the import-driving public would give the cars the same shot.

There is absolutely no excuse for releasing a product for sale with a grabby TC. This is 2009, not 1949.
Truly bizarre.

[tbirderic]

Glad to know you had a great experience rodslinger.

The Malibu is definitely a competive ride. A few months back I drove a 1LT with the 6 speed auto. It shifted smoothly and on the highway at 70 was only turning 2000 revs. (My Sonata is doing about 3000 at that speed).

Only real shortcomings I see with the current Malibu are the small back seat and the very smallish trunk opening.

[Danko]

We have two '09s and they are too low. The daughter is damaging lower body parts and I fall into them and roll out, and it is not a pleasant experience. I also hit my head getting in which I do not for our HHR.

[triadecho]

Originally Posted by Danko

I also hit my head getting in which I do not for our HHR.

I have been looking for cars and notice this annoying head ducking under low roof lines on many different makes, models and manufacturers. At 6'-0", the Impala and Malibu were both too low as was the Kia Forte. Only the Cadillac STS passed my subdural hematoma head bump test. Why are such difficult access and low roof lines provided on new cars?

I never had this problem with my 90's Camaro and Firebird or even my 86 Corvette. It used to be that just the imports were designed for small people.