Malibu Rated #1 in Initial Quality

[Minnesota Nice]

Very good to hear.

Only time will tell if it will hold in in long-term quality.

My Civic also had fantastic initial quality, and after 10,000s, things started to fall apart and fall apart fast. It has been a downhill battle ever since.

[Bravada]

Good for GM, as people said, GM should go into immediate marketing overdrive with this.

That said, I question the rankings' validity - the large car class was won by the freaking GRAND PRIX, while Pontiac Solstice, which is a great car but barely screwed together, got into third place in the "sporty car" class (perhaps there weren't many contestants...)

Now there is NO reason one should consider any other midsize family sedan but the Malibu.

Rear armrest, for starters?

I suggest something akin to a camry and accord breaking down on the side of the road and then a beautiful Malibu LTZ cruising past.

That's INITIAL quality, i.e. whether the car didn't fall apart on its way from the dealers. I am not sure what methodology does JD Power use, but I guess results might have been inflated in Malibu's favor by Malibu owners being rather pleasantly surprised about good quality. Toyota gets it the hard way because with their "stellar reputation" every rattle is a huge disappointment - and rightly so, if you want a reputation, you have to fight for it.

[derrado]

Originally Posted by Bravada

Rear armrest, for starters?

That was sarcasm, right? Please tell me it was.

Every single topic on the Malibu mentions the lack of a rear armrest! Every one of them! Does anyone really care that much?

[crooner214]

Originally Posted by Bravada

That's INITIAL quality, i.e. whether the car didn't fall apart on its way from the dealers. I am not sure what methodology does JD Power use, but I guess results might have been inflated in Malibu's favor by Malibu owners being rather pleasantly surprised about good quality. Toyota gets it the hard way because with their "stellar reputation" every rattle is a huge disappointment - and rightly so, if you want a reputation, you have to fight for it.

I am not sure of their methodology either, but isn't your perspective a whole lot like people buying a new GM car in the 90's and expecting something to break, while laughing off any problems they have with a new Toyota as some sort of random freak accident?

What goes around comes around.

[jcurry05]

My only fear is that GM wont market this correctly and people with think Honda and Toyota will have better quality. Please market this right GM please I beg you.

[paul8488]

This is really big news. It isn't enough to have one good story about the Malibu... we need another, and another, and another. That's the only way that this car (and GM) will slog their way back up to the top.

[paul8488]

Originally Posted by Bravada

That said, I question the rankings' validity - the large car class was won by the freaking GRAND PRIX, while Pontiac Solstice, which is a great car but barely screwed together, got into third place in the "sporty car" class (perhaps there weren't many contestants...)

What are you basing this on? The Grand Prix came from a top-rated production facility, and was about 100 years old at the end... lots of time to get it right. One-off evidence doesn't mean much, but my uncle has a Solstice and he can't think of one bad thing to say about it after over a year of ownership. Slide by your local Pontiac outlet and check these cars out for yourself if you're not convinced...

I love that you'll accept JD rankings for Toyota but not for GM.

[WishIhadatruck]

Originally Posted by CharlotteFirebird

Don't forget 33 mpg hwy in 2009...I think the top of the midsizes...

What is changing that it will get 33 mpg hwy for 2009? I knew the 6-speed was going to be available across the model range which currently gives it 22/32 city/hwy but I've never heard it is going up to 33.

Excellent news on the initial quality. Lets hope the long term durability is just as good. In the current market they desperately need to have the Cobalt and Aveo on that list as well.

[member12]

Good advertising....but is it really that much of a victory? The Misubishi Galant is on that list too. That car has been out for a while, and no one seems to even consider it.


If the Malibu comes back in 3 years with tops in the dependability study, then it's a victory. If consumer's reports gives it the nod and scores a perfect on their strange survey based test, then it's a victory.

Then again, the Ford Fusion has above average reliability and is by all means a great car....but it isn't the hot seller the Taurus once was.


Great to hear that about the Grand Prix too. I heard the 3.8L W bodies are pretty sturdy cars, so going 3 months with high satisfaction rates are no surprise.

[member12]

Originally Posted by E. Haskell

This goes to show that the people saying domestics have just as good or better quality were not just blowing hot air.

Average problems per vehicle in 90 days:

Toyota = 1.04
Honda = 1.10
Ford = 1.12
Chevrolet = 1.13

I remember a while back when Saturn (back when it was just the S series) had the best rating.

Still, that's over one problem per vehicle in 90 days. Chevrolet can do better than that.

[MaxLegroom]

Originally Posted by MrJamesMc

So they should market the hell out of this stuff...

Bet on it being in ads by the end of the month. The few accolades the car earned by press time made it into the brochure for the car, so don't be surprised.

Seriously, though, this is more of the sort of good news I've wanted to see. Bad news for Toyota is that this award has been a football passed between Chevrolet and Hyundai mostly for some time. Think of past winners of the initial quality award and see how many times Camry is mentioned.

[ksr]

That's fantastic. On a first-year model? Wow!!!

[RSW]

Originally Posted by E. Haskell

This goes to show that the people saying domestics have just as good or better quality were not just blowing hot air.

Average problems per vehicle in 90 days:

Toyota = 1.04
Honda = 1.10
Ford = 1.12
Chevrolet = 1.13

So Chevy is worst, then Ford? Toyota is best and Honda is second best? I could be wrong, but this doesn't sound like great news.

[ksr]

Originally Posted by JeffInDFW

Click on nameplate rankings, and you will see how far FAR down the ratings Nissan is, yet it gets a pass by the general public because it is Japanese. As someone else pointed out, the Camry and Accord are not even in the top 3 in initial quality!

*****CHEVROLET, PLEASE, PLEASE PLEASE ADVERTISE THE HELL OUT OF THIS*********** It is time to call out the biased Camry Accord buyers and point out the facts to them!

People tend to lump all the Japanese together. In reality, the Japanese makes other than Toyota and Honda have had a lot of ups and downs in quality. I know there's been years where the other Japanese makes all scored below average.

Really in terms of Japanese quality, it's Honda and Toyota, and then everyone else.

[ksr]

Originally Posted by RSW

So Chevy is worst, then Ford? Toyota is best and Honda is second best? I could be wrong, but this doesn't sound like great news.

If you would base a car purchase on numbers this close (1.04, 1.10, 1.12, 1.13), then you're being ridiculous.

That's statistical irrrelevancy.

To me, differences between most car makes these days in terms of quality just aren't even worth worrying about. It's pretty tough to buy a car now that isn't reliable and well built. CR will never tell you that because they'd be out of business, but it's true.