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A second thought on the Malibu?

2K views 23 replies 17 participants last post by  wpbharry 
#1 ·
I saw a new 05 Malibu the other day, and for the first time, I thought it looked pretty good. It was a new Dark Blue Metallic, riding on 19 inch chrome wheels, and wow, did those wheels make a big different for the Malibu. At first when I saw it out of the corner of my eye (from the rear) I thought it was some sort of odd looking CTS, (the color enhancing some of the angular lines) The color, and the wheels really made it look a lot more upscale than it otherwise does.

My biggest problem with the Malibu as it comes from the factory is, it LOOKS like an entry level car, and in this era, even cars that ARE entry level need to offer a little more in terms of looks and upscale appeal, ala the new Fusion. But this Malibu looked pretty good. Maybe Chevrolet needs to take a look at the wheel issue and try to dress the Malibu up a little bit. Otherwise it just screams bland and cheap to me.
 
#5 ·
BigAls87Z28 said:
Sounds like the Malibu SS, but the SS's have a revised front end, and sit on 18's. The Malibu and Maxx both had that blue paint.
Does that mean only the Malibu SS will be recieving the new face?
 
#7 ·
It was not an SS, and it certainly wasn't the color of the SS's in the pictures released. They looked like aftermarket rims. The color was interesting, and I didn't see it on the Chevy website, it was a metallic blue, with a hit of grey. Almost that Chrysler 300 color. The closest I saw on the website was the blue I mentioned, though I'm not sure that was it. Very classy, which is something I never thought I'd say about a Malibu.
 
#10 ·
ALL '06 Malibus receive the new face, but non-SS models don't have the chin spoiler in the front. I'll bet the grille texture is a bit different, too.

I saw an '05 Malibu LT sedan in the showroom last Thursday, while picking up my Maxx from service. It had the $840 Sport Package, which includes chrome wheels (ironically, the same wheels as on the Maxx LS - not LT, but in chrome) a chrome tip on the tailpipe, and one other small thing that escapes me at the moment. Zoom, zoom!! I nearly gagged.

Other changes to the '06s include a new steering wheel (4-spoke in non-SS versions), and a new radio. I'd heard that the whole center stack was to be revised, but guess that'll be '07. Also, haven't heard if the 2.4L Ecotec displaces the 2.2L; it should.

The Malibu will be really suffering a year from now, though. The Fusion/Milan will eat into some sales, but the '06 Sonata will clean the floor with the Malibu. The dealer's lot had 4 leftover '04 Maxxes still on it; soon, leftover sedans will join thm. I hate to predict gloom-and-doom, but it's time to face facts. The Malibu is way overpriced and not very competitive. Even with generous rebates, the bottom line on the sticker turns folks away. The '05 LT sedan noted above cleared $27K. Too many GM models and the resultant lack of advertising for the Malibu and Maxx don't help either.

My Maxx has depreciated over $10K in its first year. Bad, very bad.
 
#11 ·
wpbharry said:
ALL '06 Malibus receive the new face, but non-SS models don't have the chin spoiler in the front. I'll bet the grille texture is a bit different, too.

I saw an '05 Malibu LT sedan in the showroom last Thursday, while picking up my Maxx from service. It had the $840 Sport Package, which includes chrome wheels (ironically, the same wheels as on the Maxx LS - not LT, but in chrome) a chrome tip on the tailpipe, and one other small thing that escapes me at the moment. Zoom, zoom!! I nearly gagged.

Other changes to the '06s include a new steering wheel (4-spoke in non-SS versions), and a new radio. I'd heard that the whole center stack was to be revised, but guess that'll be '07. Also, haven't heard if the 2.4L Ecotec displaces the 2.2L; it should.

The Malibu will be really suffering a year from now, though. The Fusion/Milan will eat into some sales, but the '06 Sonata will clean the floor with the Malibu. The dealer's lot had 4 leftover '04 Maxxes still on it; soon, leftover sedans will join thm. I hate to predict gloom-and-doom, but it's time to face facts. The Malibu is way overpriced and not very competitive. Even with generous rebates, the bottom line on the sticker turns folks away. The '05 LT sedan noted above cleared $27K. Too many GM models and the resultant lack of advertising for the Malibu and Maxx don't help either.

My Maxx has depreciated over $10K in its first year. Bad, very bad.
i agree about the price of it, but hopefully the SS model will boost sales. i mean i do see alot of monte carlo SS's driving around, barley see any reg ones. now with the impala SS, i seen few of them. grr.
 
#12 ·
JUst the opposite in my neck of the woods. Rarely an SS version of the Monte or Imp. Dealer told me that base Imps and LS Montes are hard to keep in stock; the more expensive versions sit. Not to stereotype, but I'm willing to bet that the main (nearly only?) market for the SSes is the midwest. Folks on the coasts spend big bucks on imports, not domestics.

On another tangent, I am seeing a TON of Maxxes on the local roads all of a sudden. First I thought folks might be dumping SUVs, but when I drove by the National Car Rental lot today, there must have been 250 Maxxes all lined up, waiting to be shipped up north for the summer season, as our season is (finally) over. I thought only Enterprise was renting them; not so. So, that's where a lot of Maxx production is going, apparently.
 
#15 ·
Because I see the front end every day, it HAS grown on me and isn't nearly as polarizing as it was at intro. Bet in a few years, it blends in almost invisibly. The '06 restyle maintains the current headlights, so it's not that big of a change.

Depreciation is a BIG problem with the Malibu. It's because Chevy floods rental lots with the cars (see prior post) and because of the last-gens poor reliability record (I know, I had a '98 LS for 6 years!). My Maxx stickered for just under $25, and a year later, the trade-in value is around $15. But I take some solice in the fact that I got a $4,000 Owner Loyalty rebate, another $1,800 dealer discount and a $1,000 GMCard earnings deduction. Plus, I got more for the '98 than any other brand offered me. So, the depreciation isn't quite that awful, in reality. But, it's a convoluted way of getting there.
 
#19 ·
The front end look and headlights on the Malibu are not to far off from what VW has done on the front of the new Jetta, chrome and all. I have an 04' Malibu that I thoroughly enjoy, it is a very solid car.

The Malibu is exactly what I wanted, more solid then a Ford Focus and not as big and lazy looking as an Impala or a Taurus.
 
#20 ·
regfootball said:
if we had some upgraded (bigger 4, and ohcv6) motors under the hood, I think the Malibu would do much better.
The 2.2 and 2.4 Ecotecs are some of the biggest 4 cyls in cars at the moment and they have more power than most. An OHC 6 isn't going to do anything but let import lovers say "look they FINALLY admit that OHC is better." Pushrod works Great for what it does, the Malibu has some of the best economy of anything in its class, it makes good (not top in class but good) power, it has less parts to break, it is easier to package.

People need to wakeup and realize that OHC isn't the best thing under the sun.

BTW I own a 3.4 DOHC 97 MC Z34 and WISH I would have looked for a 98 with the 3.8 because I would have just as much power (overall), have a more reliable and easier to repair motor, and I would get better fuel economy.
 
#21 ·
91z4me said:
The 2.2 and 2.4 Ecotecs are some of the biggest 4 cyls in cars at the moment and they have more power than most. An OHC 6 isn't going to do anything but let import lovers say "look they FINALLY admit that OHC is better." Pushrod works Great for what it does, the Malibu has some of the best economy of anything in its class, it makes good (not top in class but good) power, it has less parts to break, it is easier to package.

People need to wakeup and realize that OHC isn't the best thing under the sun.

BTW I own a 3.4 DOHC 97 MC Z34 and WISH I would have looked for a 98 with the 3.8 because I would have just as much power (overall), have a more reliable and easier to repair motor, and I would get better fuel economy.

The OHV engines in the Malibu have great torque at low RPMs and yes, fuel economy is better than the competition.

But 145 HP for the base model is below most of the competition. Most have 160 HP or more. So, the solution is to ditch the 2.2 and install the 2,4.

My '96 Monte Carlo Z34 became a death-trap at just under 11K miles and I traded it for the '98 Malibu LS. It was one of the worst engines in GMs history. Scientific experiment gone horribly wrong. Was in the shop more than out, all just past the Lemon Law period. Had it had the 3800, I might still have it. Probably not, but I would have had it for more than 2 years.
 
#22 ·
wpbharry said:
My '96 Monte Carlo Z34 became a death-trap at just under 11K miles and I traded it for the '98 Malibu LS. It was one of the worst engines in GMs history. Scientific experiment gone horribly wrong. Was in the shop more than out, all just past the Lemon Law period. Had it had the 3800, I might still have it. Probably not, but I would have had it for more than 2 years.
Wow that is weird because my wife has a 98 Malibu with the 3.1 so I know exactly what yo mean.

I don't really HATE my motor but I am scared to crap outta it. I don't want anything to go wrong and I don't wanna try to fix it if it does, afraid I might mess it up more.

Edit=bad spelling.
 
#23 ·
From the reviews that bashed the Malibu, the biggest complaint is the steering feel. That's not a reason for Joe Consumer to reject one, but it's enough for enthusiast drivers and enthusiast auto journalists to skip it.

I also think, if anything, GM's big priority should be the six speed automatic transmissions. The Malibu V6 is the most fuel efficient V6 in class (aside from the Accord hybrid), but that's with a 4 speed automatic. Unfortunately, it's also nearly the slowest V6 in its class.

With a 6 speed automatic, fuel economy should be even better and performance should move to mid pack.
 
#24 · (Edited)
Another GM forum site is reporting (via an Adobe download, which I can't yet access until I upgrade to Acrobat 7.0; will do later) that the '06 Malibu does feature the new front end across the board, the 3500 does NOT have VVT as in the Impala (so horsepower stays at 200) and the trim levels are being revised. I take that to mean the former base becomes LS, the former LS becomes LT and the former LT becomes LTZ. Doesn't GM have better things to do with their time than to piss us '04 and '05 owners off?

Edit 9:12AM 5/14/05

I never got the link on the other site to not freeze my PC, but then I discovered that the info is in GMI, just that it didn't appear in the news list on the front page. The trim levels ARE reshuffled as I suspected above (same for the Cobalt). Wasting more money on total trivialities. Typical current GM-think. They'll get it someday, just before bankruptcy, but probably too late.
 
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