CTC Review: 2008 Chevrolet Malibu LTZ

[articsteve]

GM launched the Malibu with 3000 cars, mostly V6s.  There are 7000 plus Chevy dealers in the USA.  Then came along the American Axle strike.     The Owen Sound Chevy dealer has never had any stock and still only gets about 3 per month.  It was one of the worst auto launches in recent memory.  They lost many potential buyers.  However, GM lots are full of other units.   

The 07 Camry launch was so bad it still leads the segment after 3 years. 

[Juke1]

drederick, a/s has his head very deep in the sand, don't waste your time.  The Malibu is a very nice car from GM, if my previous Nissan would not have served me as well as it did the Malibus would have been a serious consideration.

[articsteve]

a/s has his head very deep in the sand

 

[drederick]

drederick, a/s has his head very deep in the sand, don't waste your time.  The Malibu is a very nice car from GM, if my previous Nissan would not have served me as well as it did the Malibus would have been a serious consideration.

It is too much fun because a/s is one of those unusual people that
a) hates something yet knows nothing about it - as proven over and over and over again

and

b) loves something off that again he knows pretty much nothing about yet it is the best

He just doesn't get it - and its fun showing him that he doesn't

[Zoo]

Well,

This is a very competitive car for GM and proof that they can build competitive, interesting products if they put their minds to it. I just hope that the 6 speed auto can find its way into the "base" 4 cylinders as well to compete against the 4 cylinder Camry LEs.

Now, how about something competitive in the compact segment? The 2.4L with the 6 speed auto could be the optional powerplant (ala Corolla XRS); but GM needs a very fuel efficient mill in the 1.8L-2.0L range with a very solid car to pair it with. Time will tell if they can compete as well in the compact segment as the Malibu is in the mid sized segment.

For Cord,

The Fusion is still competing well I suspect due to cool styling that has aged well combined with an excellent platform the car is built onto. The Mazda 3 proves that a well designed car can compete years later with redesigned competitors if the initiall design is sound.

[articsteve]

drederick, a/s has his head very deep in the sand, don't waste your time.  The Malibu is a very nice car from GM, if my previous Nissan would not have served me as well as it did the Malibus would have been a serious consideration.

It is too much fun because a/s is one of those unusual people that
a) hates something yet knows nothing about it - as proven over and over and over again

and

b) loves something off that again he knows pretty much nothing about yet it is the best

He just doesn't get it - and its fun showing him that he doesn't

b) loves something off that again he knows pretty much nothing about yet it is the best

I'm still working on that one.    Regardless, I am glad that you two have found each other.  

[KD]

Malibu is a very nice car, I tried one 2 weeks ago and came away very impressed.

I never thought I would ever say it but I am considering buying a Malibu.

[articsteve]

I tried one 2 weeks ago

In what format    I assume the V6.

That's the thing; everyone who talks about this car never identifies which powertrain they drove.    Based on the fact that in Ontario, 4 cylinder Camrys make up 87% of the volume I would think that something similar will happen with the Malibu.  Has anyone in this forum test drove a 4 banger Malibu?  Pics needed. 

[Jack J]

The 6 speed auto with the 2.4 L makes a great combination and pulls ahead of the competition in terms of fuel economy and power. But to really embarrass the competition I'd love to see the 2.4 get direct injection. GM's no stranger to direct injection they already offer it in the 2.0 turbo ecotec and CTS with the 3.6. I'm curious to know how much cost this would add and if they could offer this in the base sedan.

[Zoo]

I tried one 2 weeks ago

In what format    I assume the V6.

That's the thing; everyone who talks about this car never identifies which powertrain they drove.    Based on the fact that in Ontario, 4 cylinder Camrys make up 87% of the volume I would think that something similar will happen with the Malibu.  Has anyone in this forum test drove a 4 banger Malibu?  Pics needed. 

You're right Artic. The 2.4L mill with the 6 speed auto is the next thing I want to hear about. With gas prices going up,up,up the 2.4L 4 6 speed auto combo will be very popular. I would like to test drive one of these Malibus then a Camry with the 2.4L engine and auto.

Hopefully we will get some feedback on this combo fairly soon. It is probably what I would spring for if I was in the market for this car.

[Greg B.]

Has anyone in this forum test drove a 4 banger Malibu?  Pics needed. 

No pics, but I drove one in December. That's right; DECEMBER. That was PRIOR to "one of the worst auto launces in recent memory". One of those "3000 cars, mostly V-6s". At the time my dealer had at least 12 units in stock, all but 2 were 4-cylinders. So much for that part of your statement.

The 4-cylinder was amazing. I didn't even know it was a 4-cylinder until the salesman told me. No Accord 4-banger shake while at rest in gear; lots of pep; exceedingly quiet and smooth. It was a car I could very easily live with, which I seldom say about 4-banger vehicles in this size class.

[wing]

4 banger with the six-speed though?

[Alok Takkar]

I wonder how this will stack up against the Hyundai Sonata? Would the 2 be in the same league? I have a rental Sonata this week and I am very impressed with a car that has held up abuse for 30K + miles (50ishK KM).

[carcrazed]

wing, I don't think they don't have a 4 banger with six-speed yet.

I would very inclined to go for a LT1 or LT2 I4 with 6spd.
The 2009 Sonata would be VERY competitive, IMO.

[Zoo]

I wonder how this will stack up against the Hyundai Sonata? Would the 2 be in the same league? I have a rental Sonata this week and I am very impressed with a car that has held up abuse for 30K + miles (50ishK KM).

I test drove a whack of used 4 cylinder Sonatas before my wife and I went the other way to a Toyota Yaris. I was very impressed with the Sonata and how rattle free the examples I drove were.

The Malibu is in one hotly contested segment with Camry and Accord as the benchmarks and the Sonata as a very good and lower priced competitor. Then there is the Fusion, Mazda 6 etc that are great cars as well.

We seem to be spoiled for choice!

[articsteve]

Has anyone in this forum test drove a 4 banger Malibu?  Pics needed. 

No pics, but I drove one in December. That's right; DECEMBER. That was PRIOR to "one of the worst auto launces in recent memory". One of those "3000 cars, mostly V-6s". At the time my dealer had at least 12 units in stock, all but 2 were 4-cylinders. So much for that part of your statement.

The 4-cylinder was amazing. I didn't even know it was a 4-cylinder until the salesman told me. No Accord 4-banger shake while at rest in gear; lots of pep; exceedingly quiet and smooth. It was a car I could very easily live with, which I seldom say about 4-banger vehicles in this size class.

OK, let see here 

GM launched the Malibu with 3000 units November 1st.  There are over 7000 Chevy dealers in the USA not to mention probably another 700 in Canada and in Mexico who knows.  But, your dealer had 12 units in December, of which ten were 4 bangers. 

PICS definitely needed. 

I still don't see many Malibus on the road and the two I have seen were both loaded V6 units and both in black.

[KRS]

  A quick visit to the build your Malibu Section at  http://www.gm.ca/gm/english/vehicles/chevrolet/  shows that the LTZ can be spec'd out with the 2.4l 6speed combo, though I couldn't guess if they are actually shipping cars built this way yet.

   I've had the pleasure of driving the Parents Malibu with the V6 and I've been a passenger in 4 cylinder Malibu LT that a CSR at work has and I really liked the driving experience in the folks Car for the  hour and a half  I drove it and I can say that the 4 cylinder certainly seemed to be able to get out of its own way even with the 4 speed transmission. Obviously whether or not the 4 cylinder 6 speed combo is an enjoyable combo to drive will not be known till you drive one for yourself.

 I am surprised the artic can claim to have only seen 2 loaded V6 malibu's as I must see at least 5 new malibu's every day on my commute to work, and the locate your malibu part of GM's website shows 25 LS's available to my local dealer ,25 4 cylinder LT's available but only 4 available 6 cylinder LTZ's and ,surprisingly to me, only 3 hybrid malilbu's so I would be surprised if more then 1 of the 5 was a v6 based on what GM has had available ever since the parents started looking at Malibus back in March. 

  If GM has dropped the ball on the roll out of the Malibu it appears to me to be the number of hybrids they have produced so far. Of course if the GM had the knowledge of the coming fuel prices a year and a half ago when they likely planned their model mix then I suspect their would be a lot less trucks and a lot more cobalts and malibu hybrids on every dealer lot. Hind sight is 20/20 though.

  I must say though that the parents Malibu has the folks really impressed with it's fuel economy. Admittedly dad has just turned 80 so he's not likely to be driving hard but he's saying he's getting about 38 MPG (imperial gallons) which I believe if my math is correct works out to around 7.2l/100km. I'm only getting around 6.9 l/100 KM with my Lancer so if he is right on his mileage it's really amazing, even though I probably drive the Lancer a lot harder then dad's been pushing the Malibu. If they hadn't had a problem with the car which GM couldn't correct for more then 3 weeks they would be thrilled. At this point the step mother is still ticked at GM but hopefully if they don't have any GM people set her off she'll get over it in the next year or so.

[articsteve]

I am surprised the artic can claim to have only seen 2 loaded V6 malibu's as I must see at least 5 new malibu's every day on my commute to work, and the locate your malibu part of GM's website shows 25 LS's available to my local dealer ,25 4 cylinder LT's available but only 4 available 6 cylinder LTZ's and ,surprisingly to me, only 3 hybrid malilbu's so I would be surprised if more then 1 of the 5 was a v6 based on what GM has had available ever since the parents started looking at Malibus back in March.
I am surprised the artic can claim to have only seen 2 loaded V6 malibu's as I must see at least 5 new malibu's every day on my commute to work,

Just back from TO after 2 days and didn't see a one.

and the locate your malibu part of GM's website shows 25 LS's available to my local dealer ,25 4 cylinder LT's available but only 4 available 6 cylinder LTZ's and ,surprisingly to me, only 3 hybrid malilbu's

   dude; that is the entire stock availability in the ENTIRE PROVINCE. 

Got exact same numbers when I punched in the Malibu search inventory thingy for Hal Wright in Owen Sound.

http://www.halwrightchevroletcadillac.gm.ca/cgi-bin/gx.cgi/AppLogic+InternetRTRApps.AboutUs?dealer=85828&lang=en

So there are only approx. 60 Malibus available at this moment in Ontario, but you see 5 new Malibus each work day     You must have one hell of a commute. 

[KRS]

  I commute about an hour and 20 each way which isn't to extraordinary. By previous experience I know that GM's site only shows vehicles with in a couple of hundred clicks of the selected postal codes and that when I entered the postal code for Hal wright on the GM site it shows Zero available Hybrids, and if I enter a London postal code it shows 1 Less LTZ being available then here so I suspect that that is still the case.

  And when I searched Hal Wrights inventory it shows me that they have 1 LTZ, 6 LT's and 9 LS's in stock so I'm going to have to call shenanigans on you
 

[shotgun6]

oddly enough an inventory search of 6 dealers in London And K-W returned 96 units in dealer inventory DUDE. 
there are 3 in the parking lot at work every day maybe some folks dont know what there looking for. Certainly seem search engine challenged.