CTC Review: 2008 Chevrolet Malibu LTZ

[Mitlov]

How did I know that any thread about the Malibu would spiral down into an ArticSteve-versus-somebody "my boring midsize sedan can beat up your boring midsize sedan" argument...

I mean seriously, why do people care exactly how many Malibus were made during the first 30 days of production and what upholstery material they had?  Why has this turned into the debate of the century? 

[tpl]

Mitlov, read your own sig!    It is the same fan boy war without Barrie.

[Thinking Out Loud]

Maybe GM was attempting a first - to produce just enough vehicles to supply expected demand, rather than push as many cars as they could through the system into the dealers lots to beat Toyonda's sales numbers and wind up rebating millions of dollars in incentives 6 months from now?

Profitability over production - nothing wrong with stating you 'can't keep up with demand' on a new launch...

Victims of their own success to a degree?  Be nice to see this be a first step in GM's curtailing overproduction line manufacturing.

[Juke1]

Thinking Out Loud , are you suggesting or is it fact that sales figures are units delivered to the lot?  I always thought it was units delivered to the end user.

[Thinking Out Loud]

Could be my misunderstanding of (all) the various figures presented. 

I was postulating that, as was suggested earlier in the thread, that if they had problems/challenges getting product out the door to the network, that it could be a good thing if it was an honest, intentional, attempt in trying to reverse the domestics traditional overcapacity/overbuild/incentivize car launches.

Quickest way to get out of the incentive business is build what you can sell, I'd hazard. 

[drederick]

Why wouldn't people cross shop the Malibu and the Impala? they overlap a decent amount price wise but the Malibu is an all new design and gets better fuel economy. If you really don't need the space, why not get the newer model with better fuel economy?

Impala ppl are simply switching to the Malibu.  The numbers are amazing.  The problem is that GM isn't netting much more market share.  Let's face it, minus fleet sales the Impala is DOA with high gas prices.

So long as GM is selling EVERY malibu it makes it is doing just fine - even if it isn't taking every Accord and Camry owner.

There not taking a one, just other GM buyers. The Malibu is something GM should have built back in 2006 and is obviously better than their other stuff in that price range.  Look what a stinker those Lacrosse Buicks were or whatever they are called in the USA.  Now those buyers can get a Malibu.

hmmm 70 percent of Malibu buyers are buying 4cylinders.

NOW they are

Who says that the 2009 2.4/6speed auto gets better fuel economy and makes more power than the Camry 4cylinder powertrain? GM does:

That makes all the difference in the world.    I'm still waiting for the Volt to arrive. Didn't GM say it would be on the road by ..... 2007 at the latest. 

PS this has been proven to you in the past, and it is SAD that you still don't have a clue, but the 6speed auto used with the 2.4 is NOT the same as the one used with the 3.6

It has    It's got to be somewhat different because it needs to bolt up to a different motor, but the guts will be the same.

But why didn't GM have this "6 speed" already to go with the launch of the 4 cylinder Malibu    How could they make such an engineering boo boo on such an important car.  Me thinks it is a last minute raid to the GM parts bin which is typical GM. 

All we can do is wait and see if Wing gets a kick at the 6spd/4 banger however that could be a long wait.   

Lets see - once again you offer NOTHING to back up anything you write.

apart from rrocket agreeing that he 'believes' there only loaded v6 models initially on lots you have nothing to offer as evidence. Go on - find some ha ha ha of course you can't - you never can.

'pics please' you keep asking for evidence yet have never offered anything at all to back up what you write, hmm because your WRONG? ha ha ha

Even if it were true does it really matter in the least? GM has sold them all - so obviously it didn't matter if every single one were a v6 ltz loaded with every option - people wanted them and bought them.

Volt? 2007? try 2010

Oh wait, GM will be chapter 11 by then. ha ha ha can't wait until 2009 is over and you once again are proven WRONG

As for the 4speed auto at launch, did it hurt fuel economy compared to the Camry's 5speed auto? you check the numbers and let the world know - Chev has better city by 1mpg and worse highway by 1mpg. Hmmmmm doesn't seem so bad.

You do realize that Toyota has launched afew vehicles very recently with 4speed autos as well, right? ha ha ha ha ha Me thinks you don't have a clue - and never offer anything to show otherwise.

Now with the 6speed auto it gets 22 city 33 highway - 1 better city and 2 better highway than the Camry while making more power and in a number of vehicles at many price points it will be all over the place - and everyone will offer more power and better fuel economy than the comparable Camry.

Just because YOU don't want to believe that the 6speed auto for the 2.4 and th 3.6 are different does not make it true. Again, if you can offer anything other than your proven-time-and-time-again WRONG statements otherwise provide it. Here is a hint - gmpowertrain.com has all the info you will ever need to understand how wrong you are.

I for one love the fact you haven't a cvlue and yet keep on coming back for more. Its sad, but fun!

[Leviathan]

I'm still waiting for the Volt to arrive. Didn't GM say it would be on the road by ..... 2007 at the latest. 

Link to a GM press release please.

[Leviathan]

Fuel economy, though, is somewhat disappointing; as I drove the vehicle this week I could watch the gas gauge dropping, and with the price of fuel up in the $1.30 a litre range, that was disconcerting. It turns out I averaged 11.5L/100km for the week, the sad part being that I was very gentle on the throttle all week, so the result is disappointing

Non-linear gas gauge aside, you didn't say what mix city/highway your driving was but 11.5L/100km seems pretty good to me for something that big with 250hp. For 2008 I've been averaging 11.4L/100km in 85/15 (Vancouver)city/highway with a modest I4.

[rrocket]

Volt? 2007? try 2010

Actually, GM gave a timeline of 2010-2012 in their official press release.  They had not committed to a specific date...or year for that matter.  I only know this because I erroneously assumed (at one time) they were coming out in 2007 from the "Volt 2007 World Tour" or some similarly named advertising thing.  It was then I looked for the press release, and saw the 2010-2012 dates.

  And you quoted me saying "believes".  I never said I believed anything.  I said as fact, that the only cars on the lot when they came out were loaded V6 models.  No doubt about it...at least where I live.  Might be different where you live.   Not sure that it matters...but you quoted me incorrectly.  As least that was my experience here, in Windsor, home of the Domestics.  One dealer even commented as such that he wished they had more 4 bangers given the rising fuel costs...But like I said earlier, they seemed to have ironed this out with more cars on the lots now.  While we have never seen 25-30 cars, we often see 10-12 of them at any given time...

[UmroAyyar]

James, I noticed in your blog section. You've driven almost all the major contenders in the mid-size category. Accord, Altima, Camry, Aura, Malibu, Sebring, Passat, G6, Fusion. You didn't write a review about Hyundai Sonata yet.

How would you rate them? basically asking for your opinion.

e.g.

Ergonomics/material quality.
Aesthetics/Style elements.
Driving style/comfort.
Seating space, comfort.
Engine/transmission response.

[drederick]

Volt? 2007? try 2010

Actually, GM gave a timeline of 2010-2012 in their official press release.  They had not committed to a specific date...or year for that matter.  I only know this because I erroneously assumed (at one time) they were coming out in 2007 from the "Volt 2007 World Tour" or some similarly named advertising thing.  It was then I looked for the press release, and saw the 2010-2012 dates.

  And you quoted me saying "believes".  I never said I believed anything.  I said as fact, that the only cars on the lot when they came out were loaded V6 models.  No doubt about it...at least where I live.  Might be different where you live.   Not sure that it matters...but you quoted me incorrectly.  As least that was my experience here, in Windsor, home of the Domestics.  One dealer even commented as such that he wished they had more 4 bangers given the rising fuel costs...But like I said earlier, they seemed to have ironed this out with more cars on the lots now.  While we have never seen 25-30 cars, we often see 10-12 of them at any given time...

'believe' was written like this because you wrote the following:
I can't offer any evidence about all of these facts, but I can tell you I agree with Steve on this one

who can say with any certainty that those fully loaded v6 models you witnessed on the lot were in fact the only ones? could 4cylinder models have been sold and not even in the lot at that time?

I have no clue - but just because you only saw fully loaded ones doesn't mean there weren't others.

Either way, what does it matter? if GM had produced all fully loaded v6 malibus and sold them all initially.... isn't that a good thing?

[articsteve]

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