Topic: First Drive: 2013 Chevrolet Malibu

[Winterpeg]

Have a 2009 LTZ, 3.6 will I change for a 2013... NO.

Thanks for your input Solstice....my gf has the 4 banger '05 Malibu....no problems with engine...fine for the city but would like the passing power of the 3.5 though.   






Whofan, do you have any problems (so far) with anything to do with the steering?....your generation and to a leser extent previous ('04-'07) gen has had a few in that area.
I'm debating about next used vehicle and this was (is) still in the running.
Anybody with insight here can jump in please....knowledge is power (mind only).   

Just to offer you some feedback.  The Pontiac G6, Saturn Aura, and Malibu shared same platform. I had a 2005 Pontiac G6 GT with the 3.5L engine, the V6 engine were known to have better reliablity than the 4 cylinders.  I had the car for 5 years (130,000 kms)  with no problems, just regular maintenace.  The V6 averaged 7.5L on the highway, which is better than my Mazda6.  GM makes pretty efficient V6 engines, especially on the highway.

[MiguelPereira]

Hi everyone.
How about this option for the Malibu? Will it make through into Canada?
There's an article on this option for the European Market on Motortrend but I don't get allowed to post the url on this forum.
 

[Whofan]

Have a 2009 LTZ, 3.6 will I change for a 2013... NO.

Whofan, do you have any problems (so far) with anything to do with the steering?....your generation and to a leser extent previous ('04-'07) gen has had a few in that area.
I'm debating about next used vehicle and this was (is) still in the running.
Anybody with insight here can jump in please....knowledge is power (mind only).   

Steering, just issue with noise, when parking and no radio, you hear the squeaking.  Got it fixed once, related to air accumulation in the power steering line.  So they flushed it, so they say.   But a few weeks later it came back.

Other than that,  it had the climate control fix 3 times, first time took two weeks and the car was less than a year old.

The power is very good, gas economy... what's that?  good on the hwy though.  One thing it does have, is very comfortable seats, lots of movement to find your perfect position.  I'm short so I have no issues, but seats go way back to a tall person would probably fit good.

Other than that /w a car /w 54,000.  Thinks are OK.

[Erik]

I gotta say I was hugely disappointed in this car. Not that I think it will be a bad car overall. The differences are getting so small now.

It's just that pretty well everything GM has introduced in the last 2 years has been at or near the top of it's segment. Nothing has been a real dud. While not a dud, I don't see this as being anywhere near the top of the class. It's a mushy middle product that likely could have benefitted from the extra year of development time the engineers wanted. I don't think there is anything wrong with the basic car that some fine tuning and tweaking couldn't have fixed. But it didn't get the tweaking, and now it's a weak point in the Chevy line.

Styling? Love the interior. I dig the rear lights. Nice to see someone doing something different. But overall it doesn't hold together well. Not a styling disaster like a Sonata, but no where near an Optima.

Here's hoping they do the Impala right.

[JRM]

I gotta say I was hugely disappointed in this car. Not that I think it will be a bad car overall. The differences are getting so small now.

It's just that pretty well everything GM has introduced in the last 2 years has been at or near the top of it's segment. Nothing has been a real dud. While not a dud, I don't see this as being anywhere near the top of the class. It's a mushy middle product that likely could have benefitted from the extra year of development time the engineers wanted. I don't think there is anything wrong with the basic car that some fine tuning and tweaking couldn't have fixed. But it didn't get the tweaking, and now it's a weak point in the Chevy line.

Styling? Love the interior. I dig the rear lights. Nice to see someone doing something different. But overall it doesn't hold together well. Not a styling disaster like a Sonata, but no where near an Optima.

Here's hoping they do the Impala right.

I've seen pictures of the Impala.   Looks quite a bit like a Buick LaCross only bigger, quite different from the more conservative Malibu.  However, if I were looking for a full sized car, I'd take the Chrysler 300 over it any day.

[Erik]

I gotta say I was hugely disappointed in this car. Not that I think it will be a bad car overall. The differences are getting so small now.

It's just that pretty well everything GM has introduced in the last 2 years has been at or near the top of it's segment. Nothing has been a real dud. While not a dud, I don't see this as being anywhere near the top of the class. It's a mushy middle product that likely could have benefitted from the extra year of development time the engineers wanted. I don't think there is anything wrong with the basic car that some fine tuning and tweaking couldn't have fixed. But it didn't get the tweaking, and now it's a weak point in the Chevy line.

Styling? Love the interior. I dig the rear lights. Nice to see someone doing something different. But overall it doesn't hold together well. Not a styling disaster like a Sonata, but no where near an Optima.

Here's hoping they do the Impala right.

I've seen pictures of the Impala.   Looks quite a bit like a Buick LaCross only bigger, quite different from the more conservative Malibu.  However, if I were looking for a full sized car, I'd take the Chrysler 300 over it any day.

Well, they screwed up the pedal placement on the new 300, so anyone with size 12 or bigger feet will be running into issues there. Idiots! Takes me out of the running.
FWD vs RWD will be an issue. My 300C would sometimes get interesting in bad snow. Never out of control, but enough to make you REALLY pay attention. And that was with snow tires. It was HORRIBLE with the stock Conti's in the snow.

[robsaw]

Just to offer you some feedback.  The Pontiac G6, Saturn Aura, and Malibu shared same platform. I had a 2005 Pontiac G6 GT with the 3.5L engine, the V6 engine were known to have better reliablity than the 4 cylinders.  I had the car for 5 years (130,000 kms)  with no problems, just regular maintenace.  The V6 averaged 7.5L on the highway, which is better than my Mazda6.  GM makes pretty efficient V6 engines, especially on the highway.

I had a 2004 Malibu with 3.5 V6 and my son still drives it.  Over 150k km now and the engine is still very good.  It did have some issues with the electric power steering (fixed under warranty) and there is a known "noise" problem with the intermediate steering shaft where it binds and causes a clunk sound that is best fixed with GM Superlube spray from the interior (it isn't really a wear or slop problem at all, just noise due to a bad design with the fit between two shafts).  The front-end recently needed some components replaced that were worn-out (ball joints and a couple bushings I think).  The 3.5l V6 wasn't super powerful but had great low-end torque and consistently 10l/100km in town and 7l/100km on the highway, nearly as good as many 4cyl and better than some with this size of vehicle.  Other than that, the AC seems to have developed a leak - everything else is still working perfectly.

[dirtyjeffer]

Here's hoping they do the Impala right.

i heard a new Impala could be the G8 replacement...mmmmmmm, rumbly V8 power.

[Fobroader]

Here's hoping they do the Impala right.

i heard a new Impala could be the G8 replacement...mmmmmmm, rumbly V8 power.

Car and driver had an article about it. Strange looking car, looks squished in the front and rear......but I agree, mmmmmmmm, rumbly LS V8 

[rrocket]

Car and driver had an article about it. Strange looking car, looks squished in the front and rear......but I agree, mmmmmmmm, rumbly LS V8 

Will it be FWD??

[Fobroader]

Car and driver had an article about it. Strange looking car, looks squished in the front and rear......but I agree, mmmmmmmm, rumbly LS V8 

Will it be FWD??

Nope, its rear wheel drive 

[rrocket]

Car and driver had an article about it. Strange looking car, looks squished in the front and rear......but I agree, mmmmmmmm, rumbly LS V8 

Will it be FWD??

Nope, its rear wheel drive 

PM sent

[Ice]

Car and driver had an article about it. Strange looking car, looks squished in the front and rear......but I agree, mmmmmmmm, rumbly LS V8 

Will it be FWD??

Nope, its rear wheel drive 

The 2014 Impala is RWD?

Says on Wikipedia that it's FWD (FF) and that it shares a platform with the Cadillac XTS (lengthened Epsilon II).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chevrolet_Impala

[Ice]

In other news I saw a new 2013 Malibu and it looks better than I was expecting. In pictures it's lost it's lustre for me but in person it's not that bad and looks reasonably good. That said it's up against a couple of new good lookers including the Fusion, Mazda6, Optima, and Sonata depending on your styling preferences.

[Neromanceres]

I have sat in and rode in the new 2013 Malibu ECO (in the US) it is a very nice, quiet and comfortable car.  The new 2.0 Turbo model should be a nice addition.

The 2014 Impala is RWD?

Says on Wikipedia that it's FWD (FF) and that it shares a platform with the Cadillac XTS (lengthened Epsilon II).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chevrolet_Impala

The 2014 Impala is FWD.  The new Chevy SS will be RWD.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chevrolet_SS_(2013)

[dirtyjeffer]

perhaps the SS is what i was thinking about...i do recall "SS", but i thought it was an Impala SS...perhaps it was just SS.

[Fobroader]

http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/2012-chevrolet-caprice-ppv-test-review

This is the one I was talking about.....thought it was a civilian model as well, my mind is going.

[Neromanceres]

http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/2012-chevrolet-caprice-ppv-test-review

This is the one I was talking about.....thought it was a civilian model as well, my mind is going.

The Chevrolet Caprice is based off of the Holden Caprice which rides on the LWB Zeta platform.

The new Chevrolet SS will be very similar to the updated Holden Commodore which rides on the SWB Zeta platform.  (Same platform as the older Pontiac G8).