i just drove a brand new chevy malibu...not bad at all!
 

we got a new work "truck"...bossman messed up all the paperwork, and created a disaster. he left for vacation and left me with the headache...silver lining is that i got to bring a brandnew chevy malibu from very far away. (part of the mess, they sent it to the wrong place). the malibu is fully loaded except for power seats. tire pressure stuff, awesome stereo,..yada yada.. drives very nice. very little road noise, and if i baby it, i could get killer mileage. it was offered to me, but i declined. i would thrash it with my construction gig. i havent driven a new chevy car in a very long time. not bad. priced right, i wouldnt have trouble owning one.

The trouble you would have is actually paying money for one. Which I'm pretty confident you will never do.

Malibu's a decent car, actually. Same platform as the SAAB. And Opel.

Interesting. Next time I rent a car, I will try to get a Malibu. Usually I get Camrys.

I noticed one in the parking lot at the post office yesterday, had nice skin for sure.
Jim

Drive the 2010 MazdaSpeed3 and let me know what you think...

Drive a lot of rentals. American iron gets a bad rap. There is some real crap out there but also some real quality stuff. Nicely appointed and fun to drive.

Have never met a Mazda that I did not like.

A Mazda is a Ford.

A Mazda 3 is a Ford Focus.

The new Malibu is the same as the former Pontiac G6. And GM did succeed in building a roomy, comfortable, well-built, and reasonably handling (for a big FWD car) vehicle that gets decent gas mileage without hundreds of pounds of batteries under the trunk.

Just looked up MPG rating for Malibu. 22 city, 33 hwy. Eh. Can't call MPG a "standout" feature of this car.

American sedans have been "not bad" for some time. Seems the US auto industry has been operating under the mantra of "good enough" for decades.

But there is a big difference between "not bad" and phenominal, which they won't be any time soon.

It is when you see how big these things are.

This is something I never understood. Why do American cars have to be phenomenal, while the Japanese get a free pass on their reputation?

Given the choice of an equal quality American and Japanese car, 99% of Japanese people would pick their own cars. Why are we not like that?

In my opinion, the Japanese care are phenomenal. I bought a used Acura during college and put 100K miles on it. I changed the timing belt and brakes. Sold the car for several thousand bucks, so the total cost to own a great little, classy, cool car was <$100/month.

My buddy had a Chevy Baretta. It was OK by comparison but the paint peeled off and basically looked like a *****box over the same time period.

Point being I got phenomenal performance and value...my friend did not.

Why does the back of this car look like a Korean econo-box?

Why does not Chevy use the round tailights accross all models to (re)-create and maintain some kind of brand identity?

Sure, I can't afford a new Corvette, or really drive a Nascar car - but my Malibu should share these styling cues..

I agree that Japanese cars are indeed phenomenal. I've driven an Acura, Lexus, and several Hondas, and all of them are above what I've experienced from domestics. Though I do realize that's changing - I drove a 2008 or 09 Ford Fusion recently (rental) and was very impressed with styling, comfort, etc. If I were looking for a car in that class I'd definitely consider it. And the G6s aren't bad looking on the inside either.

Currently, aside from our Honda minivan, we've got a 99 Suburban in our driveway (repo) and I can see where the reputation came from. It's completely loaded - leather, power heated seats, etc. but it still drives like a pig and it's ugly as sin. Can't wait till it's gone. The 2001 Honda is by far a better car. I just drove it to Montreal and back on 2 tanks of gas. The Suburban would've been almost twice that, I'll bet.

Look at the reliability of that POS.

I hope that welfare project, GM, meets a fiery death after what they did to the stockholders and bondholders.

It is still significant. 33mpg is better than the best non-hybrid Toyota Camry, Honda Accord, Nissan Altima, Hyundai Sonata, or Ford Fusion.

To some buyers, it might make a difference. As you'll recall, the competition used to be significantly better.

The Malibu is not built on the exact same platform as the Pontiac G6 (or Saab 9-3 / 9-5) but rather the newest version, Epsilon II. The only other US car with those underpinnings is the new Buick LaCrosse (which is dead sexy, IMHO).

You realize that's comparing apples and pumpkins, right?

It amuses me that Vash's positive comments instantly turned into a "bash American Cars Thread".

The new Malibu isn't bad, its much better than the newest Camry in my opinion.

As far as the Suburban being a pig, if I am not mistaken, 99 was the last year of the old front suspension. I had a 2001 Tahoe, and didn't have a single issue with it in over 100K hard miles. I towed a lot with it.

Try doing that with your Honda Odessey, or any Honda.

I agree. American cars are great. In fact, a full 33% of the American car makers didn't file bankruptcy this year! Quite a testament.

Anyways, the first person here to put their money where their mouth is and actually buy a Chevy Malibu, please post lots of pics.