2000 Chevrolet Malibu review from North America

There has recently been a pronounced chugging in the engine that starts immediately and does not seem to really go away -even when the engine warms up. It sounds like an old diesel engine.

There is also a very distinct rattling noise coming from right under the gear selector in the center console. It's a high-pitched tinny sort of noise.

One horizontal strip of the rear defroster does not heat up -resulting in an annoying line of ice in the back window during the winter.

Overall I have been very happy with the 2000 Malibu. After owning it for 19 months and for over 60,000 km there have been very few problems.

I do not expect the reliability of a Camry or Accord, but so far that's what I have got so far.

The engine chugging was attributed to faulty design of the 1-4 pistons. The guy at the Chevy dealer told me he had printed up a stack of info sheets on this problem because of the frequency of the complaint. He told me not to bother getting it fixed because of the cost ($2000 Canadian).

It's not a major problem, but it is annoying.

Has anyone else (who would like to do something about it) run into this problem?

J.olsen@uleth.ca.