1997 Chevrolet Malibu LS review from North America

Three front tire blowouts under 50,000 miles. (2 Firestone, 1 Goodyear)

The ignition would freeze. I could not turn the key. Chevy's solution what to "take off your shoe and hit it with the key in several times". This is not a joke. This happened often.

The original battery lasted less than 1 year.

The wipers broke when there was too much snow on them. There was a recall for this. I paid to fix it before the recall. I have since sold the car and Chevy will not reimburse me for the repairs.

The electrical system would sometimes just stop like there was a short. If I waited it would eventually come back. The dealer would not fix it as they could not reproduce it.

After 50,000 miles the font end became very sloppy. The control was very bad, almost dangerous. I traded it in instead of fixing it.

At 50,000 miles both front wheel bearings went bad.

The drivers side door lock quit working at about 50,000 miles.

At 50,000 miles it started using quite a bit of oil. Some leaking some burning. Oil changes were performed every 3000.

The check engine light would come on when it rained.

At 50,000 miles it overheated in normal driving conditions on a normal day. The thermostat needed replaced.

This was the wort car that I had ever owned. It replaced a Pontiac that I thought was the worst car ever made until I purchased the Malibu. I was looking for a reliable car and did not get it.

The Malibu left me stranded often. It left my wife stranded several times also.

Chevy did nothing to fix any of the problem. Chevy did nothing to compensate me when I had to get rid of it. It was just costing me too much money and it was only two years old with under 60,000 miles on it.