2004 Chevrolet Malibu LS review from North America

Nothing has gone wrong to date...

I've had the car for a little over 2 months now. To date it's been nothing, but perfect!

The car handles like a dream. It takes curves beautifully and feels solid when you drive. The ride is pretty smooth considering the car. It's no Cadillac, but it is much better than previous model years.

Fuel efficiency is very nice. For my daily commute I average around 24mpg, but when I got it out on the highway for it's first road trip it was doing 32+mpg. At one point it was actually doing 38mpg. That's pretty darn impressive considering it's a V6 and I was driving 85mph the whole trip!

The interior is a bit plain, but well laid out. Controls are very intuitive and I've managed to learn everything without reading the manual. Materials are all very high quality and look nice. The sound system is great. Only two real complaint: 1) The seats are a bit to hard for my liking 2) No tape player.

A word of advice. Skip the base model and go for the LS. Not only are there a few extra features that make the car feel more upscale, but the main reason is to get the V6. The new styling of the GM epsilon platform scream sporty mid-size so make sure you have the power plant to back up those claims. The 145hp V4 ECOTEC just can't compare.

I just have to say, if you've overlooked the Malibu in the past take a look again. You'll be surprised at what you find. It may be Malibu by name, but it's nothing like the Malibu's of old!