1997 Chevrolet Malibu LS 3.1 liter

Summary:

Great car

Faults:

Driver's side power window motor failed at 166,000.

Alternator.

Intake manifold seal.

A/C in 2005.

General Comments:

This car is the best.

I bought it from a rental car company, used for one year. At 166,000 miles, it still gets 30 MPG on the freeway.

The intake manifold seal was replaced twice early on. Chevy came up with a new seal and there have been no further problems.

At 100,000 had Chevy do the works: basically everything in service manual, plus replaced water pump as per my request.

The car burns no oil and does nothing but run. If it blows up tomorrow I feel I have gotten a great deal for the $$ spent.

When she dies, I will buy another Chevrolet Malibu.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 5th August, 2010

1997 Chevrolet Malibu V6

Summary:

The car is great if you keep up the maintenance

Faults:

Gaskets in the manifold.

Throttle position sensor.

Now recently the camshaft position sensor and the crankshaft sensor.

The brakes at least every 6 months.

Paint is wearing off.

General Comments:

It has been good, but just the last 6 months, the problems started piling up. But overall it is great.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Don't Know

Review Date: 19th March, 2010

19th Mar 2010, 18:37

Using the wrong type of brake pads for your driving conditions or driving style can cause more frequent replacement. Using organic pads in heavy traffic or with short stops will require much more frequent replacement. Semi-met will last longer, but will be a little bit louder and produce a bit more dust. Metallic pads last a very long time, but are very loud and produce a lot of dust.

1997 Chevrolet Malibu LS 3.1 SFI

Summary:

What can I say? You get what you pay for

Faults:

The day after I bought the car, the intake gasket went south.

The brake pads and rotors need to be replaced.

General Comments:

I originally paid 1994 out the door for the car, so I can't complain too much, but the dealership I bought it from was very dishonest. When I bought the car, they told me they inspected it and it looked good. I beg to differ. The next morning I went out to my car and noticed a puddle of antifreeze under it. I then looked under the hood and noticed antifreeze leaking down the cylinder head. When I opened the coolant reservoir, I was startled to discover someone had dumped radiator stop leak in. Now, if the dealer didn't do it, how did they overlook the sludge that was once antifreeze? Luckily I only paid a friend's dad 200 bucks for the metal intake gasket and repair to replace the inferior rubber gasket.

All in all, I love the car though. It has plenty of passing power and it's a blast to drive. It is a one owner and the body looks phenomenal for a 13 year old car, even the cigarette lighter has never been used.

Despite the problems I've had though, it IS a sweet little car.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 23rd February, 2010

28th Aug 2010, 18:27

Update: I think I've fallen in love with this car. I absolutely love power it has. With 160 hp, it has kept up with many V8 vehicles. The AC is also f***ing ice cold! Even on a 100+ degree day, I have witnessed (no joke) frost around the vents.

1997 Chevrolet Malibu LS

Summary:

I hate this car!!!

Faults:

Theft light kept coming on... when it did this, you couldn't drive the car until the light got done blinking, which would take about 15 minutes. Horrible.

Fuel pump went bad at 70,000.. mechanics told me that this was the reason the theft light kept blinking. Fixed the pump and light kept coming on... so I kept getting stranded or was late places. Found out it had something to do with the key/ignition switch. Was told it was going to be 700 to fix... Got one at the junk yard and it worked fine. Car no longer blinks the theft light.

Brakes x 7.

Battery x 3.

When it was replaced by my fiance, somehow the temperature gauge flipped itself. When we had to replace it again, the gauge went back to normal.

Spark plugs all new 4 times.

ABS light is on, cord somehow melted itself. Refuse to fix.

Shocks.

Muffler.

O2 sensor.

Leaking antifreeze into the engine, most likely an intake gasket.

The buttons on the CD player are constantly sticking.

The glove box doesn't shut all the way.

Check engine light is on again, shooting codes for a sensor of some sort.

General Comments:

I'm so glad that my fiance knows how to work on cars, otherwise I would have been stranded more times than I can count, and spent thousands of dollars!

Even though it has numerous problems, it is still running, thank god. We're waiting till it dies or something really expensive to fix happens before we get rid of it.

The seats are really comfortable.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Don't Know

Review Date: 4th January, 2010