Faults:

Leaking antifreeze.

General Comments:

As I sit here and read the comments on this site, I wonder what everyone is complaining about. No one is talking about serious money to fix issues. Sure the car is cheaply made, and sure the car has its problems, but what car doesn't.

I read many article's about how people say they're going to go buy a Toyota, Nissan or some other japanese car. I just want to tell you japanese cars aren't good either.

I travel a lot and have owned my 1998 Chevy Malibu for about a month now and I kinda love it. My previous car was a 2000 Lexus ES300. I bought my Lexus in 2002 for over 30,000, but in 2004 the engine blew with only 80,000 miles on it, which wasn't covered by warranty. That engine cost me $6,500.

Then after that, the rest of the car started falling apart... struts and CV joints... at 85,000 miles cost $2,000 to replace.. then even the driver's side rear power window motor burned out and cost around $1,000.

I owned the Lexus for 7 years before trading it in on this Malibu, but the only reason I owned it that long was to try to recoup my money on it... Kinda to let the car age without problems and cost me nothing. Basically trying to get the cost per year of ownership down to an acceptable level. But that didn't happen. My Lexus easily cost me over $4,000 per year in unexpected fixes to run. So in some weird way, I look forward to the Malibu's repair costs.

I just can't understand why people put down the American car because of repair bills, but don't think about that when they buy foreign cars. Foreign cars are much more money to fix.

I am happy with my Malibu... even if I'll have to spend $1,000 for repairs here and there. Because there's no comparison to the repair bills that I had with the Lexus.

I thank god that that piece of junk I traded in is now someone else's problem. I just feel bad for the poor sap who thinks they're getting a good deal on a very nice car... LOL...

If Lexus is the "best' that Toyota makes... I sure as heck don't want a Toyota.

Faults:

Flat tire in the first week due to a crappy rim.

During the winter it had poor ventilation, so the windows would freeze over on the inside.

Loose strut in the back, but never a problem for me.

General Comments:

Great first car, I loved mine for driving around town, and it was always reliable for a trip snowboarding.

The stock spare tire is crap, and there's really no room in the trunk for a tire that would actually help.

Handles very well, and has normal speed range. The fastest I have gone in it was 160km/h.

Horn sucks, I'm embarrassed to have to use it in front of people.

Faults:

I have had the A/C switch replaced twice and it is not working right again... it turns on and off randomly.

The brakes do wear out often and for some mysterious reason, my car sometimes leaks power steering fluid and no one has been able to figure out why. It will stop for a while then leak again for a day or two.

General Comments:

I really do love my car. I've had it for ten years and it has 183,000 miles. I've never had any problems other than the A/C switch, brakes, and the occasional mysterious power steering leak.

I live in Tennessee, and I have recently driven it to Michigan twice without any hesitation. I have found it to be a very dependable car.

I was told by a Chevrolet employee that the problem in the A/C switch was caused by a faulty circuit that was common in all the cars. Unfortunately, it seems to have made it into the replacement parts as well.