Summary:
Solid feeling, beautiful, efficient sedan
Faults:
No problems.
General Comments:
This is a review of a new vehicle purchase. We've had the car for 3 weeks and are very impressed. I've been a long time Toyota and Honda fan, but decided to shop around a bit before choosing one again.
The Malibu's styling is what originally caught our eye. Chevrolet has designed a beautiful and sporty looking sedan. The second was the availability of its Eco trim with the mild hybrid eAssist engine.
So far we have found the car to be VERY quiet with an excellent ride. The interior is very well put together with a solid feel, beautiful styling and a great touchscreen stereo/climate control system. It works nicely with my iPad through a USB port.
Although the battery is in the trunk space, there is pass-through access via a fold down rear seat, and the 13 sq foot remaining trunk is well shaped and functional.
The engine has plenty of power for normal driving, and we averaged 32 MPG on our third tank. This was after giving it a few hundred miles to break in.
We cross-shopped a VW Passat TDI, a Honda Accord LX, a Toyota Camry Hybrid, and a Ford Fusion. Some of those cars posted better mileage, but none were less expensive with the same options as this Malibu. In fact it was several thousand dollars cheaper.
This is my first new Chevrolet, so I'll follow-up with reliability, but so far we are VERY impressed.
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes
Review Date: 29th January, 2013
12th Feb 2013, 12:05
I'm the writer of the review above. We now have over 2000 miles on the Malibu. On a recent road trip of approx, 400 miles, we logged 38.2 MPG. Not bad for a mid-size car. More to come!
13th Feb 2013, 15:49
Congratulations on the Malibu and do keep us updated. I love the new styling and have long been a fan of GM and Ford. I currently drive an older Fusion and my wife drives a ten-year-old GM vehicle that now has 114,000 miles. It has never had a single problem. Not even a brake job. In ten years it has had only two new batteries, one set of tires and two light bulbs. It doesn't get much better than that.
I drive a lot of cars, and I am happy that you steered clear of both the Accord and Camry. The Accord is very noisy and has a very tinny feel to it. Toyota has had such a nightmare of ongoing recalls, safety subpoenas and court settlements that I wouldn't trust their products.
20th Mar 2013, 18:40
I test drove one with the 2.5 and little options... base car. It was VERY quiet and smooth riding... but I did notice it "floats". I was impressed that at 70 mph the tach showed only 2000 RPM.
The back seat is a bit cramped for such a big car. I also found the shifter indicator hard to read. I thought I was in "drive", but was actually in neutral.
I drove the new Accord (2013) with four cylinder and CVT tranny. It was very quiet and smooth riding, and had a bigger back seat by far. I do not like CVT trannys and am leery of this one. I am not so enamoured with the styling of either car. I do not like the new Fusion's styling either... looks like a weiner dog... stretched out in the middle, and the roof line on it and the Malibu are too swoopy and space-wasting to me.
22nd Mar 2013, 06:13
I have owned over time 3 Malibus. 1970, 1975 and 2002, and have liked them all. I bought my mom the 2002, which I have only driven a few times. Nice power with the 6. My mother is 81 years old, and it's easy to see out of, easy to park etc. Garage kept.
Even my 70 has a very smooth ride. Especially on the interstate. I could have bought almost 3 new ones for what I have in the 70 SS Big Block 4 speed air car that I recently bought totally restored.
The 75 was issue free new, and a great choice in that era as a mid size. Now the cars are much smaller, but at least with the 6 it has some decent power.