2005 Chevrolet Malibu from North America - Comments

I have noticed a "thud", for lack of a better term, in the steering wheel. When I turn the wheel one way or the other, then back again, it seems like it has a little play in the column. Not sure if it is related to the rack and pinion? The electric power steering is something that is new to me. I am going to have it checked out.

Also, the speakers tend to distort with the volume barely turned up.

I bought the car because my new job takes me 170 miles round trip per day, and I needed something that is good on gas. It gets 34.6 on the highway, and that is with some hilly terrain and the air on. I was really impressed. I went 520 miles on a tank of gas {16.3 gallon tank}, which I thought was awesome considering my truck got 12 miles to the gallon.

The trip computer on the dash is cool with all of the info that it supplies.

I am 6'2' with a big frame and the car is surprisingly comfortable. Plenty of head and leg room, just not as wide as I would like.

Overall a great buy? It's nice to have an American car with the characteristics of the more expensive Japanese cars. Go Chevy!!

It's a pretty good chance that it is the rack and pinion. My mother has the exact same vehicle and that's what happened to her car. Would have been either 600 or 900 canadian dollars. I forget which one. Since 2005 that was the only thing besides the tires that had to be replaced. Good car.

I have a 2005 malibu 2.2 L 4 cyl and talk about pep I raced a 2003 chevy truck 2x4 with a 8.3 litre in it and I left it in the dust. Everything else is excellent I have a chip in it for fuel distribution and I get about 37 MPG I would buy another one.There is a little clunk in the steering when I turn but the shop said that is normal.

The Malibu's have that problem with their rack and pinions. Wait it out and hold out until it's a big danger, report the problem with the steering and it could be made into a recall item, that is what I am counting on. Other than that, that has been the ONLY problem in 88,000 miles!