1999 Chevrolet Malibu LS review from North America

I bought the car as a 3rd owner with 116,000 miles on it. It seemed alright when I test drove it, but I guess I should have drove it more.

Once I signed the "as is" contract at the dealership, that's when things started to go wrong. I ran over a nail as soon as I got out of the parking lot, so I brought it to the auto shop. As soon as I arrived, I realized that steam was coming from my engine, and the temperature reading on my dashboard was way in the red. The auto shop employee said that the water pump wasn't working ($250 replacement) and the serpentine belt needed replacing as well (another $60 or so).

One week later, someone broke into my car and stole my radio. The auto glass company said the glass replacement would cost me $420 for that specific window of that car. I thought that was a completely ridiculous rip-off, so I fixed it with Plexiglas ($15). About a week after that, I roll down my window, and then realize I can't get it back up. The auto shop guy said that the window motor and regulator were broken and needed replacing (another $350).

I also noticed that my headlight was aiming almost straight down. When I opened up the hood to fix it, I noticed that the headlight wasn't even attached to the car (but rather just sitting there wedged between the hood and bumper, only connected by the wires). Apparently the headlight bracket had been broken, and needed to be replaced (another $45).

And as mentioned from an earlier post, my suspension squeaks, and water keeps getting into my right taillight, causing the light itself not to work.

I also have problems starting up the car if it has just recently been turned off (if I come back to the car after it has just been on the road, and try to start it, it takes a lot of effort for the car to start up, and when it does, I have to give it some gas immediately, or it won't have enough power and it will turn itself off again).

Plus, when my car has just recently been turned on, and I come up to the stop sign at the end of my road, when I hit the brakes, the headlights and dashboard get quite dim, as if the car has lost a lot of power, and then it comes back on with full power after I come to a complete stop.

I also agree with someone else that I had read about (maybe not on this site), about my speedometer being off by a few mph. My friend's car is a 2007 Pontiac Vibe, and we were driving next to each other and his car said he was going 47 and I was going 43. My guess would be that mine is off rather than his, since everything else has gone wrong with my car.

Overall... my experience with this car has been very unpleasant, and I would not recommend buying a Chevy Malibu, whether it is 1999, or newer (because I'm sure the newer ones will have the same problems once they get older too) unless you have a lot of money and time to spend on it.