I own a 98 Malibu with 135000km on it and have had no problems with it other than regular oil changes and warped rotors due to driving through Roger's Pass in plus 30 degree Celsius weather.
We own a 97 Malibu it has approx 270,000 miles we have had hardly any problems other than brakes. We do oil changes every spring and fall. Living in Michigan there is some rust on the front hood, but other than that, it waxes up great.
We are considering purchasing a new car this year and the new Malibu is in the running.
I have a 1998 Chevy Malibu. It seems I am having the same problems and many others. About 2 days after purchase (used) I had to replace the alternator and the battery. Then 5 months later for a regular tuneup it cost $500. Turns out this car has boots and coils, the coils had overheated and fused to the boots somehow. 6 months later it is currently sitting in my driveway not running. Same problem with the coils. I was also told the the coolant leak may be due to a cracked manifold. This repair was estimated at the same $500 plus dollars as 6 months ago. I am just over 100,000 miles. I miss my prism. Are boots and coils just inferior to regular plugs and wires? Does anybody have any suggestions?
I purchased a 1998 Malibu LS with the 3.1 motor in April 2004 for my daughter to take to college. The vehicle had 47K miles on it. The car now has 114K miles on it, she's still driving it in the midwest, it's a California car originally. Overall, it's been a decent car for the price. This model has all the options, leather etc and all the "extra" stuff still works. It's a smooth running car and gets decent gas mileage.
Just for reference, here's what we have had fixed. I've excluded normal maintenance like oil changes etc.
1. ABS light came on almost immediately after we bought the car. The California mechanics we took it to couldn't figure out the problem. Both guys said the diagnostic tool gave them thousands of dollars of suggested repairs which they knew wasn't right. We had it fixed in Michigan. Turns out there was some kind of rotor problem. That repair with new brakes was $900.
2. Blower resistors on fan blew out. Simple repair $35.
3. Intake manifold leak. $700, but we had the water pump replaced too. Do the water pump even if there isn't a problem! You won't regret it!
Considering I paid $6000 for the car in 2004 with 47K miles on it and other than the above, paid for normal maintenance, I think we came out OK.
Note: A Comments RSS Feed is available. New comments appear in the Members Area before the main site