1999 Chevrolet Malibu Base from North America - Comments

The brakes on this car are terrible. After getting 4 sets of pads and three sets of rotors, I finally went and had a non dealer mechanic install high quality replacement pads and turn the rotors.

The Firestone tires are terrible. Had to have 2 replaced by 18000 miles the others replaced at about 27000 miles. They are very noisy tires and have a tendency to cup, as well as tread separation. Firestone is not very receptive to paying for replacements, although they will tell you this is a premium tire and should last over 50000 miles. Not!!!

The factory battery went bad with no warning, just quit leaving wife stranded. The car was two years old, and had only 40000 miles. Of course it was out of warranty, and the dealer would not honor replacement as a good will gesture or even give a discount on the battery. Terrible since I bought it there new.

The factory CD player has been a constant problem since the car hit about a year old. It has been replaced 3 times, still not right. I feel somewhere there is a design flaw in the electrical system, since CD players are not that hard to build right. It works fine until you've been driving about 20 minutes, then skips, mis-tracks and quits all together, showing error on the screen.

The alternator went bad at 65000 miles. I've owned many a car, driven them for years, NEVER had to replace this item on any of them. A real disappointment on this car. Dealer wanted $475 to replace. I bought the part somewhere else and had a mechanic install it for about $200 total. What a rip off!

I feel this car is well designed, it really looks good, lots of equipment for the money. But there are problems with the car that Chevrolet can fix, just won't do it. My comments are typical of Malibu owners.

The 2.4 engine is fine, actually accelerates well, although can get noisy.

Handling is pretty good for normal driving.

Great room for 4 passengers.

I have owned 2 1999 malibu's (model LS) and both were great cars. They gave me great service with the minimum of maintenence. I do agree on the tires, although I did get 60,000 miles out of them before replacing them, they do cup. I was told that the shocks on the vehicle along with not rotating the tires could also make them cup. No Problem.

The latter malibu did have a water leak from the intake, but again a small price for the amount of miles before repair.

I'd buy one again, but my wife is making me lean towards a Nissan Altima, or a BMW this time.

Regards,

Dave.

I own an 97 malibu and now it has about 93,000 kms which is approx 75,ooo miles and never had those problems with the tires they were replaced at 60,000 kms and brakes were just replaced at 88,000 kms and now abit of popping sounds and some problems with ABS.. had to replace 2 wheel bearings on the front ends. but the ABS is still on.. so could anyone help me out with this situation you guys can email me at dracula751@hotmail.com and put the subject by saying help with malibus so I know its from you guys okay.. thanks so much I'm from nova scotia canada.. so good little car with 2.4l engine and ls model.

Thanks again

jason.

I have a female friend with a 1999 Malibu, with about 90,000 some miles. She is having problems with the engine. Also the check engine light is on. It runs decent on the highway but is running rough on the mean streets of Chicago. We took it to a neighborhood repair shop and they spent several days trying to figure out the problem. They checked several things but nothing seemed to cure the problem.

Also the gas gauge is not reliable. So you are not sure if there is enough gas in the tank. Any suggest please email responses to boss4140_oaklawn@yahoo.com, subject line 1999 Malibu.

Thanks.