25th Nov 2002, 23:59
Well I see the made no improvements with the 98's. We have/ or have had all the same and then some. Just be forewarned if your coolant light starts coming onand the tank is bone dry, get the head gaskets checked first thing, or you will be replacing the engine, with in 6 months.
21st Jan 2003, 00:23
Thanks for the warning. I have the Olds version -- the 1998 Cutlass that is really the loaded Malibu with different tail lights. I have had identical problems (the dealer claims never to have heard about any of them), and now have the coolant light on -- although it's been checked twice in the past 2 weeks! I also had the power steering pump just die at 67K a couple weeks back, so be on the lookout, since we all seem to be on the same path. I'm taking it in for the coolant light tomorrow. Too bad it's such a piece of junk, since it's so comfortable and solid. I've never had a car fall apart with such low mileage.
12th May 2003, 11:59
I too have a '98 Malibu and I did do research on it at the time I was buying it. Everywhere I went back in 1999 I read positive things about this car. I think Motor Trends gave it a very good rating. Now in 2003 after people had time to see the whole picture and I read all of these I know that you can't believe everything you read, because people who suppose to know something, doesn't know squat!
I have had the same problems as everybody else. Brakes need changed about once a year. The rotors are so thin that they can't even be turned you have to get brand new ones each time. My Air-conditioner is out. Not just 1 and 2 but the whole thing is broke. My backlights have had to be replaced many times for burning out or a circuit going out. The place caps on the tires melt and make it very hard when you have to replace a tire. The dashboard rattles on hot days. Oh and many more, that I can't think of right now. Currently as I type my Malibu is in the shop getting fixed. It was running just fine in the morning and in the evening when I tried to get it started it was DEAD. My gauges were going crazy and jumping up and down, but no clicks nothing trying to turnover. Just dead and it wouldn't even jump-start. I had no warning at all. No lights were coming on, nothing! I hate this CAR!
12th May 2003, 20:33
To ALL Malibu owners who have had problems with the Chevy Malibu:
You need to contact GM and let them know about the problems you are having with your Malibu.
Go to www.chevrolet.com and click on the links to the contacts. Make sure you let them know that you are not very happy (in polite form), and tell them that you would like something done about this.
If we can get enough complaints against GM, then they may do something about it.
GOOD LUCK!
10th Jul 2003, 08:21
I also agree. I own a 98 Malibu and I just had to get the head gasket replaced, at 70000 miles! Not only that, but since then I've been having the problem where the theft system light comes on and won't let me start the car for like 20 minutes. This morning, the theft light came on and the car wouldn't start again, so I waited. When the light stopped blinking, ten minutes later, I tried to start it again. The stupid car did the same thing. I have to drive from school to school for my job, as I'm a tech at a school district. Now my car is stuck at another school a mile from my home office. So, on my lunch, I get to walk a mile and pray that my car starts. Thanks Chevrolet!
31st Aug 2003, 09:58
I have a 99 malibu and I have To replace my motor. I already had to change my brakes every. and also my rotors.
2nd Oct 2003, 09:31
Wow. I thought all my Malibu problems were due to my idiot husband attempting to wash the inside of the car out with a hose when I'd had it a few months, thus presumably frying the electronics. But you guys are all reporting the same problems I have.
Man oh man, I wish I had not been stupid enough to get a 7-year-lease on the car. I still owe $10K on it and I've had it for three years. Thus far I have had to replace the serpentine belt, the head gasket, have the cylinders rebored due to a cylinder gasket failure that was letting coolant into the cylinders, the right rear door power switch, a taillight, the braking apparatus (after having had to replace brake pads every three months because they were wearing out ludicrously fast), and I've had to permanently turn off my car alarm because it works so erratically, and stop driving the car in the summer because the AC won't stay on. Oh, and the car stereo tape deck died about two months after I got the car. Oh, and one time my battery melted down overnight for no reason. (Jumping it set my battery cables on fire. This was not "I left the headlights on", this happened for no reason whatsoever.)
I had such good luck with my 94 Chevy Cavalier. Now that was a great car. It did die of head gasket when it was only 6, but I'd driven it to work through nasty weather conditions, 90 miles a day, for five years and then it died at the end of the sixth year a week after I stupidly drove it in a hurricane, and for a car abused like that it gave me amazingly few problems.
Is the Malibu a real one-off for Chevy or is it a sign that Chevys are getting unreliable? I have always had Chevys (including my first car being a 77 Malibu) and they have always performed very well for me, until this one. Now my husband has bought a gently-used 99 Lumina and we have already had to replace the alternator within the first two months of having the car. Should I expect a future with the Lumina like I've had with the Malibu?
4th Apr 2004, 12:34
I will have to agree with the majority of 98' Malibu owners, when it come to problems experienced with the rotor replacement, 1 year (if not less) brake pad life, fan setting 1 and 2 not working, and the ABS light flickering on and off like fairy bulb lights. I was surprised myself when I experience all these problem with my 98' Malibu, as I have read up and even rented a malibu before I bought my own. It was "suppose" to be a reliable car. I can say that it's reliable in making me have to purchase new brake pads and rotors almost every other year though.
If all of you are considering that class action suit, please let me know also.
25th Oct 2002, 21:54
I also agree. I own a green 1998 Malibu and I've spent a lot of money trying to fix Chevrolet's problems. So far I've had to replace tires, rotors, brake pads, get settings 1 and 2 on the A/C control fixed, and it still randomly turns on and off, the pass seat rattles, dash and other parts rattle, ABS light randomly comes on. I wish I'd done more research before buying this car because for every problem I fix, it seems two more come up. Oh well...