2003 Chevrolet Malibu LS review from North America

After taking delivery of the car there were 2 minor defects.

1 - Driver Side heater vent had fins that were not attached to the spine of the vent to allow you to control the direction of airflow. 2 of these fins popped loose and were stuck, jamming the spine in the vent that controlled the rest of the fins. I could turn it left or right, but not change the direction up or down.

Solution - Dealer ordered new vent insert, which arrived within a week and will be replaced this weekend.

2 - The fluorescent orange shifter indicator that shows whether toy are in Park, Reverse, Neutral, Drive, etc. is loose. This is also a minor inconvenience since the actual shifter lever lines up with the proper gear indicators. I can still tell which gear I am in by looking at the shifter lever, so there's no safety issue.

Solution - Dealer will fix the shifter indicator when I bring my car in to have the vent replaced.

* Also worthy of note is that the brakes started out pulsing as if a rotor was warped, but after driving a few hundred miles this smoothed out substantially and is now barely noticeable. I'm guessing that this was simply a wear-in phase for the front pads and rotors.

Fit and finish of the body and interior is very good. No noises from the doors, trunk, hood or sunroof when opening and closing. Back doors do seem to bump into the leather seats though when closed.

Some interior parts are molded plastic, but they do not feel or look flimsy or cheap.

When driving, the gauge cluster is easy to read and all controls are easy to reach.

The ride is quiet, smooth and almost completely free of vibrations. Road noise is low and you can only hear the engine if you really hit the throttle hard. Under normal driving conditions the car is very quiet. At idle in my garage I can barely hear it running and there is very little noise from the serpentine belt.

I am used to driving an Eclipse GS Turbo 5-speed with a lower center of gravity, firmer suspension, larger anti-sway bars, performance tires and aggressive shoch \ strut valving. In comparison, I think the Malibu handles well in turns because it has a little body roll, but still feels stable and under control.

I am used to leather bucket seats in my Eclipse and the Malibu's front seats are more like split bench seats. Still, the leather seating is comfortable, but could definitely use better lumbar \ lateral support.

Map \ reading light is hidden behind the rear-view mirror, which provides a good amount of light without any glare in the driver's eyes.

Transmission shifts up a little early, but will downshift just as quickly when needed.

Mileage on the highway is more like a 4 cylinder than a v6.

One thing I thoroughly dislike about this car is that the brakes feel very under-powered and more pressure than average is needed to stop the car, especially when an abrupt stop is required. Perhaps 4 wheel disc or larger front rotors \ pads will improve this situation. I hope GM beefs-up the brakes this because some drivers may get into accidents because of under-estimating the pressure they need to apply to stop effectively.

All things considered, it looks and feels well made, rides and handles well, has good power and torque (170 HP for 2003), is priced reasonably and is comfortable. The brakes are the only drawback that I think should be changed for the next model year. From reading reviews of past model years, it appears that the 2003 model is much improved.