2001 Chevrolet Malibu LS from North America - Comments

I bought this car new in December 2000. My auto repair file for my 2001 Malibu is already thicker than the one for my 1991 Grand Am.

2494 Miles - right side fog light and side marker light burned out, dealer replaced under warranty.

I took the car into the dealer several times for suspension rattles around 10000 miles, dealer could find nothing. I still have the rattles.

35,486 Miles- check engine light comes on. Dealer replaced fuel injector and HVAC control head. A/C controls were not working properly. Check engine light was still on when I picked up the car. I limped back to the dealership the next day. They replaced the oxygen sensor and flashed the PCM.

43,747 Miles - Car would not start. I had the vehicle towed to the dealer. Dealer diagnosed the problem as a defective ignition lock cylinder. They could not make repairs on the same day (Friday), so I had the car towed to an independent shop that worked on Saturday to get the repair done since I had plans to go out of town that weekend.

Since then, I have had the intake manifold gasket replaced, and both coolant pipes going to the heater core replaced. Both pipes were leaking. After that, I noticed the head gaskets were leaking. I was able to take the car to a personal friend who works as a service advisor at a Chevy dealership in another state. He was able to persuade Chevy to pay for the repair under warranty. Chevy can warranty anything they want up to 60,000 miles. This favor saved me at least $1000.00.

Even then, the car was in and out of the shop for two months. The dealership had to replace the head gaskets twice before they got it right. I finally have a car that does not leak coolant, at least for now. They also flushed out the Dex-Cool and replaced it with green antifreeze. (Yes, the dealership recommended to flush out the Dex-Cool and replace it with green coolant.)

Now, my theft system light comes on from time to time. My starter makes a grinding noise when I release the key from the start position. I still wonder if the car will start every time I get in it. I wish I bought the extended warranty.

I would not sell this car to anybody I knew because I know it has problems. My next vehicle will be a Toyota.

In response to the above comment all I have to say is I agree. I too am a current owner of a 2001 Chevy Malibu and am experiencing the exact same problems! I am quite concerned to have discovered such similar difficulties in another Malibu of the same make... it makes me wonder how much of these problems I, or any other Malibu owner of the same make, should be paying for!!

I consider myself lucky. My 2001 Malibu has 115,000 miles, with very little repairs other than the usual brakes, etc.

The check engine light came on this week, so perhaps the car is starting to show its mileage.

I've been very satisfied with the vehicle.

I have a 2001 Malibu and it makes that same grinding noise when it starts, although it's not constant, but regular. It's rather embarrassing when people are around.

I also have a problem with it revving itself. Sometimes I'll put it into park and the RPM gauge will shoot up to about 2500 RPMs. This also makes it had to brake and you can definitely feel it resisting.

This car is going to be the death of me.

Thought we were helping our son out 2 years ago when we sold our 2001 Malibu to him. He just replaced the Intake Manifold Gasket for the second time in 2 years; the car is still overheating and loosing Dex Cool. Can't believe that GM won't do a recall on this problem? We begged them to do something the first time the gasket was replaced, but they said they hadn't had enough cars experiencing the same problem. The car only had 40,000 miles on it at the time. He's had to replace the ignition, which also seems to be a common problem with the Chevy Malibu. He is now so frustrated with this car that he's ready to push it off a cliff. Boy did we do him a favor selling it to him... we didn't have him pay what the actual blue book value was. At this point there's really not much value to this Malibu, since he's not able to drive it.

I feel for everyone that has had problems with their cars. This is the last straw. I have been a loyal GM customer and believe they should stand by their products. Like that will ever happen. Since I purchased the car (original owner), I have been relatively lucky. I have only had to: 1) replace the alternator (within 1st week of ownership), 2) gone through 2 sets of rotors, 3) replaced the intake manifold gasket @46K miles, 4) fixed temperature gauge, and finally... replace the intake manifold gasket AGAIN at a cost of $1200. Nice quality GM. My problem with all of this is that I do everything I am supposed to do to maintain a vehicle. This should not happen. You know it's bad when a service rep says that I can expect this to probably happen again within another 45K miles. Nice. Where the heck is the class action already!

My wife has a 2001 malibu. I have done the gaskets twice for the intake. I was sad today, engine gone 43k miles. I like this car when it works. It hasn't worked since I have known her. She loves the car. I am a mechanic for an import company. I don't like this car, now I have to buy a motor. Not happy Jarrett.

My friend has a 2001 Malibu, and has had many problems recently. The car has 80 some thousand miles on it, and it driven recreationally and the 5 blocks to work everyday. Recently, the girlfriend took it out and ran it for 3 days without putting gas in it, and it died. We put multiple gallons of gas in and some STP additives, still nothing. It wants to start real bad, it's like right on the cusp of starting, but won't turn over. There have been minor problems in the past, but this is ridiculous, anyone have any ideas on what this could be? I can hear the fuel pump running, and theres plenty of gas. Hoping for the filter to be bad, but anyone got any bright ideas?

Sadly, I am also an owner of a 2001 Malibu who's not happy with the quality! My feelings would be different... if only I could get the check engine light off long enough to pass the emissions test.

To get your check engine light off, disconnect the battery for atleast 10 minutes, this will reset the computer. IF your light comes back on, take it to autozone and have it scanned, they will tell you what is wrong.

Good News!!!

A class action lawsuit was won against GM for the inferior intake manifold gaskets/and acidic GM coolant (Dex-cool). Go to the following link to see if and how much reimbursement you are eligible for:

http://www.girardgibbs.com/dexcool.html

I went to the repair shop to find out what was wrong with my 01 Malibu. They told me it was my head gasket, they wanted to charge me over $1600 and then another $2-300 more for a PCV and a flush. Then I called around and the price when up to $2100!!! I will never have a Malibu again, such a quality car. And think I used to think of GM as quality.

I have a Malibu LS 01 and I love it. Yes, it has been in the shop a few times, but I'm not going sell it for nothing, I think it is a good car. It is how you take care of it.

To the may 5th, 2007 comment -

I too own a 2001 Chevy Malibu and have experienced the exact same problem, there's enough gas in the car but occasionally it just won't turn over. The first time this happened, the mechanic convinced us to replace the fuel pump. a serious ouch to our bank account. We had just bought the car used a month before (no warranty of course - boy, never gonna go that route again!).

The second time this happened, luckily we were NOWHERE NEAR a repair place, so all I could do was helplessly sit there looking around online and find out just how common this problem is. And that the way to solve this issue is actually IN THE MANUAL. Here's what to do when this happens, it's worked for my wife and I the five or six times since then that we've needed it to:

Turn the key to the "on" position for about ten minutes (or until the "Theft System" light stops blinking on and off), then turn the key to "off" for ten seconds, start her up and it will start like a dream.

I've heard that putting in a remote starter and bypassing the theft system altogether might be a way to workaround this "glitch" that Chevy obviously KNEW ABOUT when they released this pile of crap to the public, but honestly I don't have the know-how or money to do this. So I'll just keep crossing my fingers every time I open the door to drive this beast in hope that it actually starts up for me.

GM, never again.

I also have a 2001 Malibu and I recently experienced the loss of antifreeze and overheating. Luckily my husband discovered that the o-ring in the cap of the reservoir was broke. We replaced the cap for $6 and it was fixed. Unfortunately, we have the IMG leak problem too. We'll just have to try and baby it until we can afford to fix it. Anyway, for the parents that sold their car to their son, I know it's been awhile since you posted but I hope you see this and it turns out that is the problem with his car and the overheating.

Amy.

Hi, I also have a 2000 LS Malibu. The car is very comfortable and roomy. I inherited it from my mom, she hated it!

It has 70 thousand original miles on it. I replaced the front coil springs, had to have new front calipers and brake lines, pads, rotors, etc. That took care of it eating brakes! The springs made it corner and ride better.

I took care of the leaking intake manifold gasket by flushing the coolant out, replacing it and adding a bottle of head/intake gasket sealer liquid I bought at an auto parts store. I followed the instructions and I have had no signs of leaking since, no mixing of fluids and no overheating for 20,000 miles! I have no loss in this car so the sealer was an experiment. I also use LUCAS oil stabilizer AND LUCAS fuel additive.

I get 30mpg with the 3.1!

Good luck everyone!