1997 Chevrolet Malibu from North America - Comments

I bought the car at 58,000 and thought I was getting a good deal. I've had to replace the brakes 3 times, rotors once, alternator. I've let other problems sit and accumulate. Such as, the theft system that goes off once or twice a month and leaves me late to work and school. I find that if I just let the car sit at the Acc mode and then try to start it. Still is a pain. The ABS goes off at random times, still can't figure out why, but mostly in the summer. Took it to a personal mechanic, he tells me the ABS was fine, but the sensor inside was shot. How does that work? I usually use the car only for highway trips, long distances don't seem to hurt the car, but high speeds make a lot of wind noise, not to mention a lot of play in the steering. My problems have always happened at the worst time. Alternator while I was driving into Chicago, rotors on the way to Iowa from Illinois. Many problems with this vehicle. Stay away.

"I bought the car at 58,000 and thought I was getting a good deal. I've had to replace the brakes 3 times, rotors once "

Looking at your miles, it is normal to replace pads atleast once a year. I plan on doing it once a year, I got lifetime replacement pads from autozone and new clapers.

", alternator. "

For 138k miles, that is good.

"Such as, the theft system that goes off once or twice a month and leaves me late to work and school. I find that if I just let the car sit at the Acc mode and then try to start it. Still is a pain. "

Again, very common problem. The correct way to fix this is to let the car key on position until light goes off, then turn the key to off and back on. The issue is that key tumbler wears out, my theft light is on all the time, doesn't affect the car.

"The ABS goes off at random times, still can't figure out why, but mostly in the summer. Took it to a personal mechanic, he tells me the ABS was fine, but the sensor inside was shot. How does that work?"

ABS sensor is a common problem, on our cars, you can't just replace the sensor, you have to replace the whole hub assembly. 100 dollars for the part. I just did the fronts on mine. I would suggest you wait until you hub bearings go. When this happens, you will get a roar coming from the front.

"I usually use the car only for highway trips, long distances don't seem to hurt the car, but high speeds make a lot of wind noise, not to mention a lot of play in the steering."

I don't have this issue.

" My problems have always happened at the worst time. Alternator while I was driving into Chicago, rotors on the way to Iowa from Illinois. Many problems with this vehicle. Stay away"

I would stay away from 1st model year cars. GM got thier act together after this. A 02-03 malibu is the best ones because they fixed the Lower Intake Manifold Gasket issue. Some other things you need to watch out for: Window regulators, A/C compressor going on and off during use on the HVAC panel (there is a fix), brake light bulbs going out, and a few others.

Check out these websites that are tailored for malibus.

Www.mpracing.org

www.malibuclub.ca

www.unitedmalibus.com.

I am on all of those. There are quite a few knowledge people on those sites.

I feel very sorry for you and the problems you have had with your Malibu. I had a 1997 Malibu that I bought in 2001 and it only had 42,000 on it. The first month I had it the alternator went out. Then I discovered it had a problem with the theft system and the after market system that had been installed on the car. The only problem was is that both had been disengaged and it should have not bothered me in any way. WRONG. The theft system would constantly go off and lock my engine up. I would have to wait 10-15 minutes before it would start and sometimes I would have to wait 1 hour before it would. Then my water pump went out in December, 2006 and it was down hill from there. I wanted to get rid of it and I did, but not the way I wanted to. Some guy pulled out in front of me on 4-18-07 and totalled my car. That was truly the happiest day I have had in a long time. I would not ever recommend a Malibu to anyone.