Brakes, Brakes, Brakes, Brakes (four sets) in 127,000 miles.
Head Gasket: $600 @ 40,000 miles.
Auto window rollers broke.
Water pump.
Fuel pump.
Belt.
This car went the miles, and it's understandable that some of the above would go wrong. However, the brakes were a pain and should not have been designed so poorly, and the cheap faulty gaskets were an unforeseen expense. Several of the complaints in this website are about gaskets.
I still have the Malibu and it's gorgeous. It's black cherry, the paint and the body are in perfect shape, the engine is running strong, but sometimes the car shakes like it has alzheimers, and coughs going up hills.
But, I love the car, and it is used as a second car now, and is pampered. I would buy a used 2000 Malibu again, only after reviewing the maintenance record for known defect repairs.
So you are complaining about changing your brakes every 30k miles. That is really good, that is about brakes every 2 years. I am almost at a year on my current pads, I had to replace a caliper so I did both this spring.
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