1998 Chevrolet Malibu LS from North America - Comments

- Replaced brake pads twice, rotors once.

Mechanic told me that the new cars have thinner rotors.. requiring quicker replacement. You can't turn them down twice. They had already been turned down once when I got them.)

- Water pump at 90,000.

- Intake manifold gasket started leaking at 36K, I held off to have it replaced until 85K. Cost was $400. A GM dealer wanted $600 to fix.

- Replaced battery.

- Several tire changes. Then just had all 4 replaced to get rid of the noise.

- My air conditioner turns off and on without me touching it. I deal with it vs. having to put out a lot of money. Reading the other comments on this web site tells me this is another flaw... and very costly to repair.

- I have hesitation at times. I've been spending money on tires and coolant leaks...can't afford to have this problem looked into. Basically, I step on the accelerator... and the car will only go 20 -30 mph. When I floor it (during the hesitation), the rpm meter does not move. So it does not look like it's the transmission. This hesitation may last 15 - 30 seconds. It's very dangerous when I try to pull out at times. I did have a tune-up on the car to see if it eliminate the problem...tune-up did not help.

Car is very nice looking and handles nice

(unless on snow). But the repair bills are too high. I would not recommend a Malibu to anyone unless GM has a proven service record improvement on the newer models.

I just have one comment on the hesitation you mentioned. I had a problem with that right after I got the car and it turned out to be related to the gas tank. Apparently if you try and top off your tank after the gas hose shuts off you can get spillage in the parts around the gas tank. There is a valve that should shut once you are finished filling up, but if it is sticking then you get the spillage. Try having that looked at and see if it helps - it did with mine and now it runs beautifully.