2001 Chevrolet Malibu from North America - Comments

28th Sep 2005, 10:51

"Beautiful, good power when running, but totally unreliable"

What things have gone wrong with the car?

MY HUSBAND AND I BEGAN TO HAVE TROUBLE STARTING CAR, WHICH RESULTED IN THE FOLLOWING REPAIRS:

Ignition module-$300.

Airbags unplugged (was told a faulty sensor made the car not start and would be cheaper to unplug than replace) -$90.

Electronic ignition starter-$300.

AFTER THESE "REPAIRS" THE CAR ONLY GOT WORSE, AND WHILE DRIVING ON THE ROAD, THE DOORS WOULD UNLOCK THEMSELVES, WHICH WOULD CAUSE THE IGNITION TO SHUT OFF. RESULTED IN THE FOLLOWING "REPAIR", WHICH DID NOT FIX ANYTHING:

Pass-lock security system sensor replaced- $330.

WE NOTICED THAT THE ROTORS WERE SHAKING BADLY. I WAS TOLD AT THE BRAKE SHOP THAT THE BRAKES HAD TO HAVE NEW CALIPERS AND BE TOTALLY REDONE, SINCE MALIBU BRAKE PADS WEAR UNEVENLY AND WOULD SOON NEED TO BE REPLACED AGAIN:

Brakes-$380.

WINDSHIELD LINING ON PASSENGER SIDE CAME LOOSE, WHICH ALLOWED WATER TO LEAK INTO FLOORBOARD.

IN THE MIDST OF ALL THIS, THE BATTERY WENT OUT:

Battery-$60.

General comments?

I love the looks, power, and feel of the Chevrolet Malibu.

I like that it's American-made.

However, I feel that Chevrolet has let down the American car industry by creating a very poor SECURITY and ELECTRICAL system. I have read of numerous situations where the ignition locks up because it thinks you're trying to steal your own car. We have had to reset our Pass-lock security system a countless number of times. Also, you cannot modify the stereo system and put in a new CD player unless you leave the original one hooked up somewhere in the car.

After all of the listed repairs that we have had, our car is still doing the same thing, and Chevrolet says they cannot figure out what the problem could be. Although I love my car, we will be trading it in for something that will hopefully be more reliable... like a Camry.


23rd Jan 2006, 08:38

"I like that it is American made" and then goes on to say "will buy a Camry". Hmmm??? This seems contradictory to me.


18th Feb 2006, 20:33

You can put an after market Cd player in the car. I went to the local wal-mart and bought the harness and the mount kit for it. It cost was about 30 dollars. You have to hook an wire to the fuse for it to shut off with the car.


18th Jun 2007, 17:33

"Ummm" "AMERICAN MADE???".. I'll let you know that almost every car on the american roads is "AMERICAN MADE". Honda, Toyota, Nissan, Ford, Gm, ETC are ALL MANUFACTURED in the good ol USA. Most of the parts however are from China, etc, so you can't even call an american car american anymore!! My step-mom works at GM, and told me that everything is from China, Germany, and Japan... SO DON"T JUDGE A CAR BASED ON ITS "ORIGIN"

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