2008 Chevy Malibu/ In-Depth: Overview

[blackimpreza07]

The interior looks so much better then the Accord and Camry. The Camry dash looks so cheap and stupid its a shame cause its a good looking car. This is nice car might be my next not sure yet

[ts0yep]

i went with the fusion because it was more reliable,and a proven car.

[neosrt10]

Nice work Chevy very sleek and modern

[somewhatlongdong]

The Malibu and the Fusion are both excellent values, are very reliable, and are attractive. I don't understand why more people don't buy them.

[DesertBurst92]

i think the american auto makers are finally starting to get it. sure, they were shit (generally speaking) in the 80's and 90's. however, i think we will see substantial improvement in them within the next 5 to 10 years.

[lio77744]

this thing aint nothing but a dressed up beretta , or lumina, its going to take a long time for chevy cars to gain the trust of the buyer, Honda forever

[stang661]

A big ole goofy truck grill, headlights that run a foot down the fender like everyone else and a rear end that looks like an after though.

Looks like it was carved from a single piece of plastic. As far as JD Power, Isn't that high in comfort, material quality or overall design but I could car less if people like their cars after 180 days. I want to know how it is 3 yrs out. Impossible w/ a new model so you take your chances. JD has crowned a few lemons great cars based on initial feedback.

[RYwiccan]

If you dont like this car why watch info about? is your life that boring?

[fertref]

Drove one of these for 4 weeks during my stay in the US. What a great car! Unfortunately there's no way of bringing one over to Germany. It would be just too expensive. I'd love kicking it at the autobahn...

[emforty2]

Malibu name has such a bad rep that GM sells more Impalas

which doesn't have a 100M$ campaign ad like the Malibu

[Endreveren]

Cool German design. I'll be sure to buy this car after Obama takes over GM and then sells GM to the Chinese government to lower some of the debt owed to the Chinese government.

[21April853BC]

What a boring car!

[lgtilwatp]

haterz u suck! malibu rocks!!!

[sketchyinc]

I would rather have a mint condition 1985 Chevy Celebrity, they had real metal finish!

[xxxIzekeIxxx]

oh my. how unimpressive...

[rahul1248]

It is one of the best cars.. I owned it few months back.. No compliants

[PROgoth121]

The backseat doesn't recline, nor have an armrest? Lame... You'd be better off with the Camry if you want ride comfort.

[MarkSeibold]

Pointless comments about style of a tail light or color of a grill. Are these award winning artists in the comments. Have they learned to drive yet?

As an award winning artist-astronomer I took the new Malibu for a 6,400 mile round trip from Portland to Toronto and back cruising 100 mph. Owned luxury imports for years. Nothing compares to this Malibu at over 100 mph. Excelleration, speed, ultra quiet cabin, suspension squelching all road bumps.

Imports take a back set. Drive the Chevy now!

[WaveX28]

nah

[ChesterDoraemon]

you are full of shit. i drove a malibu rental 09 that thing drove like a dodge caliber, it feels like its trying to break the speed of light to get to 80. in contrast my bmw can hit the electronic limit of 155 no problem. i'm getting that taken off once the warranty expires

[rob16875]

it was prolly a 4 cylinder lol

[Threxx]

I own an 07 335i (TT I6) and an 09 Aura XR 4cyl (very similar to Malibu). The 335i has almost twice the power (literally) and there's no doubt it's a far faster vehicle... and yet there are so many things I prefer in the Aura. It rides smoother/quieter, gets much better MPG, costs way less to purchase, repair, maintain, insure, etc... really it's an apples to oranges comparison. I guess the 3.6 Aura/Mal and 328i could be compared though. The 328i is actually slower than the 3.6 Aura/Mal.

[WaveX28]

Is it just me or did chevy seem to make VW Passat and call it a malibu?

[Jeshualionheart]

its just you

[RickStylus]

Obviously GM copied Passat and previous Acura TL design, then call it Malibu. Hence, the most important difference amongst them is: QUALITY, both VW and Acura/Honda are very reliable cars unlike GM counterparts... just disposable ones XP

[tobearockstar0706]

@RickStylus

Are you joking? VW has one of the worst reliability as a whole brand. Same thing goes to Mercedes and BMW, they are only average and is comparable to Chevy. And Ford can very well be compared with Honda. While Lexus and Toyota still lead in the reliability sector. Check JDPower.

[RickStylus]

Do american cars have such huge "reliability" like german and japanese machines?

hmmm, maybe... for someone blind as a bat.

[tobearockstar0706]

I could rant on about this topic for weeks to come. But since you are one of those domestic thrashers then I won't argue with you.

And just to add it in there. Mazda, Nissan, and Suzuki are only making average and below average reliable cars. Only Toyota/Lexus has the legendary reliability everyone claims Japanese cars to have.

[stephenBquick]

@tobearockstar0706 Is that why Toyota got recalled a shit load of times and at one point was forced to stop selling 8 Toyota models due to the recall? wow that real jap quality there bud.

[tobearockstar0706]

You do realize that i made wrote that comment 5 months ago? Toyota just got caught using cheap plastic parts. Not defending Toyota as I love domestics.

[PyroHurd92]

ur a Dick.... my dad has owned a merc for 7 years nothing wrong. ur right about VW we had a VW passat for 4 years in 2001 and every month something went wrong but u seem to have something against german cars...... germany make the best cars in the world

[RickStylus]

hahahah... nice joke XD

[isiahlilman]

i hate to admit it but its true, the reliability is better regardless of whether u like it or not

[sexyboi142]

how?

[emforty2]

japanese did copy but that was in the 50s by the 80s the americans are the ones copying

toyota prius hybrid sold the last 12 years over 1.5million sold

GM? the volt is still a science project if gas was $1.50 a gallon GM would not even develop it

HUMMERS anyone?

[myshell123]

i have a 2008 honda accord lx-p and it gives me only 20 mpg combined and a lot of people has been complaining about bad brakes and luckily i havent experience that yet. so im not sure why theres people think japanese cars are so great. i havent heard anything bad or experiencing any recalls about gm or chrysler lately except the bailouts.

[stacygulick]

I test drove an 2009 today. I liked it a lot. I use to be a hard core Ford fan...but I think the Malibu is going to be my next car.

I actually made a video about it. It's posted on my channel

[BartmanMC]

GM=pathedic.

They try to make a car half Camry/Accord, can you say lazy.

[jniemo]

The Japanese have been a copied American and German technology for many many years. Thats all they know how to do...can you say lazy. I guess you didn't realize that before opening your mouth.

[BartmanMC]

I think your talking about american companies like GM that if they didnt borrow the Japanese techonogy none of there cars would get 30 mpg.

[stopwitstraightshots]

lol true

[myshell123]

american car companies dont need to copy anything from japanese companies just look at the gas mileage that american companies get in europe. plus american companies were the first to make cars and japanese car companies are the ones that copied our technology.

[BartmanMC]

GM does very so by buying the technolgy from Toyota, sorry to break that up. German cars like 09 Volkwagon Jetta gets 40-44 mpg highway yeah that beats both American & Japanese companies who has yet to that.

[myshell123]

gm's chevrolet lacetti gets 49 mpg highway and 28 mpg in city and also check out the other gm vehicles that they make in europe and you will see that gm actually does make fuel efficient and that they just havent bought it here.

[BartmanMC]

well I just saw the lacettit and its pritty ugly looking, for starters its very small.

[myshell123]

it might be ugly but at least it gets better mileage than any japanese companies come out with. it might be small but so is the toyota corolla and it is also ugly and it doesnt get as much mileage on a gallon. i just dont get why some people are so closed minded about american car companies and that every car has their problems no matter who its made by.

[BartmanMC]

I know many Corolla owners and they said they loved it. I was in an 05 and it felt very smooth. There is only one American car company I trust and thats Ford. They make quality cars that last and they look stylish plus I can see the improvements of MPG in the future of Ford.

[myshell123]

i wonder how toyota got a reputation of being reliable when they just recalled over 1 million cars a couple of days ago.

[BartmanMC]

because its hard for alot a people to buy cars no matter which brand in this economy. They are in a recal but not in as much touble as GM & Crysler.

[mercman8888]

Curse the Japanese!!

[importcarfan]

GM + Ford + Chrysler = Bye Bye

Time for the Japanese and German cars to take over the world.

[ForeignCarsSuck]

U suck

[royboy361]

I had 2 Toyota for the last 16 yrs and finally traded my Camry in for a 2008 Malibu.

Once I got in it and drove it I fell in love with it. It's light years ahead of anything else I've driven. It's smooth, quiet and even the 4cyl engine has plenty of pep. I've had mine for a year now with 18,000 miles and have not had a single problem. I urge you to give this car a test drive before you dismiss it for a foreign car. This thing has features that Camry hasn't even heard of.

[DTrinh09]

i'm not bagging on the Malibu but maybe your 16 year old Toyotas are just so out of date that the Malibu's features seem super good? lol. my family actually has 4 toyotas so don't worry i'm not a toyota hater

[SteelCity1981]

hate that two tone dash, plus the backseat feels like a park bench.

[AcuraT]

I have to say, while my Honda Accord is in the shop for a new transmission (second failure on a second Honda in the last five years with less than 71,000 miles), I have a new Chevy Malibu rental. I think I will be strongly considering GM for the first time as this car is very nice. Good ride, good build quality, and a nice car overall. And it already has nearly 20,000 miles of hard rental miles on it.

[jfizz313]

yea and you know how people drive rentals

[stuwip839]

They will do anything to critize an American car. Like when he talks about the piece around the stereo, if that would have been in a Camry of Accord, They would had liked it. But I drove on of these, and would take this car over a Camry or Accord anyday, and I dont car for GM vehicles, but they nailed this one.

[Zinizzle]

@stuwip839 How would anyone ever feel comfortable buying from a company with such a bad reputation? All GM has been building for the past twenty years is cheap junk. And They are still rated low in reliability according to Consumer Reports. And it's funny that most to all of the Japanese manufacturers are recommended. And you would never see a cheap piece of material around the stereo in a Japanese engineered vehicle.

[emforty2]

im glad GM is making the Malibu better as the Camry and Accord have been kicking their butts too long !

[Kiingofmusic09]

i LOVE THE FORD FUSIONS, BUT THIS CAR IS HITTING THE SPOT FOREAL. DO THEY HAVE IT IN RED

[AmericanCars101]

Yup it does come in red.

[Kiingofmusic09]

well i guess Ima get the ford fusion in either grey or red because its a cheap car and is a good car

[squishyidiot45]

Chevy improved on this car a ton! I'm really impressed with it. But while my family was on vacation, we rented a Malibu base, and they used a bunch of hard plastic, I wish they would improve on that, but overall awesome car.

[dragonstorm83]

am i the only one who found the background music to be a bit distracting?

[MooForCow]

fuck the altima.....My parents bought a 2007 and it has horrible suspension and electrical misfunctions. Igot a 2006 Camry and it was worst! Than I bought an 08 Malibu LT, happy with this car so far, great gas mileage. Much more powerful than the camry.

[sullyrules1]

i will totally agree with u malibu is way better than the altima or the camry

[chrisiztheman1618]

BAHAHAHAHA

[MissTexas76]

I bought the (LT) imperial blue last month, I'm in love with this car. I get tons of comments!! Great car.

[qernst8]

The midsized sedan market is so competitive. I have to give GM major props on the new Malibu. I've seen tons of them out on the road already and no wonder, it's a pretty car. A white one passed me the other day and, from a distance, they look almost Audi-ish. If Chevy made a diesel version with a manual trans, I'd be all over that like ugly on an ape. That'll never happen though :(

[nismo2323]

regardless of the origin of the car, most american companys make their cars in mexico/canada or were ever else. atleast nissan makes their best selling car the altima in the us along with atleast 5 other nissan/infiniti modles. im pretty sure toyota makes the camrey here too. i wonder how many recalls the malibu will have cause im sure they rushed that shit out.

[kndrice]

Actually Chevy delayed the introduction by 6 months to take care of alot of these "issues". Nobody's perfect(as Toyota will attest) so who know's what happens, but with initial quality #1, it is a good start.

[Blue387]

Can I fit a body in the trunk? You can do it on the Ford Taurus.

[MFamous18]

It's more like Toyota and Honda are now on par with Fords reliability. My family members have several Fords and none of them ever have problems. I drive a car made by GM and I know every mechanic in town. I wish I had a Ford :(

I like the sportier versions of the new Camry, but Honda...SICK

[kndrice]

because Japan made the Hybrid SUV. Oh yeah, they didn't.

[misswildcat30]

Actually Nissan and Dodge are partnering up. Nissan is even going to do a car for Chrysler while Chrysler will work on a pickup (full size). I would suggest googline "nissan dodge partnership", You should get a number of hits.

[canderson235135]

And if you could read my last post, you'd find that I've never had a single major problem with any of my GM vehicles. Ever. All of them have lasted well over 200,000 miles, in fact, my '89 Safari had over 290,000 miles when I sold it, and the current owner says that it still runs to this day without any problems. If you know how to take care of them and properly maintain them like I do, they'll last you many years.

[canderson235135]

It's obvious that you don't know anything about the auto industry. The tundra is just about the most pathetic pickup ever developed, toyota itself has called it an embarrassment to the company. It's been plagued with problems from day one since they rushed it into production because of the '07 launch of the GMT-900s. Sales of the titan are in the dumps, so much that nissan had to ask Dodge for help. The ridgeline is nothing more than a pathetic copy of the Avalanche.

[MFamous18]

The ridgeline is fucking ugly.

[Nightbird]

I don't care what it looks like, I'll never buy an American made care until the quality has been proven over time. The best deal in this segment is the Hyundai Sonata V6. If you compare features it wins hands down: more airbags, more standard safety features, more horsepower ( 0-60 is awesome!) and the best warranty in the business. But you have to drive it to experience this, don't judge Hyundai by it's past. Try it, you'll love it like I did.

[MFamous18]

I don't care what features it has. I'll never buy a Hyundai until the quality has been proven over time.

You say to judge American cars by the past, but to not judge Hyundai for its past. All I can say is...SICK HYUNDAI

what the hell kind of name is Hyundai anyway? It makes me think of eating bad shellfish and puking it up ..."dude I gotta get to the toilet Im gonna hyundai."

[nismo2323]

id buy a hyundai befor i bought a american car. i think hyundai is up there with nissan, toyota and honda.

[squishyidiot45]

HYUNDAI SUCKS GOAT BALLS!

[117rebel]

yup. i drove one for a hyundai sonata for a couple years and there was always something wrong with the engine. typical korean piece of shit it was!

[squishyidiot45]

Hyundai copys off of every single car company known to man. cAnd finally sum1 agrees with me that hyundai sucks.

[njnikusha]

well said

[CarFanatic123456]

The new Hyundai Sonata got a better score than the 2008 Chevy Malibu. But no need for stereotyping.  haha

[canderson235135]

I don't know what the hell you're talking about since none of my GM's have ever had any major problems.

The reason why GM is still a class-leading automaker is because A) Japan can't make full size trucks/SUVs to save its life and B) Because of cars like the Malibu, CTS, Lambda crossovers, etc.

And now that the Chevy Cobalt and Malibu lead their respective classes in fuel economy, it won't be long until GM regains the lead over toyota. And the Chevy Volt = death of the prius.

[canderson235135]

Bullshit. GM's quality has improved drastically over the past few years while toyota's and honda's have dropped. The tundra's an embarrassment with the tailgate problems and camshaft failures, tacomas are rusting prematurely, hondas are popping out of third gear, accords are having rust problems...face it, GM's back and better than ever, and you import fanboys have no idea what's about to hit you.

[pipeorganist]

Finaly a luxury midsize sedan that we can all afford !!

[Doctors2Advocate]

Malibu? Luxury? Umm, no.

[MFamous18]

a luxury Malibu hahaha

btw you spelled finally wrong.

[Keeferlgb]

Regarding the front suspension, does it bottom out the way Buick sedans tend to do when going over anything other than a smooth road? On the Buicks, the suspension is extremely soft to create what they call "Dyno-ride". It is OK for for highways, but awful for secondary roads, railroad tracks, and ordinary bumbs. Hopefully, the Malibu has a more substanstial suspension.

[Billy4202]

Why is it that I've seen a trillion commercials for the Malibu ("2008 Car of the Year") and have never seen one on the road lol

[axelmenson]

top speed in km/hr???

0-100 mph?

0-60 mph?

reply me please

[stanbernadino]

0-60 6.5, 0-100 17, top speed is probably about 135

[cruzer2727]

I just test drove the LTZ malibu and omg it is amazing! Go test drive one! its got some real punch and the breaks are nice. Really quiet, manual shifting on the steering wheel is sick! push in to shift and pull downshift.

[Plpoo]

not my taste, the interior is nice thought.

[TangoR34]

the americans are finally making some decent cars...

[FireOFK]

actully I looked at one yesterday the top line LTZ. I like the dash they did a nice job on it but they fucked up the door panels again cheap wably plastic I mean they could use a better solid plastic for it god damn so the overall interior would look good i'm sure nobody would care to pay $200 dollar extra. I thought they did it this time but again they have to fuck up somewhere

[rig48]

lol...........yea ok. its still a GM(cheap)

[Nightbird]

I don't care what it looks like, I'll never buy an American made care until the quality has been proven over time. The best deal in this segment is the Hyundai Sonata V6. If you compare features it wins hands down: more airbags, more standard safety features, more horsepower ( 0-60 is awesome!) and the best warranty in the business. But you have to drive it to experience this, don't judge Hyundai by it's past. Try it, you'll love it like I did.

[stanbernadino]

You say you won't buy an American car because they used to not be well made and yet you want us all to buy a Hyundai and not judge it by past quality??

[kndrice]

I think the new Hyundai's are way better than the past and the same can be said of the new Malibu--Nightbird has a poor argument.

[roja545]

I owned a Hyundai & it was smelly shit, the ride sucked & quality sucked ass.

[canderson235135]

A hyundai?

I don't know whether to laugh at you or pity you.

[2thetxchick]

I just got a Malibu.

If you are in the market now, I'll save you some time:

Skip the Toyota dealership. The Honda Accord and the Chevy Malibu are the real choices.

[FireOFK]

actually I saw the LTZ in person yesterday the Honda Accord wins I believe. I like the LTZ interior but the door panels are same cheap plastic shit that GM uses too bad really this is nice car they should have installed better plastic material door panels after all i'm sure nobody would mind paying $200 extra

[DigableDude]

The Car is obviously a winner, but why does GM have to place the same damn radio design in all of it's vehicles...Saturn,Buick and Chevy all carry the same interiors...And Cadillac isn't far behind with it's interior features...GM, don't fuck a good thing up by being so OBVIOUS with the badge engineering.

geez

[an82506]

The new Malibu is now real competition to the Accord, Camry, and Altima. I think GM did an excellent job on the car and some people still don't believe that the Americans can make a capable car. But here it is.

[MusicMan0007]

malibu is the ugliest sedan in the market. The rear is hideous and the two tone interior is cheap.

[canderson235135]

The camry looks bloated and overall unappealing.

[justandretti]

Downsides? The Camry demonstrates a busier ride than Accord and Malibu, the latter of which also stifles more road and wind noise. The interior, although roomy, comfortable, and straightforward, is arguably the blandest of the group with its "acres of sickly gray plastic" that come across "awfully industrial next to the stylish Malibu," per St. Antoine. Plus, similar to the Altima's, the Camry's steering feels too light and anesthetized.

[Mausome]

The New Camry has had some Transmission troubles.

[KennyboyGM]

The new accord looks like a Hyundai

[KonaKoo]

Why? i like Honda + Chevy. My opinion. I don't have to do SHIT YOU SAY.

[KonaKoo]

NEW ACCORD + MALIBU FTMFW!!!

[nez3]

wtf? u better pick one or the other!!!

[calladuz]

i guess he's buying both lol