Faults:

Intake manifold gasket.

Ignition.

Brakes, and then more brakes.

Fan motor speeds, 1 & 2.

A/C.

General Comments:

My 1998 Malibu is just now starting to pile up the repair receipts. As I read from the other posts, I sit here in horror. Everything people have written about has started to come true on or around the stated mileage in each of the posts. I have 56000 miles on my car, and I better bail now. Oh please just let me get through the winter (Massachusetts). I had a wonderful 1997 Honda Civic. It went 108000 miles with no problems before I gave it to my daughter. She now has 125000, and has put very little into that magnificent car.

I hate to say this, but I really have to look at the economics of the situation. It will be foreign cars for me from here on out. Until we can build cars again, then I can't support this industry any longer with my extremely hard earned dollars. Come on USA, wake up.

Faults:

Constant brake problems.

Have replaced the front pads 4 times so far.

Interior plastic parts are falling apart.

General Comments:

Good sound system with the factory C/D Player, but seating is not great.

Faults:

- 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.

General Comments:

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.

Faults:

Brakes squeal constantly, even after changing brake pads and replacing/turning rotors.

A/C works intermittently. Turns on and off by itself when A/C initially activated.

Had to drain and flush coolant system due to residue buildup in coolant reservoir.

General Comments:

The car is extremely efficient on fuel consumption when driving on the highway. During the first two years of buying the Malibu over 80% of the miles put on were "highway miles". I was getting between 32-35 miles per gallon and 25-27 for city driving. Now with mileage has dropped to about 22 miles per gallon for city driving.

With regular maintenance (oil changes, air filter changes, PCV valve check, spark plug cleaning and gapping, brake pad changing, etc...) the car runs very well.

Ride is comfortable, but compartment noise is louder than expected.

Cabin is roomy and comfortable.