24th Apr 2008, 14:33
I feel bad for those that don't know what it's like to own a well made car. My Toyota has 137k and I'm still on the same set of brakes! I've not used a tool on her yet, NO REPAIRS. Oh what a feeling! TOYOTA.
p.s. My friends 03 Malibu has 82k and is experiencing piston slap. That's why I'm looking up Malibu experiences.
8th Nov 2008, 01:37
Last I checked, piston slap is common on the 3.1L GM engine. I had an Oldsmobile Cutlass Ciera with that engine and a piston slap. It doesn't necessarily impact the engine's reliability -- that engine lasted until about 180k miles after having the piston slap for over 60k.
14th Mar 2009, 02:53
The alarm on my Malibu goes off randomly too. I hate it. I will say however, that I do like the car, it's very smooth and comfy, I've just had too much trouble with it.
Now, at 62,000 miles, I am experiencing the infamous GM piston slap, and it is annoying. I'm thinking that it's time for this car to go.
I'm finding that GM dealers are the worst. My wife drives a Dodge Grand Caravan, we've never had any problems with it, and the dealer is great.
I still refuse to buy an import, after terrible experiences with a 1999 Camry and a 2002 Nissan Altima, but I need a vehicle that can fit 2 car seats in and all those goodies.
I drove a Ford Fusion and was really impressed. I also really liked the Dodge Avenger, but there is less room. We'll see. To sum it up, don't buy this car, unfortunately, they're not that good :(
14th Mar 2009, 23:33
Good for you for keeping your car-buying dollars in the U.S.
As far as our experience with GM, it has been perfect. We currently own 2 GM and 2 Ford vehicles. None have ever had a single problem.
My wife drives a GMC Envoy and a 2006 Ford Fusion. The Fusion is a direct competitor to the Malibu and is a VERY good car. It is rated higher in reliability than Camry or Accord. If you are turned off to GM, I'd recommend a Fusion, though as I say, we have never had one second of trouble with either our 2001 Pontiac or our 2003 GMC.
Our dealer experience is just the opposite of yours. The best service in our area is GM and our local Ford and Dodge dealers are not noted for good customer service at all. Since I do all my own servicing (I'm a mechanic) I never take either of our Fords to the dealership for servicing. I've never required any warranty work on either.
I love the styling of the new Malibu, and they seem to get good reviews (though not as good as the Fusion). I'd check out the Fusion. My wife bought hers used with 18,000 miles and it appears to be flawless.
Our past experience with imports has been all bad too, so we won't even consider another one. The biggest nightmare we ever had was a Honda Civic.
20th Jul 2007, 15:50
To the last poster: No. Good cars don't have those problems and you don't have to pay to get them fixed. Period. The kinds of problems our original poster describes are not acceptable. If you get what this guy got you go around telling anyone who will listen that GM sucks. You don't give them more money and time to bring their sad product up to standard.