20th Aug 2010, 10:01

The car we rented had about 8,500 miles. Thus I'd imagine if the engine were to be broken in, it would have already done so. Apparently the unexpectedly low fuel economy is a common problem with these cars. This was the V6 automatic model. 19MPG is totally unacceptable.

As far as the "Cheap plastic" comment, to explain more of the reasoning behind that statement I'd say it's partially to do with a number of things that all add up to a general perception. First of all the whole dash was "coated" in this textured rubber stuff. So was the steering wheel. The wheel felt sticky in my hands, and you could easily feel the seams where the halves of the wheel had been put together. The door handles felt flimsy. The door panels and part of the center console was made of hard silver painted plastic. The paint was already scratching off in places.

The overall design of the interior looked good. But the execution was cheaply done. I think there's a difference. For example, my 14 year old Tacoma has a rather plain, uninspired interior. But when you use the steering wheel, the turn signals, roll down the windows, use the door handles, and so on all of those individual components have a well-made quality to them. Like someone put a lot of care into engineering the look and feel of them. They are utilitarian things and they do the job. The door handles on my truck are the exact same Toyota has been using on their trucks forever. They take a proven design and stick with it. I definitely do not get that feeling when I drive a lot of today's GM or Ford products. But like I mentioned before - they've made a HUGE improvement. Too many people they would fail to see any difference. For most the interiors will be just fine, whether they're cheap plastic or not. But for people like me, I can definitely see the difference.

20th Aug 2010, 14:55

I can agree with the above commentor on the cheap feel of this car. The metal used on these cars is very thin (I dented the roof on my neighbors car while washing it for her), and the interior was already falling apart at only 4 years old.

My son had a 2008 Chevrolet Malibu, but it was just scrapped as the engine blew at 35,000 miles.

21st Aug 2010, 12:45

"My son had a 2008 Chevrolet Malibu, but it was just scrapped as the engine blew at 35,000 miles."

This comment is confusing. This car would still be under warranty for another 3 years and 65,000 miles. Why didn't you just have GM put in a new engine? No one "scraps" a 2-year-old car.

22nd Aug 2010, 12:32

Yes, we were perfectly aware of the fact that the car was still under warranty. However we did not wish to keep a car that couldn't even manage 35,000 miles without failing completely. The car was brought to the dealer and we were told that the engine failed due to a "factory error". The dealer said they would gladly replace the engine, however we decided not to do that as we were sick of GM and their poor quality vehicles. This Malibu joined the rest of the GM vehicles my family has owned at the scrap heap (NONE of the GM vehicles we've owned made over 50,000 miles). My son scrapped it and bought a new Honda which he loves.

23rd Aug 2010, 09:15

Okay, I hate GM products and I still can't believe this story. So the dealer offers to put a new engine in your car so you could immediately sell it and save $1,000's, but you opted to junk it instead, sacrificing that money?? C'mon now!! That is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard. Next time you need to "scrap" a car that is covered under warranty, please sign it over to me so I can fix it and sell it.

23rd Aug 2010, 19:34

I agree that this comment makes no sense at all. No one gives away a $24,000 car after 2 years. Also, we've owned a lot of GM vehicles, and have never had one require even ONE repair before 100,000 miles.

Our current GM SUV is 8 years old and has 90,000+ miles. It has not even required a brake job yet!! Our Honda went through brakes every 20,000 miles, and IT was junked before 100,000 miles due to a blown engine.

24th Aug 2010, 16:52

Okay, now I don't buy your story either. Never one repair before 100K miles? Original brakes at 90K miles? You must do a lot of coasting! I wish I could have gotten to 100K miles with any GM product before wasting $thousands on it. Never happened for me and never will as I will never be wasting hard earned money on that lousy excuse for a company again.

25th Aug 2010, 12:04

It's true. The earliest I've ever replaced brake pads on ANY domestic was 70,000 miles. That was the front pads only, the rear were still original when that car (a Pontiac) was traded at 85,000 miles. Most of our Ford, GM and Chrysler products have required no brake pads (or anything else) before 100,000 miles. And no, we don't COAST (what does that have to do with saving brakes??). We simply don't tail-gate, don't ride the brakes and don't rush up to red lights and stop at the last moment. My wife and I are both car enthusiasts and former stunt drivers, and know how to drive.

I find it amazing that anyone would expect problems from a GM car before 100,000 miles. They are under warranty for that long. The only cars we ever had a single problem with before 100,000 miles were a Honda, a Mazda and a VW.

28th Aug 2010, 13:14

Really? Well actually I didn't expect problems from all of my GM junk cars, but they occurred none the less. I had such ridiculous problems, expensive problems, that should not have happened at such low mileage intervals, but they did. I will never buy GM again.

I find it amazing that anyone thinks the oh so long 5 year warranty that GM offers is any longer than anyone else's warranty. 5 years is 5 years. I have never gotten close to 100K miles in 5 years, so what good is the extra 40K miles to me... or the other 95% of people that drive the average 15K miles per year or less? The Honda and Toyota warranty is EXACTLY the same for me and all of them... exactly! Not sure why anyone has the need to drive so far in 5 short years, but I'm glad it isn't me!

The day after the 5th year comes round, your GM is out of warranty just like a Honda or Toyota would be. That is where the hefty repair bills start. GM limited this warranty to 5 years, because they know in reality very few will actually use it. Yet we have people quoting it as such a huge advantage over the other companies. Too funny really. The only companies that offer a real 100K mile warranty are Hyundai and Suzuki.