20th Jul 2006, 20:12
If you're leaking coolant somewhere and you don't see it, its probably the intake gaskets. They fail on every V6 Malibu. Don't waste time, the coolant leaks into the engine and causes BIG trouble. It's a common problem GM won't do anything about.
25th Oct 2006, 13:48
Yes I too, have had Nothing but trouble with my 1999 Chevy Malibu. Right now the reverse is starting to slip, and I also have had most of troubles listed in the other comments. I will NEVER buy another Chevy. Infact our mechanics apologize, Every-time we have to take it in for Yet another repair.
Cha ching!!! A. D Acworth Ga.
7th Nov 2006, 09:11
About six months ago, I bought a 1999 Malibu from a friend of mine who had purchased it used about 5 years earlier. The only reason he (my friend) sold the car was because his wife had just gotten a 05 Corvette and they didn't need four vehicles. I bought the car because I knew that it had been very reliable for him. He had no real problems with it, and neither have I. The car now has over 110,000 miles on it. Everything works just as it should, and with proper preventative maintenance, I expect things to continue that way. (I also own a 1968 Camaro with over 200,000 miles on it. Of course, almost every part of it has been replaced at least twice and some things dozens of times.) Maybe there were only a couple of people at the Malibu factory who took pride in their work, and I am one of the lucky few who seem to have gotten a well built, trouble-free product.
15th Dec 2006, 21:04
Ah, yes the Chevrolet Malibu - GM's quality automobile - NOT!
I unfortunately own a 2000 LS. From the get-go, it started with the brakes, replaced pads, shoes, the rotors several times. A/C Heat Sensor 4, count 'em 4 times., Alternator went out on a busy highway.
You folks that have had no problems - you lucked out big time, no doubt about it - bet you folks are in the 1 percentile, 99% of us got screwed.
GM will never get another dime from me after this experience.
I would love to sue!!!
18th Dec 2006, 19:17
Ah yes, my 2000 Malibu LS Lemon; Where to start: I bought it new from GM dealer
Vibration at highway speed; Dealer balanced wheels free, three times! It didn't work the first or second time, why waste both my and his time the 3rd try?
Brakes were fine inside warranty, but catastrophic failure just outside warranty? Dealer quote $650; I changed only the pads and then ran rotors another 120,000 km!
I am on my 4th heater fan resistor pack
Replaced 3 front wheel bearings;GM Service Agent advised me to `stop cornering too fast or hitting curb'! (Original ` fast wearing' tires went 180,000 km)
Replaced inlet manifold gasket due to coolant leak 100,000 km; replaced water pump 250,000km.
Replaced fuel pump and rusted out, leaking, fuel and brake lines 260,000km
Am I a Hard driver?
My Honda Civic went 550,000km on the original wheel bearings and was still running well when sold.
My Ford Tempo went 400,000km with only 2 front wheel bearings changed; still running well when given to my niece.
My Chevy Citation went through only one of their infamous transmissions and had the original wheel bearings when given to my son at 350,000km.
28th Jun 2007, 22:38
Sorry forgot to add the link in last comment... Here it is:
http://www.imcool.com/articles/aircondition/AC_ControllersAreRepairable.pdf
29th Jun 2007, 20:23
I purchased a new 99 Malibu in February of 99. This has been a great car. Runs well and everything works properly. Money put into car has been for routine maintenance and new tires. The only thing I can complain about is that it is rusting around the gas tank. If they have redesigned this car so that water and dirt is not getting trapped in this area, I would not hesitate to purchase another.
11th Aug 2007, 22:34
I have a 1999 Chevy mailbu myself. I am the second owner of this particular car. I am now at 270000 miles and still kicking. It does have its problems, but for some reason it keeps on running. So far the car cost me 1500 up front with 220000 miles on it. I have done around 1500 in repairs. Working on 3rd year seems worth it to me. It falls around 83 bucks per month. Hard to do these days for a car that has never left me on the side of the road. Most problems with people and cars is that if there is when the car gives you a warning about a problem. The driver ignores it until it cost a whole lot more to fix.
The ticking noise is piston slap. just keep the oil changed and it will hit high miles.
21st Sep 2007, 18:05
I purchased my 1999 Malibu LS from original owner in June Of 2004 with only 6,800 miles on it. At this time it has 32,000 miles.
In the 3 years we have had this car, we have replaced the front brake pads, both power window units on drivers side and the a/c control panel.
Other than that, the car has been OK.
My sister-in-law also has a 1999 Malibu LS that she purchased new. She has had to replace the a/c control panel 5 times. Other than that, she has has little trouble with the car.
Shouldn't Chevrolet be responsible for replacing the a/c control panel??? It is obviously a defective manufacturing problem.
24th Sep 2007, 13:53
OK I'm about to get this car next week in OCT 1 is there anything I should worry about before I get for myself my email address is babyzoneman@yahoo.com.
4th Nov 2007, 18:38
I own a 199 Malibu, that I purchased with 76000 miles on it. It has been a decent car for me.
I put a total of 70000 or so since then, and I have never been stranded beside a highway somewhere, which is more than I can say about Volkswagen. It was cheap for me to fix because after market parts are cheap, and I'm a do it your selfer. So far, I had to change front brake pads, rotors, right front hub assembly, intake manifold gasket (corrosive dexcool is believed to cause this). All the parts to do this cost about $300.00; not too bad.
This is not the car for everybody, but the great fuel economy and the great look for the price I paid then $5700 in 2003. Try to buy a newer Honda with this low miles for that! Even if I paid for the labor, I still saved thousands.
22nd May 2006, 10:24
I' have owned my 1998 Chevy since 2000 bought it with 21'000 miles. My car was 1 1/2 years old. Was an OK car for the first year. After the car reached 33'000 I started having a ton of problems. My water pump went out, no biggie I replaced it. Then My brakes wore out (second time I replaced within the year). Then a couple months later replaced the brake shoes again and again after a couple months, until I finally realized the caliper had gone bad... replaced that. My head gasket busted at 38'000 miles... 38'000 MILES!!! I had water in my oil and was over heating. At 46'000 miles I had to replace the whole entire engine. I also noticed that my transmission was slipping, so I got a deal on both engine and transmission so I replaced them both. A couple years later after I bought a factory engine I am now having to replace it again. ANOTHER stinkin' engine, a factory engine from CHEVY!! I do not drive hard I drive fast in the freeway just like everyone, but I do not drive hard. All this and not to mention the little things like the AC (if you call that little) the radio, the windows, etc etc... CAR is better than some I'm sure, but its has a Bow Tie, I expected a whole lot better, guess GM fooled me = (