26th May 2008, 08:03
I have a 2002 Malibu LS and since I bought it changed the water pump but other than that no problems. I have owned it for about a year now as a lease and it will go back to dealership next year. I had a 1979 Malibu Classic before this that was a good car also. I guess some people got what was called a Monday or Friday car, meaning they where built on one of those days where people just don't like to work.
15th Jun 2009, 22:09
I love my 2002 Malibu. I bought it used a year and a half ago, it has about 45,000 miles. I drive mainly in-town and my gas mileage is close to 20 mpg. The only major problem I have had is that I needed a new fuel pump assembly. Cost me $540 with parts and labor.
13th Nov 2010, 12:01
I have a 2002 Chevy Malibu LS with 171,000 miles. Now it continuously overheats, and so I replaced the thermostat, reservoir, and not the radiator, and flushed the system. The engine blew a head gasket due to overheating, and the mechanic is going to do new intake gasket manifold seals, new oil synthetic Pennzoil and spark plugs, K+N oil filter, and the water pump is okay I think till I have the money to replace it, or it goes bad. All in all, it's going to cost 1000 dollars to fix.
Other than that, the car is awesome, it gets terrible gas mileage in town, and great on the highway, like 32.
The plastic parts GM uses inside are cheap, because my driver's side cup holder just broke and I gotta get Chevy to fix it.
Also my key fob broke, so I got a new one. I also don't care for the middle cup holders little rubber thing, that gets stuck on my cups all the time.
Chevrolet has done an awesome job with engine acceleration, and I need to get the governor taken off so the Chevy will be true to Genuine Chevrolet racing heritage Louis Chevrolet wanted. In the 1900 Chevrolet won the Indianapolis 500 twice!
I had a Jeep 1986. I put Edelbrock headers on it and a Rivan exhaust, and when it was in the shop, it blew a cloud of smoke out the rear wheel drive tires.
Also, I don't know why the Chevy engineers made this car front wheel drive; it should be rear wheel like the old school Malibu's!
5th Jan 2008, 23:18
My wife has owned her 2002 Malibu from new and never had an ounce of a problem with anything, either mechanical or dealership. She has the LS model with leather and sun roof and it is pure pleasure to drive and rely upon. She has a little over 40k kms (25k miles) and other than a few minor scratches to the paint it looks and drives like brand new. We will be keeping this vehicle for many more years I am certain as my wife insists she is so spoiled to have it.