This article is part of the GM Authority Mailbag series, where the GM Authority Crew features and replies to your questions, comments, and observations.
The following comes to us from Bill about the refreshed 2014 Malibu:
After some light editing, the best thing GM could do is put the 2013 console back in the 2014 Chevy Malibu. First, take that 1930s handbrake out of the console. Second, the console is now wider in the front and rubs on the right leg from the knee down.
I have had a new one every year since 2002, but I will not buy the 2014 because of the console. My wife ended up with a 2014 Buick Regal.
Please fix the center console.
I don’t know, Bill. I just don’t know. I just drove the 2014 Malibu earlier this week, and the center console, which was designed with the help of 3D printing, is something I have come to like and appreciate. For starters, the dedicated cell phone spaces are incredibly useful, finally bringing to an end the “phone float and wobble” when it’s riding in a cup holder.
But what really sets the console of the 2014 Malibu apart for me is the longer armrest, which is significantly more comfortable than the unit in the 2013 ‘Bu. Plus, I never felt my knee rub on any part of the center console in my time with the car. For what it’s worth, when I drive, I don’t sit like a bowlegged lady making a creation in pottery class.
My only gripe with the 2014’s redesigned console is the manual parking brake — so I’m right there with you, Bill, on that one. Why remove a solution that’s so much more space-efficient and convenient than the old-school manual brake is beyond me.
With that, let’s open it up to the GM Authority army. Are you experiencing the same issues with the center console of the 2014 Malibu as Bill? Sound off in the comments.
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Comments
I had a 2013 Chevy Malibu rental last year after my 2001 Monte Carlo SS was in the shop after an minor accident.
I felt that console was to wide then and was like Kim Kardashian’s fake butt cheeks as well and rubbed my right knee as this “Bill” mentioned and I am not a tall guy. But going from My Monte to the Bu it was instantly noticeable and a bit annoying even then. Why so Fat GM? Is the Cruze and other small cars even worse?
I don’t drive bow legged like an old lady but I don’t keep my legs sticking straight out either like a Family Stick figure or Formula One driver.
Parking brake I don’t care where they put it as really have never needed or used it anyway with an automatic not living or leaving it on a steep hill anyway.
But I do prefer next to the console like was in my 1984 Trans Am’s.
So I would agree to Fix the Console and lose the those Wide Hips!
I don’t care about Cell Phone holders much but more important I would like a place to set my sunglasses!
Same here. I didn’t have enough right/left leg room because the center stack got in the way. I was involved in an accident and my 2007 GP was in the shop for 3 days. Other than that, I liked the car, I just wouldn’t buy it because it did not fit me where my GP fits perfectly.
Keep the handbrake. It looks and feels like a real e brake. Electric is lame.
I am 6′ 3 and have no problem getting in or out of my 2014 Malibu as well as driving in it. The console is never in the way for me and I too love the built-in phone holders (I also use them for my wallet). I prefer the manual handbrake as there is a mechanical connection whereas an electric one is prone to have problems. I do have a problem with the shifter as the Driver Shift Control + and – are located on the top of the shifter on a button. I would much appreciate being able to use it as a slapstick (think Pontiac G6). I also would like some paddle shifters and a more sporty ride for the 3LT and 2LTZ. I absolutely love the Safety Package in the Malibu! It works every time! Rear Cross Traffic Alert and Forward Collision Alert have helped me on many occasions. I have to also complain about the rims. The only rims that look good are the 19′ polished 5-spoke rims that are optional. The 16’s, 17’s and 18’s are plain and ugly.
I don’t know what’s the big deal of the handbrake and Electronic ones….. someone said okay they hate the electronic ones and now chevrolet switched to the handbrake and then other people hated as well…. Jesus christ! Might as well just not have one and put on the bricks!
They’re really parking brakes, as there is no way that locking up the rear wheels would be helpful in an actual emergency.
As parking brakes, they are better served as electrically actuated switches. Manual parking brakes have no place in 2014, especially when the consumer demands them. There in no reason for GM to deliberately make themselves look like they are offering an inferior product if others are using electric parking brakes.
“For what it’s worth, when I drive, I don’t sit like a bowlegged lady making a creation in pottery class.” Hahaaa..
Being I leased a 2014 Malibu this January and is the first new car I have had in over 10 years,
I mostly love all the features in this vehicle.
I find the counsel to have no negatives about it. It as well is my first Chevy vehicle in my 50 years of living. And not my last!
Great car . Comfortable, classy, and attractive.
Even the USB features to me make me giddy!
Being a simple man in most areas of being a consumer. Thanks Chevrolet. ..
~A new customer
The fake wood could not look tackier. The parking brake takes up a great deal of room and was better served as
a foot operated unit. The Ford Taurus has a much more efficient and better looking console. Otherwise its
a great car once you get use to stop start.
I and all the reviewers on YT think the wood (although fake) looks very nice on the 2014 models. You are entitled to your opinion and I respect that. Go lease one and you may like it. The build quality is exquisite for a Chevrolet!
BTW, don’t you mean the Ford Fusion? The Toreass is the oldest large-sedan on the market and it competes with the Impala. .
I drive a 2014 1LZ and really like the car. The two things I would like to see change is go back to the Electric Parking Brake and add a USB port behind the radio face. Other than that it is a very enjoyable car
I have to agree about the centre console, there wasn’t much thought put into it, but we can forgive , seeing
the rest of the vehicle is perfect , I’m sure Chevy will correct this.
I’ve owned a Malibu for over a year now and I don’t think I have any complaints yet!
I think people just try to find things to complain about!
So your leg hits the console a bit these cars were not made for you and you only!
I think they should have left the front end alone. To me that plastic panel in front of the hood looks like the edge of the iceberg cracked and about to fall off. Same for the console, aside for phone storage the old one without the hand brake was better. It should have a foot actuated brake like the last gen. The thing to me they should have addressed
continuing because the dumb thing cut me off…. was the taillights and the rear end but I understand with sheetmetal it would have been difficult considering the time limits involved.
Best looking Chevy, inside and out. Only thing missing is manual transmission. Catering to the old, as usual, some bean counter at GM found out only a low percentage of buyers opt for the manual and it could save GM a couple of bucks to not even offer one in the first place. Most people don’t know how to drive anyway.
The young and beautiful (other than EvanG) shop elsewhere, that’s a fact. VW, and others have not yet stopped making driver’s cars for the midsize segment.
No, Impala is better.
The majority don’t want a ‘drivers car’. they just want a car. Giving them manuals won’t make the storm the showroom anymore than a 400hp RWD Malibu coupe would.
The “young and beautiful” youth of today simply don’t care about stick. When they buy a car, they want the most for their money; something as damn close to a luxury car as possible. A stick simply isn’t ever going to be seen as a benefit in a car they paid $35K+ for.
Also, if people can’t drive nowadays, why make it more difficult with a stick? They want cars that simply does as they tell it to, not a car with a learning curve and a light clutch.
While the Accord and Jetta offer a manual, they are very rare as no one buys them in that segment. Listen to Grawdaddy as he makes some great points! I bought the car because it offered the best value for my money! The quality, comfort, performance, efficiency and safety are what got me into a Malibu. Plus, you can’t go wrong with $11,500 off the original MSRP ($35K) from a vehicle trade-in and the Black Friday sale. I am fine with the automatic, but it does need a slapstick and/or paddle shifters. If you want a manual, go buy a Regal. .
I don’t understand why someone who constantly complains about GM would want to be on an all GM site. .
“I don’t understand why someone who constantly complains about GM would want to be on an all GM site.”
To be fair to magirus, there’s nothing that says he can’t come on GMA and complain or critical of GM. GM isn’t perfect and we should be allowed to freely identify GM’s shortcomings on GMA.
I agree with you on people coming to this site as non GM fans but what I can’t understand even more is why the people who run this site allows people that bash GM every chance they get!
“but what I can’t understand even more is why the people who run this site allows people that bash GM every chance they get!”
Because I think the people who run GMA uphold an understanding of “freedom of speech” (or expression) and extend that human right unto its users. With that freedom comes the right to praise as well as criticize (or “bash”) GM.
To restrict such freedom of speech would be to promote an air of censorship, something that no one should be in favour of.
I was told by those same people what I could and couldn’t say so how is that not censorship?
It’s a GM site support it or go away
“I was told by those same people what I could and couldn’t say so how is that not censorship?”
Who’s ‘they’?
Do I have to remind you again about tact?
Are you saying I’m doing something wrong?
“It’s a GM site support it or go away”
Says who?
I understand that he can express whatever he wants, but why bother when you hate a company so much? Like you are going to change a bunch of GM fanboys minds. But good luck anyways Magirus. .
So you need a manual transmission in order for it to be a drivers car? You Don’t Need A Manual To Have Fun Driving A Car!
Just because it has a auto doesn’t mean it’s not fun to drive!
The car doesn’t have one thing so that sends you to another manufacturer?
I think it makes sense for the added cost for a manual transmission in cars that need/deserve it! Corvette camaro cts-v ect have every right to spend the extra money on engineering for those cars that are performance driven but family cars for moms and dad’s going to school or the store have spoken with their money by choosing cars that have automatic transmissions
So why offer a manual transmission in a car that won’t be purchased or driven like a performance car?
@Brian, the transmission is a very important part of the whole car.
Manuals are more fun, more reliable, more cost effective to build, cheaper to fix, and they give you better mpg.
What does that say about a people that almost exclusively buys cars that don’t have them, or the manufacturer that refuses to put them in 99% of what they build?
Manuals no longer give you better gas mileage the way they used to. On the Passat it only gives 1 mpg more at highway.
Cannot get a manual in the Golf unless it is a diesel and the manual and auto get the same mpg.
IN looking at all the models there are few cases where the manual does significantly better than the auto and it was on a base Jetta S.
It says they are building vehicles their customers ask for.
Seriously, how many buyers are going to get a manual Malibu? Sticks are not a dieing breed in the USA, they died years ago. Even VW has many models that do not offer manuals.
That low budget, high economy Corolla/Camry does not even offer a manual. In fact you have to get the base Yaris L to get a manual. Upgrade to the LE and it is not available.
At Honda the manual is not even offered with their “fun to drive more performance” V6. Gotta get the base 4.
It says the car company is smart enough to offer manual transmissions in cars that deserves them and doesn’t waste their time putting them in cars that will rarely get purchased or driven like manuals should!
Would you thumb your nose at a manufacturer if it didn’t put a manual transmission in a mini van?
A family sedan is no different! Build a car that deserves a manual the offer it! Just having it as a option in every car is a waste if it’s not going to sell!
Exactly. A mid-size family sedan stuck in five o’clock traffic; a manual transmission is soooooo much more “fun” than an auto.
Doing the same driving routine 5 times a week and going to Costco on the weekend isn’t going to magically become a joyous event with a manual. It’s the same traffic and the same route, but with more work.
People want buy mid-size family sedans want the car to make their lives easier, not laborious.
Do you think people look at cars and try to find things that may make a car company look bad?
All the time. A Toyota or Nissan don’t apply as they are all pieces of crap!
I just test drove the 2014 Malibu the other day without having read this post. I had no trouble with my leg hitting the console and I could stand to lose 50 lbs.