The automotive editorial team over at Consumer Reports says the 2022 Chevy Malibu is a mid-size sedan that should be avoided by American car shoppers.
CR recently published an article entitled ‘Popular Midsized Sedans to Avoid and What to Buy Instead’, which classified the 2022 Chevy Malibu as one of the current-day sedans that consumers should absolutely steer clear from. Editors had a rather long list of reasons for giving the Chevy Malibu a failing grade, including outward visibility, passenger comfort, build quality, materials quality, reliability and a lack of standard active safety features.
While the Chevy Malibu certainly has some room for improvement, it’s not all bad news. CR says the sedan has “attractive styling, a comfortable ride and a very quiet cabin,” which may be redeeming features for motorists who highly value these attributes. The Malibu also earned praise for its relatively spry handling characteristics, as well as the ample acceleration from both its standard turbocharged 1.5L I4 LYX gasoline engine, as well as its available turbocharged 2.0L LTG gasoline engine.
Consumers in the market for a new mid-size sedan like the 2022 Chevy Malibu would be better served by the Toyota Camry, CR argues. The Camry is the publication’s top-rated convention sedan and has a “pleasing blend of a comfortable ride, a quiet cabin, good fuel economy and easy to use controls.” Editors also appreciate the impressive 32 mpg fuel economy of the base 2.5L engine, as well as the Camry’s responsive handling.
Toyota Camry
CR says the new Kia K5 is also a good “under the radar alternative,” to the Chevy Malibu thanks to its efficient 1.6L engine, which is capable of returning up to 32 mpg combined, as well as its supple ride, solid handling and roomy cabin.
While CR may not be a big of the Chevy Malibu, it’s clear that many Americans are. GM processed an additional 20,000 new sold orders for the Malibu in May due to pent-up demand for the vehicle. GM has been operating on just eight days’ worth of Chevy Malibu supply since March after production of the four-door was idled for the better part of the 2021 calendar year as a direct result of the ongoing global semiconductor microchip shortage.
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Comments
From the article: “giving the Chevy Malibu a failing grade, including outward visibility, passenger comfort, build quality, materials quality, reliability and a lack of standard active safety features.”
1. Outward visibility? I’m around many different brands of cars including Mazda and Volvo daily. My Malibu has quite good visibility IMO compared to many.
2. Passenger comfort? Based on what? Lots of back seat room, great leg room for all and comfortable seating for all.
3. Build Quality? This may be the biggest BS of the reasons they give. Again, based on what or who?
4. Materials quality? Compared to Mazda and Volvo, my Malibu is as good and in some cases nicer.
5. Reliability? I haven’t had mine long enough to say, but so far so good.
6. Active safety features? What model did they test? My LT has most everything important and you can opt for the next package which gives you everything. Or just buy the Premier.
Further down in the article, they mention the Camry’s and Kia’s combined 32 MPG. So. For the 3,100 miles I’ve driven my Malibu thus far with both city, traffic and freeway and using A/C, I’m averaging 33. I can at least agree with them on the attractive styling (subjective however), the comfortable ride and quiet cabin.
So once again I’m left scratching my head as to how CR supposedly comes up with their results. Of all the new cars I’ve ever owned, never (not once) has CR ever “surveyed” me. I’ll put my Malibu up against anything from Japan and Korea. Any day, any week, any year.
Dan B
I would take your critique over CR any day, at least you speak from experience.
Al. Thanks. I don’t know sports. I don’t know about hunting or fishing or camping, etc. But I do know my cars and the market.
I have never put much too stock into any auto rating by Consumer Reports. There has been a noticeable bias towards import brands for decades.
That said, having worked at a Chevy dealer, and driven the Malibu extensively, it is far from best in class. In 1LT trim it is comparable to a Camry LE, which leaves much to be desired as well.
My sedan money went towards a 2021 Kia Forte GT-Line with the convenience package. IMO, a better choice than the Camry or Malibu for similar money.
Dan B
I could tell you about my experience with CR, but I’d be typing all day and the arthritis in my hands from working a GM assembly line for 30yrs is just too painful. And Dan I do hunt I know sports and I know a s..tload about cars and trucks. Respect.
How much does Toyota pay cr to propagate this be.
You people seam Tobe hung up on foreign products and anti American.
IMHO, CR lost credibility years ago. They give the Malibu a failing grade for ‘passenger comfort’ but praise it’s ‘comfortable ride’. The only way to twist that analysis into making sense is if they are saying its comfortable for the driver but not the passengers. I doubt that is the case. The only guide on which I rely, and I wish everyone would, is the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS.org). People should buy the safest vehicle they can afford, and cut down on the carnage.
“So once again I’m left scratching my head as to how CR supposedly comes up with their results. Of all the new cars I’ve ever owned, never (not once) has CR ever “surveyed” me.”
They only survey their subscribers. So, if you don’t subscribe to CR, which most people don’t, you’ll never be asked for your input.
Red: You are totally correct and I do know/understand that. It was kind of a point I was trying to make with the fact that they don’t really care about the majority of drivers out there. Only the ones that pay up.
CR surveys it’s SUBSCRIBERs on their cars, appliances, tvs, phones, Just about everything. Who knows what they do with the data they collect. All I know is they ask about my 2011 BUICK Regal EVERY year. And every year I disappoint them with my stellar report. In fact, CR did rate the Regal at the TOP of the category giving the nod to the Audi A3 for a mear $20,000 more than the Regal.
Oh yeah, then queen MaryB & her clueless Court axed the Regal & all the sedans in the Buick line. A colossal FAIL that has literally destroyed the Brand. But their selling like hotcakes in Communist CHINA!!!
I have learned to ignore what Consumer Reports says. I remember an article from them that praised one vehicle and insulted another.. yet they were both badge engineered vehicles built in the same factory. One was a Toyota Matrix and the other one was a Pontiac Vibe. I lost complete faith in them when I read that article.
And the Vibe was $1000 cheaper!
Absolutely the case here – CR’s faulty ‘expertise’ exposed. The time I came to dismiss CR’s credibility was with the Chrysler minivan and the Dodge minivan, both made on the same assembly line, recommending one and rejecting the other.
carGuru and StuartH: Yup. Another great one? Back in the late 80’s they claimed the paint quality on the Caprice with the V8 with above average paint while the V6 with poor paint quality (or maybe it was the other way around, I don’t recall which one had the “good” paint”). Same line, same paint process, same car. haha.
This is exactly when I stopped reading them!
Dan B
You took the words right out of my mouth! Between CR and all the car magazines something is going on because they rarely if ever test any Malibu. Years ago I could remember when MotorTrend used to test the top models of the Cadillac Deville, Lincoln Continental and Chrysler Imperial and they would go head to head. Now, they still do that with some cars that would fall into the category with the Malibu, but have you ever seen the Malibu in that group of cars? Neither have I!!!!!!
At one point in time I really liked CR magazine, but I think lately all these new people that have been added to the staff suck and I hate the layout of the magazine too and if they make the print any smaller or lighter I’ll have to go out and buy magnifying glasses to read it!
I have a 2020 Cajun Red Chevrolet Malibu Premier that I leased on September 19, 2019. I had to pull teeth to get it because my previous Malibu Premier lease had come to an end four months before I got that car so I had to extend my lease for four months and I could only extend it up to six months and nothing was happening with the order. My brother worked for the dealership and every time they would call they couldn’t get any information. I was getting a little nervous because I was afraid that if my lease ended I would not get any of the incentives for the Malibu. Little did I know that there really weren’t any incentives because GM was giving THOUSANDS AND THOUSANDS of dollars off their SUVs! So, one day I had the order number for my car and I picked up the phone and I called the factory in Kansas City, Kansas. I got the security guard and I explained my problem to him and he said I think I know someone who can help you. He transferred my call and I got voicemail and I explained the problem and told the person that I was getting nowhere with Chevrolet customer service because all they would tell me is call your dealer and the dealer couldn’t get any answers either. So, I explained my problem and left my order number. I think it was a Friday when I called or Thursday. Anyway I didn’t hear anything until the following week and I thought oh well at least I tried and if I don’t hear anything then I guess I’ll have to go shopping for another brand because there wasn’t much to choose from at GM then either an even less now. Anyway, my phone didn’t ring until the following week and the person I spoke to said I have just the person who can help you and said they transferred my call to the person in charge of orders and said that my car was being built the next day. This was in August 2019 towards the end of the month. The person I spoke to told me that they would check on it my car to see how it was coming along before they left for work that day. The person even took pictures of my actual car coming down the assembly line and sent them to me. They told me that they would decide how the car was going to be shipped to the dealership that I was using at the time in Rhode Island where my brother worked and that the car would be on the way there. Actually, when my car did arrive at the dealership on the truck in that Cajun red color my brother told me that many of the salesmen came outside to check it out because the interior, even though they call it light wheat, to me it looks like white and I love that color combination red and white. The dealership hadn’t seen any Malibus in a while. If I hadn’t made that call to the factory myself I probably would not have gotten the car because shortly after that GM went on strike.
My car has every factory option including heated rear seats! It does have all the safety features. It even has I don’t know what they call it but where the car can park itself. I have never used that because I have no problem parking a car in a space or anywhere for that matter. I’ve always said one day that maybe I’ll try it but I’d have to get out the book and read it. By the time I do all that I could already have the car parked. I guess it’s a great standard feature for people who don’t know how to drive, but that’s not me.
So, my lease is up in a few months September 19, 2022 and my buyout figure is something like 18,500 so I plan on buying it because if I sell it privately it’s worth approximately I don’t know $29-$31,000 which is about 6000 less than the sticker price was. So where all these car magazines and Consumer Reports get their information I think they must be being paid off by these foreign car companies to give American cars a crappy review! Have you ever seen MotorTrend give one of their long-term results for the Malibu towards the end of their magazine? Neither have I!
Personally, I think GM needs a new CEO. They really have no cars left to sell except SUVs, 80,000 $100,000 Cadillac race cars with 600 hp, Camaros that may be coming to an end also like the Malibu, $80,000 to $100,000 plus Corvettes, and a little Chevy electric puddle jumper for 30+ thousand dollars!
Maybe the next time GM files for bankruptcy they won’t be so lucky with a come back like in previous years.
PS I almost forgot I do have one problem with my Malibu and that is my radio. Since day one, it changes stations all by itself. It doesn’t matter if it’s on a AM, FM, Alexa, iHeartRadio etc. whatever it changes. The dealer has done a couple of resets with bulletins from the factory, but they have not helped so I’m bringing it in tomorrow to the dealership and they are going to get me a new radio. I never wanted anything fixed sooner than this because I didn’t want to have a brand new car being taken apart to change the radio and then end up with all kinds of other problems or things not working or rattles. So I thought I would wait now before my warranty is up in September.
GM will not get a bailout this time from the taxpayers.
If the monkeys in congress even attempted it the public outrage and assassination threats against them would put the talk of a bailout to an end quickly.
Evan, can I ask you a serious question? Why do you come on this site? I’m not being silly or sarcastic. A serious question because I’ve never read one single thing (that I recall) from you that has one shred of good about anything GM. You surely hate GM, and that’s ok to me. But why come on here?
It would be like me going to a Toyota based site and constantly leaving negative stuff on there. Although I dislike Toyota with a passion, I wouldn’t think (nor want to) go to anything Toyota.
Evan could be a Russian or Chinese bot. No thinking person who follows the auto industry would be discussing a bailout for GM when they are on course for generating a net income of $13-15 billion this year. Nor would they be alluding to assassinating members of Congress. But if he is an American, you can bet he generated that comment in his mom‘s basement while waiting for the next stimulus check.
CR just sucks and hates American manufacturers. A few years ago they ranked the Colorado/Canyon as one of the worst, the same month Motor Trend named them Truck of the Year. I cancelled CR when a washing machine they highly recommended and gave its highest rating, crapped out on us in 16 months. Don’t pay any attention to what CR says.
This goes way back to when i was growing up. My Dad bought a 1969 Ford Galaxie, against the recommendation of CR. It was a great car, I learned to drive with that car, and my dad sold it when it had 220,000 miles on it. He got a Ziebart treatment and changed the oil regularly, no mechanical issues, it was still a great car when he sold it, but my mom wanted a Buick So I lost faith on CR at a very early age.
I drive rentals for a while and, in general, disagree with CR. Maybe I have poor taste? Or maybe I calue excellent handling (a problemfor years at Toyota), quiet cabin (not found in Fusion), great design (except for front clip/facia): Malibu is a dialed down Regal & an overall great car. There is still an anti Chevrolet bias out there and worth Malibu this is in part because it is an older design. On the coasts, CR’s home turf, Chevrolet stands for bad credit and only GMC is given any respect. I’m the only Millenial who likes GM that I know.
(Then again, no one should listen to me because I also loved Chrysler 200 for the same reasons mentioned above and was shocked that the USCW Platform provided such amazing handling. Loved Dart, too, like a 1990s Jetta or Chevy Cavalier with no drama.)
That’s a pretty good endorsement. Whenever a car gets redesigned and gets better looking, I perceive it to be better quality. Your endorsement sort of proves me right as the new Malibu is a pretty attractive car.
I have had 3 Chevy minivans (Ventures and Uplander). I have had the Uplander for 14 years and still satisfied. I have had mostly GM cars over the last 50 years (never had any other domestic brand) and some of them were new, some were $400 beside the barn finds. None of them ever let me down badly
I have a subscription to CR and noticed some severe bias in reporting. The rav4 rates below the Equinox for reliability (even having more than one of the recent years so bad they won’t recommend it). Buick tops the charts in all categories but the Enclave, the Chevrolet Trailblazer is the highest rated in reliability, and the Blazer at the top in reliability as well, yet none of this is mentioned. Why? I could go on with the high rated GM products, like Cadillac XT5, and the low rated quality rankings for toyota or honda in the past 4 years but it doesn’t seem to matter, the only news that seems to get traction is that of trashing on GM.
No details on the issues but the causes are at least mentioned: Two undersized, overstressed, turbocharged fours.
Yeah this one I have to definitely ignore CR for this. When Shopping for a car 2 years ago the Malibu was one of my choices but I knocked it off because of budget and went compact (forgot that There were incentives on the hood and could’ve walked off with a LT with leather and panoramic sunroof at a good price). I compared it with the Camry and the Accord. The accord more attractive inside and out and handled better but build quality and interior materials were no better than the Malibu. The Camry was nice where everything panel was uniform in soft touch plastics front and rear where people would touch most. That being said the Malibu is just as good in quality if not better. Then on top of that the Camry and Accord skimp on features at their lower mid trims where the mailing doesn’t. I went to look at an Accord Sport for example and it didn’t come with satellite radio. The Camry SE I forgot what it was missing at the price.
Then they mentioned reliability…the Accord isn’t so reliable and neither is the Camry as they would lead you to think. For example I just watched a YouTube video of a 2018 Honda Accord owner going through major issues with his car that was going on before the warranty ran out and the Honda dealers wouldn’t fix the problem, he ended up having to get an engine from a junk yard to swap out his 1.5t that blew a gasket. It was burning oils and misfiring and cutting out. Also overheating. Camry had an issue where the engine would cut the for at high rate of speed. Don’t know if they fixed it.
I ended up buying a Honda Civic EX knowing of the oils dilution problems because Chevy stopped making the Cruze and the VW dealerships were just so bad that I decided not to buy a Jetta. So far I am having no issues and hope I don’t. But in the end the perceptions that foreign brand cars are more reliable than domestic is a farce.
Fuzzylobes: I started in sales at a dealership that had Buick, Cadillac, GMC and Honda. This was back in 1988 and I worked there for 8 years before going into law enforcement. Years later I ended up going back to work at that same dealership from 2007 to late 2010. So I have nearly 13 years in total experience at that dealership and with GM and Honda. In those years, I found the truth behind Honda and their way of doing business. I also learned first hand just how many issues/problems Honda had/has and just how badly they handle customers with problems. In that time I also became friends with a guy who sells Toyota and we used to compare notes. When he knew nobody was around to hear him, he would fill me in on the massive problems they dealt with and how Toyota would hide them. My take away from those years and experience was that both those brands were average at best, but terrible companies when it comes to hiding stuff and doing whatever they could to keep their problems out of the media. I’ve also learned just how good Buick’s are.
At another dealership I worked at (Chrysler divison), I was the sales manager. In this position, I was privy to the reconditioning costs for all the trades we took in. Keep in mind that we reconditioned each used car the exact same way. What I learned in that time was the costs to make the import brands (Honda, Toyota, Nissan, etc) lot ready was much higher than the American brands (these were real numbers and not skewed by anyone).
Overall, there is no perfect brand or car. They all can and will have issues. But my nearly 21 years in this business has proven to me that American brands are every bit as good, less costly to maintain, equal in quality or better and more comfortable IMO. So for me, I’ll stick to spending my money on an American brand.
I’ve had a 2015 malibu 1lt for 7 years and the only problem i have had is the driver side seat plastic trim keeps cracking. The car runs great! Would like a new silverado trail-boss but i don’t own a bank! ha ha ha
Chevy and GM forever i hope.
GM should put a lawsuit in on CR for defamation, even if is a BS case. It’s one thing not to like GM but to shrill for a import make is preposterous….
So you have a problem with people having opinions? Where are you from china?
Are you from Tokyo, Kyoto?. As said it’s one thing to not like a product (as in “not recommended”) but instruct people to buy another specific product over questionable reasons and discredit your product is grounds for thinking their working for the competition..
No I’m not. I’m from the states and believe people should be able to express and say their opinions I made that clear the first time. I’m sorry you have an issue with that. So now you are claiming that cr has so much power they can actually force people to buy something else? Lol geez you’re an idiot.
Well you’re low T enough to call people names I never said they can’t have an opinion, slander is a problem and companies have sued and won.
Since you’re dyslexic and have to read again, the point is CR is blatantly recommended one manufacturer over an American one with no merritt and have a track record of doing again and again and CR needs to be checked for it. BTW hurry up with CR editor’s coffee, it’s getting cold..
The point is first you want a company sued because they recommended a better product, the next point is you claimed CR has the power to force people to buy things. So which point do you wanna focus on now. And yes idiot is a proper term for a person who believes that CR can force people to buy a different car. Hurry up change your name again everyone on here misses your Jan 6th comments.
Where I said CR has the force to make people buy?, 2nd of all where can you find the Camry’s a better product then Malibu?. 3rd Since I see a lot of pro GM downvotes on this thread suddenly I figured you’re part the Jan 6 crowd that’s here… on prison internet 😉..
Oh of course it must be people using a vpn on you again we all know you are definitely not a troll so why would anyone ever downvote you of all people.
I appreciate all the comments, I also agree that CR comes up with some lame comments on why to not buy a certain brand. Also agree they seem t lean on choosing Foreign brands. I don’t rely on their opinions never have. Nice job Dan on starting off this view on CR.
My son purchased new and still owns a ’16 Malibu Premier, with approx. 80K miles. No real issues to report, just routine maintenance.
I read CR only for free at Costco, since they rarely have good articles worth purchasing the issue. Sometimes they are correct but for autos, they fail. As posted before by others here, their reviews are from subscribers who search for the cheapest, not the best (this is one reason you can read CR at Costco). If we don’t sponsor our U.S. brands, more will lose jobs. Soon only the rich will be buying imported products (most do now) while we middle and low class keep our older products longer.
Consumer Reports, the best “bird cage” liner for decades. Back in 1989 C/R rated the Ryobi the worst trimmer on the market and a do not buy product …. all awhile they rated Stihl’s FS-36 the best gas trimmer. Our family business sold both lines right up until we sold the family business of 45+ years in 2004. Now …. guess who private labeled the Stihl FS-36 …. Ryobi. C/R didn’t have a clue Stihl’s best buy was a Ryobi in disguise. I called them out on it, provided a name from Stihl who at a service school admitted Ryobi was the manufacturer. The next month C/R did a full about face stating they’d been wrong about Ryobi and did a gleaming report about the Ryobi 700 series that included the new *trimmer plus that allowed the power unit to not just be a weed eater but a edger, blowr, etc. C/R admitted they were wrong, but only after getting caught. The only gripe I have with the Malibu … the 2.0 engine requires hi-octane gas.
I would buy the Malibu over a Camry everyday the Camry is a ugly ass pos I personally hate Toyota
The Malibu is a great car. CR has a long history of import preference. I pay no attention to CR.
consumer reports always favors jap companies they are owned by a Japanese company is why
Consumer Reports are experts on thousands of products or so they once said. Maybe they just go to the highest bidder because my five year old Malibu has been nearly flawless.
I’m 64 years old and I don’t ever remember CR saying any American made anything was good. It’s a good thing people are intelligent enough to avoid believing this bs. Obviously this company has a lot of foreign investors and is very bias . Otherwise if they had it their way we would all be driving TOYotas.
CR strikes again! They always do this to Domestic sedans. Most of their critique of the Malibu are way off the mark. Yeah long term reliability because of those turbos and quality of materials may be up for question, but come on, if the other strikes against the car are true then the Malibu have no reason to be on Americas roads.
I’ve been saying this for over 25 years; Consumer Reports need to stay away from autos.
I live in a suburb between Buffalo New York and Niagara Falls New York. My next door neighbor drives Toyotas. They keep me up at night. I can hear them rusting.
John Z: Speaking of Toyota’s being heard. True facts. Nearly every Toyota Hybrid (newer ones and not the older ones) makes this awful noise especially in reverse. To me it sounds like a car with a bad water pump. I’ve been hearing this for the past couple of years and my neighbors across the street have two. One brand new Rav4 and a year old Highlander. I can always hear them coming or leaving their house from blocks away. One day she was backing her Rav4 out while I was working in my flower bed. I asked her how she could stand that noise and her response was “the dealer told me that is normal”.
I laughed and told her it’s not and maybe it’s time to try a different brand.
Hopefully you didn’t recommend a gm brand.
The car runs silent at start. Just like electrics, they make artificial noises when backing up to warn pedestrians. Have you never been beside a Tesla or other electric when reversing? This is a safety feature.
Len: Seriously? I work at a store with Volvo now. I’ve owned one hybrid (Kia), one all electric (Spark) and one plug in hybrid (Volvo) over the past 6 years. I certainly know the waring type sounds you are speaking of. That’s not it.
Nearly all the new Toyota Hybrid and even some of the Honda’s make this horrible high pitched sound in both drive and reverse. It seems to be worse in reverse. The best way to describe it would be like a bad water pump or maybe like when you hear brakes that are totally worn and it’s metal on metal.
Toyota’s suck.
Dan B
Wow! Now that you say that, my next door neighbor’s sister has a hybrid RAV 4! She always pulls in her sister’s driveway and when she backs out you’re right it is a weird like whining noise It makes! Awful.
Bob T: Yes, that is the noise I’m talking about. I don’t care if I had a Buick, Cadillac, Chevy, Ford or Lincoln. If my car made that noise and the dealer told me it was “normal”, it would be the last vehicle I’d buy from them. Doesn’t matter what brand it is. That noise is unacceptable.
My neighbor across he street has had 2 Rav 4’s, one a 2013 and now a 2017 that I can hear start up every morning and take off for work despite the fact it was Winter and my windows were all shut. They are so noisy and cheap sounding
I wish there was a way that I could send this topic piece to CR. Maybe I should print it out and mail it to them since they test their cars here in Connecticut! Of course, I don’t think they would give two $&@&% what we think. All I know is that when my subscription expires there will not be any renewal!
I did find a way to print this article and all these messages and I will be sending it to them
If anyone is interested this is the address for the consumer reports auto test center: I printed the article and all of our comments and I’m going to the post office now to mail them!
3 Hall Killbourne Rd.
Colchester, CT 06415
Bob,
It’s easier to just complain on the Internet that actually write a letter.
CKN-
I just wanted to make sure that they know exactly what we think of their review. I’m sure they don’t care, but I felt better mailing it!
I owned this generation Malibu. I liked everything about it, except how cheap the interior feels. The dash is hard plastic with fabric on the dash, and the door panels also feel flimsy and cheap with hard plastic. In recent years they even removed the leatherette on each side of the center shifter area with more cheap plastic on the LT. I cannot think of another mid size sedan that has a hard dash and upper door panels. The exterior looks great, but the inside could be much better.
Bryce: A list of cars with hard plastic interiors.
1. Any Toyota.
2. Most Honda’s.
3. All Hyundai’s.
4. All Kia’s.
5. Many parts of Mazda (although they do better than most).
6. All Subaru’s.
Heck, let’s just say it this way. There are way more vehicles out there with the hard plastics than not. The easier list would be which ones have nicer interiors, but hopefully my point was made. Yes, Chevrolet is not immune to the hard plastic pieces. haha.
All brands have hard plastics in some areas. Chevy is notorious for putting hard plastics even in common touch points and Bryce is right, the Malibu is full of them. Those other brands you mentioned do a far better job using soft-touch materials in certain areas.
I don’t know why you’re defending Chevy/gm on this. They need to step it up.
Len: I’m not defending GM. I too dislike plastics. What I dislike is when people come on here and talk like the Jap brands are so good when they clearly aren’t. Just today for work I had to ride in a 2021 Toyota Camry coming back to the dealership. Quite frankly, that car can’t hold a candle to my Malibu. So when you say the Malibu if full of them, I totally disagree based on physically comparing it to Toyota, Honda, Kia, Hyundai and others. I’m in these different brands all the time. Most or them are all new or newer. And not one of them has a better interior that my Malibu.
Anyone who shops for a car based on CR reviews deserves every problem their car will give them…CR is extremely biased towards imported brands.
This is Great News.If Consumer Reports is saying to Absolutely Avoid the Chevrolet Malibu, this is a Definite Confirmation that the Malibu is a Must Buy, and is probably Very High against others in the same class. Consumer Reports, along with Motor Trend, Road and Track and other popular auto magazines are, and always have been, Bashers of American Autos, while using their power to promote most Asian car makers, and some European car makes. ” They are the Holy Grail ” according to them , while U.S. carmakers are the absolute pits. I wonder how much they are getting kicked back from these foreign carmakers! This is why I Love these magazine reviews, whenever they bash & trash a American car, that erases Any Doubt that that is the auto to zero in on. They will not stop until there are No More U.S. automakers, but then the kickbacks will probably end too, as their mission will be completed. Bravo Chevrolet for making such Great Autos! The same can also be said about Ford
I remember some years ago the revelation that the wife of a senior CR staffer, trading under her own name, was occupying a very senior position with Toyota USA. Enough said.
David Russell-
Same thing is true in Washington! Husbands and wives with different names, but major players in the world and hold major positions some with TV NETWORKS. I read that a long time ago. It really wasn’t shocking because that’s how politicians are.
I have driven several Malibu‘s as I travel extensively for work and rent a lot of them. I also have some good friends who own a Camry. The Camry may be a fairly decent looking car but it lacks everything in ride quality. The seats feel like I’m sitting on boards and the suspension makes the car ride like a lumber wagon. No thanks, I will continue to drive the Malibu whenever I can.
If you do take good care of the Malibu, it can last 200k miles. Listen to mechanics who know what they are doing and not CR! That being said, the Accord and Camry are better vehicles.
William. I certainly agree with you about the taking care of cars and being able to go the miles. But can I ask you something on a serious note?
Your comment is quite short and to the point. It doesn’t bash the Malibu (thank you). But my question is why do you feel the Accord and Camry are better? Obviously I don’t agree with that at all, but I’m truly curious where you get your claim from and/or why?
You see, for way too many years I’ve heard people saying things like that with no actual proof (other than maybe CR). Seldom if ever would I confront them on their comments, but in the past few years I’ve just grown tired of the same stuff being said. My experience has been when I confront someone for saying things like you did, they seldom, if ever, are able to give me any viable reasons to back it up. So I’m not bashing you or making you wrong. I’m just really asking for a thought out explanation as to why you feel the Accord and Camry are better. Thank you.
Scotty Kilmer says the modern Malibus are garbage and that the Camry and Accord are better vehicles because they can last over 200k miles. He can say this, the Malibus from the 60’s and 70’s were better because they were rear-wheel drive.
William: Who is Scotty Kilmer? What makes that person a leading automotive critic? In all my years, I’ve never heard that name ever. Does he work for the Japanese?
Scotty Kilmer is a retired mechanic who makes videos now. His titles are mostly bait for clicks
Sometimes he answers reader questions after the video. Its actually the best part
Scotty Kilmer- aka Mr. Toyota. According to his logic everything but Toyotas’ and a select few Hondas are crap. He says the Impalas fall apart after about 80 thousand miles based on one customer that had a transmission failure. I am on my 4th Impala and other than my 2008 which needed an alternator at 120K never had any major issues, even on my 00 that had 172K and still looked and ran like new! Surprise- my current 2019 has also been flawless closing in on 50K miles.
Never mind. He’s a “Youtuber” looking for likes and a payday. Nuff said. So because he used to be an auto tech, that makes him the god of cars now? How funny.
That’s like me saying because I’m Catholic that what I say should be up there with what the pope says. lol
Dan B
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏
Learned a long time ago that CR is the CNN of automotive publications.
I rented a Malibu from Enterprise this past April for a couple of days and was very impressed with the ride, the dash layout, comfortable seats, and the excellent acceleration. It was the base model and performed well. Enough said.
CR is like all magazines and media – if you pay well, you get a great article. Why is a Toyota or KIA supposedly better?
GM probably doesn’t pay ($$$) anything and doesn’t sponsor trips to events and already CR, all magazines and media are negative about GM.
But I see it easy because I don’t care and I always buy what I think is good!
YOU should do the same, because only your own decisions are the best decisions.
So forget CR, all magazines and media and decide for yourself!
My wife drives a 2022 Malibu Premier and loves it. This is her second one with a couple Tahoes in between them. She likes driving a car better, not that the Tahoes weren’t nice. I feel that the Malibu is the best $40,000 secret in the auto industry. She also drives a Vette and a ZL1 Camaro but picks the Malibu 9 out of 10 times. If we ever get our C8 ZO6 maybe she will change her mind but I really doubt it.
I own a Malibu and I love the car. Ride, comfort, handling and style. You people are completely wrong! I know why you people are rating the vehicle the way you did.
CR will never say anything good about GM cars
You want a GM sedan? It is either the Malibu or $80K for a Cadillac CT-4 or almost $100K for a Cadillac CT-5…There are no Ford ones and there are 2 Dodge ones…I will not buy a foreign car
When i bought my 1994 chevy s-10 CR couldnt give it a rating stating it was too new and gave it a poor rating like all gm vehicles and the imports all had. good ratings ! Well 28 years later and 641,000 miles it still runs like a champ ! still has original umrebuilt eng,trans , and rear axle ! very reliable and easy to repair
CU is wrong on the Malibu. I do not drive one but recently I was looking at used cars from a local used car dealer. They listed 3 of them. I checked the Car Fax on 2 of them and there was no mention of any warranty repairs. I took a good look at a black Malibu about 2 years old with low miles. It is a beautiful looking car and the interior also in black looks very comfortable. The price was around $22,000. If I needed a new car I would not have hesitated to give that Malibu very carefull consideration. There was a red & white Premier trim Malibu with higher miles loaded looking gorgeous and also a white Malibu . I think that GM management needs to re think its position on sedans. They gave up on the Impala after finally getting it right. The Cruze had a rough start with several recalls but ended up looking sharp and probably was a very good sedan.It certainly seemed that it was better than the Focus in every way. The Cruze hatchback was beautiful looking. Maybe CU prefers Hyundia & Kia with thier quality control issues such as engine failures ?