bordeno
Super Member
I agree. I'll gamble with the Honda's reliability anytime.
We have a Toyota and a Honda.
Chevy Malibu a winner.
- Thread starter reggaenaut
- Start date
I agree. I'll gamble with the Honda's reliability anytime.
We have a Toyota and a Honda.
MountainMike
Tree Hugging Music Freak
I think that a lot of people make a decision to buy based on their first impression and then spend the next three years trying to justify thier purchase. Cars are tools to me and I do my research online, through friends and several test drives. I never buy a car the first year of a model change as they are always full of bugs. Takes at least two more years to work them out.
rickr15
Super Member
I am ashamed to admit that I too have a toyota. It has 145k miles on it. It has blown two head gaskets. A timing belt ,a clutch,a speedo head,a speedo cable,ECM,Throttle position sensor,the tail gate handle fell off,the water pump has failed twice,the starter once,the drivers door latch is fubar,power steering pump has failed as well as the wiper motor and EGR valve. Toyota continuously sends me a recall notice that a steering arm is going to fail. Not to worry it already did and was replaced.
Yes I have receipts 9k worth.
All you Toyota lovers give me a break. Oh yeah it's currently sitting in the back yard the clutch master cylender has failed and I don't feel like fixing it again.
MountainMike
Tree Hugging Music Freak
So tell us what you love about the car and why you have kept it for 145,000 miles???
:scratch2:
rickr15
Super Member
It's a 4 wheel drive truck its treated as disposable and its paid for.
MountainMike
Tree Hugging Music Freak
Maybe there be part of the problem. I treat my vehicles as tools and none of my tools are disposable. They may get traded in and upgraded but every vehicle I have ever owned ran well up to the day I sold it (or totalled by a drunk). That includes a few cars I owned for over 20 years. Maintenance and care play a big role.
merrylander
AK Member
Interesting assumptions being made here in this thread;
Don't buy the first model year. My wife's Impala LS is the first 2000 model, has been trouble free.
Malibu is hard on brakes, Maybe older models wre, GM has changed many materials , my Impala LS went 45,000 miles on the front brakes, and this in an are where drivers seem to like braking for no damned good reason.
Malibu is hard on ball joints. There are few if any ball joints on FWD cars.
Toyotas are great. Sorry, my wife taught English in Japan for a number of years, if I came home with a Toyota she would set it afire in the driveway.
Don't buy the first model year. My wife's Impala LS is the first 2000 model, has been trouble free.
Malibu is hard on brakes, Maybe older models wre, GM has changed many materials , my Impala LS went 45,000 miles on the front brakes, and this in an are where drivers seem to like braking for no damned good reason.
Malibu is hard on ball joints. There are few if any ball joints on FWD cars.
Toyotas are great. Sorry, my wife taught English in Japan for a number of years, if I came home with a Toyota she would set it afire in the driveway.
rickr15
Super Member
Oil changes every 3K and all services performed over the life of the vehicle. By disposable I mean I don't care about body damage etc. It has been daily transport for 3 teenagers and is a very capable 4X4.
My point is I'm sick of the American car bashing. Jap cars are just as prone to breakage and the replacement parts are outrageous.
My point is I'm sick of the American car bashing. Jap cars are just as prone to breakage and the replacement parts are outrageous.
gladiator335
MRTI
Honestly I'm not sure about Malibu. I drove previous model as a rental for a week and it was a loud tin can.
My friend had a rental 2007 Impala and it actually was very nice. But (it always something!) when you close the door or a trunk it sounds like it's made from a thinniest and chepest metal available. Sounded awful! Not such a big deal, but spoils overall impression. I'm afraid new Malibu has something similar.
My friend had a rental 2007 Impala and it actually was very nice. But (it always something!) when you close the door or a trunk it sounds like it's made from a thinniest and chepest metal available. Sounded awful! Not such a big deal, but spoils overall impression. I'm afraid new Malibu has something similar.
MRX37
Super Member
First impressions do say alot...
My 92 Chevy Beretta had all kinds of weird problems, from leaky door seals, to a tempermental engine that sometimes ran like a clock, and sometimes stalled at red lights and refused to start. The car had no heat. I had to replace the back wheels, the brakes were awful, despite it having new brakepads and fluid, and going through a 6 inch deep puddle caused the car to stall when making left turns and refuse to start for several minutes. Somtimes the car would just stall for no apparent reason.
The 99 Chevy Malibu I mentioned belonged to a friend who bought it new. The car is still on the road, but my friend has sunk more money into the car then what it's worth now. It's eaten brakes, ball joints, U-joints, belts... Though the engine has held up well.
Another friend has a 2000 Chevy Blazer. It's eaten brakes and rotors, one U-joint so far, a heater core, and two front tires thanks to the front end getting out of alignment enough to cause rapid tire wear...
Yet another friend owned a 92 Buick Skylark. Again, the brakes went out and he had to replace them. Nothing else had the chance to go out, as he accidently drove it over a high curb and sheared off the bottom of his engine...
All the above cars were made by GM at some point or another, and they've all had issues. They all seem to love eating brakes. It's always the front brakes too. The rear brakes last twice as long, sometimes 3 times as long. That's why I distrust this new Chevy Malibu, and I suspect that it will need new brakes within two years, and something major and expensive within 5 years.
My 93 Dodge Dakota has run like a clock for the most part, at 167,000+ miles and counting. I've had some issues with it as well, but only one of those issues ever led to me walking home, and that was fixed by a new starter. The rest of the issues I had pleanty of warning, and the Dakota soldiered on until I could fix them... Though the exhaust pipe was badly designed. The pipe itself is solid and well made, but some chucklefuck routed it right under the transmission pan...
My 92 Chevy Beretta had all kinds of weird problems, from leaky door seals, to a tempermental engine that sometimes ran like a clock, and sometimes stalled at red lights and refused to start. The car had no heat. I had to replace the back wheels, the brakes were awful, despite it having new brakepads and fluid, and going through a 6 inch deep puddle caused the car to stall when making left turns and refuse to start for several minutes. Somtimes the car would just stall for no apparent reason.
The 99 Chevy Malibu I mentioned belonged to a friend who bought it new. The car is still on the road, but my friend has sunk more money into the car then what it's worth now. It's eaten brakes, ball joints, U-joints, belts... Though the engine has held up well.
Another friend has a 2000 Chevy Blazer. It's eaten brakes and rotors, one U-joint so far, a heater core, and two front tires thanks to the front end getting out of alignment enough to cause rapid tire wear...
Yet another friend owned a 92 Buick Skylark. Again, the brakes went out and he had to replace them. Nothing else had the chance to go out, as he accidently drove it over a high curb and sheared off the bottom of his engine...
All the above cars were made by GM at some point or another, and they've all had issues. They all seem to love eating brakes. It's always the front brakes too. The rear brakes last twice as long, sometimes 3 times as long. That's why I distrust this new Chevy Malibu, and I suspect that it will need new brakes within two years, and something major and expensive within 5 years.
My 93 Dodge Dakota has run like a clock for the most part, at 167,000+ miles and counting. I've had some issues with it as well, but only one of those issues ever led to me walking home, and that was fixed by a new starter. The rest of the issues I had pleanty of warning, and the Dakota soldiered on until I could fix them... Though the exhaust pipe was badly designed. The pipe itself is solid and well made, but some chucklefuck routed it right under the transmission pan...
bordeno
Super Member
Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned!
merrylander
AK Member
T'was not scorn, they told her straight out that they might have lost the shooting war but they would bury us financially. This was after she had corrected a few myths about Dec 7th.
Carmine
...enjoys spaghetti.
Now THAT is a fact.
On thing that would be nice is if we didn't have to hear about whatever problems somebody had with a car when they were the 2nd through 15th owner. Sad to say that I know SO many lease turn-ins with mileage WAY higher than what the odometer says, or "like-new" cars that have had collision damage fixed, but not the suspension/frame damage.
Then whatever complaint gets on the internet and becomes something "they all do".
70salesguy
Only 99 easy payments!
I drive a Chevrolet Tahoe for business.
I normally drive one for 4 years then trade.
Bought a new one in 2002. When 2006 came around, I was still so pleased with it that I didn't trade, just kept driving.
It is now 6 years old, has 145,000 miles on it and has had a Mobil 1 oil change every 5,000 miles along with other appropriate services.
I still have yet to replace the disc pads or do any work to the brakes. I visually inspect the pads and rotors every 5,000 miles, when I rotate the tires.
Repairs? Water pump at about 100,000 miles and fuel pump/gauge sender unit about 105,000.
Plan to drive it until 200,000 (about 2 more years) and then buy a new one.
Several others that I know that run Suburbans run them to 200,000 before they trade.
But then again, I don't abuse it and do the recommended scheduled maintenance. :yes:
I normally drive one for 4 years then trade.
Bought a new one in 2002. When 2006 came around, I was still so pleased with it that I didn't trade, just kept driving.
It is now 6 years old, has 145,000 miles on it and has had a Mobil 1 oil change every 5,000 miles along with other appropriate services.
I still have yet to replace the disc pads or do any work to the brakes. I visually inspect the pads and rotors every 5,000 miles, when I rotate the tires.
Repairs? Water pump at about 100,000 miles and fuel pump/gauge sender unit about 105,000.
Plan to drive it until 200,000 (about 2 more years) and then buy a new one.
Several others that I know that run Suburbans run them to 200,000 before they trade.
But then again, I don't abuse it and do the recommended scheduled maintenance. :yes:
e2e4c7c5
Super Member
Truer words were never spoken!! :yes:
What was the last model year V-Tech that you drove. And yes they have had problems recently. Some V-Techs are awful, and some are great.
My Mother had a 65 Malibu until 1980. Had little problems, and had 149,000.
MountainMike
Tree Hugging Music Freak
I'm not bashing Japanese or domestic builds. I drive German build cars - in general they last longer and are more fun to drive. My beemer 8 cylinder gets better miles per gallon than my next door neighbors 6 cylinder Toyota and costs the same to insure.
And a hell of a lot more to maintain, and is it as reliable? And what year is you neighbors Toyota compared to your BMW?
Similar threads
