2013 Malibu Eco

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GMBoy

GMBoy

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I'm not going to go into a long review here, but I just gotta say that I just spent some time in a new 2013 Malibu Eco that just came into my plant as a company car.

The new bodystyle is an improvement - not that the old was ugly, this one just steps it up a notch. I was very impressed with all the "touches". Behind the NAV screen is a storage bin, also a storage bin left of the steering wheel as well as the console and regulatr glove box. Lots of nice touch surfaces. I mean, this car felt like a luxury car. The new interior meets or exceeds my CTS! There was contrasting piping on the leather seats, its a mild Hybrid listed at 25city/36hwy, lovely color displays, mood lighting like my CTS in the dash and doors. I really urge anyone looking at a midsize car like the Camry, Taurus, etc to look at the 2013 Malibu closely.

Overall - very nice. They should be rolling out to dealers soon.
 
Checked it out at the Chicago Auto Show. I found it VERY disappointing compared to the prior model, especially the interior. It's a tight squeeze both front and back. The car has a shorter wheelbase and it shows !

The Camry, Hyundai Sonata and 2013 Fusion are much better choices !

"Luxury car" ? NO WAY !!!
 
I saw it at the Miami Beach Auto Show, it looks nice but too expensive for what it offers. Nothing special about the interior.
 
Originally Posted By: CMMeadAM
Checked it out at the Chicago Auto Show. I found it VERY disappointing compared to the prior model, especially the interior. It's a tight squeeze both front and back. The car has a shorter wheelbase and it shows !

The Camry, Hyundai Sonata and 2013 Fusion are much better choices !

"Luxury car" ? NO WAY !!!


It's a shorter wheelbase, but it's also wider. I haven't looked at one in person so I can't say from firsthand experience, but your post just sounds like the usual "Hate anything GM". The interior quality and design is supposed to be miles ahead of the previous model, which itself was pretty decent (I should know, I helped my grandmother buy one back in May).

Shorter wheelbase doesn't mean squeeze- the cruze has a MUCH shorter wheelbase than EITHER of those cars, and has legroom and headroom galore for taller passengers. The seating position is a bit on the narrow side, but some like it that way.
 
Originally Posted By: GMBoy
...I really urge anyone looking at a midsize car like the Camry, Taurus, etc to look at the 2013 Malibu closely.
...


small nit pick, then i leave,

Taurus has not been mid-sized since '99.
3rd gen('96-'99) were mid-size
The 4th gen('00-'07),Five Hundred ('05-'07), the 5th gen('08-'09), and 6th gen('10-present)are all classified as Large Cars (At Least by the EPA Size Classifications)
 
Hardly "hate everything from GM".....I love my ZR1 along with my collection of Corvettes, Chevelles, GTO's 442's Camaro's and Trans Ams along with a few others. Just hate it when GM "drops their candy in the sand".....and....just to let you know....my Dad worked for GM for 36 years ( I did too when I was going to school )and predicted their bankruptcy years ago....because of imcompetent management, people he stated "had no passion for the business and were just interested in collecting their paychecks and bonuses".....especially the likes of those such as Roger Smith and Roger Waggoner. He knew very well.....he reported to them !!!

If you think my comments were critical, you should have heard the MANY leaving the Malibu's in Chevrolet's display and going back to look at the 2013 Fusion, Hyundai Sonata, and Camry. I sure hope GM had ears around listening.

Personally, I much preferred the model you helped your grandmother buy.
 
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The dealer near me had 4 or 5 on the lot when I stopped in Sunday. I like the Camaro cues in the back-end and like the looks overall. And before I go on I have to say that I am a GM person; I've owned 4 Chevy vehicles, and one GMC truck. I have the original GM card where you can accumulate $3500 in rebates and use the amount in one transaction and make it a point to max out the rebate every year.

But $30K for that car? Seriously? I thought the 2011 Sonata's were high when I bought my 2010, but I can't stomach that much for this car. And it pains me to say that. Only one of the 2013's that were on the lot were anywhere near the $25K base price and even that seemed high to me.

The nice part is that a new Equinox or Terrain looks more reasonable now.
 
Since the 2013 Malibu is not supposed to be available for sale
until this summer, it would be most interesting to hear which dealer had them on their lot. There were no prices available for the 2013 Malibu at the Chicago Auto Show.
 
Originally Posted By: CMMeadAM
Since the 2013 Malibu is not supposed to be available for sale
until this summer, it would be most interesting to hear which dealer had them on their lot. There were no prices available for the 2013 Malibu at the Chicago Auto Show.


My local Chevrolet dealer has 13 of them in stock, priced from $26,960 to $30,570.
 
Originally Posted By: CMMeadAM
Since the 2013 Malibu is not supposed to be available for sale
until this summer, it would be most interesting to hear which dealer had them on their lot. There were no prices available for the 2013 Malibu at the Chicago Auto Show.
Ron Westphal Chevy, corner of US30/34 in Aurora/Oswego, IL.

The vehicles had actual stickers on them, not the placeholder/"not available for sale" stickers, and looked like they were ready to go. And here they are listed on their website: 2013 Malibu
 
No problem...maybe the midwest is the first market that the vehicle is being rolled-out to? I know that only the Eco-models were available so it looks like the supply is restricted to some degree even here.

Anyway, long story short, nice car, but I can't see spending that much for something that's going to sit being abused at the train station 80% of the time......
 
Looks like GM is trying to bring it up market and move the Cruze into the $20k nitch.

Don't know if it will work, a $30k Malibu is starting to edge into BMW 3 series, A4, and Lexus ES territory, especially on the leases.

In the mid west since American cars seem to be preferred they will probably do ok with this, around here...well lets see.
 
Yeah, seems really expensive to me. But then again, I fell that way about all new cars...
crazy.gif
 
Originally Posted By: daves87rs
It seems all cars are going up quite a bit...


They certainly are but the ordinary American's ability to afford those increases is becoming less and less possible.

Today's cars are..... Too complicated, too heavy, too feature laden, too complex (electronics) and certainly way too expensive.
 
Originally Posted By: 91344George
Originally Posted By: daves87rs
It seems all cars are going up quite a bit...


They certainly are but the ordinary American's ability to afford those increases is becoming less and less possible.

Today's cars are..... Too complicated, too heavy, too feature laden, too complex (electronics) and certainly way too expensive.


And I'm going to be the one to point out that not everyone wants a completely stripped out, no radio, no A/C, no power locks, power windows, no sound deadening, carb'ed OHV engine, 5 speed manual, car, that will crumple like a tin can in any accident.
 
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