2013 Malibu Review

[dishdude]

So I had a recent business trip and decided to rent a car and save putting 1200 miles on my own car over 3 days. After having the clerk at National read all the available cars to me like a waitress rattling off the salad dressing choices, I settled on a 2013 Malibu. I haven't had the chance to drive one yet, and after reading all the lukewarm reviews I figured it would be a good idea to check it out for myself.

I was happy to find out that when I got to the car, it only had 1500 miles on it and was a 2LT with the 2.5.

Pros -

I was able to quickly find a comfortable driving position with the 8 way power driver seat that also had 4 way power lumbar (a nice touch).

The "gages" were clear and easy to read, with a DIC in the center that was full color and provided plenty of additional information.

The Chevy MyLink works well, giving a touchscreen interface to the radio, Sirius XM, Bluetooth, Bluetooth audio streaming, Pandora and Stitcher. Steering wheel controls are clear and easy to use. Sound quality was good - it appeared to have standard speakers (no Pioneer upgrade).

The engine is barely audible inside, and the cabin is very quiet when accelerating and cruising along the highway. No squeaks or rattles.

Steering and handling are very nice, this is a nice highway cruiser, and easy to navigate in town. This car had 18" wheels and tires that looked great and I am sure they added to the comfortable ride and handling.

Power from the 2.5 is very good for a base engine. The car is quick to get moving from a stop light, goes up hills without a lot of downshifting, and has plenty of power for passing. You're not going to win any races, but for normal driving it's great with plenty of low end torque.

Cons -

This car has to have the world's ugliest dashboard. It doesn't feel cheap, but it sure looks it. I don't know what they were thinking with the black horizontal strip that runs the length of the dashboard. It does light up nice at night, but during the day it is an eyesore. The center stack is also odd looking, it reminded me of a tombstone.

All in all, it was a comfortable car to spend a 1200 mile trip in. I averaged 32.2 MPG according to the DIC for the time I had the car. Everything on it felt quality and well put together.

 

[sciphi]

Ick on the interior. Too much competing for attention in there. I'll take my Cruze's simpler interior.

GM's making some decent base sound systems these days. The base system my Cruze is pretty good to my untrained ears.

 

[pbm]

Quote:
"All in all, it was a comfortable car to spend a 1200 mile trip in. I averaged 32.2 MPG according to the DIC for the time I had the car. Everything on it felt quality and well put together."

My experience with the DIC in my Cruze is that it is optimistic by nearly 10%. If mine said 32.2 it really got about 29.5. I do agree that the quality of GM cars is far better than before the bail-outs....I think this can also be said for Ford, Chrysler etc...

 

[Tzu]

At one time, I was really thinking of getting this car. But something looks "off" on the exterior. The interior looks simple (which I like), and not like a futuristic space vehicle. The rear end looks terrible with that humped up rear deck and square lights. I think the side profile has the rake looking too high in the back. I'm a GM fan, but this version is not for me. The current Fusion is a bona fide HOMERUN for Ford. Can't make them fast enough. My dad bought his '12 Malibu because he was so-so on this one. I agree with him. Our 3800 Impala can get 30-31mpg HGWY and is a larger car. Smaller isn't always better as engines go.

 

[MrHorspwer]

The more I see of the Fusion, the more and more I dislike it.

No, the front end doesn't look like an Aston Martin. It is too long for it's width (an odd proportion shared with the old Malibu). My biggest peeve about it, and it's a huge one, is the lower rear fascia. Instead of maintaining the body color all the way to the lower edge of the fascia or using a grey/black closeout panel at the lower edge, the Fusion is color down to a grey closeout panel that's about 6" wide and extends nearly the width of the fascia, then continues the color below this to the bottom of the fascia. It looks like a dealer add-on styling piece and gives a very heavy, dumpy look to the rear fascia. It is worse on lighter colored cars.

I have the same rear fascia complaint about the Cruze RS.

On the Malibu, the one thing I *do* like is the front 1/4 view. The front fascia retains much of the vehicle width (it doesn't pinch toward the front) and with the raked side profile, it gives the impression of a very hulking stance from the front. It looks best with the dark projector headlamps on the LTZ.

I agree with the OP on the dash too. Not so much the styling, but the complete mishmash of finishes. Looking at the photos posted, I see dark grey plastic, light grey plastic, piano black, silver, chrome, and brown fake wood. This is supposed to be one of the items corrected with the 2014 refresh. One thing I do like about the dash: KNOBS! It has a big touchscreen, but it also has knobs for volume and tuning. Bravo.

 

[bourne]

Originally Posted By: dishdude

Steering and handling are very nice, this is a nice highway cruiser, and easy to navigate in town. This car had 18" wheels and tires that looked great and I am sure they added to the comfortable ride and handling.

Power from the 2.5 is very good for a base engine. The car is quick to get moving from a stop light, goes up hills without a lot of downshifting, and has plenty of power for passing. You're not going to win any races, but for normal driving it's great with plenty of low end torque.





We rented one on our vacation in Vegas and I had a chance to put it through the paces on some mountain roads in the surrounding area.

I had a different experience in matters of ride/handling. The steering is extremely vague especially when you start to push the car. Took a lot of mid corner corrections. To the extent that my gf could tell that I wasnt enjoying the drive. Highway ride is excellent, very quiet at cruising speeds. Understeer sets in early. The engine feels peppy due to low gearing in the first 3 ratios, but really the 2.5l ecotec is a bit underpowered for such a heavy vehicle. Around town its ok, but passing/merging on the hwy requires some careful estimation and gaps.

My biggest gripe was the rear suspension, its too soft. It bottoms out when hitting ruts on the highway. And thats with no passengers in the rear seat. I have seen one fully loaded with 5 passengers and luggage and rear springs look broken ( reminds me of taurus/sables driving around with broken rear springs ).

 

[99Saturn]

Not a fan of the wood. I was in one of these as a passenger a few months ago. It was a good ride, getting up to speed on the highway and passing seemed to give the driver some trouble like bourne mentioned.

FWIW the DIC on our Cruze is pretty accurate, usually within 1% (DIC 38.4; real world 38 on last tank up).

 

[daves87rs]

Got A chance to drive one of these for a while...a base LS. Handled well, but the back seat room was pretty bad...

 

[SteveSRT8]

Great mileage! I'm impressed with the 2.5 in my friend's lil Chevy. it's really smooth running.

I would agree about that dash, too busy, too many band aids stuck on/in it to try and give it an up to date appearance.

For a regular commuter car these are nice, and can be had cheaply, too.

 

[glock19]

I got to drive one when my gf had a rental. Not a bad car, I would definitely use it as a commuter. I don't like the dash or gauges at all though. Those deep set gauges and that swoopy line section over the glove box just look terrible to me.

 

[Mykl]

How's the back seat?

 

[CharBaby]

I'll say it again! This is one tough segment for a car to be in. The competition is very good and each car having something different to offer to it's potential customers.

I am liking GM more and more for their interior offerings and quiet interiors. NO, I don't want to be put to sleep while I'm driving but, GM's quiet interiors are attracting me more and more especially for long highway journeys. And, BlueTooth and factory remote starting are other strong points as well.

I've been Honda/Toyota(w/a little Nissan/Mazda thrown in) since the 80's and I think GM is really stepping up their game! And although I love the look of the new Fusion, I've never been a Ford guy. This Fusion could be the car that changes that!

I have had plenty of GM vehicles in the past and wouldn't think twice about going back.