2000 Chevrolet Malibu Reviews

Great all around versatility with decent fuel economy Pretty good replacement for the Chevrolet Corsica.  Aerodynamic styling with rain gutter features so water does not drip when opening the door.  The side mirrors are reflexible, if in case it is hit by a pole, it springs back to position.  All 1997 - 2003 Chevrolet Malibu comes standard with ABS.  The car is a decent size and have convenient features on a budget.   

I like the left side cupholder on the dashboard, unfortunately it makes exiting the car more difficult when used.  I would of liked more shoulder room in the front and more leg room in the rear if the front seats are slided about 3/4 of seating track towards the back.

Surprisingly the car handles curves very well with some body leans (noticed using Goodyear Eagle GT HR tires).

Unfortuantely the 3.1L/3.4L engines have been known for leaking intake manifold gaskets.  Now available are the revised gaskets to correct the situation.  Even worse was the fact that the amount of parts to remove just to get to the old gaskets.  In other words, I wished the car was more mechanic friendly.

I wished the car came with a transmission fluid level dipstick.  The 4T40E/4T45E only uses a fluid level plug, which requires you to go under the car while engine is running and all four wheels need to be on jack stands or vehicle lift.  

Blower motor resistor block are known to burn out.  This created the symptom of not getting fan speed 1 or 2.  Knock on wood, I only had to replace it once.  It is under the front passenger footwell held in by two bolt and you unplug the electrical connector.   

Other than the leaking intake manifold gaskets (could not repair in one weekend at first) and damage to the front right suspension/axle (shop had to wait on parts), the car was able to spend most of the time on the road.

This car has very good performance. It has a 3.1 L V6 under the hood that pushes around 170 hp. the 0 to 60 is right around 8 seconds, and the handling is very tight and smooth. The build quality in this car is just amazing, the road noise is great even without the SVC turned on. I have not needed to do any repairs other than an oil change in the 5 months that i have owned it. Moving on to the appearce and styling. The exterior styling is very good and the interior is done very well. Overall this is my favorite car so far out of the 6 that i have owned, fun to drive, has good looks inside and out, and has been a joy to own.

indestructible, extremely reliable, however it has poor mileage, and the infamous spot of rust that appears near the gas tank on the rear fender. no complaints otherwise, I paid 2 grand for it used and got over 50,000 miles out of it so far. My guess is that it'll keep running well as long as it has some TLC

It gets the job done i suppose, there is a lot of body roll on corners and the brakes always seem to put up a fight. it does accelerate quickly enough to overtake many cars on the highway so that's a plus. the fuel consumption isn't bad either if you don't drive with a heavy foot. it feels relatively solid but it seems to be a very heavy car. this would explain the body roll and massive weight shifting when braking and accelerating (also the doors weigh a million tonnes). its not a bad looking car on the outside, mine has the optional spoiler for a sportier look, but its not too great on the inside. its cramped in the front and back... it looks bigger from outside. i had a dodge spirit and the interior was much larger even though it was a smaller car. it is fairly fun as you have to wrestle it around bends at 80km/h (i live in the country) so it feels a lot faster. overall not bad :)

The car accelerate pretty quick with AC running.  The car still holds its self while pulling a 1,000 lb trailer with stuff in AND on top the car (~18 MPG on highway), you pay more at the gas pump and new rear struts.  The main problem I had was leaking intake manifold gaskets, did the work myself and chose the Fel Pro Permadry brand.  Most of the time it holds in one piece and has not spent much time in the shop, expect for a recall, brake and tire service.  Decent size trunk and interior space, though I wish I had more trunk space and rear legroom with seat moved back.  Highest MPG obtained was 31 MPG.