Anybody see any 2006 MAlibus yet?

[I hope GMRULES again]

Has anybody seen or does anyobe have any new pics of the 2006 Malibu. I'd like to see more shots of the front end and the new wheels. My dealer has none and the web site has had the same ones up for a month now.

[AAS]

I've seen the new Malibu a couple times. I keep mistaking them for the new Impala. The refresh looks good.

[american_driver]

Ditto. The front end is different, the rest is status quo.

[sciguy_0504]

I saw my first one today, it was black. I turned to look as I was crossing Chestnut Street in Philly and I noticed it. It kind of surprised me but I really don't know why.

[Flybrian]

About a dozen so far and three new MAXXs.

[Guest Josh]

The new face looks very good. I love it.

[NOS2006]

The new face looks very good. I love it.

[post="20506"]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post]

love*

[HarleyEarl]

[03Yukon]

I saw one a couple of days ago but it was a rental. The front looks better than older one.

[bowtie_dude]

I've seen several.

[FUTURE_OF_GM]

Well, since my closest Chevy dealer has been bought out by a new owner and he doesn't care for it (even locks the doors at random times--I wish GM would jerk the franchise out from under him) our lot has only had 1 (Imagine that; No 2006 Impalas or HHRs, No Cobalt LT's, SS or SS Superchargeds, 1 2006 Silverado and the new Mailbu Maxx. The Maxx looked okay... It was a base model, I didn't care for the wheels or the indentions in the front bumper cover where the foglights go on the upper models. I did however like the placement of the GM emblem and the new chrome accented side molding. Overall it looked good for basic transportation, but not something I'd buy. Does look like an Impala from a distance though. I've also seen 1 sedan on the road, it was a white base model and stood out nicely.

[HarleyEarl]

[El Scorcho]

I've seen quite a few. The only one that really looks bad to me is the LS (it looks worse than a Hyundai). The upper level models look a lot better than the older ones. But they're still not awesome.

[Guest Josh]

Well, since my closest Chevy dealer has been bought out by a new owner and he doesn't care for it (even locks the doors at random times--I wish GM would jerk the franchise out from under him) our lot has only had 1 (Imagine that; No 2006 Impalas or HHRs, No Cobalt LT's, SS or SS Superchargeds, 1 2006 Silverado and the new Mailbu Maxx.

The Maxx looked okay... It was a base model, I didn't care for the wheels or the indentions in the front bumper cover where the foglights go on the upper models. I did however like the placement of the GM emblem and the new chrome accented side molding.

Overall it looked good for basic transportation, but not something I'd buy. Does look like an Impala from a distance though.

I've also seen 1 sedan on the road, it was a white base model and stood out nicely.

[post="20544"]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post]

That almost wants me to suggest he's anti-GM. You should contact GM about him. ASAP, too.

[Satty]

I've seen a few, it looks decent in dark red. I know GM has some goofy name like Cranberry on a Summer's Eve or Light Bronzemist Metallic, but its dark red, just call it dark red.

[HarleyEarl]

[HarleyEarl]

[caddycruiser]

Yep, here's some more "real-world" ones:
'06 Sandstone Maxx LT:









The FINALLY body-colored side strips on the base models look much better, as do the new steering wheel and chrome pieces.

Edited September 27, 2005 by caddycruiser

[ToniCipriani]

No sightings in Toronto or Waterloo yet.

[FUTURE_OF_GM]

That almost wants me to suggest he's anti-GM. You should contact GM about him. ASAP, too.

[post="20615"]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post]

I'd love to but I don't know how. (Or at least how to contact someone that actually cares and won't just give me lip service)

The dealership used to be such a good one always stocked, nicely kept with a lot of nice people that I knew. Now, only 3 people out of the whole dealership are retained employees from the buyout, the inventory is so low that I can often count it on both hands or at the very most 2 sets of hands and most of the lot is used cars.

They have NEVER (that I know of) received a Cobalt SS Supercharged, no regular SS as of yet and maybe 1 LT the entire time he's owned the dealership. Still no 2006 Impalas, the 1 2006 Malibu Maxx (Which was 1 of 2 Malibus on the lot--the other being an '05 sedan) no HHRs, no Uplanders, maybe an occasional Corvette, like 1 2006 Silverado, 1 Avalanche, no 2006 Trailblazers, 1 Equinox...

It's pathetic... The place has just wasted away.

He has these fire sale tent events for the used cars in front of the Ford dealership right next door (Which was part of the deal--owned by the same family) every weekend and when he does he locks the doors to the Chevrolet dealership and hangs a sign up to go see a dealer at the Ford lot (Which at first was in good shape but is now also starting to wither). One of my contacts said that when the new owner bought the place he only wanted the Ford dealership anyway and was pretty much forced to buy the Chevrolet dealership to get the Ford dealership. That same contact also said that a GM corporate person had drove up one day when the doors were locked and caused the owner A LOT of trouble and threatened to take the franchise away.

But seriously, GM needs to come and look at this place. And to beat all it's an upscale town and these are the only 2 dealerships in the area, the next closest dealer of any kind is probably close to 10 miles away.

P.S. Wow, even the LT's get those ugly indentions in the nose instead of foglights? And I really don't ike those wheels. But, if the ugly spattered front faces of the Accord and Camry will sell then so will this. WOW!, I had forgotten how pleasant the interior of the Malibu was when it isn't PR photographed in GM gray.

[Cory Wolfe]

Still haven't seen it yet...

They have NEVER (that I know of) received a Cobalt SS Supercharged, no regular SS as of yet and maybe 1 LT the entire time he's owned the dealership. Still no 2006 Impalas, the 1 2006 Malibu Maxx (Which was 1 of 2 Malibus on the lot--the other being an '05 sedan) no HHRs, no Uplanders, maybe an occasional Corvette, like 1 2006 Silverado, 1 Avalanche, no 2006 Trailblazers, 1 Equinox...

It's pathetic... The place has just wasted away.

Well... if it makes you feel any better, my dealer only has a Malibu that is an 05 Maxx... but its been there for a while and its been the only one for a long while. Before it... there wasn't any for a while. High end SSs of any car have never been here. They had only one C6. One SSR a while back. Been a while since any Aveos or Avalanches have been there. Same with Tahoes and Suburbans. I can't remember the last time I saw any Buick other than a LaCrosse on the lot. Same with Cadillac. On the Pontiac side of things, there has never been a GXP model. The last GTO was an 04 almost two years ago. No 06s of any kind yet. Of course... some of this may be because of the Employee discount and the fact that it's a rural dealer so it doesn't get everything at first...

Anyways, the interior does look good. I'm impressed. The exterior... well... they tried and that is what matters. Or not.. It's still ugly, but now more bland. The only trim that looks good is the LTZ. The LS is piss-poor, LT is bland, and the SS looks cheap.

[caddycruiser]

And a direct comparison, model to model, of an '05 vs. and '06:

Edited September 27, 2005 by caddycruiser

[Robert Hall]

Just a new grille and fascia, eh?

[aaaantoine]

I saw one. Upstate. Takes a while for new American cars to trickle in on LI.

[ToniCipriani]

Just a new grille and fascia, eh?

[post="20732"]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post]

Don't forget the skullcaps. The new one has body colored mirrors.

[I hope GMRULES again]

Thanks for all the posts and pics. I like the new cleaned up interior and front end but I don't like the new wheels but they might have to grow on me. We don't have any north of the border yet. I think GM is busy restocking dealers in the U.S. because of the employee pricing sales. Went by my Pontiac dealer also last week and they only had about 40 cars on the lot instead of the usual 80+, I've never seen so few cars there. Its still a lot better than my local DCX dealer, they went out of business last week.

[turbo200]

The new one isn't as distinctive anymore--I was never totally against that chrome strip, at least in the uplevel trim, I think it set the Malibu apart. Now, it's just SO bland and so rental level look.Granted, I have not seen an uplevel model, but the mid-level one I saw was nothing special, but then I've never really felt anything special about the Malibu, except that it's face was starting to really grow on me. My impressions probably won't change since there really is no difference between the mid-level and up-level in terms of the grille. the interior is starting to show marked improvements, but that just goes to show what can happen when GM sweats the freaking details Edited September 27, 2005 by turbo200

[Poly Student]

I have always thought that this car shared a vague resemblence to the ION, but without the chrome bar, they look even more similar. I was probably the only person who somewhat liked the chrome bar. Removing it without repositioning the headlights makes the front look a little odd.

[regfootball]

new face-nice the center stack still needs a redo. overall the new Fusion still looks nicer.

[z28luvr01]

FOG, that dealership sounds terrible, and it's a shame because it gives CHEVY a bad name, not just him. You should see if you can find the GM Zone Representative for yuor area. Typically, a GM Zone Rep oversees the operations of all GM dealers in a particular area. You would normally go to that person if you had an unresolvable dispute with your dealership over, say, the service done to your car. I think you can just walk in and ask the service or sales dept. of any dealership and they should give it to you willingly.

RE: the foglight cutouts on the base Malibu bumper, I'm just thankful they didn't do this:

[bobo]

I've seen one '06 Malibu on the streets so far. The body-color mirror is an improvement, but like everything else, it looks so half-assed with the cutline. The new steering wheel is an improvement, but it still manages to look so cheap. As much as I love the current MAXX, I think the next Malibu can't come soon enough.

[FUTURE_OF_GM]

I have always thought that this car shared a vague resemblence to the ION, but without the chrome bar, they look even more similar.
I was probably the only person who somewhat liked the chrome bar.  Removing it without repositioning the headlights makes the front look a little odd.

[post="20774"]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post]

I'll second the chrome bar, I thought it was classy if done right.

[Sixty8panther]

Saw a white MAxx yestearday... did a double take and slowed down.. checked out the front in my rear view and then haulled ass back up to 85 again.

[Chicagoland]

It has the sterring wheel from the Uplander now. The new front looks "cheaper" to me. All the complaints about the chrome were from people who would never buy one anyway, they still have 1990's leftovers. Edited September 28, 2005 by Chicagoland

[Flybrian]

What's up, Blueovalman? Back again?

[daves87rs]

The new Maxxes like strange, though I have yet to see one in person yet. I have seen a lot of 06 Bu's, and I think it looks good for now. The grill almost has a euroish look to it. People must like it, cause they have started popping up... :)

[MPLIN]

Yep, here's some more "real-world" ones:
'06 Sandstone Maxx LT:









The FINALLY body-colored side strips on the base models look much better, as do the new steering wheel and chrome pieces.

[post="20662"][/post]

Check out the wheels. The 06 Maxx has the new steel wheels with hupcaps that have openings to make them look like aluminum. I had a 2006 Maxx rental and was surprised to find out those were actually hubcaps. Edited September 28, 2005 by MPLIN

[I hope GMRULES again]

Yeh I thought they looked like hubcaps, the Maxx used to come standard with aluminum wheels.

[ponchoman49]

Yeh I thought they looked like hubcaps, the Maxx used to come standard with aluminum wheels.

[post="21617"]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post]

The wheels were an obvious was to cut costs a little but I must give credit where it is due. The 06 base Malibu which is now called LS beats out last years model by having body colored moldings and a nicer dash and steering wheel. Plus cruise is now standard. The LT which is last years LS now comes with body colored exterior mirrors, chrome door molding insert, leather steering wheel and more interior chrome accents. Haven't seen the LTZ or SS yet.

[BlkHhr104]

Is that the same radio with just chrome rings around the power/channel and volume controls?

[knightfan26917]

I _finally_ saw one today ... en route to work, so I wasn't able to look at it closely. But, I recognized it as an '06 because of the different front end ... I had to twist my head around as it went by ;).


Cort, "Mr MC" / "Mr Road Trip", 32swm/pig valve/pacemaker
MC:family.IL.guide.future = http://www.chevyasylum.com/cort/
Models.HO = http://www.chevyasylum.com/cort/trainroom.html
"My depth perception must be off again" ... Saliva ... 'Rest In Pieces'

[Dsuupr]

My local dealer still doesn't have any, nor any brochures. The front end, new steering wheel, and dash changes sure do make a big difference. To bad they didnt' do it in the beginning.

[Mule Bakersdozen LS]

Yeh I thought they looked like hubcaps, the Maxx used to come standard with aluminum wheels.

[post="21617"]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post]

Yeah and so did the LS (now LT) trim levels. It seems in 2006, Chevy seems to think people want wheel covers on non-base models rather than aluminum wheels. I saw the Maxx LTZ yesterday, I forget which color, the front end was okay I guess, but the bright-insert (I won't say chrome because they look and probably are fake) bodyside moldings didn't look like they belonged. All in all, I just wish the redesigned model would come sooner.

[bowtie_dude]

Seeing more and more. Interior still looks like dookie, but the front is a definite improvement.

[will75]

Seen a few around. last week was in San Francisco and saw TONS! A few '06 Impy's too. Love the new nose and the interior really stands out in black with the new chrome touches. Will likely get me a Maxx when the time (and deal) is right.

[C.H.U.D.]

Seen a few. Looks better, but the next-gen is what I'm really excited to see.