Up Close and Personal with the All-New 2008 Malibu

[RangerVT]

Hey guys,

We just got in our first 2008 Malibu last night so this morning after it was all cleaned up, I took some photos in the showroom. Enjoy! I'll post more if you want different angles, features, etc. We brought in our first Malibu with the LTZ package and every option that was available at the time of order!

MSRP: $28,340

Also, I attended the Ride & Drive for the 2008 Malibu with a head-to-head run against the Camry, Sonata, & Fusion. I'll write more about that later. Short Overview: We finally have a vehicle that can and will compete!

[CARBIZ]

I agree. We finally have a contender. If the only beef the usual suspects can come up with is the lack of available DVD nav, this vehicle will be a hit. I just took the LS for an extended tour. Even at 3/4 throttle, there is very little noise intrusion into the cabin - and that is the 2.4! They have even managed to disguise that crappy nylon material. Everything in this car looks like more $$$.

I know the usual suspects don't like the electric steering in the base model, but I am a fan of it. Once you are used to it, you will find the normal hydraulic steering very heavy. I would opt for an uplevel stereo, though.

This is a good looking car. It also has a lot bigger 'look' to it than its real size would indicate. It has none of the odd-looking angles that the Camry does.

It's funny, both with '04 Malibu and the '00 Impala I had to warm up to their looks, but with this Malibu it has been love at first sight.

[Oracle of Delphi]

Nice pics, but that brown interior does not go well with that candy apple red exterior.

[PurdueGuy]

I like the front, sides, and interior quite a bit. The back I'm still getting used to - it's not terrible, it's just not wonderful.

[K.C.]

Great pics. I love the two tone brown/tan interior. I agree with PCS in that I don't think it goes well with the red interior. I think next year, they should offer more two tone interior options and a single tone interior option for the LTZ model. The black/brick is not for everyone, and there should be another offering for buyers who do not like the black/brick or the cocoa/cashmere. I think a nice black/gray or a black/morocco brown would be some nice offerings.

Great work on the pics.

[PurdueGuy]

Great pics. I love the two tone brown/tan interior. I agree with PCS in that I don't think it goes well with the red interior. I think next year, they should offer more two tone interior options and a single tone interior option for the LTZ model. The black/brick is not for everyone, and there should be another offering for buyers who do not like the black/brick or the cocoa/cashmere. I think a nice black/gray or a black/morocco brown would be some nice offerings.

Great work on the pics.

Or Black/body color? Run the trim through paint with the body, have matching interior trim...

[ZL-1]

I made a silly joke on the Edmunds thread , but I'm thinking the Malibu looks right. I hope quality and fit&finish will be consistently above avearge, because if they are GM might have an anti-Camry winner here.

[haypops]

What is that red car behind the Malibu? Is that three Corvettes in one showroom?

[cire]

Nice pictures. I do agree with the other comments about interior color combinations. I built an LTZ model online. You had a choice of the Brick/Black combo (I don't really care for the Brick color) or Cocoa/Cashmere combo (I don't really care for the tan/brown interior or fake wood appliques). I wish they had a Charcoal/Slate combo with the metallic look trim of the Brick/Black combo for the LTZ model.

Otherwise, this is one nice looking Chevy. This is the first sedan that Chevy has produced in a long while that I would actually consider owning.

[Dsuupr]

Thanks for the pictures. It looks great. Our local sales people are want the 1LT & 2LT ordered in bulk. They all fell in love with it and think they will sell like hotcakes.

[Z-06]

What is that red car behind the Malibu? Is that three Corvettes in one showroom?

It is a Vette. See the next picture and you will see the huge break discs and calipers.

[Newbiewar]

What is that red car behind the Malibu? Is that three Corvettes in one showroom?

my good ness... you must be from some very very distant farm land...

i know my dealership usually had at least 2-5 corvettes at a time... or tried to... but if you noticed the window says "Corvette center"

also there are at least where i'm from just straight corvette dealers... in which they have 50 new ones, and 200 used ones... they are quite a place to be when it comes to corvettes

[Satty]

Hell, the nearest dealer to me usually has 3 Corvettes in the same color in the showroom. Lately its been 3 orange ones, two coupes and a vert.

The Malibu is a pretty big load of "meh." Pretty good interior, pretty bland exterior. Nothing overwhelming.

[haypops]

When we bought the HHR last July I saw a total 2 corvettes in 3-4 showrooms.

Edited November 3, 2007 by haypops

[Ravenfreak13]

Eh...too much AURA inside.

Back-end is just...i don't have words for it.

[ocnblu]

The interior is flat-out nice... it'd be cool if there were a "Buick Brown" color for the exterior to match that interior. The exterior walks that line between conservative and adventurous, nicely tailored.

[longtooth]

How many of the 'no-sales' will be attributed to the lack of available DVD nav?

Edited November 4, 2007 by longtooth

[longtooth]

Do all trim levels include the chrome accent ring 'round the license plate opening? I don't feel the back to be too bland, but sans some detail accents, i.e. the 'ring', it could be said to look like Britney or Lindsay photographed without their makeup.

[smk4565]

Very nice looking car, it has the metal grille that the CTS is still waiting for. Back is kind of so-so, but I don't mind it, interior does resemble the Aura a lot. It it still a bit like 80s-90s GM where the 2 cars are really similar, but they are just executing it a bit better now. They have too much overlap in this price range, the Malibu is the best GM car under $30,000, it should gobble up sales from the W-bodies like crazy.

[cletus8269]

my good ness... you must be from some very very distant farm land...

i know my dealership usually had at least 2-5 corvettes at a time... or tried to... but if you noticed the window says "Corvette center"

also there are at least where i'm from just straight corvette dealers... in which they have 50 new ones, and 200 used ones... they are quite a place to be when it comes to corvettes

we got kevin whitaker chevy in greenville, he always has a lot of vettes, he collects them from what i hear. at the moment he has 11 on the lot 2 of em Z06's. back when the original ZR's were king he had 2 of em on the show room. black and a red one... dad was shopping for a Z28... i think he was lookin at the wrong z's although he could have gotten 3 camaros for one vette. that'll be the sure place to find the new ones when they come out around here.

back to subject, the local chevy place in anderson got in a blue ltz thursday... its parked in front of the show room. i slowed down to look at it but as soon as i came into view a dealer started makin their way to my truck. might go have a look at it today. trying my best to get the G parents to pick one of em up to replace their 97 bonne

Edited November 4, 2007 by cletus8269

[Intrepidation]

Looks, great, I really like the color combo although the Black/red one would match it better to the red exterior.

but...

http://www.cheersandgears.com/forums/index...ost&id=1327

Is that a panel misalignment I spy?

[ToniCipriani]

Anyone care to upload the pics to imageshack or PB? Clicking is tiring.

The chromed/silver grille looks out of place. A black one would work better.

And why is this in GM news?

Edited November 4, 2007 by ToniCipriani

[LS7]

It interior looked OK until I saw the dorky looking Automatic shifter. Put in a manual, were not all geezers, or cell phone chatting imbeciles.

[cire]

I saw one in person today. Pictures do not do this car justice. It is nice looking. Even the odd taillights look better in person.

Although I would still like to see Chevy offer a Charcoal/Slate interior combo in the LTZ trim level, I must admit that the Cocoa/Cashmere interior combo looks better in person than it does in pictures. I don't particularly like fake wood trim, but it's applied in a really nonintrusive way in the Malibu. The dealership only had one LT model, so I didn't get to see the LTZ Brick/Black combo in person yet.

Except for a couple of quirks (no available navigation, no rear center armrest, no grab handles), I don't see any reason why this car can't give the Accord or Camry some serious competition in the midsize sedan segment. Hopefully, the media blitz will attract some serious attention to this great, new vehicle. It deserves it.

Edited November 4, 2007 by cire

[gm4life]

This car looks hot, the brick/black interior combo would be better with this red. A darker red would be better with the coca interior. They are a sharp looking car, Toyota should be watching out!

[jbartley]

the interior is very clean and upscale. good brown colors.

[haypops]

One of the reviews described substantial efforts at decreasing the intake induction noise in the 2.4 Ecotec. Has anyone here had any experience with this. I think this may be a much more important concern than interior color combinations or the rear tail light treatment.

[mot76]

The woodish trim adds a nice touch to the interior, but, I'm hoping it's my monitor, the doors and seat backs look dark gray while the seats are brown/beige? That's a no mix for me. Looks odd. And can't GM come up with a different steering wheel? Seems like almost every car they make has that one.

[rueben44]

nice

[regfootball]

hate to say it, but the plastic looks cheap on the doors and the parts bin center stack and sw look bad. but i will reserve judgment until i see it in person.

[enaud03]

I only wish they would increase the fanfare on this Malibu. The '08 is clearly a better buy than the '04, but '04 had much heavier promotion. Before it came out, there were ad's and even a chevymalibu.com website...

[ponchoman49]

I got to see 3 new Malibus at 2 different dealers this past Saturday. One was a red LTZ with two-tone tan interior and the other 2 were LT2 V6's in tan exterior with the chrome Impala SS like rims. I brought my friend along who has never seen this car yet to see what his impressions were. The first words out of his mouth were "not sure I like the rear end" but the front is nice! The LT2 models had bodyside moldings which spruced the side look up but neither one of us cared for the Impala SS like chrome wheels. The red LTZ was sharp and it's alloy wheels looked nice going by us. We followed this car as the salesman drove it up front for an eagerly awaiting customer for a test drive. The 3.6 liter V6 sounded quiet and smooth as glass as the sales guy drove it by us. My pick would be a red LT2 with optional bodyside moldings and the two-tone tan interior without the optional chrome wheels. I would really like to see a nice blue, red or white accent interior option as the black/tan and gray is really getting depressing(my friend actually brought this up after we looked at some new Impalas and Cobalts) and Chevy really needs to revise the options and models on this car to simplify things and lift some of the color restrictions off but overall in the right exterior color this car is pretty sharp.

[usa1]

Those interior colors are nauseating. It's nice GM's offering different choices, but that one does not look good to me.

I still like the Aura much better.

Mark

[PONTIAC06]

I got to see a production version of the Malibu Hybrid and my engineering conference this past week...It looks beautiful in person, and the interior looks great despite the wierd cut lines next to the stereo on the center stack.

[yougojay]

Thanks for posting the photos, much appreciated. That rear end is growing on me, looks good with the dual exhaust. (where's the popped hood engine photo?

[CARBIZ]

One of the reviews described substantial efforts at decreasing the intake induction noise in the 2.4 Ecotec. Has anyone here had any experience with this. I think this may be a much more important concern than interior color combinations or the rear tail light treatment.

Having driven the 2.2 extensively on and off over the past few years, I can say without a doubt that the 2.4 is a VAST improvement. The power is smooth, the noise level well below acceptable and acceleration is quite decent. In the Land of $4 a Gallon Gas, the 2.4 will be the big seller. The LS as equipped is a sure-fire hit. Even the fake alloy wheel covers look good. Considering the level of equipment, refinement and the price, GM has gotten this one right.

I wonder what the real world mpg numbers will be, though. One of the main reasons I kept going back to the 4 cyl Malibu in the past is that it was giving me better fuel mileage than either the Cobalt or Optra. Go figure.

[longtooth]

One of the reviews described substantial efforts at decreasing the intake induction noise in the 2.4 Ecotec. Has anyone here had any experience with this. I think this may be a much more important concern than interior color combinations or the rear tail light treatment.

In three years, tuners will be trying to make them noisier. Ever see a slow moving car chasing a big noise? I still am fooled and look to see a fifteen year old civic moving like a turtle trying to live up to it's sound.

[elrev07]

Is this at Sun Chevy?!

I'm so close to there! I worked at Colussy up the road.. in Bridgeville

[!!!TED!!!]

Thanks for posting the photos, much appreciated. That rear end is growing on me, looks good with the dual exhaust. (where's the popped hood engine photo?

Thats what I wanted to see too.

Thankfully, Autoblog has one:

[Chicagoland]

How many of the 'no-sales' will be attributed to the lack of available DVD nav?

Smart buyers get portable NAV systems now, from other sources.

[longtooth]

Smart buyers get portable NAV systems now, from other sources.

True, like the nuvi 680 in my g6, in dash in my 'nali. i like the clutter free integrated appearance of in dash much better. i'm still @#$%^&!!! frickin' angry there was no mp3 jack in the g6!!! aargh! Edited November 7, 2007 by longtooth

[regfootball]

i went over to the chevy dealer over lunch.

i am blown away by the charisma this malibu has. I was doubtful but after seeing it and opening up the door, i'm convinced.

it even that much better than the aura. i am not sure how they will sell auras now. I guess the old farts will be stuck with the Impalas now.

it really makes the camry seem bad. compared to the new retro-rice korean 2008 accord its more desirable. I would have to pick this car over a Maxima even.

the one i saw was tan with cocoa/cashmere leather LTZ. Aside from my standing gripe about the epsilons being 2" too narrow, the only criticism I can level at this car is that the interior plastics could be upgraded. they don't NEED to be, but it could have even been more fantastic had they done so. The center stack was cool. The car really has a Germanic aura to it (sorry). It is fair to say there is probably too many cut lines on the dash, but that's being picky. Maybe in time, they can redo the taillights.

I truly believe the sky is the limit with sales on this car. I guess I can see why some folks would be bummed out about NAV and Bluetooth on this car, because the rest of the car is so nice, to not have the extra toys if you are plopping down cash, would be a bummer. I still think the key is to have the ability to integrate NAV with On Star or not and offer it as a 500 dollar option. Not 2000.

[sciguy_0504]

The IP is the coolest thing about the car. The gauges look so good.

The interior is alright. I'm not fond of the center stack or the color combos. I think the two-tone design looks kind of cheap...a little too crazy, I guess. A simple two-tone with the top of the dashboard and door panels one color and the rest another color would look more sophisticated, IMO.

I like the front, I like the sides, I don't like the rear (though the chrome license plate surround is a neat touch).

[shesellschevys]

How many of the 'no-sales' will be attributed to the lack of available DVD nav?

I believe the Malibu buyer will not be someone looking to spend $2500-3000 just for a fancy screen. Who wants to rely on a 1 or 2 year old DVD to give maps when Turn by Turn (available through OnStar for only $199/year) will give them more accuate, up-to-date information at a *fraction* of the cost?

~ janette

[vrazzhledazzle]

I just went to see a Malibu in person today. They had all the trims available, and the LTZ (with the 2 round white lights in the back instead of one) looked very luxurious (I mean like $40000 car kind of luxurious). I test drove the LS and the LTZ and both were great!! 10x better than the Aura and 100x better than the Camry. This car will be such a success!!

[motorman]

i will be interested in the car after i see the real world MPG to see if they beat the mrs 04 impala LS 20/22 MPG every day driving and 28/30 MPG on trips.

Edited November 9, 2007 by motorman

[Northstar]

I sat in a 2LT today. I was pretty impressed. The interior could have been better, but it was very nice for a $22k car... it had leather/suede stuff and the door panels are better than the look in pictures. While they appear to be the same as the Aura, they were softer to the touch and much better in terms of graining than the Aura's. Still, they could be better, but they will be fine for most buyers, especially at $22k. It was much better than it looks in pictures, and while there are some seemingly misaligned panels (though everything on the center stack looked fine), they were aligned the same way on both sides, so I'm wondering if that's how they were intended to line up. The fit and finish was very good, better than any of them appeared in pictures (lots of misaligned panels). Exterior panel gaps were very, very small.

All in all, I would give GM an A-. Improve the door panels (the rest of the materials were quite good... soft touch on the top of the dash), give it an integrated radio and HVAC system (the cutlines are aligned fine, but it would look better without them), have the 6-speed available from the start, and you have yourself quite possible the best car in the class. I haven't sat in a new Accord yet, but the Malibu is much better looking from the outside, and the interior has more style as well.

[longtooth]

i went over to the chevy dealer over lunch.

i am blown away by the charisma this malibu has. I was doubtful but after seeing it and opening up the door, i'm convinced.

it even that much better than the aura. i am not sure how they will sell auras now. I guess the old farts will be stuck with the Impalas now.

it really makes the camry seem bad. compared to the new retro-rice korean 2008 accord its more desirable. I would have to pick this car over a Maxima even.

the one i saw was tan with cocoa/cashmere leather LTZ. Aside from my standing gripe about the epsilons being 2" too narrow, the only criticism I can level at this car is that the interior plastics could be upgraded. they don't NEED to be, but it could have even been more fantastic had they done so. The center stack was cool. The car really has a Germanic aura to it (sorry). It is fair to say there is probably too many cut lines on the dash, but that's being picky. Maybe in time, they can redo the taillights.

I truly believe the sky is the limit with sales on this car. I guess I can see why some folks would be bummed out about NAV and Bluetooth on this car, because the rest of the car is so nice, to not have the extra toys if you are plopping down cash, would be a bummer. I still think the key is to have the ability to integrate NAV with On Star or not and offer it as a 500 dollar option. Not 2000.

Well said Reg', but as to your "old farts" comment, here, here!

[longtooth]

I believe the Malibu buyer will not be someone looking to spend $2500-3000 just for a fancy screen. Who wants to rely on a 1 or 2 year old DVD to give maps when Turn by Turn (available through OnStar for only $199/year) will give them more accuate, up-to-date information at a *fraction* of the cost?

~ janette

Yeah, but. But, in this shallow status seeking society, the 'screen' tells the world that you have arrived. Conversely, and unfortunately, it places everyone within arms reach of a crowbar that much closer to having 'arrived' too.

[haypops]

I think it is interesting how th eMalibu has "leap froged" over the Aura. Perhaps This just shows how quickly GM is progressing?