Rented another thing, AMA

"Chan - Mid-engine with cabin fever" (superchan7) 06/04/2019 at 00:25 • Filed to: Chevrolet Malibu, Chevrolet, Chevy, Malibu

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This one’s feeling cute, only got 3k miles.

fhrblig > Chan - Mid-engine with cabin fever 06/04/2019 at 00:30

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Is it better than the 2012 Malibu I rented once? That was awful. It was a 4-cylinder and had one of the worst transmissions I've ever seen.

ItalianJobR53 - now with added 'MERICA and unreliability > Chan - Mid-engine with cabin fever 06/04/2019 at 00:40

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No
That how I feel about GM auto boxes on the commuter cars. How do you like the slushbox?

Chan - Mid-engine with cabin fever > ItalianJobR53 - now with added 'MERICA and unreliability 06/04/2019 at 00:47

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It’s OK.  It’s a CVT, and it does exactly what a CVT is supposed to do.  It doesn’t feel as traditionally responsive as the CVT in the Altima I had previously, but that one was sort of faking virtual gears.  This one shamelessly drones at the optimal RPM per throttle position.

Chan - Mid-engine with cabin fever > fhrblig 06/04/2019 at 00:49

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I don’t know when Chevy started using CVTs, but that’s what this car has. The rest of the car is actually quite good; I’m impressed with the generally decent interior design and materials.  The back seat definitely won’t win any races but I’ll check the roominess for real tomorrow.

ItalianJobR53 - now with added 'MERICA and unreliability > Chan - Mid-engine with cabin fever 06/04/2019 at 00:51

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Aah, I had a 6 speed in a Malibu (iirc) and that was the worst POS I’ve ever driven just because of the transmission.

It would go down 2 gears when you pin it and then 1 more gear down after about 1 second for no apparent reason. The whole car wobbled around like a boat coz of this...

Future Heap Owner > Chan - Mid-engine with cabin fever 06/04/2019 at 01:02

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If nobody buys manuals anymore, why do so many new cars put shift boots on the automatic shifters?

Chariotoflove > Chan - Mid-engine with cabin fever 06/04/2019 at 01:22

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Are you a Real Person ™?

Chan - Mid-engine with cabin fever > Future Heap Owner 06/04/2019 at 01:44

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Sporty, brah. For all that dogleg PRND action.

Chan - Mid-engine with cabin fever > Chariotoflove 06/04/2019 at 02:09

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I totally thought it was a Ferrari......

.........bruh.

pip bip - choose Corrour > Chan - Mid-engine with cabin fever 06/04/2019 at 06:58

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is it better than walking?

public transport or Malibu?

Under_Score > Chan - Mid-engine with cabin fever 06/04/2019 at 08:00

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Do you have an idea why Chevy got rid of the keyless access sensors on the rear doors  for 2019? That was one of the only cool things about this car.

Jordan > Chan - Mid-engine with cabin fever 06/04/2019 at 08:30

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Can you turn of traction and stability control? Can you neutral-drop it?

Ash78, voting early and often > Chan - Mid-engine with cabin fever 06/04/2019 at 08:33

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These aren’t too bad...anyone who says otherwise never spent any time in a GM vehicle before the bailout and the “Great Opelization” as I like to call it.

If you ever get a chance to just sit in an early 2000s Malibu you’ll see what I mean. The current batch may be competitively mediocre, but those were objectively bad. I’m not throwing stones, we had a 2003 Saturn L200 for about 6-7 years. Nothing ever broke, but you never wanted to drive more than absolu tely necessary.

KingT- 60% of the time, it works every time > Chan - Mid-engine with cabin fever 06/04/2019 at 09:39

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This looks like the refreshed model 2019. I drove the 2018 rental specast year.It was dull

https://oppositelock.kinja.com/rental-car-roulette-1832880266?utm_medium=sharefromsite&utm_source=default_copy&utm_campaign=top

MrSnrub > Chan - Mid-engine with cabin fever 06/04/2019 at 12:38

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I rented an identical one recently, same color and everything. I was p retty impressed by the chassis tuning, it’s not particularly sporty but it steers pleasantly enough and rides very smoothly. The artificial shift points fooled me into thinking it was a conventional auto until I looked up the specs, I didn’t realize they had switched to a CVT. That might be why the engine was a bit droney. The seats weren’t uncomfortable but they felt cheap and spongy, but that might just be because I’ve been spoiled by my GTI . And it has a foot-operated parking brake, ew.

Would like to try a Regal at some point considering it’s basically the same underneath, but with a 2.0L turbo and nicer interior

Chan - Mid-engine with cabin fever > KingT- 60% of the time, it works every time 06/04/2019 at 12:45

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The 2019 is less dull. It’s not a “fun” car to own by any measure, but GM has come a long way. I’ll post a couple of oddities later .

What impressed me most was the maturity of their styling. The thing looks surprisingly upscale from outside.

Chan - Mid-engine with cabin fever > MrSnrub 06/04/2019 at 12:46

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Yeah, I hate foot parking brakes but that’s just my personal preference.  The CVT was unremarkable to me, which is pretty much the nicest thing that I can say about a CVT.

Chan - Mid-engine with cabin fever > Ash78, voting early and often 06/04/2019 at 12:49

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Oh 100% agree. Even the 2008 Malibu, which was a clean-sheet design and which GM was quite proud of, was only enough to “catch up” with the competition . The competition then quickly walked away again until this current generation (2016+) which pleasantly surprised me.

Chan - Mid-engine with cabin fever > Under_Score 06/04/2019 at 12:49

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My rental spec didn’t have any sensors, just a button on each front door that serves as both lock and unlock.

And the reason was probably cost.

Chan - Mid-engine with cabin fever > pip bip - choose Corrour 06/04/2019 at 12:53

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Malibu all the way. In fact, this car felt surprisingly upscale—the facelifted front end is a class leader in tasteful, slightly premium styling. The interior has unique shapes and textures. I’m a fan of Chevy’s placement of seat/armrest cloth on the dashboard. It’s a cheap way to spice up an area that is boring in most cars, and IIRC they started doing this on the original Cruze.

Signed,
A “ Real Person”

KingT- 60% of the time, it works every time > Chan - Mid-engine with cabin fever 06/04/2019 at 12:55

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When I rented this I did some research, never looked into the Malibu quite seriously. Seems the top end trim with the 2.0T is actually pretty good. 2019 is unchanged mechanically from the 2017 and what I like is that it’s light, roomy, and it’s quick 0-60 5.7sec

https://www.motortrend.com/cars/chevrolet/malibu/2017/2017-chevrolet-malibu-20t-premier-first-test-review/

Tech is good as well but the interior still feels very chintzy/tacky with chrome and fake wood as though they design it exclusively for Midwestern boomers.

They sell with HUGE discounts new and even with used ones you get a lot of car for the money. But then again hard to look past the Accord Camry and personally for me the Mazda6.

Chan - Mid-engine with cabin fever > Jordan 06/04/2019 at 12:57

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You can neutral drop any automatic transmission, right? Although I’m not sure how that works on a CVT, and I’m not really curious enough to try it on something that isn’t mine.

The traction control defeat button is the biggest I’ve ever seen on a car. I think the space was meant to accommodate 2-3 smaller buttons on cars with more optional equipment.  I didn’t see a button for ESC, so I don’t think it can be defeated.

Chan - Mid-engine with cabin fever > KingT- 60% of the time, it works every time 06/04/2019 at 13:01

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It’s just worlds away from the GM of 10 years ago which was still putting poorly finished plastic trim in their cars. I remember a 2008-ish Malibu I rented had plastic flash near the door handle that could easily cut my hand.

This one still has a roughly trimmed edge on the turn signal stalk that I can feel every time I use it , but no other interior issues so far.

BahamaTodd > MrSnrub 06/04/2019 at 14:09

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Make sure to drive an AWD Regal since it will have a 5 link rear suspension. The FWD is only a 4 link like the Malibu. Then of course a Regal GS will be tuned to be more sporty with its adjustable dampers .

Steve in Manhattan > Chan - Mid-engine with cabin fever 06/05/2019 at 01:03

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How bad is the understeer? 

Chan - Mid-engine with cabin fever > Steve in Manhattan 06/05/2019 at 01:37

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It rides and steers somewhat like a Camry, so an understeer rating of Yes will suffice.

Under_Score > Chan - Mid-engine with cabin fever 06/05/2019 at 08:09

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That’s what I meant. 2016-2018 used to have those buttons on the rear doors.

Spoiler: My sister and I looked at an Equinox a couple weeks ago. The fact it had those buttons on all four doors was one of the only good things about it. The other crossovers we looked at were better in almost everything.