GM goodwill program..

[WackyDan]

I have no doubt that the quality is better now, but that probably won't stop me from running to Ford.

I rent cars just about every week. I use that as a barometer on car quality. The higher mileage Fords I get are almost universally in better shape than any other make with similar miles.

I've had my Dodge truck 13 years... and I would have thought it would have been the problem child versus the Malibu. It has been not with out minor issues, but has been a great truck.

I got lucky with the bulbs, no problem so far, the steering noise is the intermediate shaft, had mine lubed once but now it's back, it won't fail just makes the annoying noise sometimes. Radio knobs, ditto, (mine ate a CD at year 3 so I got a new radio so mine still look OK), the interior, my side panels came unglued, had to glue 'em back, I got Chevy to replace battery at end of warranty, your right, 3 yrs but my last car (Ford was exactly the same, FL heat cooks 'em), power door locks, mine would go up and down on their own, turned out to be a short in the harness in drivers door, fixed under warranty, pin-striping faded at year 3, had it redone under warranty. I think the redesign in '08 upped the quality of a lot of the interior parts, the 3.5 is remarkably good on gas, I get 23/26/32 and has plenty of power to pass IMO, the '08 models got the newer 3.6 with 255HP and is noticeably quicker than our 3.5, 0 to 60 7.6 (old). 6.6 (new) but cannot match our old school 3.5 for fuel economy, I understand why Chevy did it, the Accord, Altima, Camry have had this type of HP in their V6's for years but for me my car is plenty fast enough as is and the pushrod V6 is a reliable time proven design, I'm hoping no more major problems as I want to get 10-12 years out of it. BTW in case you didn't get a notice in the mail GM is extending the warranty on the electronic power steering to 10/100K due to the high failure rate in the '04 (and some '05's), if yours goes bad Chevy will replace it free. I'm on the fence as to buy GM next time out, as we know a lot of parts in our Malibu's (mostly interior) were not the best quality but maybe that's been corrected nowadays and them replacing the seat frame for free impressed me..

 

[NoCreativity]

Had a similar experiance with our G6. Forgot what the part was but they replaced it out of warranty for free. During the same visit, they also fixed a key fob (contacts known to break) for free. This was pre-bail out.

It really depends on the dealership though. I took the car to a different dealer when we first got it because the brake lights would not go on until the car was already stopped. That place told me that was the way the lights were supposed to function and there was no way to fix it. Ended up being a bad brake sensor and the problem was corrected. Should have complained about it but I at least learned never to take a car there again.

 

[BUTCH1]

Had a similar experiance with our G6. Forgot what the part was but they replaced it out of warranty for free. During the same visit, they also fixed a key fob (contacts known to break) for free. This was pre-bail out.

It really depends on the dealership though. I took the car to a different dealer when we first got it because the brake lights would not go on until the car was already stopped. That place told me that was the way the lights were supposed to function and there was no way to fix it. Ended up being a bad brake sensor and the problem was corrected. Should have complained about it but I at least learned never to take a car there again.

WTF kind of idiot mechanic thinks brake lights only work when a car is full stopped, yikes!..

 

[brblx]

having the carmmaker goodwill the part is common. sometimes they'll goodwill everything, labor included (usually an extreme 'cut your losses' thing, like 'my trans died 100 miles out of warranty').

what's not often known is that the dealer, assuming they maintain warranty numbers acceptable to manufacturer, can also sometimes goodwill things at the manufacturer's expensive. when i was at the infiniti dealer i think the cap was like $700. then it got revoked because our shop was run like shit, lulz. your maximum allowable repair amount on an in-warranty vehicle can also be capped- i think we were stuck at 2-3k, if it was anything more they would send someone out.

sounds like you found a good dealer. hopefully they will continue to do good business with you...it's a rarity these days. return the favor by getting your maintenance done there and they'll probably love you.

Not to be cynical, but that in essence was your tax payer bailout money you kindly sent out to GM to keep them afloat.

no, your tax money kept GM afloat. this is just normal operation for an in-business car company. now, do i actually think GM should still be in business? that's a different story.

 

[BUTCH1]

having the carmmaker goodwill the part is common. sometimes they'll goodwill everything, labor included (usually an extreme 'cut your losses' thing, like 'my trans died 100 miles out of warranty').

what's not often known is that the dealer, assuming they maintain warranty numbers acceptable to manufacturer, can also sometimes goodwill things at the manufacturer's expensive. when i was at the infiniti dealer i think the cap was like $700. then it got revoked because our shop was run like shit, lulz. your maximum allowable repair amount on an in-warranty vehicle can also be capped- i think we were stuck at 2-3k, if it was anything more they would send someone out.

sounds like you found a good dealer. hopefully they will continue to do good business with you...it's a rarity these days. return the favor by getting your maintenance done there and they'll probably love you.



no, your tax money kept GM afloat. this is just normal operation for an in-business car company. now, do i actually think GM should still be in business? that's a different story.

I do my own oil changes, no waiting and my car it's particularly easy. I will consider the favor come trade in time but I'm gonna do research and see if the quality of GM's interior components improved, I think it has since the '08 re-design, my gut feeling is the powertrain will do fine on this car, everything else is a crapshoot..

 

[brblx]

fwiw i'm a gm hater and i will note much improved interiors in many models. when i worked with the POS rental cars, the newer buicks, malibus, traverses...stuff not stuck in the 90's basically (impala and cobaltalier, i'm lookin' at you)...it was all pretty solid. most low mileage failures were factory incompetence- whoops we forgot to plug your window motor in. or one time, 'whoops we forgot to actually insert your window glass into the track.' our inspections consisted of paperwork and putting a tag on the car, so whoever used that window first ended up with the glass jammed sideways in the door.

in spite of all that, there is less rattle and vibration and materials with a higher quality feel in many models. some, however (trucks comes to mind) just aren't cutting it in that department.

i think there are better options for the money, but all GM's are certainly not created equal. TBQH an 05 malibu is a shitbucket compared to a new one. no offense, it's just gotten a lot better while that gen of malibu reminds me more of the current impala (just smaller).

oh, and i'll always credit gm for good engines. more recent models especially. occasional trans issues, but in general, they do build a sturdy drivetrain. my saying was that everything around it would just fall apart. but they're getting a good bit better.

 

[WackyDan]

Ok... Seeing as this thread is still going... Two more things..

1... Those F'ing cup holders in the 2005 Malibu. Don't know about you Butch, but most of my drinks pick up the rubber insert when I pick up the drink cup/container....

2. I picked up a Chevy Cruze rental today with 11k on it. No, not the same as the current Malibu, but I'd argue about the same size/class as the 05 Malibu. interior materials seemed a bit better, but the buttons are the same old painted shit. Thing has a squeak going down the road too. Again, feels like a budget car because... It is. I just haven't seen enough in this 2011 to convince me GM has their shit together. It does ride as nice as the Malibu though.

 

[BUTCH1]

Ok... Seeing as this thread is still going... Two more things..

1... Those F'ing cup holders in the 2005 Malibu. Don't know about you Butch, but most of my drinks pick up the rubber insert when I pick up the drink cup/container....

2. I picked up a Chevy Cruze rental today with 11k on it. No, not the same as the current Malibu, but I'd argue about the same size/class as the 05 Malibu. interior materials seemed a bit better, but the buttons are the same old painted shit. Thing has a squeak going down the road too. Again, feels like a budget car because... It is. I just haven't seen enough in this 2011 to convince me GM has their shit together. It does ride as nice as the Malibu though.

LOL, yea, most cups fit poorly in the cup holder, I found one that does and that's what I use, how did the Cruze compare as far as acceleration/handling?

 

[BUTCH1]

fwiw i'm a gm hater and i will note much improved interiors in many models. when i worked with the POS rental cars, the newer buicks, malibus, traverses...stuff not stuck in the 90's basically (impala and cobaltalier, i'm lookin' at you)...it was all pretty solid. most low mileage failures were factory incompetence- whoops we forgot to plug your window motor in. or one time, 'whoops we forgot to actually insert your window glass into the track.' our inspections consisted of paperwork and putting a tag on the car, so whoever used that window first ended up with the glass jammed sideways in the door.

in spite of all that, there is less rattle and vibration and materials with a higher quality feel in many models. some, however (trucks comes to mind) just aren't cutting it in that department.

i think there are better options for the money, but all GM's are certainly not created equal. TBQH an 05 malibu is a shitbucket compared to a new one. no offense, it's just gotten a lot better while that gen of malibu reminds me more of the current impala (just smaller).

oh, and i'll always credit gm for good engines. more recent models especially. occasional trans issues, but in general, they do build a sturdy drivetrain. my saying was that everything around it would just fall apart. but they're getting a good bit better.

We'll see, the new model was released in '08 so I'll be monitoring to see what starts breaking, I dont think my car is a total shitbucket, just the interior quality is noticeably sub-par, still rides and runs fine, sure the new one got the more potent 255HP V6 but gas mileage suffers compared to the 3.5 and for me 200/228 is enough for a car like a Malibu, max tourque comes @ 3K so it's got a little grunt to it.

 

[alkemyst]

we should require lifetime warranties on cars as long as they are on the road. Maintenance should be the responsibility of the dealership that sold the car though.

 

[WackyDan]

LOL, yea, most cups fit poorly in the cup holder, I found one that does and that's what I use, how did the Cruze compare as far as acceleration/handling?

Well I did roughly 600 miles of mixed driving. Interstate and back roads along with city driving in Atlanta.

The Ecotec is pretty weak. It will take you down the road at the speed you want, but mashing the pedal is disappointing. I wasn't expecting a hot rod, but the Ecotec was so anemic off the line that I spent some extra time waiting for bigger openings in traffic before pulling out of parking lots and intersections today.

Throttle was flaky. If you wanted to move forward and needed to give her just a little gas, she was jumpy.

Same for the brakes... In city driving they were awful grabby at slow speeds.

So it was like both pedals had play or dead spots in when they engaged. Maybe it was just this one Cruze... beats me.

 

[SparkyJJO]

we should require lifetime warranties on cars as long as they are on the road. Maintenance should be the responsibility of the dealership that sold the car though.

... what?

 

[BUTCH1]

Glad they are taking care of it. But I do question $400 (even though you are not paying it) to switch the seat frames. That should be an easy 1-2 hours job at most.

Well they did it yesterday, took 4 hours. Turns out the seat frame is for the entire seat top and bottom, guy had to remove seat then take all the upholstery, switches, sensors, trim and mount it on the new frame then re-install in car, he looked beat when it was done..