Very good friends of mine own a '01 Altima. The 2.4L 4 cyl in it is a pretty nice engine. It has a decent amount of torque (for a four) and is very driveable both in town, as well as on the highway. Gas milage is respectable too.
It's got a pretty roomy interior as well as a huge trunk for the size of car that it is. They've had the car for a year now without a single hiccup.
If you find a nissan certified used one, you can have nearly 5-6 years full bumper to bumper warranty on the car to easy any fears you may have. I doubt you'll even need to take advantage of it though.
With the release of the "New Altimas", the older models can be had for a song. They got there's last spring. It was less than a year old, only had 14,000 miles on it, had 6 years Bumper to bumper warranty, and every option minus leather and sunroof. I think they paid about $13,000 for it.
Great cars for the cash.
Much better than the Malibu you're looking at IMHO 😉