Driving the Chevy Malibu. Again.
Jul. 14th, 2023 08:32 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
canyonwalkerI drove a Chevy Malibu. Again. It was our rental car on our trip to Oregon two weeks ago. I say again because we also got a Malibu in New Orleans to take a jaunt through Mississippi. That trip we logged 375 miles on the car; this trip we logged over 700. With now 1,100 miles in recent model Chevy Malibus I feel more qualified to review them. (Note many reviews, even owner reviews, come from driving less than that.)
When I got a Malibu in New Orleans a few months ago that was simply the car they assigned me. I was renting at a city Avis location, and that was basically what they had in the class of car I rented. On this more recent trip, though, I had choices. There were at least a few models of car available in my category at the airport Avis. I chose the Malibu because it didn't suck when I had it before. The main alternative at the PDX location was a Nissan Altima. I've rented a lot of Nissan Altimas over the years, and that car has impressed me less and less. Nissan is kind of king of finding ways to cut small features out of its cars at the lower trim levels to save money. And you know the cars the rental agencies buy are generally the lower trim levels.
The Malibu from PDX had basically the same features as the Malibu in New Orleans. It comes standard with a few important modern features such as Apple Car Play/Android Auto. Both cars were the one step up LT trim, with heated cloth seats and dual-zone climate control (among other things).
This Malibu was newer. It had fewer than 700 miles on the odometer when I picked it up, versus the 35,000-ish on the car a few months ago. I'm not sure if it was a 2023 or 2024 model. The model year barely matters as Chevy didn't change anything between them. And actually this generation of car debuted in 2016. That's a big part of why, though overall it doesn't suck, it's also not inspiring in any way.
Compared to my review from a few months ago, there's not a lot new to say. The Malibu is totally serviceable transportation. It's comfortable, spacious enough for its class, and gets decent mileage. I averaged about 32mpg on mostly highway miles but with mountains and a heavy-ish foot at times.
One thing that I'd change from my previous review is that the Malibu can get up to speed fairly well. The engine's specs of 160 horsepower, 184 lb-ft of torque seem not that special relative to its size and bulk, especially compared to other cars in the class which have slightly better numbers on paper. But the car's continuously variably transmission makes pretty good use of the engine's power band... when you put your foot far enough into the throttle. At part throttle the car took its time getting up to highway speed. With more lead in the foot it came up to speed more vigorously.
The Malibu is still not a car I'd buy for myself. I wouldn't recommend it, either— not without also trying several of its competitors. But as a rental it's a better choice than the Nissan Altima right now and a worthy alternative to even the Toyota Camry for its features like Apple CarPlay and heated seats. If I see a Hyundai Sonata or Kia K5 (they're mechanically related) at rental depot next I'd give them a try. Reviewers rate them highly within the class. And at least as of several years ago Hyundais were common in rental fleets. I suspect maybe Hyundai has stopped offering deep discounts to fleet buyers as it has gained more credibility with consumers, which is why we're back to seeing long-in-the-tooth Chevrolets in fleets again.
When I got a Malibu in New Orleans a few months ago that was simply the car they assigned me. I was renting at a city Avis location, and that was basically what they had in the class of car I rented. On this more recent trip, though, I had choices. There were at least a few models of car available in my category at the airport Avis. I chose the Malibu because it didn't suck when I had it before. The main alternative at the PDX location was a Nissan Altima. I've rented a lot of Nissan Altimas over the years, and that car has impressed me less and less. Nissan is kind of king of finding ways to cut small features out of its cars at the lower trim levels to save money. And you know the cars the rental agencies buy are generally the lower trim levels.
The Malibu from PDX had basically the same features as the Malibu in New Orleans. It comes standard with a few important modern features such as Apple Car Play/Android Auto. Both cars were the one step up LT trim, with heated cloth seats and dual-zone climate control (among other things).
This Malibu was newer. It had fewer than 700 miles on the odometer when I picked it up, versus the 35,000-ish on the car a few months ago. I'm not sure if it was a 2023 or 2024 model. The model year barely matters as Chevy didn't change anything between them. And actually this generation of car debuted in 2016. That's a big part of why, though overall it doesn't suck, it's also not inspiring in any way.
Compared to my review from a few months ago, there's not a lot new to say. The Malibu is totally serviceable transportation. It's comfortable, spacious enough for its class, and gets decent mileage. I averaged about 32mpg on mostly highway miles but with mountains and a heavy-ish foot at times.
One thing that I'd change from my previous review is that the Malibu can get up to speed fairly well. The engine's specs of 160 horsepower, 184 lb-ft of torque seem not that special relative to its size and bulk, especially compared to other cars in the class which have slightly better numbers on paper. But the car's continuously variably transmission makes pretty good use of the engine's power band... when you put your foot far enough into the throttle. At part throttle the car took its time getting up to highway speed. With more lead in the foot it came up to speed more vigorously.
The Malibu is still not a car I'd buy for myself. I wouldn't recommend it, either— not without also trying several of its competitors. But as a rental it's a better choice than the Nissan Altima right now and a worthy alternative to even the Toyota Camry for its features like Apple CarPlay and heated seats. If I see a Hyundai Sonata or Kia K5 (they're mechanically related) at rental depot next I'd give them a try. Reviewers rate them highly within the class. And at least as of several years ago Hyundais were common in rental fleets. I suspect maybe Hyundai has stopped offering deep discounts to fleet buyers as it has gained more credibility with consumers, which is why we're back to seeing long-in-the-tooth Chevrolets in fleets again.
