Well rounded American sedans didn’t really exist en masse until the mid to late 2000s. That’s when Ford and General Motors released two good looking and competent mid-sizers capable of matching the Japanese in most areas. They still had their flaws, but those shortcomings paled in comparison to their predecessors. If gas prices hadn’t crashed in 2015, the 2006 Fusion and 2008 Malibu would have probably been considered the sedans that helped the two automakers gain traction against the Accord, Camry, and Altima. Instead, they merely stemmed the bleeding for about ten years.
To that end, this 2009 Malibu is looking for a new home. If you were in the market, would you make it yours?
When the redesigned Malibu arrived for the 2008 model year, it received a substantial amount of attention. It was a welcome departure from the previous model, which was an extremely cheap and soulless piece of machinery. This was one of the few GM vehicles I could picture myself driving. Car and Driver liked it too. They praised the Malibu’s looks inside and out, and enjoyed the sedan’s ride, which owed its thanks to a 112.3 inch wheelbase. That wheelbase also allowed Chevy to chisel out some extra legroom for rear seat passengers, a move they promptly reversed for the next generation. The reduction in rear seat legroom did not go unnoticed by the press. Were they justified in their criticism? Maybe. But that little dust up highlighted the fact that the 2012 Malibu seemed like a downgrade when compared to the previous generation.
But we’re here to talk about this particular Malibu, right? The owner doesn’t specify whether or not this is a 1LT or 2LT model, but a peek inside reveals a polyurethane steering wheel, which means it’s a 1LT. Either way, both LT trims came standard with GM’s 2.4 liter Ecotec four cylinder. It was rated at 169 horsepower. A perfectly respectable number by modern standards. LT buyers could opt for the standard four speed automatic or upgrade to a newer six speed unit. GM probably should have just made the six speed standard from the start, but tradition dictated they offer a less than ideal powertrain before finally getting it right at the tail end of a product run. In that regard, they delivered.
1LT were pretty well equipped for the era. Stability control, side impact airbags, a six speaker stereo system with auxiliary jack, and 17 inch chrome alloy wheels were some of the notable amenities GM made standard on this model. More importantly, the Malibu finally contained a respectable interior replete with decent quality plastics and aesthetics that wouldn’t cause your eyeballs to spontaneously combust. It was a watershed moment in automotive history.
In a lesser car, GM would have lazily slapped the corporate head unit and HVAC controls into a generic center stack and call it a day. But in this Malibu, they crafted an attractive dual cowl setup that flowed outward as it crept toward the windshield. Make no mistake, the corporate units are still there. But they’re well integrated. The white trim helps too. Also worth noting: the all-weather floor mats. I feel like anyone who purchases all-weather floor mats is someone who probably cares about their car a little bit more than the average person. But that’s just a hunch.
Overall, the car is in decent cosmetic shape. There are clearly some scratches on the front bumper and the alloys have some curb rash, but otherwise the car looks clean. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said of the rear bumper. Did the owner just rub up against something and not care about repainting it? Or is the missing paint simply something that was baked into the car the day it left the factory? It’s hard to tell. It really looks like the paint just started to peel off. There’s no rust either, which could indicate it’s a recent development.
You know you’ve got a savvy seller when they post a screenshot of the estimated KBB value. The seller keeps it short and sweet in their description:
2009 Chevy Malibu LT 4 cylinder
~161,000 miles, mainly highway driving
Well maintained, black cloth interior, new tires with less than 4k miles on them. Selling due to cross-country move.
“Mainly highway driving” is a clear indicator this car was most likely used as a commuter car to NYC. Contrary to what some commenters feared in previous CC for Sale posts, that is absolutely not a deal breaker. The rough and tumble NYC driving environment is limited to the city limits. Otherwise, traffic north of the city is relatively calm.
This seems like a decent car for a new driver. Reliability is average and repair shops probably see enough of these to know the problem areas. To my knowledge this era Malibu doesn’t have any extreme weak point. I would pick this 160,000 mile sedan over the similarly aged Hyundai Sonata and Nissan Altima I discussed earlier this month. But I wouldn’t pay the seller’s $3250 asking price. That rear bumper is too messed up for that. I think $2800 would do it for me.
Source: Hudson Valley craigslist
It looks to me like the rear bumper cover was replaced with one from a silver car and sprayed white, which is now peeling.
Yeah, maybe, or it’s just the covers unpainted color. Certainly would not be a deal breaker. A few swipes of a rattle can at most. However, while the interior is just knock out beautiful. The exterior is so bland and generic.You’d loose it in a huge parking lot, if you forgot what section you parked in!
Although the wheelbase is longer, isn’t this model on the platform of the previous all new one that no one bought because they didn’t like its looks? The previous model at one point came with a $4000 rebate for GM owners while selling at near invoice, and you didn’t even have to trade in your current car.
Despite the longer wheelbase the 2005 version has a bit less rear legroom and headroom than the previous model according to specifications. I thought that the current model on a new platform had gotten a wheelbase stretch, but no. And rear seat leg and headroom continues to be about the same, only slightly better.
This model used the longer wheelbase of the Malibu Maxx, while the previous model was on a 107″ wheelbase. The only issue was that the wheelbase was now longer than the 110″ Impala. When the Impala moved to this platform, Chevy moved this one back to the smaller wheelbase shared with the Regal as more of a rationalization effort than anything else.
This generation ‘Bu was much better styled that the previous abomination or its rushed-to-market successor (beltline did not relate to anything in the front fender; chunky looking, too). This generation played a smart game of Mr. Potato Head. It used the longer wheelbase from the Pontiac G6 and re-used the front door sheet metal from the Saturn Aura.
Thanks CC’ers. I was gonna point out that the Aura (there’s one in my neighborhood I see all the time) was about the same thing but better, but failed in the dying days of Saturn. I don’t think the Aura was the same as an Opel (unlike both generations of Regals) but they all had the Euro side marker light.
Didn’t there used to be an Edit function here? Could use it, and an upvote function too.
Anyway it turns out that 2009 was the last year of the Aura.
Interesting. My “local” Car Max has a near twin to this car (it’s a 2011), right down to the same colors and wheels. That one, however, has only 40K on the odometer and the price is nearly 4 times the ask on this example. But for someone like me who wants to buy a domestic-brand car, it is interesting.
But white? If it was any other color I would be more interested.
It’s a clean, minimalist design inside and out. Someone visiting us had one of these as a rental. Never rode or drove in it, but the interior quality was notably better than the CamCord of the time. It was a very nice emissary for Chevy after the pathetic prior generation of Malibu. I did notice the backseat was quite narrow, though, and trunk was weirdly shallow lid-to-floor. That’s a serious shortcoming for a family sedan.
I’d take my chances on this Chevy before I’d touch a similar Camry with the oil-burning 2.4. We complain about new drivetrains robbing us of longevity provided by proven tech, and here Toyota managed to screw up a naturally aspirated port injected four cylinder engine after making them for decades. Go figure.
They did the same thing to my 2000 Celica. 650 miles per quart of oil. 40,000 miles on the odo. 1.8L GT automatic bought off a Toyota dealers lot, no doubt traded in after the techs didn’t fix the problem for the original owner. After I got it back a month later, that had improved to 750-800 miles per quart, which Toyota told me was ‘within limits’ and refused to rebuild it again.
A cursory internet search says something about oil ring issues with that motor.
I have never seriously shopped a Toyota since.
I’m a bit leery of this gen of Malibu. It comes at peak bankruptcy-era GM, when they leaned REAL heavy on their suppliers for lower prices, with predictable results. So a smattering of crappy Chinese parts that like to fail like window/lock modules, taillight wiring issues, but that’s not so bad. Worse are the timing chains on the 2.4L (and 3.6) which have become absolutely notorious for stretching beyond what the cam phasers can compensate for. My brother has personally worked on one of these that needed its second(!) timing chain set at 110k, although generally they can make it to 100k before it gets bad enough that it throws a CEL.
Then again you’re right, Toyota at this point in time had their own set of issues. In fact, I recall our earlier discussions about Altima CVT longevity and you unloading yours at 80k-odd miles pre-emptively. Welp, I’m kind of in the same boat now with my 2012 Camry believe it or not. 2012-2014 Camries had a warranty extension on their U760E 6spd autos, Toyota’s overly aggressive torque converter “flex lock” feature that pulses the lock on/off very quickly can lead to said converter shredding itself over time. Warranty was extended to 8yrs/150k miles from in-service date, and we’ll be coming up on that date this summer. I’m very tempted to just unload the car in a private sale (it’s still worth about 10k which is incredible to me).
Crap. Well, welcome to the pre-100k surprise transmission worry club I guess. I will just hope they figured the torque converter out for 2016 model years and push for 60k fluid changes on their “lifetime” fluid.
I don’t have a CR subscription, but carcomplaints.com verifies the power door lock issues in the Malibu, and the Camry torque converter is showing up in small numbers.
Get something fun after the Camry! What are you considering?
I’m waffling around, question of timing compounded by us focused on buying a bigger house this summer. Initially was leaning towards something like a lightly used Regal, either current gen Sportback or a prior gen car with low miles, prices on them are silly low for the Germanic highway manners and potent 2.0T.
But recently I’ve refocused on something really cheap to run, I remember hating paying for premium to put into my 2.8L A4 Quattro, and I’ve picked up Lyft driving as a fun little hobby going to/from work/friday nights after baby is asleep. So to that point, I’ve been scoping out cheap lightly used Malibu Hybrids (current gen) and Fusion Hybrids. I guess I love the “hit ’em where they ain’t” class of undervalued/un-respected cars. Especially seeing how our “vaunted” Camry gets worn out and chewed up the same as anything over time by our urban roads, the goal is to get as new/low mileage as possible for the money, while staying in the midsize class.
Not a bad strategy, and a good way of looking for “interesting” everyday cars.
I’ve been on a carcomplaints kick lately, it’s so easy to scroll through the website and quickly scan for patterns. I’ve no idea if methods are valid, but they are picking up on the 2016&2017 Accord front LED running lamps burning out.
If it’s any consolation, the number of complaints about the transmission in the 2012-2014 Camry is quite low when compared to the oil consumption issue on the old 2.4 or even the Accord’s oil consumption issue on both 2.4 and 3.5 engines from 2008-2013. I didn’t know the Honda fours had that issue as well. Seems like everything’s a crapshoot to some extent. I tend to drive our Camry around more often in the manual mode simply to lock out 6th gear in town–it reduces the busyness of the torque converter locking and unlocking.
You owe us some COALs, by the way. I’m curious about the details of your ownership and maintenance experiences. With a baby in the house (congrats), I’m sure you have plenty of time…
Funny you mention the Accord DRL LED failure as I just saw one like that a day or so ago. Not a good look!
And I forgot to mention earlier, the “2014.5” and onward Camrys got a stronger torque converter, which is the same one that is being retrofitted to problematic ’12-’14 cars. Yes I’m sure the internet amplifies this problem like with everything else, but I’ve always thought that the very aggressive lugging of the engine felt “off.” I actually heard of this issue with the U760E from Toyota guys in Russia before I paid attention to the recall here in the US.
Yeah a COAL would be fun, but I’m not sure I can make that time commitment at the moment.
Is it a bad car? I won’t be finding out. Does it look way too much like the then new for 2004 Acura TL? These eyes can’t not see it, sorry. I typically refrain from passing judgement on style because it is subjective, but if there ever was an exception this is my pick. Way too many similarities all over the whole shape and detailing, both in and out. It leaves a very unwanted taste in my mouth, considering…
The side profile does look like a copy of the 2004-2008 TL. Unfortunately, GM gave up on trying to make the Malibu’s front and rear ends look coherent. I found the G6 more attractive.
If you want to see another example of pre-recession GM blatantly copying, look at the 2006 Impala’s interior, then look at a B5 (1998-2005) VW Passat interior.
You talk like copying the TL is a bad thing. I always liked that design, too.
I think this one might’ve been repaired on the driver’s side as well as the rear bumper. This generation didn’t say Malibu on the doors, and I think the GM chiclet is in the wrong spot.
My mother-in-law has one of these that she bought used. So far she has not had any major problems with it, although rust bubbles are appearing around the passenger-side rear wheel well. But she lives in western Pennsylvania, which has some harsh winter weather. Many vehicles don’t fare too well in that environment.
My main concern has been the GM electric power steering, which feels as though it’s not connected to ANYTHING.
Her previous two Malibus – one from each prior generation – were essentially shot by 100,000 miles. We’ll see if this one holds up better.
V6 and about 60,000 fewer miles would make it a winner.
I have a friend with a 2010 equipped exactly this was. She inherited it from her son, who used it as a company car from new. It’s probably got about 160k on it now and it continues to do everything adequately and without complaint. The seating position in the front seats is very low, which is her only issue with it.
A Hudson Valley commuter car is indeed not usually subjected to too much torture. I’d consider this one to be about 50% used up at this mileage. I got well over 200k out of a ’96 Sentra when I lived out that way and commuted into the city. But I agree, a smidge under $3,000 would put this closer to the ballpark.
I don’t care for the white colour or the chrome wheels myself but it does look like a nice long distance commuter. The interior is a very nice with a reasonable and straight forward layout. Much nicer than the screen infected ones that are mostly seen on new vehicles.
Would I take it home? No. My commute is short so overall comfort and fuel consumption are not a big deal opening the door to more interesting possibilities.
Whenever I see this generation Malibu, the first thing that crosses my mind is how badly GM screwed-up the hybrid version. It was one of those ‘mild’ hybrids so the increase in fuel mileage wasn’t great (only 4 additional mpg on both city and highway) but that was offset by a relatively low premium (around $1800). For the time, it wasn’t a bad deal.
But in typical GM fashion, they quickly discovered the ‘error’ and it didn’t take long for them to more than double the hybrid premium for the meager increase in fuel mileage. As one might expect, sales evaporated and it wasn’t long before the first gen Malibu hybrid was discontinued.
I’d be interested but I’d wave $2,000 in cash at the owner and keep an extra $200 in my pocket in case he wanted to dicker. It depends on how close they are to the move, right?
My son just bought a 2010 LTZ in charcoal with the 3.6 V6. 115,000 miles and well-maintained.
NICE car. It’s solid-feeling on the road, rides and handles nicely and accelerates like an old muscle car when you get into it. Great brakes too.
I’D own one if I could justify it.
I needed a car. I found a good lease deal and got an 2011 version of this. It was a base Malibu LS, with blue tooth, the door rub molding, and floor mat. That’s it. (Cruise and power windows/locks were standard)
The thing with used cars is, you don’t know where they’ve been, how they were driven and cared for. Could get a nice car, could get a lemon.
As far as this featured Malibu, it had the potential to meet or exceed the Camry in terms of reliability.
How do I know? I wound up being 20k miles over on the lease, so I bought it. I kept it for over 6 years and put 102k miles on it. My only complaint was the relatively weak A/C.
I had two recalls on the car, for minor items.
Only TWO things failed in the car over 102k miles.
1. A cam position sensor at 4yrs, 10 months. Replaced under emission warranty (saw check engine light, took it in, got oil changed)
2. Two of the four driver seat cushion springs broke. Given that I weigh less than 180, that was a surprise. It cost me $300 to fix.
That is IT. Car averaged 28.6 mpg, and it handled well, felt better than a Camry. Nice ride, decent interior, great stereo.
I got the Malibu for transportation, but I came to like it. I like my current car more (I thought I was getting an ‘uber-Malibu’ by getting a low-mileage, clean, CPO Regal Turbo), but it is not as reliable. It does have better A/C however–and another 100 hp.
Of couse, GM mucked it up. As appears to be their habit, they took a premature victory lap (rather than reflect that they finally had a decent sedan to compete with Cam-cord, after DECADES of trying….).
So, in the next iteration, not only did they chop the rear seat legroom, they decontented it in dumb ways. My BASE car has 16″ wheels. The 2013 replacement had 15″ base. They looked lost in the wheel well. So you needed to buy the next higher trim level, which cost more.
Inside, it looked cheaper and darker in base trim.
So, like the bad old Detroit days, GM advertised a low price, but the car now looked cheap.
I also thought the car was uglier outside (the featured one looks classy, IMO, though I am biased), trying to adopt Camaro cues.
So, there you have it. GM gave you less for more. And the sales reflected it–they DROPPED, even as sales in general, even for 4-door sedans, rose in 2012-14. All the Malibus competitors–Camry, Accord, Fusion, Sonata, rose. But Malibu fell….
This is a used car. How the car has been treated and cared for trumps what it was like when it was new. But these were great cars in 2008, and if this one is good, it will be a good car today.
If you look at a 2013 Malibu with base wheels, and 16″ wheels, the 16″ version looks much better. The 15′ looks kinda cheap and dorky. So you had to buy a higher trim level to get the 16″ wheels and not look ridiculous. But GM saved $20 per car with the cheap wheels, compared to the base 2008-2012.
And the 2013 in general didn’t look as ‘classy’ as the 2008-2012.
The 2013 turbo drove very well, and didn’t feel as cheap–but that was a $30k car! And it still didn’t look so good. A 2014 Buick Regal looks much better, and has a nicer interior–thank you Opel!!!
My apologies..I am off by an inch.
The featured car has 17″ wheels, like my base Malibu LS had.
The next gen had 16″ wheels standard. In any case, I think I made my point..the smaller wheels looked lost in the wheel wells and cheap. It was not worth the $20 per car GM save (if that). Shaming people to get a more expensive car may have been smart business in 1970…but that ship sailed a long time ago.
With our roads, I frankly am happy to see the 16 inchers as stock wheels on some midsizers still (Optima/Sonata). My 2012 Camry has 17s with 55 series rubber, it rides okay but I’m starting to noodle on a replacement for that car and something with 16s would be ideal in my mind.
I rented one of these, identical save the rear-bumper rash, and drove it from IN to WV for a family reunion. With every passing mile I liked that car more and more. Competent and comfortable. I’d own one.
I first saw one of these (a metallic red LTZ trim with 2 tone black and tobacco interior) on display at the Disney Epcot Test Track ride along with a few other of the General’s choicer new offerings at the time. Sharp looking car! I was impressed and walked around it about 1/2 a dozen times taking in the styling and interior detailing. Far better than the miserable gray, gray, gray 2005 Malibu by father-in-law had for a company car. Things were looking up just before the GFC and subsequent GM bankruptcy came in to kill all the joy.
I was shopping for a low mileage Impala in 2017, when I spotted this 2011 LT2 with 35K on the clock and the hard to find V6 (most are 4cyl up here). Great driving car on the highway, with plenty of spunk and decent mileage. Only repair so far was to replace the tires due to start of dry rot setting in.
That’s a great looking car!
I also notice you have a garage full of classic Cadillacs.
Well done, Sir.
Thanks!
You can’t imagine how tough it was to find a 1986 era home with a garage that could fit in the two fat girls. They have about 3-4 inches to spare, so that my ’76 SDV will fit, but a ’76 Fleetwood would be an inch too long!
Not that anyone asked, but some GM cars look so good they stand the test of time.
Some of my picks for forever-sharp are:
Almost everything in the 60s, so I won’t count them.
1970(1/2) Camaro.
1973-1987 C/K truck and Blazer.
1982 Firebird. Maybe Camaro too.
1987 Beretta. Maybe Corsica.
And this model Malibu. It still looks like a million bucks to me.
They’re just now getting into my (somewhat sad) price range and I may get one for my wife at tax time if we don’t finally just get an SUV.
I always have to buy smart and careful (and cheap) but getting something that I love to look at would be a plus.
But not in white. Dark gray or black would be okay. Red, too, in a pinch.
Do any of these come without all the silver in the interior? In these years it was on almost everything, and I really don’t like it. But I don’t think my wife would care though.
It would just need a bangin’ stereo, ’cause that’s how she likes to roll.
‘Cause she’s fly and dope! (I’m old!)
You are looking for a 2009 or 2010 Saturn Aura XR-4 with the brown leather interior. I cannot recommend an XR V-6 due to issue with timing chains snapping in the 3.6 liter engines.
The reason this Malibu was so good is because Saturn did the engineering and Chevy stole it. Chevy has been phoning in its own Malibu’s since 1971.
Found One for sale in Florida
https://www.cars.com/vehicledetail/detail/785377647/overview/
That is a beautiful interior. Thanks for the link and info.
Ah yes, remember when automakers didn’t think sedans all needed fastback rooflines? When it was easy to get in and out of the back seat? Looking at the current Malibu, t is no wonder people buy crossovers now.
I only have one fact and one rumor to contribute.
Fact: you could briefly get acoustic laminated glass for a very quiet ride. Of course this option was buried and good luck finding it now.
Rumor: the Phaeton was used as design inspiration. Can’t speak to the accuracy of that.
Any info from Jim Swanson is good enough for me.
I would still have my 2012 if my hubs wouldn’t have run into the back of someone. It was a really decent car, stilled looked nice, still drove like a dime and never spent a day in a repair shop. My spouse replaced the wiper motor, headlight connectors and headlights, changed oil regularly and could troubleshoot and fix minor stuff away. It started everytime time I, we drove it. It had 186,000 miles. I would buy another right now. I know they had lots to say about that car but it was definitely good to me. Now I have the 2018. I dont know…
I rented one of these once in Hawaii and it was a great car for the week for the four of us back then. The remote key fob stopped working but that’s because I went swimming in the ocean and forgot it was in my pocket…Not GM’s fault!
Chrome wheels aren’t my thing at all but other than that it looks decent. The bumper paint is an easy fix but will turn many people off (and it isn’t rusty since it’s plastic like every bumper skin these days.) $2K tops as is but you’ll likely never actually see a Malibu IN Malibu… 🙂
The first gen of this Malibu version gets my vote as solid, used, cheap wheels. Not as indestructible as a Camcord, but not nearly as expensive, either. It was one of the first cars where GM seemed to actually be trying to engineer and build a decent car, again.
Here in Austria those never sold officially but the 5th gen did with either the 167 hp 2.4 L gasoline engine or a 159 hp common rail 2.0 L diesel, auto or 5sp. They are usually advertised at around € 11K with anything from 30K-70K miles on the clock, so with a bit of haggling may make an interesting option for someone who wants a relaxing sedan for long distance driving. The problem is that if you look around, there’s loads of cousins (Opel Insignias) to chose from at similar money AND more shop familiarity/parts availability, so…
The back bumper paint peeling like that is 100% a poor respray, so any buyer would be wise to proceed with caution (was it just a bumper cover replacement, something more serious?)
I’m a huge fan of the design of these inside and out, they’re from a era of GM going all in on Chinese subassemblies/parts so not so crazy about that, but overall they hold up okay. My brother and his friends see a lot of these as 100-140k mile auction purchases that guys bring to them to bring up to snuff. Biggest issue is timing chain stretch on both the 2.4 and rarer 3.6.
It’s impressive to me overall how starting with this gen of Malibu, Chevy had a real contender in the midsize class. This 08-12 was particularly strong, the 13-15 maybe less so but honestly even they have their strong points (SUPER well insulated and cushy ride, largely reliable). The 16+ cars I’ve had as rentals several times, always the base 1.5T motor (with both conventional auto and more recently CVT). I actually think there’s a lot to like about the latest gen, they look sharp, interior room is where it needs to be, real world pricing on new and lightly used ones is very tempting. The 1.5T I’m not crazy about though. The Malibu to get is the Hybrid IMO, very seriously eyeballing a used one as my Camry replacement, but they’re kind of rare.
“…..It’s hard to tell. It really looks like the paint just started to peel off. There’s no rust either, which could indicate it’s a recent development….”.
I wouldn’t expect rust. Aren’t bumper covers plastic these days?
I think these are chrome wheel covers, specifically designed to fit over a 5-spoke steel wheel; could be mistaken!
One of my coworkers drove one of these for years with a 120 mile per day round trip commute 4-5 days a week. By the end it was looking dirty and scuffed up, but it gave good service for years.