First Look: 2008 Chevy Malibu
Last week we were able to test-drive a slew of new vehicles from GM on the street and on the track. Unfortunately, one of them was not the upcoming 2008 Chevy Malibu, though we did get to check out a near-production-ready example of the redesigned sedan up-close. Kelsey Mays will take you through it via video below. Below that is a photo gallery, and here’s what a few of us thought of its looks.
Besides the silver-colored plastic on the center dashboard, the Malibu is much nicer inside than the Saturn Aura. I think it has a lot to do with the doors, which I found had too much molded plastic in the Saturn sedan. The leather seats were comfortable, and I’m glad this particular Malibu had the monochromatic black interior versus the two-tone one I’d seen at auto shows. It’s understated, masculine and well-laid-out. I’d rank it ahead of the Ford Fusion and well ahead of the Dodge Avenger on interior quality. If it drives like the Aura, it should do well.
- David Thomas, KickingTires editor
The interior on the new Mailbu is a huge step forward from the last generation, which I thought had taken a big step backward from the generation before it. I drove an Avenger recently, and the Malibu’s inside appearance is light years ahead of the Avenger. As for the exterior, I think the strong lines suggest a better-built car and a more worthy adversary for the Accord and Camry, neither of which is a design bright spot. Still, the Malibu’s got a lot of history to overcome.
- Patrick Olsen, managing editor
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I keep seeing more and more photos of the Malibu, however the style of this new car is already looking aged and boring. Hate to think how old this car will look in 5 years or so, especially since GM is slow upgrade their cars.
The only part that really lets me down is the tail, it looks very,,,'unfinished'.
But I was pleasantly surprised by scisor hinges on the truck. Anyone still using intrusion hinges in this day and age seems some what low-tech. Ironically the new Accord still uses them (or reverted to them)
Don't knock the interior until you see AlL of the designs, they are many choices so don't be biased to that one.
One drawback of the strut trunk hinge is that it wears down over time, and when you slam it, it feels like you are breaking it.
The current Malibu sticks around for rental fleets for '08 as the "Classic". Does any1 think this will eventually become a "Classic" in a few years time??
Leave it to GM to try to squeeze the last drop out of its tooling with the "Classic," which they'll have to peddle at a loss. Maybe the bean counters will make it up in depreciation or some other trick. The most famous recycled tooling is for their 50+ year old pushrod V8.
Same with Ford and the late, unlamented Taurus and Focus XR2.
The new Malibu is a huge improvement over the last generation. It has style and quality written all over it. Its a big car. The wheels look like they won't make it to the final cut but Chevy may just slip it in. The rear is the only flaw as its design isn't as striking as everything else up front. Interior has the most work done on, with a sculpted dash layout, faux wood trim, leather with suede center. the radio looks like the boring and cheap unit always used in their vehicles. In the mid-size or near large car segment; the Malibu has a grip on a market thats packed with a wide range of offerings. It has the looks, the style and proof in evolved quality to make it a worthy choice against its own clash of same engines/different car company.
Am I the only person who thinks the instrument cluster looks weird?
Joey1,
You are not alone.
Too bad GM can't get the 6t40 into the Malibu for another six months.
It is a very cool car, a very nice surprise from Chevrolet, at least some company has decided to do something daring with a midsize sedan. It is more beautiful than a Camry (even if this is not very difficult). Why not a manual to sell in Europe?
I see a few things that disappoint me on the interior. Dumb little things like the seat heaters are on the seat, not on the center stack. The stereo is just the same one out of the HHR and a bunch of the others, works well enough but just a part out. Same with the steering wheel been on several cars for a few years. The instrument cluster does look weird when you look at the zoom in picture. I notice they are the electroluminescent (sp?) kind that are the new in thing. Too bad the trunk opening is not bigger but I am guessing that has something to do with bumper height and not too steeply raking the rear window. They really needed to come out of the gate with the 6spd if they want to keep up with the big boys, especially at the price they are asking for this car. As an owner of a previous Malibu I hope they dumped that whole previous electric power steering system, it was a lousy design with poor reliability.
Based on the ordering info I've seen, this must be a 2LT (no fog lights, "UltraLux" seating) in the pics. I think it looks nice.
The awful electric steering is on 4-cyl models only. The 6-cyl w/ hydralic steering is available only on the 2LT (w/ "Engine Pkg") and LTZ (standard).
While the upper trim interiors look great, I hope the base trim doesn't get too cheap looking. It may ruin someones impression of the whole lineup.
Very nice looking car overall. The gauge cluster almost looks pornographic.
Sorry to be late on this, but another consideration is that this car fits tall people a lot better than the Camry, Accord, Altima, Mustang or Mazda 3 -- as long as the power seats are in the package. I don't care what the headroom stats say, real world testing says this is one of the few cars that does fine with folks who are over 6'3"".
Looks are OK -- not a Mustang, but it beats the Camry or Accord.