Overview & Reviews

Fully redesigned for 2008, the Chevrolet Malibu is now roomier, more powerful and of notably higher quality. It shares a platform with the Saturn Aura but is definitely not a simple rebadge, as it features unique exterior and interior styling along with different suspension tuning for a softer ride.

• Strong performance from V6, excellent ride and handling balance, roomy cabin, comfortable seats, very good fit and finish.

• Some ergonomic gaffes and subpar cabin materials, no rear center armrest, a few key features are unavailable.

User Reviews:

Showing 1 through 10 of 235.00

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  Team Malibu All The Way - 2008 Chevrolet Malibu
  By Jonathan Ubben - October 27 - 12:05 pm

  Bought my 2008 LTZ 2.4L used in February 2011 with 28k on the clock. Soon after, the electric door locks failed - would not stay locked. Replaced under warranty. March 2012 the drain tubing from the sunroof came loose and ended up filling the passenger footwell with water. Self-diagnosed and repaired with a bit of silicone putty and super glue. New tires at 77k. Routine oil changes and brake fixes - but one time in North Carolina the front calipers wouldnt fully release. $200 to re-build the calipers. At 85k, replaced timing chain and intake/exhaust solenoid valves @ $1500. Around 88k, the service air bag light came on. The dealer has told me the seat-heater melted the passenger sensor module and both need to be replaced @ $1100. Currently unresolved. Now the good stuff: This is the best car Ive ever had. Ive found myself wanting more power at times, especially when climbing mountains across the country, but the 2.4 is sufficient. Great mileage, also. Ive been getting about 25 mpg combined with mixed city/highway driving. Seats are totally comfortable - 7,200-mile cross-country road trip @29 mpg with zero complaints. The front doors do open a little bit far, but they have three stages where they stop. #2 is a good opening point. Its still a little bit difficult to tell exactly where the back of the car is when backing in somewhere, but Ive gotten used to it. Not looking forward to the labor-intensive process when a headlight goes out, but I changed foglamps myself without issue. I would buy it again (but I would get the V6).

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  Terrible Product Quality - 2008 Chevrolet Malibu
  By Bill - September 28 - 5:51 pm

  Door locks two down and two to go....at $300 a pop, passenger airbag failed just before warranty went out and chevrolet they never fixed it tire pressure sensor failure, headlamp replacement is a human factors nightmare....have to remove the entire front end to replace a headlamp bulb.

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  buyer beware - 2008 Chevrolet Malibu
  By brenda duran - September 7 - 1:59 pm

  low miles and multiple times in shop. Headlights go out frequently- bulb cost a few bucks but must have mechanic replace. Door locks dont work. Catalytic converter bad- shocks bad- overall value HORIBLE!!

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  Good car but some problems - 2008 Chevrolet Malibu
  By mikewed - September 6 - 9:31 pm

  Car is reliable car, but has some issues. Had to replace both door look motors (both front left, front right). One catalytic converter, 2 wiper transmissions/assemblies. Also sometimes temp sensor doesnt read and AC wont turn on. Other than that car has worked great. Mad about wiper assembly, its just a bad design. I am trying after market to see if it works better.

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  Worst Car I Ever Owned - 2008 Chevrolet Malibu
  By r0gue13 - September 4 - 9:06 am

  This was a company car that I obtained in early 2009 with 12K miles on it. History prior to me owning all window motors were replaced, 2 around 5k, the other 2 at 8k. I have had replaced 2 catalytic converters(first 1 at 22K), all door lock mechs, door speakers, ecm, front shocks(43k), passenger seat airbag sensor(car was parked for a week while on vaca, came back started car air bag light on) and practically every Oxy sensor and cam sensors in the engine. The air conditioning doesnt work half the time and a rattle in the rear that the dealer cant figure it out whats wrong. This is all before the car had 70K on it. I got rid of it at 87K. Slow acceleration for a 4 cyl. Interior good.

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  Great Car - 2008 Chevrolet Malibu
  By cardriver18 - September 2 - 1:37 pm

  I got my 2008 LT Malibu in May 2013. I have to say that it is comfortable to drive and the gas mileage is great. I get about 26-28 driving in the city and 30-35 highway. I mostly have been hitting 31 mpg. This car has had no problems and runs great at 99k miles. I do however plan to trade in this car for a chevy cruze this coming spring.

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  this car sucks and so does gm - 2008 Chevrolet Malibu
  By crapmalibu - August 6 - 9:18 pm

  Bought my 2008 Malibu in 2011 . And since I pulled off the lot I have had problems . Catholic converter gone shocks gone brakes gone sensors gone steering horrible and so on the list goes and I have emailed and called gm after I tlod them I had to pay $1500 for my exhaust system and they dont even care and it was at there dealership . So much for standing behind your product . That new hyndia sonata is looking very good Im about to go foreign for the first time in 13 years. Good bye gm [non-permissible content removed].

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  So Far Very Reliable - 2008 Chevrolet Malibu
  By joycedustin - April 10 - 11:36 am

  You know... I love german sedans and the quality that comes with them. However I hate the price tag that comes with it. My 2011 chevy malibu has been great so far. It has 57k on it and the only maintenance costs I have had are the occasional oil change, brake pads at 50k and air filters. I really love the car its been great. The interior is perfect for long trip too. The only issue I have is the interior plastic on driver side door squeaks when going over major bumps but I tend to really beat on a car too. Quality and reliability gets 5 stars. GREAT VALUE for the money!With a little bang.

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  Great Car - 2008 Chevrolet Malibu
  By peen1 - January 23 - 11:21 am

  I have 111K on my 3.6L LTZ. I still like the quality interior and have been in few mid priced cars that can match the interior quality. It still runs and handles like new barring a minor squeek hear and there. The only thing that has gone wrong is that I had to replace one power door lock mechanism. Its slowly loosing oil and coolant after 111K miles, but I think I can get at least another couple years out of it before Id have to fix it. Also, the chevy key fobs are junk, and break but are pretty cheap to replace. I

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  TOO MANY ISSUES TO LIST - 2008 Chevrolet Malibu
  By cmg2211 - January 10 - 11:41 am

  I bought this car new when it first came out and in the past five years have had numerous issues! My windshield wiper motor has seized twice (one in the middle of a torrential downpour while I was on the highway and most recently in a snowstorm). Both times the entire wiper motor and assembly has had to be replaced ($400 each time). The air condition system needed to be replaced after only one year. The locks dont work anymore so neither does the remote starter. You have to manually push down the lock on each door- the power door locks dont work from the key fob or from the drivers side door. When in park doors lock you in- have to roll down windows and open from outside.