Respondent's Background

'98 Chevy Malibu	New Baltimore, MI	Mileage: 52,000K	Female, 41 to 50
Normal driving	Occasional wet and snow;	No towing	1-2 kids

"The PREMATURE ROTOR WARPING and BRAKE PAD wear is awful. Resurfacing rotors and replacing brake pads 2-3 times a year is ridiculous and unsafe. The whole front end shakes so bad it's hard to hang onto the steering wheel. The stopping distance is severely impacted. GM NEEDS to recall the vehicles and redesign the rotors and braking system.

I FEEL THIS CAR IS UNSAFE WITH THE REPETITIVE BRAKE AND ROTOR PROBLEMS. THE BRAKE DESIGN AND PERFORMANCE IS SUBSTANDARD AND GM KNOWS IT AND REFUSES TO DO ANYTHING TO HELP THEIR CUSTOMERS REMEDY THIS.

ANOTHER MALIBU LIABILITY WAITING TO HAPPEN??????????

SUV trouble free = no
SUV repairs = SEE ABOVE RE: BRAKES.
Also, problems with the repetitve condensation in headlamps. The AM radio keeps going out and the AM reception is poor at best."

Although car has held up well. There are some problems. Emblem on trunk has broken. The material on the console for the passenger side easily catches on peoples feet or bags and is ripped on the end nearest the fire wall.

Repairs: I had trouble with the front steering that caused me to go through several tires before it was finally fixed. The brakes pulse. Dealer told me it was a design problem. They said they fixed it once and then wanted to charge me to do it again. One time was charged $40 for an inspection where they said there was no problem. Finally went to Midas and for over $400 they replaced all of the metal parts, rotors, pads, etc. Too early to tell if this finally fixed the problem. Only about 5,000 miles ago. Transmission does not always engage when put in reverse, frequently have to give extra effort to handle. Seat belt button on drivers side that keeps the fastener from sliding to the bottom on occasion gets caught in door and breaks.

Contact: dvanthul@slip.net.