I want to take the time to write and hope you will read this and know how sad I am. I bought a 2005 Malibu for my birthday November 2004 after a lot of research about its reliability, great customer service and most importantly its safety. Now I have what I think is a lemon. At 38K miles the fuel gauge stopped working, the electrical system shorted out so keyless entry, remote start and all auxiliary units did not work, the driver seat broke and the cd player had been replaced 3 times by the factory, the front driver'* side blinker burnt through it'* casing and now I have all the problems of the new recall and it has almost caused SEVERAL accidents. The power steering is now recalled which is HIGHLY unsafe along with the newest recall of the brake light/wiring harness. My brake light/wiring harness went out over a month ago which is what this newest recall is about and I have almost been in several accidents a day as people slam on their brakes to avoid hitting me. I feel like I am in a ticking time bomb and my daughter'* safety is at stake. The two recalls have not been entered with fixes according to the dealership and there is nothing they can do. I was laid off 3 times in 4 years and I am a single mother so a loaner car or even another car is not an option as money is not available. I avoid going anywhere and try to not take my daughter out of the house as I at least don't want her in a car that is an accident waiting to happen. I pray I am not in an accident, or cause one that could be fatal. This car, my hopes for a reliable and safe car has proven to be anything but. I love buying American made cars, but I am so saddened and disappointed I know why others buy foreign. GM, if you read this and if you take this to heart, know you have one scared, saddened customer. I am proud I have an American made car, but sad at how much it has let me down. Sad that I have to dictate my life and where I can go based on these recalls, the lack of safety and waiting for the next part to break. I should not have had a car that was considered a top of the line Malibu and not an economy car break down at just 38K miles especially when I get regular oil changes and maintenance and take extremely good care of it. I am sad that if GM reads this it will not be taken to heart and will be just tossed aside. Please know GM you have saddened and scared this single mother. My heart is broken at customer service and quality in America. If you do read this and care, I thank you.
Sincerely,
Sad, scared single mom

Marianne, Are you in the USA- Have you tried to phone contact customer care?
I also wonder if you could put it into writing for them as well.
General Motors | Customer Care | GM.com
Based on GM latest mission statements, I certainly hope they can address the recalls ASAP for you.

Hang in there. Admittedly GM isnt quite what it was 20 years ago, and this forum only shares the name of gm, and is not affiliated with gm.

Get the recalls corrected. Mileage has no bearing on issues. A friend of mine has a 2001 Sonoma with 40k miles. He has already done the LIM gaskets twice on it

While I do feel for you with all the troubles you have had, I am sure things will get better eventually, and to reiterate what Randall said, we are not actually affiliated with GM, so if you wanted them to view your response, you may want to send this to them.
Good luck!

Cars have problems unfortunately, it'* the nature of such complex machines. It'* one reason that I will NEVER buy a new car, especially within its first year or two of manufacture. The pricing of new cars is ridiculous these days, and new models nearly always have gremlins that won't pop up and be corrected (in subsequent model years) for a couple years.

That said (because I know it doesn't help your problem in particular), go through all the necessary communication channels with GM and see where you end up. You likely WILL get the run-around from them... be persistent. If the Malibu is a major thorn in your side, get the bare minimum items repaired and sell it. As a replacement I would suggest almost any used GM model with the 3800-II engine (Bonneville, Grand Prix, LeSabre, Park Avenue, Impala, and there are probably others). Those cars are bigger than your Malibu, but they are built on a solid platform and many of the 90'*-00'* models are still on the road today with few problems.

I really wish you would of ask about opinions on this car before the purchase. In regards to the Malibu its not a top of the line car ,they just aren't built to last. There are some vehicles Gm just didnt put much thought into nor money. Im not sure if Gm can actually do something considering the age. My question is where did you buy the car the dealership, used car lot? My suggestion take it back and work out a deal on trading out into a descent automobile. Remember to keep in mind all automakers have their issues on quality and problems. Gm still makes great cars, the Impala is a great car, very few problems. Buick and Pontiac do as well. Whatever happens don't lose hope and keep us in touch on what happens. Any other questions don't hesitate to ask.

Unfortunately, it'* the way of the world today......cars are built with parts that are made by the cheapest bidder......

You have a 10 year old car.....it'* been out of warranty for 7 years.....GM is not going to do anything for you, except do the recalls for free.....

But it'* not just GM......go to any manufacturer.....go buy a refrigerator....any brand.....as soon as you decide which one you want, the salesman is going to ask you if you want an extended warranty for 3 years......and that 3 years starts the day you buy it, so, in effect, it'* really like a two year extended warranty.....we old timers would buy refrigerators and they would last 10 years or more easy......today, it'* quite possible that compressor might go just after one year......you complain, and all you get from them is, do you have an extended warranty?

Unfortunately, we live in a throw away society today......growing up, everything was repaired, today it isn't......you toss it and buy another one, or pay big bucks to repair it, which can sometimes almost be half the original cost or more....

And yet, we have customers with high year/low mileage cars wanting their cars fixed for nothing, years after the warranty has expired.....

I too have a 2005 Malibu which has had problems.i bought it with 17000 miles on it, from a reputable dealer.the steering has been a costly problem. The power steering failed at 155000 miles, and there was a service bulletin that replaced the steering column,of all things, up to 150000 miles so I was SOL, and paid over$400 to replace it. There was one brief failure of power steering much earlier, but the service mgr at my dealership told me to bring it in if any persistent trouble, and it was fine until it was too late for free repair.
At just above 200,000 miles I had to replace a worn out rack and pinion. The replacement was defective, and was replaced under warranty in 1 year. The second one was replaced with a third in 6 months. Twice of the three, the mechanic told me not to drive at all until repair was completed, as it was ready to fall apart the part was replaced under warranty, but labor and front end alignment were expensive.
I have had 3 previous Malibus over the years, from 1980 on, and was happy with all of them up to this one.

i think if you only had those few issues in almost 200k miles i would consider that a good car. the different steering issues seem to have come from inferior parts not really the cars fault. i bought and used my Bonneville the same kind of time and miles and have had to put way more into it. trans rebuild, struts, intakes twice, bunch of other stuff. and i consider it to be the most reliable car i ever had. regardless of brand, the other cars have been alot worse. it always got us home even if it was broke. the only time its been on a tow truck is when the trans went, it got us home a few times but it was slipping and i continued to push it so that was on me really.

Sounds like a great topic for another thread, "what has been the most reliable car you've ever owned?" Year, make, model, miles, etc. and what you've had to do to keep the old gal on the road. Myself, I hate the car buying experience, so when I do I tend to buy new and run the bugger into the ground.

2004 Bonne SLE 142k
1971 Chevelle SS 210k