Good morning. My in laws bought a new 2020 Malibu for $15k during the holiday incentives which was right before Thanksgiving and it was a leftover. They already have a 2012 CRV with over 100,000 miles and a 2006 Ridgeline with over 200,000 miles but wanted to buy a brand new dirt cheap road trip car with a lot of room and gets great MPG. They already gone to Buffalo and Virginia and best mpg was 45mpg. so far at 19,000 miles it’s had no issues but doesn’t care care about poor GM reliability because the guy is a mechanical engineer. Do you think it will fall apart soon?
1. He got a midsize car for less than 70% of its MSRP price
2. He is a mechanical engineer
3. He is putting highway miles on it
4. He has 2 Hondas and uses this as a road trip car
I feel like he is on the right track. Either way I would be suprised to see it fall apart at 19k sure some of them do but it still has plenty of life left in it. I would sell it after the warranty period though, especially since we are going to be in a sellers market throughout the near future.
sounds like a good deal
Most cars will probably be good until their warranty period ends. Few brands can affordable make it to 200K or 300K regularly.
I hope his engineering certification is up to date. It will probably crap out the day after the warranty expires.
For that generation Malibu (so MY 2016-present), the top issues reported were engine-related. Electronic issues were up there too.
https://www.carcomplaints.com/Chevrolet/Malibu/
Anything is possible and maybe they get lucky, but if the vehicle is kept long term and the miles rack up esp. behind 100,000 miles it will definitely see issues along the way.
The engine and transmission choices for 2020 MY were: 1.5L turbocharged DOHC I4 with VVT, Direct Injection, and Stop/Start technology mated to a CVT transmission OR 2.0L turbocharged DOHC I4 with VVT and direct injection mated to a 9-speed transmission. I see future issues with those. And then you have all the fancy electronics onboard, which GM is also not known for.
I can see that car crap out with issues definitely since he drives hard like he’s in pursuit.
The car I learned to drive in and was my first car also happened to be a Malibu it was a 2000. It had 60,000 miles on it when the engine was leaking antifreeze turned out to be the head gasket so I got rid of that. My first and last GM vehicle. Now that was 15 years ago when they weren’t as complex as the new ones.