Is this a good car to buy?

depends on what year and what motor. My opinion is that they are garbage the impala is a better choice. we have an older malibu as a chase car and its got that horrible 3.1 i think in it. Those are known for engine problems and we fixed it but it sounds like a old diesel car.

I do not know any known problems for their locks nor am I aware of any Technical Service Bulletins. The ticking sound on the engine depending on model year, if it goes away after warming up, it is okay. According to this TSB- 01-06-01-005 010101 : Engine - Ticking Noise on Cold Start Up. The ticking may be annoying but has no affect on engine durability. I have about 179,000 miles on my 2000 Malibu and the engine is still going. It could have lower blower motor speeds that do not work caused by blown blower motor resistor pack. Not difficult to replace and approximately $25. However the engine has been known to have leaky intake manifold gasket problems. The coolant leak caused by the leaky gasket will tend to start from the rear towards the oil drive pump cover or throttle body area. If you are mechanically incline you maybe able to save a lot by doing the intake manifold gasket replacement yourself. Otherwise the repair is approximately $800. It may not be a bad ideal to replace the oil pump drive seal gasket while replacing the intake gasket, since the intake manifold may have to be removed to get to the oil pump drive cover, so the intake manifold would not need to be removed twice.

I have a 2003 chevy malibu and yes mine does have power lock problems... i have to push down on it many times for it to lock or unlock... therefor, it might be a short in wires but who knows... it's a malibu that has issues. i've had to replace a few things on it since i bought it in 2008.

I had tremendous trouble with the remote locks on my 05 max, till once when I was waiting for my wife at the postoffice I started messing around with the in dash computer and found a ton of lock settings including a multiple press setting for the remote switches. I re set everything and it works perfectly now. where to reset your lock options should be in your owners manual although I have to admit I stumbled accross it and have no manual to tell you how to get there.

Chevy malibu is garbage. Extremely dumb mechanical designs. Engine stop start doesn't stop in park. Engine stop start causes major safety issues in traffic. Car accelerator pedal have issues with being all electrical. Entertainment interface is retarded and freezes