Red89GTA

I just rented an 07 Malibu (had 16k and no signs of wear) over the last 4 days. Gotta say, I'm real impressed with the interior, the exterior styling not so much, but its ok. Most of my recent experience with GM stuff was my mom's '03 (I think, possibly '04?) Trailblazer and my dads '01 Alero. First off, I have nothing against either of these vehicles, but you can see GM has made some serious improvements recently.

First off, the feeling of quality is much improved, esp the Alero, things feel cheap. The window switches, cruise control switches, the shift **** (it's a 5-speed) the standard GM radio that was in everything.... They all see to be made of the cheapest/thinnest plastic possible. The Malibu's switches on the other hand, seem to be of much higher quality, or at leasted designed to feel nicer. The window switches aren't some mickey mouse toggle, they look/feel on par with the Mazdas/Nissans/VWs I do and have worked on at my dealership.

Also, you actually sit IN the seat instead of ON the seat, something that really annoys me in the Olds. Even the cupholders were done well (at least for what I needed). The 2 in the center console were slightly different sizes, the smaller forward one held my water perfectly and the bigger rear one held my Snapple like it was designed just for it.

The best part is that it had the 3500 V6 (I assume the 214hp version since it was a rental). This thing had pleanty of power/torque, never felt like I needed any more. Remember I wasn't racing anyone, I was just going from Detroit to Chicago and back. The kicker is that the thing got 38mpg. Yes, I kid you not, I reset the trip computer as I pulled out of the rental office, drove down the street to the local Pontiac shop for a part I had ordered, drove home. I then dropped off the part, ate lunch and got on the highway, straight shot to Schaumburg, 300 miles away, took 1/2 a tank. As I approched chicago, the on board said 37.5mpg and I can only assume that the sheer volume of traffic going 65-75mph created enough of a draft to help me up to 38.4 MPG!!!

Just thought I'd share that little experience, who said you need a hybrid???

BigDarknFast

I agree about the improvements in GM interiors. I rented an HHR-LT a little while back... wow it was nice! switches, controls, all solid and easy to work. It had a neat little 'ambient light' shining down on the HVAC/radio stack. I saw no quality issues in fit/finish. Plus, its 4-cyl had a lot more pep and smoothness than I expected, not bad at all!!