hi guys

I recently got to spend a week with a 2011 Malibu while on vacation in Florida, so I thought I'd pass on my review for anyone car shopping.

short lists:

Pros:
decent mpg, approx 25 in mixed driving
room for 4, but the back seat is tight
nice looking, especially inside
very quiet at cruising speeds, ok acceleration
nice choice of colors/wheels
nice AM/FM/XM radio
front seats comfortable sitting for over an hour, nice leather.
nice "find" feature on remote for lots with many similar looking cars
light handling, nimble in traffic
seat adjustment was fine for a large person (6'4 215)
sunroof
cold AC, fan decent but not Ford truck strong on the blower


Cons:
interior beauty is skin deep, the nicest plastic money can buy
bad torque steer and very noisy engine if pushed hard
trunk seems smaller than it looks
cruise didn't work well, frequently had to be turned off and on to work when resetting speed or to even engage
some people hit their head on A pillar when entering
factory radio doesn't come close to sounding as good as the mark, even with XM. Probably due to front speakers being nearly at floor level.
many similar looking cars (a pro if you like blending in)
light on the highway, strong winds are felt
there is a lot of chrome plated plastic on this baby, if it holds up, great, but if not.. there's no substitute for real metal.
gas door has to be pushed on to open, no instruction in car, something you learn just once though.
great lights (compared to a gen I Mark!)

All in all, it was a pretty nice car. The Mark felt noticeably heavier, in a good, and bad way when I got home. One lady stopped and asked about it, she liked the looks so much (ruby red metallic), and even my dad liked it, but my mom kept hitting her head on the pillar, so taste is subject to pain. The range was good, over 400 miles on a tank with much highway driving. The car would pull aggressively sideways if you mashed the gas to merge, it could catch an inattentive driver unawares.

A final note, if you rent in Orlando, try SixT, we got the car for $132 for a WEEK all included including third party insurance (not extra), last year we paid over $450 for a Corolla from a big name line. SixT is the largest rental car company in Europe, specializing in premium cars and making a play to move in here. We could have gotten a BMW or Mercedes for what we paid last year. No one else comes close to their prices.

formerly ASE certified, still skin my knuckles
98 Mark VIII Silver

i rented one from Enterprise..had for a week cost was $120 with taxes....drove it from Sierra Vista AZ to Pacifica CA....i think i only filled it up twice?....got over 30+ mpg.......i liked the car very much...so much that we are thinking of buying a used one and retiring the wifes 97 jag xj6..now at 170K

I read that some of the gas stations near the (Orlando area) car rental places have been charging over $5.00 per gallon for regular, did you see any of that while you were there ?
Lead Foot
Crazy 'Bout My Ol' Mark8s

when we were there it was around $3.95 I think, more than it was here in Minnesota. It always is when we go though.

formerly ASE certified, still skin my knuckles
98 Mark VIII Silver

According to the article I read, it seems that some of those gas retailers figure they can count on selling a lot of gallons anyways, despite the very high price, because there are always plenty of tourists who need to top off the fuel before returning vehicles to the nearby car rental companies..
Lead Foot
Crazy 'Bout My Ol' Mark 8s