I’m in the market for a new car and have narrowed it down to one of the following
Chevy Mailbu
Chevy Impalla
Pontiac Aztec (please no comments on it’s look)
I’m looking for factual information (nothing that would cause this to move over to IMHO) as to relability and saftey.
The readers poll ratings of service history in Consumer Reports magazine are probably as objective a source as you can find on mechanical reliability. I would assume the the NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) and/or some auto insurance industry association have crash and safety data.
I agree with Gary. I would start with Consumer Reports (check your local public library if you don’t subscribe to it yourself, I’ve never seen a library that didn’t carry it). After that, a quick way to check NHTSA is to go to Car Talk’s Car Report.
From a manufacturer’s perspective, I can say that the Malibu is the oldest platform of the three vehicles you mentioned, and that the ugly-car (sorry! it was called that during body-shop integration!) is the newest platform.
Typically, the older the platform, the more the bugs have been worked out of it, and the more reliable it is. Actually, the Malibu is a very nice car. The Impala is a littler nicer and larger and more fun (but newer). (I’ve driven both extensively.)
If you can get a maintenace package which covers everything (oil changes, wiper blades, etc), then they should be about the same. Frankly, no more american cars for me.
handy, that’s too bad, but I completely understand (I used to drive Hondas exclusively). If you ever want to think about domestic again, consider these points:
[ul]
[li]Processes change every few years, i.e., cars aren’t built the same and things get better.[/li][li]I hate saying it, but in subcompact American-brand cars, it seems that you get what you pay for. That is, the quality differences between a Grand Am and a Bonneville are extreme. There are a lot of reasons for this in USA brands I won’t go into here.[/li][li]If you’re into trucks, there’s nothing outside the USA brands that’s any better than what we have.[/li][li]For genuine full size cars, I’d have to say the same (then it only boils down to taste - all other competitive factors are equal).[/li][li]Don’t forget to consider traditionally-foreign brands that are owned by USA companies – Volvo, Saab, Jaguar, LandRover, etc.[/li][li]And remember what I said above – the older a platform, the more reliability you’re likely to have.[/li][/ul]
Mods: I’m genuinely trying to “be factual” rather than be a propoganda machine for American industry.
Here’s the safety report from the NHTSA for the Aztek:
Pontiac Aztek (2001/2002)
NHTSA Frontal Crash Driver – Average (4WD)
NHTSA Frontal Crash Passenger – Good (4WD)
NHTSA Side Crash Front Occupant – Excellent (2WD)
NHTSA Side Crash Rear Occupant – Average (2WD)
NHTSA Rollover Resistance – Average (2WD); Good (4WD)
IIHS Offset – Marginal
IIHS Bumper Bash – Marginal
And for the Impala:
Chevrolet Impala (2001/2002)
NHTSA Frontal Crash Driver – Excellent
NHTSA Frontal Crash Passenger – Excellent
NHTSA Side Crash Front Occupant – Good (w & w/o side airbag)
NHTSA Side Crash Rear Occupant – Good
NHTSA Rollover Resistance – Good
IIHS Offset – Good
IIHS Bumper Bash – Marginal
And, finally, for the Malibu:
Chevrolet Malibu (2001/2002)
NHTSA Frontal Crash Driver – Good
NHTSA Frontal Crash Passenger – Good
NHTSA Side Crash Front Occupant – Poor (2001); Average (2002)
NHTSA Side Crash Rear Occupant – Good
NHTSA Rollover Resistance – Good
IIHS Offset – Acceptable
IIHS Bumper Bash – Marginal
(source: Crash test results, NHTSA crash test ratings at Edmund’s)
While this doesn’t have much to do with your original question, I recall hearing that the Malibu would be redesigned for 2003. You might also want to look around at www.n-body.net.