Repair-It

It was all going fine until the engine failed. Bad connecting rod bearing from the supplier.

http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/201 ... est-review

More info: http://blog.caranddriver.com/maliboom-f ... cylinders/

The good news is you'll know if you have a car with the faulty bearings since it won't last that long (it won't stop running but make some nice noises). GM also took the opportunity to lower the rev limiter from 7000 to 6700. It upshifts at 6200 in automatic mode so there seems to be little reason to let it run all the way to 7000. Not sure I like the description of testing cars on car lots by revving them and driving them hard.

Otherwise the 2014 Malibu appears to be a pretty good car. There's nothing built on Epsilon II that isn't good, actually. It's just one spec but it pulled 0.86G. I thought that was a lot for a regular family sedan.

If I get one of these as a rental, I'll be sure to rev it hard

The 2013 seems to be in rental fleets, as it's the bastard child (2014 was face lifted both outside and inside).

Yes, I had a 2013 the other day from Hertz with 38k (ugh).

Wasn't it fine?

It felt a bit tired, which I think was due to crappy replacement tires and some wheel balance issues. Also, I feel like the 2013 Fusion is a much nicer car. To be fair, it was redesigned much more recently.

Wait are you talking 2013 Malibu or 2012? The 2013 is new, based on the Epsilon II. Then the 2014 was refreshed. I would expect either model to feel pretty competitive with the Fusion in terms of chassis stuff (notwithstanding interior or exterior styling nits).

It was the old one so it must have been a 2012.

The 2013 is pretty nice. Base engine is a 2.5L DI 4 cylinder, somewhere in the 190-195hp range. I think it traps 88 or so. Very composed and comfortable ride, quiet, nice on the highway.

Maybe I will get to try one out sometime. I have 3 rental opportunities coming up over the next couple weeks so maybe something will work out there.