Onto the 4th GM dealership to see if they can fix the vibration problems which GM's District Specialist says is inherent in the vehicle. This dealership took my car and gave me a loaner and had my car approx. 1 week. This dealership replaced another tire which they said was out of round and road force balanced the tires. The car started vibrating with approx. 2500 miles on it and has never stopped and I now have about 6500 miles on it. I did drive the car after I got it back from the dealership and it appeared to be an improvement. I had test drove the car down a very new section of highway. This is my wife's car and I may drive it or ride in it once a week or so. I had thought this dealer had rid the car of the vibration problems but the other day when my wife and I went to dinner we drove down a newly paved section of Interstate 55 and it felt like I was sitting on a vibrating cushion. Curiosity set in and I drove my 2011 HHR down the same stretch of highway and the HHR was as smooth as glass. So what was causing the vibration on one road and not the other?

Doing some research I found a Malibu Owner who had purchased different tires and wheels with the hope of eliminating his vibration problems. And this was also a relatively new vehicle with low mileage. Unfortunately, he posted that the new tires and wheels did nothing to alleviate the vibration and he concluded that he thought is was a problem with harmonics.He sold the automobile. I believe this individual's theory of harmonics causing the vibration problems to have merit. A slightly rougher highway seems to geometrically increase the amount of vibration coming up through the seats. Whether it is the 4 cylinder engine, the 18" tires and wheels, are a combination of both I am uncertain. I did notice the other day when I was changing my oil in the Malibu that Gm had factory installed cast gusset plates with large rubber washers between the unibody frame and the engine subframe. This appeared to have been done to reduce vibration. My HHR does not have these gusset plates (for lack of a better word ) nor did my front wheel drive PT cruisers. In fact these gusset plates and large rubber washers were the first time I have seen them on an automobile. Having two relatively new tires out of round doesn't say much for GM quality. However, the two new tires, the road force balancing and the tire rotation did not help reduce the vibration to an acceptable level. I am looking at trading in the car at the dealership where I purchased it and if I can't come to grips with my dealership. Otherwise, I will resort to hiring the lemon law attorney. If you read the postings on the Malibu, there is an alarming number of people with vibration and transmission problems. However, not all Malibu owners experience these problems.

Maybe I had the misfortune of buying a lemon.

Upon advise of the lemon law attorney, I took it to a 3rd Gm dealership. Again they jacked around with the tires and rotation and I picked up the car from the dealership and the vibration problem continued. I have Goodyear Eagle LS2 18" tires on the car from the factory and from what I have read these tires have had a lot of problems with them being out of round. However, after reading quite a few posts and receiving emails, a reader suggested that the tires be road force balanced. Not all Gm dealers to the best of my knowledge have the equipment to perform a road force balance. So off I am again to the 4th GM dealership. See next post. Note: This automobile was taken to each dealer for vibration and transmission problems but these are posted on this site separately.

I took the vehicle into the dealer where I purchased it. He was not the closest Gm dealer but the Gm District Specialist told me to take it there. The dealership balanced the tires and said everything was up to specs. The dealership's service advisors indicated verbally that it is the nature of the car to vibrate and that several people who work at the dealership own Malibu's and they have vibration problems also. Car was worse after I took it to the dealership than when it went in. Discussed the issue with the Gm District Specialist and he said it was the nature of the vehicle and I would just have to live with it.That really insulted my intelligence and I contacted the Lemon Law Attorney ( see my post about transmission problems with this car ) and the attorney advised me to go to a total of 4 different dealerships. (see next post )