Renting a Malibu in Hawaii – MALIBU? MAHALO!

Renting a Malibu in Hawaii

MALIBU? MAHALO!

Kauaʻi, HI – Know this from the git-go: Chevrolet’s midsize Malibu has as much connection with its coastal California namesake as Donald Trump has with Don Knotts. In Malibu, CA someone on your restaurant’s wait staff might drive one, but the 4-door’s regarded as little more than a placeholder. And you might see one at a nearby Motel 6, but it’ll have Iowa plates. Conversely, on the island of Kauaʻi they are ubiquitous, sharing the road – albeit in greater numbers – with the rental Wranglers and Mustang convertibles. 

On this trip to Hawaii – and our first visit to Kauaʻi – we found ourselves in a ’23 Malibu from Thrifty, and while the rental process was disappointing (don’t get me started!) the Malibu did everything we asked of it with aplomb. Amazingly, Chevrolet still builds them, but forgodsake keep that little factoid quiet; it’s painfully obvious Chevrolet wants to keep Malibus well under its retail radar. Chevy doesn’t advertise the affordable 4-door and its dealers don’t stock them; I couldn’t even figure out how to ‘build’ one on Chevy’s website.

As I’ve written previously, the domestic OEMs are either completely out of the sedan business or getting out of the sedan business. Obviously, the greater interest among buyers is in the crossovers or traditional SUVs, but it takes but one short drive – say, from Thrifty to a nearby lunch spot – to remember the ease in which a midsize sedan goes about its business. And the Malibu, sitting on a footprint not too different from Honda’s Accord or Toyota’s Camry, offers a surprising degree of refinement for a price point (starting in the mid-$20s) closer to a Civic or Corolla.

GM’s design department seems to have been firing on all cylinders as it drew the sheetmetal for this Accord and Camry competitor. The surfaces are softly organic, with just enough sculpting to lend visual interest, while not constituting a distraction. The overall impression is harmonious, absent the occasionally convoluted elements that can mark – or mar – those efforts from the Japanese or Koreans. And there’s even brightwork! Splashes of chrome trim lighten the greenhouse, and its alloy wheels are silver rather than black.

Inside, our base LS (rental) spec was black, with no attempt on the part of GM’s design team to add an element – any element! – of visual interest. But then, within the Malibu’s bland space you could more easily enjoy the sights of Kauaʻi – Hawaii’s Garden Isle – in their full and (I gotta’ tell you) majestic splendor. From driving through the Waimea Canyon State Park to looking over Hawaii’s Napali Coast, the Malibu’s generous greenhouse provides an appropriately expansive view, while its credible handling – while not given to track days – eliminates the worry the winding roadway would typically deliver. No one was irritated…and notably, no one was car sick.

Under the hood is a perfectly adequate – for its family mission – powertrain, matching 163 horses of 1.5 liter turbocharged four with a CVT and front-wheel drive. The continuously variable transmission impressed as more ‘automatic’ than CVT, and while the 163 horses certainly weren’t neck snapping, neither did we feel underserved when merging onto a roadway; acceleration is helped, in no small way, by the Malibu’s relatively svelte 3200-pounds. Admittedly, Kauaʻi’s speed limits are conservative, but the Malibu kept pace with anything and everything – including the rental Jeeps and Mustangs. 

In getting from the Kauaʻi Airport, the stuff of three adults and one preteen was easily handled by the Malibu’s 16 cubic feet of trunk space, which was more generous than it reads. And interior volume impresses as more fullsize than midsize, while the fuel economy – figure 30 in combined intown and freeway driving – is some 20% better than a comparable crossover. 

With all of the good news (except Thrifty’s rental process) here is the bad: This is the final year for the Malibu after some 60 years of production. GM made the decision to devote Malibu’s plant capacity to the production of all-electric vehicles; with that decision this example of competent and affordable transportation – think $27K for the LS, $30K for the more amenity-oriented LT – goes away. In short, the Malibu has been rendered as irrelevant as those Boomers that grew up with it.

Want to make America great again? Keep the Malibu. And while we’re at it, bring back Don Knotts.