The [surprising] 2013 Chevy Malibu

A few weeks ago, I received an email from a contact at GM inviting my family to be a part of the Magnificient Mile lights festival. Chevrolet is the official vehicle of the Lights fest, meaning that all the parade floats and people in the parade are carried by Chevy vehicles. Pretty cool! Unfortunately, because this weekend was my dad's 70th birthday, we weren't able to stick around to be a part of the parade (please invite us back next year!), but we were happy to attend a breakfast with Disney characters... more on that soon. We were also generously offered the chance to try out another car this week, as I'm still driving my Focus for another month or so (one more payment!).

When I received the email that we would be provided with a 2013 Chevy Malibu, I will admit that I didn't know what to expect. I haven't had a lot of experience with the Malibu and my thoughts were that this was what you got when you went to a car rental place and asked for a mid size sedan.
Imagine my surprise, then, when this pulled into my driveway last Monday.


All of my notions about the Malibu were completely wrong. Yes, it is definitely a mid sized sedan, but while it is functional, it is also fun--just look at the exterior--I would be happy driving something that gorgeous around every day! It's functional in that this is the type of car that I could see being a perfect fit as a secondary vehicle for a family of four (or primary, even) because the interior is spacious. And the trunk? The trunk space made me swoon. Among many other annoying qualities, my Focus lacks trunk space. Traveling with it means that we end up packing items around the boys' feet, so when I opened up the trunk of the Malibu and saw all this space, I knew that if we were in the market for a four door, this was absolutely the type of vehicle I'd choose.

Do you see how there is space and then more space? Space for suitcases, space for toys, blankets, pillows. The little extra cubby of space made me so happy. This is where the functionality comes in because I feel like you could easily fit in everything with a long trip, without having to use the interior of the car for storage.
It also has a five star NHTSA safety rating. Not only does it have the space to travel with your family, but it will get you to your destination safely.

In terms of interior space, the back seat is pretty roomy, too. Luke and Tommy are still in the large Britax five point harness seats which take up a great deal of space (and which were easy to install, thanks to the Malibu having the latch system), but there was enough space in between where they weren't right on top of each other and where a smaller person could ride if we needed to put another person in the back seat. It wouldn't be a comfortable ride, but it would definitely work.

The interior of the car is gorgeous, too. The LTZ had a really sharp interior that again, this was not the mid size sedan that I was imagining.

Isn't that gorgeous? The 2013 Malibu can also come with The Chevrolet MyLink option, which allows you to integrate your car with your smart phone. As an iPhone junky, I love the thought of being able to control my car from my phone.

The best testimony to the Malibu came from my dad. For the last few years, my dad has been a fan of VWs; however, he was disappointed by some of the changes they made in the 2012 model. He felt that they cut down in the roominess and took some of the sharpness out of the interior. After checking out the Malibu, he said that he was going to have to think long and hard about remaining with VW when it comes to his next trade-in because he felt like Chevy picked up where VW disappointed him.

Although we're currently in the market for something bigger, I know that down the road, we will be looking for a smaller secondary car. At this point, I know that the Chevy Malibu will be the first place we look!

And if you ask the boys where was the best place the Malibu took us last week? They'll tell you it was to downtown Chicago where we got to breakfast with these guys.


My boys were in heaven. Tommy was a little scared when he got close to the characters, but he was excited from far away. Luke, on the other hand, had a big grin the entire time. The breakfast was delicious, too! We felt spoiled and loved having a chance to drive the Malibu into the city (it got great highway gas mileage--in the 30s) to such an amazing event.

Although we were provided with the car loan and invited to breakfast with Disney characters, all opinions are my own.