RENTAL: Chevy Malibu - Fatal Flaw

My Taco is truly a dinosaur!

 

Nah, if it had wing vent windows then it would meet the definition of a dinosaur

 

remember when Xtra cab meant an extra 4 inches? Haha

 

And the screens just keep getting bigger and bigger...more things to look at.

 

Same on our Supra.

 

Given the number of legal billboards, I'd believe it. BTW - When did Jim Adler quit being the "Tough Smart Lawyer" and become "The Texas Hammer?"

 

Let's not sugar coat it. "Politi-Critters / Politi-Creatons" works just fine (party agnostic). You don't need to gussy it up.

 

Totally. And yes things like ABS are a wise idea, for instance. But the problem with some of this stuff is it just means people pay less attention to driving with these additional features.

I rented a 2020 Malibu (not picking on Chevy, just what happened) in 2021 and the screen drove me crazy. I didn't even touch the thing unless I was stopped and in Park, and at night I would dim the lights just to not have the glare. My Tacoma has a single DIN radio, I didn't even want the double DIN one.

Here in MA we have the handsfree law but nobody follows it and rarely do people get cited. I've called an officer's attention to people doing it in traffic before and they just shrugged.

 

Damn! There are some hard core purists in here. I hate the nannies too but I'd like a bigger screen in the 3rd Gen. Not for more distractions, though. I'd like to make the icons a little bigger. Easier to see and push / touch on a bumpy road.

I like the ABS, Adaptive Cruise Control, Rear Camera and Airbags. Even the collision alarm is a good idea. But anything that disables something is a liability. It takes away the autonomy of the driver to know whats best / do what's best. When they do that, they assume responsibility for my accident. It'll never stick in court, but they are responsible.

 

That’s a wild story. Glad you’re okay.

I can’t tell you how many times the “pre-collision assist auto braking feature thing” in my Tacoma almost caused me to crash when I first got the truck (before I figured out how to disable it). It would chime for no reason and slam the brakes on, causing the vehicle behind me to almost rear end me.

If I was changing lanes rapidly with another car in front of me, like in your story, it would lock the brakes up and almost cause a horrific crash. Luckily I was able to avoid any collisions before I figured out how to disable it. What a moronic thing they’ve installed in these vehicles. I often wonder how many people are injured or killed every year because of these supposedly helpful collision avoidance systems.

 

As well as HighBeam switch on floor, kick panel vents, and rain gutters.

 

A little vent door on the heater box…

 

You call it wild, I call it just another Tuesday.

One thing I've learned the hard way in this town, never change lanes rapidly. Rapid almost always means partially blind. It's not uncommon here for one lane to come to a sudden screening halt while the other two maintain 80 mph. It's common enough that people are in the habit of jumping into the fast lane without at least peeking around the truck they've been tailgating. Sometimes it works, but sometimes the fast lane has also come to a screeching halt. And sometimes they get plowed from behind as they jump into 80mph traffic. It's gotten me in trouble enough times, sensors or no sensors, that I finally learned to increase follow distance.

 

I know this will seem a bit silly in your situation but usually if you turn your turn signal on when changing lanes you will avoid having it slam on the brakes on you. If you don't it freaking out can cause serious issues.

 

I imagine l, and I’m just making this up,l based on “feels”, but the likelihood of most people on the road, successfully navigating an impending wreck in such a last minute decision tree is probably less so than having the car detect around it and attempt at least to circumvent by nanny tech.

This stuff is invented for the lowest common denominator which happens to be the center of the bell curve of average driver capabilities. And I don’t pretend to be at the 97th percentile either.

 

I forget how big the 3G screen is, I rented a 2022 for a week or so last year. My wife's Rav4 has the double DIN.

What really sucked about the Malibu is that so much other stuff was on that screen such as the HVAC controls, I found it more distracting. To be fair it might have been a "get used to it" thing for me.

 

Don’t forget the symmetrical all wheel drive.

 

Per Chevy it doesn't disable anything. Something else was going on...

Will Forward Collision Alert stop my vehicle in emergency situations?
No. Forward Collision Alert only provides alerts; so you can quickly take action. Forward Collision Alert does not engage the vehicle’s throttle or braking. No safety system can take the place of an alert and engaged driver.