Eric's Autos: 2025 Chevy Malibu

At one time, you had multiple options if you were interested in a midsize family sedan and didn't want to spend more than about $25,000 for it.

Your options have been reduced to one: the 2025 Chevy Malibu.

What It Is

The Malibu is the last car Chevrolet still sells -- and the last midsize family sedan anyone still sells with a base price under $25,000. Nissan no longer sells the Altima -- and the Mazda6 has been gone since 2021. The Toyota Camry and the Honda Accord both start close to $30,000 now.

Which leaves us with the one.

You can pick up a new Malibu LS for $24,700 -- as opposed to $28,295 or the lowest-priced version of the 2025 Honda Accord. Or $28,700 for the lowest-priced version of the 2025 Toyota Camry. The next-closest thing to the Malibu in terms of cost is the 2025 Hyundai Sonata, which lists for $26,900 to start.

How come the Malibu is the only one of the bunch that costs less than $25,000 to start? Probably because it's the oldest of the bunch. The 2025 iteration is basically the same as the 2016 iteration -- and so it's "old" relative to what's "new." But new almost always comes with a higher price.

The base trim Malibu LS comes standard with 16-inch steel wheels (which are also sturdier and less expensive to replace than aluminum wheels) a six-speaker stereo, an 8-inch CD touch screen and remote engine start. Air conditioning, power windows and locks are also included.

A top-of-the-line Malibu 2LT lists for $31,500. This one comes standard with 19-inch wheels, LED headlights, heated leather seats (and heated steering wheel), a nine-speaker Bose audio system and a partial digital main gauge cluster.

All Malibus share the same drivetrain, which consists of a 1.5-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine paired with a continuously variable transmission and front-wheel drive.

What's New for 2025

This will be the Malibu's final year -- and so probably the last year you'll be able to buy a brand-new midsize family sedan for less than $25,000.

What's Good

-- An affordable family car -- just about the last of its kind.

-- Sensible steel wheels are standard -- and a digital dashboard is optional.

-- Does not come standard with automatic emergency braking.

What's Not So Good

-- Standard engine is small, underpowered and turbocharged.

-- No optional engine.

-- CVT makes already anemic engine feel (and sound) more so.

Under the Hood

Back in 2016 -- when the current Malibu made its debut -- it was still available with a 2.0-liter turbocharged four that made 250 horsepower. The standard engine the prior year (2015) was a 2.5-liter four without a turbo that touted 196 horsepower.

This year, the only engine you can get in a new Malibu is a 1.5-liter four that -- even with a turbocharger -- only manages to make 163 horsepower. It's actually pretty impressive horsepower from an engine this small. The problem is, the Malibu's a midsize sedan with a curb weight of 3,135 pounds -- not especially heavy for a current-year midsize sedan.

As a counterpoint, the 2025 Toyota Camry weighs 3,450 pounds.

But the Camry has 225 hybridized horsepower to get all that weight moving. The Malibu doesn't. Which is why it's the slowest-accelerating midsize family sedan still on the market. It takes about eight seconds to get to 60 mph. Both the 2025 Camry hybrid and the 2025 Accord are significantly quicker, despite being much heavier.

Both are also available with optional -- even stronger -- engines that make them even quicker. So also the 2025 Hyundai Sonata, which is available (in N-Line trim) with 290 horsepower.

The Chevy's power-to-weight imbalance would be less of a weakness if the payoff were spectacular gas mileage. But the Malibu's Environmental Protection Agency-rated 27 mpg city, 35 mpg highway is lower than both the Sonata's (28 mpg city, 38 mpg highway) and the Accord's (29 mpg city, 37 mpg highway) and much lower than the hybrid Camry's (53 mpg city, 50 mpg highway).

On the Road

The Malibu is slow -- relative to its more expensive rivals. But quickness is relative. The Malibu is capable of getting to 60 mph in about eight seconds, which is quicker than most American full-size sedans with V8 engines were back in the '80s. The relevant question is whether the Malibu is quick enough to serve as family transportation.

And the answer to that question is certainly yes.

This car will not meet your need for speed, but it could meet the need you may have to pick up the kids at school. And to reach and hold highway speeds without signs of struggling to maintain them. It only feels -- and sounds -- slow when you floor it and expect it to reach highway speeds as quickly as a Camry or an Accord can reach them.

In some ways, it is a more pleasant car to drive than its newer rivals because it's older (in design) and so lacks some of the attributes that have become common in newer-design cars, such as tap/swipe controls for secondary functions such as the AC/heat and fan speed. Also, the Malibu's standard instrument cluster is still analog -- meaning, it isn't digital. There's a conventional needle-and-dial speedometer, tachometer and fuel/temp gauges. These are arguably preferable because they're less distracting. There's also less glare because they're not barraging your eyes with the glow of a screen.

So long as you understand that there's not a lot of power in reserve -- and mitigate that by anticipating the need to accelerate (which many other drivers don't) -- you will rarely notice the Malibu's underwhelming power-to-weight ratio. But you will notice you've avoided some of the less appealing aspects of newer-design (and nominally quicker) competitors.

At the Curb

The 2025 Malibu is still a nice-looking car -- even after almost 10 years largely unchanged. It is certainly less rococo-looking than, say, the current Camry -- which went from being a family-looking sedan to a Nextel Cup stock car-looking sedan. Which is fine, if you're wanting something that looks like that.

The point here is that the Chevy's looks haven't aged. It will still look good another 10 years from now.

Another point -- one that matters a lot when shopping for a family car -- is how roomy the car is, especially in the back (and the trunk).

On these metrics, the Malibu compares very favorably with its more expensive rivals -- particularly versus its least expensive rival, the 2025 Hyundai Sonata. It is a very sleek-looking car with a very tight backseat -- just 34.8 inches of legroom, which is dimensionally more on par with compact sedans. The Chevy has 38.1 inches of backseat legroom, which is a difference you can see as well as feel -- if you try to sit back there (in the Hyundai).

The Malibu also has slightly more trunk space (15.7 cubic feet) than either the Sonata (15.6 cubic feet) or the Camry (15.1 cubic feet). The Honda Accord has the most backseat legroom (40.8 inches) and the largest trunk of the bunch (16.7 cubic feet). But -- once again -- those are great things to have if you can afford to spend the extra several thousand it takes to buy them.

The Rest

The Malibu's asking price is its own sell -- but in addition to that, it's probable you'll be able to buy one for even less than what Chevy is asking. For essentially the same reason that you can usually get a great deal whenever there's a closeout sale.

The downside is, you'll probably have to pick from among inventory -- meaning it'll be harder to spec one out the way you want.

The Bottom Line

It's not the newest -- or the quickest. But it is the last car of its type -- at this price -- you can still buy new.

Just not for much longer.

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Eric's latest book, "Doomed: Good Cars Gone Wrong!" will be available soon. To find out more about Eric and read his past columns, please visit the Creators Syndicate webpage at www.creators.com.