Car Review: 2004 Chevy Malibu Maxx

What? Another car review? This has been kind of strange streak in my life where I’ve been driving a lot of different cars. I can’t say it’s a bad thing, as I’m always curious about the driving experience of other people’s cars.The other night, Kate’s sister Kim needed to pick up a car from the airport, so Kate and I drove down with her and I got to drive back to her place in her 2004 (or ’05, I forgot to ask) Chevy Malibu Maxx (Long time readers will remember my test drive of Kate’s other sister’s car).It’s like a regular Malibu, except it’s got a hatchbackishly-stationwagon like quality to it. It’s a comfortable car, pretty big. The back seats recline, which was a pretty cool feature that I discovered when we drove to Mount Monadnock. The back seat has two sun roofs and it’s own radio. A highly desirable vehicle if you’re a member of Hike Club.Up front, I thought the radio controls on the steering wheel were nice. I wish I had that on my car. Speaking of steering, I had some trouble with that when I tried to back out of a tight parking space. I had to do that Austin Powers thing where you back up, turn slightly, go forward, turn slightly… and so on like 8 times. That’s probably because I’m use to driving much smaller cars.Once on the highway, the ride was smooth. It accelerated quickly enough, thanks to the 6 cylinder engine. Not in the same neighborhood as the Charger, but more than the Corolla for sure.I can’t say I’d get a Maxx myself, if only because I was raised in the House of Ford and Chevy was the sworn enemy of Ford. (Wait, did my dad have a Vette once? I think he did. So many mixed signals… )