I really like these malibu wagons alot. Hopefully I will own one of these someday. It looks like a pretty decent wagon.
My memory of these, beyond horrible rust issues in the lower doors, front fenders and rear 1/4 panels, was that the door hinges were really weak, and over time the doors would sag, both front and rear. Riding in these as a kid in the early 80's (lots of friends parents had all versions, Chevy, Buick, Pontiac, ect), I remember how the doors would stick from sagging and you really had to push them to open them and SLAM them closed, PLUS since the window glass was pillerless, once the doors sagged the glass did not seal well, leading to wind and water leaks. All the door-slamming caused the windows to get loose in their tracks, so if you closed the doors without the windows being fully up, they would rattle inside in the door so much you'd think they should shatter. In some cases they'd get so loose they would lean in when you tried to roll them up and you had to push out on the glass while rolling it up in order for it not to bind in the door frame and destroy the weatherstripping. Also, these cars had the first major use of plastic in GM interiors, and they did not quite have the knack on how to make this stuff last. The lower door panels, rear cargo area sides and trim around the windows was all hard molded plastic, and in many cases it dried out and turned all chalky, and eventually just fell apart. I remember writing our names into the cargo-area plastic with our fingernails in a certain mid-70's Century wagon a friends parents had. Now before you all beat me up, keep in mind I love GM cars, they are all I drive. These wagon in Laguna or Grand Am trim are very cool looking, and you could still get some big engines under the hood, and as far as the engines, transmissions and such, these cars were mechanically reliable, but quality-wise this was not a high-point for GM. Buyers Beware! -Mike
Congrats on your new Malibu!!!!! Let me know if you need interior parts, I have quite a bit of the Plastic interior panels left over from my old Buick Wagon.