I drove a Malibu all day. The interior isn't great, and some plastics are low rent, but overall it is designed well, and put together very well, and some plastics had a nice feel to them.

It road ok. Nothing great. It handled like a family sedan, no worse then any Camry I have driven.

The 3.5 is fairly smooth. The transmission shifts smoother then Honda. It's one of the few things I think GM does well. 4 speeds, but it's a quiet engine and it can pull along at low RPM (30mph is about 1200 RPM). 55mph is about 1500. It really doesn't need another gear--although it could help. It sounds nice too, deep and mellow--I don't know, I like the sound.

I didn't mind it. Would I buy one? No. If somebody wanted a midsized wagon, would I include the Maxx in a list I think they should look at? Definitely.