Used Cars: 2005 VS 2006, intake leaks, window switches

Question
Hello,
What would be better to buy? I am looking at Chevy Mailbus.
car 1  2005 LS 35000 miles 1 owner personal have carfax that states it was always serviced at the orginial dealer then sold at aution. I am waiting for the Warranty Repair History. Car 2 2006 LT 31000 miles carfax states was a rental car in Illinois than sold at aution. Is it better to get the 2006 with 5000 less miles or the 2005. Also we only test drove the 2005 and found that on turning there was a clunk sound... shop is checking it out. neither of these vehicles is GM certified.
Thank you in adance for your advise.

Shelley

Answer
Well...let me get my personal feelings out of the way right quick.  I believe that the Malibus and the Impalas are 2 of the reasons why Chevy lost their #1 spot in the car business for the first time in history.  I have had nothing but one problem after another with Malibus.  Their front ends are just bad, and they are infamous for intake leaks, sticky ignitions,  and poor quality in regards to locks and window switches.  Now to be fair, I have only had 1 2005 malibu, and the customer flooded it out, so I have no feedback on how it did.  The ones I have had problems with are the 1997's to the 2002's.  I dont really deal with the real new ones at my current job.  If you are looking at the malibus because you are loyal to chevy, I understand, if not I would really look at your different options.   Now in regards to your question, If the carfax and warranty repair history both proved to be good and like it should be I would probably pick the 2006 over the 2005.  One reason you still have a little factory warranty left but the main reason is this.  Chevy has know for a couple years that your quality has went down hill.  And in the recent years they have put out a real effort to fix it, so in my opinion the newer the vehicle, the better chance you have at getting a decent vehicle.  I would recommend you browse through different websites and get a better feel for what they offer and what you are looking for.  For instance I went to www.edmunds.com and looked at the reviews.  The 05 malibus appear to have a decent reputation and the 06' models may be to new to have a lot of reviews.  They do do good gas mileage, but most vehicles like that do as well.  I hope this is helpful and if you have any more questions, I would be glad to assist you.
Jay