Compare the2024 Honda AccordVS 2023 Chevrolet Malibu

For enhanced safety, the front and rear seat shoulder belts of the Honda Accord have pretensioners to tighten the seatbelts and eliminate dangerous slack in the event of a collision. The Chevrolet Malibu doesn’t offer pretensioners for its rear seat belts.

For enhanced safety, the front seat shoulder belts of the Honda Accord are height-adjustable to accommodate a wide variety of driver and passenger heights. A better fit can prevent injuries and the increased comfort also encourages passengers to buckle up. The Chevrolet Malibu doesn’t offer height-adjustable seat belts.

Over 200 people are killed each year when backed over by motor vehicles. The Accord Touring has a standard Low Speed Braking Control that uses rear sensors to monitor for objects to the rear and automatically applies the brakes to prevent a collision. The Malibu doesn’t offer backup collision prevention brakes.

The Accord EX-L/Sport-L/Touring has standard Parking Sensors to help warn the driver about vehicles, pedestrians or other obstacles behind or in front of their vehicle. The Malibu doesn’t offer a front parking aid.

The Accord’s driver alert monitor detects an inattentive driver then sounds a warning and suggests a break. According to the NHTSA, drivers who fall asleep cause about 100,000 crashes and 1500 deaths a year. The Malibu doesn’t offer a driver alert monitor.

Both the Accord and the Malibu have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front and rear side-impact airbags, driver and front passenger knee airbags, side-impact head airbags, front wheel drive, plastic fuel tanks, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, daytime running lights, lane departure warning systems, rearview cameras, available blind spot warning systems and rear cross-path warning.

Side impacts caused 23% of all road fatalities in 2018, down from 29% in 2003, when the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety introduced its side barrier test. In order to continue improving vehicle safety, the IIHS has started using a more severe side impact test: 37 MPH (up from 31 MPH), with a 4180-pound barrier (up from 3300 pounds). The results of this newly developed test demonstrates that the Honda Accord is much safer than the Malibu:

For its performance in IIHS driver-side and passenger-side small overlap frontal, moderate overlap frontal, updated side impact, headlight, daytime pedestrian crash prevention, and nighttime pedestrian crash prevention testing, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety grants the Accord its highest rating: “Top Safety Pick Plus” for 2023, a rating granted to only 36 vehicles tested by the IIHS. The Malibu last would have qualified as only a standard “Top Safety Pick” in 2017.

The Accord’s corrosion warranty is unlimited miles longer than the Malibu’s (unlimited vs. 100,000 miles).

Honda pays for scheduled maintenance on the Accord for 2 years and 24,000 miles. Honda will pay for oil changes, tire rotations, air filter replacements, cabin filter replacement, brake fluid replacement, inspections, and any other required maintenance. Chevrolet only pays for the first scheduled maintenance visit on the Malibu.

A reliable vehicle saves its owner time, money and trouble. Nobody wants to be stranded or have to be without a vehicle while it’s being repaired. Consumer Reports rates the Accord’s reliability 40 points higher than the Malibu.

From surveys of all its subscribers, Consumer Reports’ January 2023 Auto Issue reports that Honda vehicles are more reliable than Chevrolet vehicles. Consumer Reports ranks Honda 15 places higher in reliability than Chevrolet.

The Accord’s standard 1.5 turbo 4-cylinder produces 32 more horsepower (192 vs. 160) and 8 lbs.-ft. more torque (192 vs. 184) than the Malibu’s 1.5 turbo 4-cylinder. The Accord Hybrid’s standard 2.0 DOHC 4-cylinder hybrid produces 44 more horsepower (204 vs. 160) and 63 lbs.-ft. more torque (247 vs. 184) than the Malibu’s 1.5 turbo 4-cylinder.

As tested in Car and Driver the Honda Accord is faster than the Chevrolet Malibu:

On the EPA test cycle the Accord gets better mileage than the Malibu:

Regenerative brakes improve the Accord Hybrid’s fuel efficiency by converting inertia back into energy instead of wasting it. The Malibu doesn’t offer a regenerative braking system.

The Accord has a standard locking fuel door which locks and unlocks with the power locks. The fuel filler door is not lockable on the Malibu. A locking fuel door helps prevent fuel theft and vandalism, such as sugar in the tank.

For better stopping power the Accord Hybrid’s front brake rotors are larger than those on the Malibu:

The Accord stops shorter than the Malibu:

For better traction, the Accord has larger standard tires than the Malibu (225/50R17 vs. 205/65R16).

The Accord LX/EX/EX-L’s standard tires provide better handling because they have a lower 50 series profile (height to width ratio) that provides a stiffer sidewall than the Malibu LS’ standard 65 series tires.

For better ride, handling and brake cooling the Accord LX/EX/EX-L has standard 17-inch wheels. Smaller 16-inch wheels are standard on the Malibu LS.

For better handling and stability, the average track (width between the wheels) on the Accord is .2 inches wider in the front and 1.1 inches wider in the rear than the track on the Malibu.

The Accord Touring Hybrid handles at .88 G’s, while the Malibu LT pulls only .86 G’s of cornering force in a Car and Driver skidpad test.

The Accord uses computer-generated active noise cancellation to help remove annoying noise and vibration from the passenger compartment, especially at low frequencies. The Malibu doesn’t offer active noise cancellation.

As tested by Car and Driver, the interior of the Accord Touring Hybrid is quieter than the Malibu LT:

Because it has more passenger and cargo room, the EPA rates the Accord a Large car, while the Malibu is rated a Mid-size.

The Accord has 2.8 cubic feet more passenger volume than the Malibu (105.7 vs. 102.9).

The Accord has .4 inches more front headroom, .8 inches more front legroom, 1.3 inches more front hip room, 2.7 inches more rear legroom and 2 inches more rear hip room than the Malibu.

The Accord has a larger trunk than the Malibu (16.7 vs. 15.7 cubic feet).

With its sedan body style, valet key, locking rear seatbacks and remote trunk release lockout, the Accord offers cargo security. The Malibu’s non-lockable remote release defeats cargo security.

A standard locking glovebox (which can’t be accessed with the valet key) keeps your small valuables safer in the Accord EX/Sport/EX-L/Touring. The Malibu doesn’t offer locking storage for small valuables.

The Accord uses gas struts to support the hood for easier service access. The Malibu uses a prop rod to support its heavy hood. It takes two hands to open the hood and set the prop rod, the prop rod gets in the way during maintenance and service, and the prop rod could be knocked out, causing the heavy hood to fall on the person maintaining or servicing the car.

The Accord Touring has a standard heads-up display that projects speed, navigation instruction and driver assistance information readouts in front of the driver’s line of sight, allowing drivers to view information without diverting their eyes from the road. The Malibu doesn’t offer a heads-up display.

The Accord’s front power windows open or close with one touch of the switches, making it more convenient at drive-up windows and toll booths, or when talking with someone outside of the car. The Malibu’s standard power window switches have to be held the entire time to close them fully. The Malibu LT’s front passenger window doesn’t close automatically.

The Accord’s standard speed-sensitive wipers speed up when the vehicle does, so that the driver doesn’t have to continually adjust the speed of the wipers. The Malibu’s manually variable intermittent wipers have to be constantly adjusted. The Accord Touring’s standard wipers adjust their speed and turn on and off automatically according to the amount of rainfall on the windshield.

The Accord’s LED headlights produce a whiter, brighter light (up to 3x) using five times less power than the Malibu’s standard projector halogen headlights and light instantly. LED lights also last over twenty times longer than halogen.

Consumer Reports® recommends the Honda Accord, based on reliability, safety and performance. The Chevrolet Malibu isn't recommended.

The Honda Accord outsold the Chevrolet Malibu by 34% during 2022.