Which Is the Better Family Sedan, the Malibu or the Altima?

Buying a sedan can be overwhelming, as there are so many options out there that you might feel inundated with information, unsure what you should be prioritizing. Acceleration? Fuel efficiency? Price? Technology? But we’ve been selling cars for a long time now, and we’ve noticed what factors families consistently love: price and safety tech. It’s these that keep families coming back for specific models over the years.

Family drivers want to make smart investments. They also want to know that the vehicle they own is safe, both for driving kids around and for when the kids themselves take the wheel in the future. That’s why we’re going to be comparing two sedans that have proven reliably popular on the contemporary auto market: the 2024 Chevy Malibu vs 2024 Nissan Altima. Both are great sedans, but in the ways that most matter to family drivers, the Malibu always comes out ahead. Let’s explore why…

The Smarter Buy

Both the 2024 Chevy Malibu and the 2024 Nissan Altima are economical vehicles, but the Malibu has a lower starting price that puts it ahead of the Altima for those who are keeping an eye on their wallet. The MSRP of the Malibu is $25,100, while the Altima’s starting price is $26,000.^[a] However, you might worry that performance in one car might make a difference—after all, if one gets far better performance numbers, then it might be worth a price increase.

While often true, that’s not the case here. The Malibu’s Turbo I-4 engine makes 160 hp, and the Altima’s base I-4 provides 182 hp. The Altima is a little higher, but the difference is negligible and not nearly worth the price increase, especially when one of the biggest performance indicators—acceleration time from zero to sixty—is just over seven seconds for both models. If the Altima’s slightly higher horsepower is not getting you better acceleration, then you shouldn’t be spending more for it.

The impact of a lower starting price can be reduced if fuel efficiency is less than optimal. You might be happy to see a lower sticker price, but if fuel costs are high, then that particular sedan will be a bad long-term investment. Once more, though, that’s not the case with the Malibu, as its fuel efficiency is on par with the more expensive Altima’s.

The Malibu gets 28 MPG in the city and 36 MPG on the highway. The Altima’s base engine option gets 27 MPG in the city and 39 MPG on the highway, which averages out to about the same, as it’s slightly worse in the city and slightly better on the highway.

The verdict here is clear: with similar fuel efficiency and similar acceleration, the Malibu manages to beat the Altima with its lower starting price. It’s a smarter investment as now families can spend that saved money on trips or activities that they’ll be able to do in their new sedan instead of spending it all on purchasing the sedan itself. There’s no better bargain on the market today than the 2024 Chevy Malibu.

Safety Either Way

Safety is a top concern of all drivers, but it’s especially important to drivers with families. Modern sedans are now packed with safety features aimed at keeping you and your passengers safe. That’s no different in the Malibu and Altima, both of which come with a slew of features that are both adaptive and useful.

The Chevy Safety Assist suite has a range of proactive driver assistance features. As an example, front pedestrian braking—which alerts you if a pedestrian is ahead of you and will brake your Malibu for you—is quite popular with families; for anyone who drives kids (meaning you’re likely to be in school zones where someone might dart out without warning), this can be an invaluable program.

The Altima has Nissan’s Safety Shield 360. Like Chevy Safety Assist, it, too, has programs that can spring to action if a crisis occurs. For instance, its rear automatic braking kicks into effect if its sensors pick up an obstacle behind your vehicle when you’re going in reverse.

What allows both cars to have such great programs? The number of cameras. Both sedans feature multiple cameras that have sensors so that your car always knows what’s going on around it and can react for you. Families adore the extra sense of safety this affords them because even the best driver can use a helping hand.

So, does that mean these sedans are on equal footing in safety tech? Well, not quite. For one, the first maintenance appointment with the Malibu is free, unlike with the Altima; this gives you extra motivation to start keeping a responsible maintenance schedule. There’s one more element, however, that the Malibu has that families with teenagers or soon-to-be teens will absolutely love…

Teen Driver Mode

Chevy has revolutionized driving safety for parents thanks to its intuitive but thorough Teen Driver mode. Chevy’s engineers know that stress levels in parents skyrocket when one or more of their children become old enough to get behind the wheel. There are so many distractions inside and outside the vehicle (and some entirely out of a young driver’s hands) that it can be overwhelming for parents to process—but Teen Driver mode can help.

So, what’s in this tech? Quite a lot. Perhaps most exciting is the report card it creates after every trip your young driver takes. You’ll be able to see the top speed, the distance driven, and the amount of times the Chevy Safety Assist programs had to kick into gear. If lane departure warning or forward pedestrian braking were activated, you’ll know, thanks to the report card.

You can also set it so that the car won’t go into drive if your teen does not have their seatbelt on, and you can set a maximum level that music can go to, making certain it’s not so loud that your teen driver can’t hear sirens or horns. If you don’t want your driver driving too fast, you can have the Malibu alert them when a certain speed is hit, too, telling them not to exceed it.

Your Malibu comes standard with Teen Driver mode; you don’t need to spend more money to have this reliable system, which is yet another reason it’s a superior family vehicle. Since there’s no equivalent technology in the Altima, there’s no comparison to be made, and the Malibu leaps ahead again.

The 2024 Chevy Malibu: The Best Sedan for Families

Any family that’s looking to purchase a sedan should make the smart, safe, and economical choice: the 2024 Chevy Malibu. Even great sedans like the Nissan Altima cannot compare. Thanks to its starting price and fuel efficiency, the Malibu allows you to save your hard-earned money. With its generous safety features—especially Teen Driver mode—it’ll make your trips less stressful, whether that trip just takes you around Indianapolis or all of Indiana.

There’s no better dealership to buy your new Malibu from than Blossom Chevrolet. We’ve helped drivers from all over Indiana pick out the right trim for their Malibu so that their driving life is radically improved. We’d be happy to sit with you and chat about your driving habits so we can guide you toward the Malibu that best suits your needs. Stop by as soon as you can and see why the 2024 model is the best one yet.

^[a] MSRP may change without notice. See dealer for complete details.