Chevrolet has upgraded the interior of its midsize Malibu sedan as part of a complete redesign for 2016. Some aspects of the interior I like a lot. An increasing number of cars, including the Kia Optima I examined last week, have stitching embedded in molded panels. If you think about it at all, this makes no sense, especially not if the molded panels are obviously molded panels, with no upholstery. Inside the new Malibu, the French-stitched areas–on the doors, on the face of the instrument panel, and (most unexpected and most welcome) on the sides of the center console–are actually upholstered. At night, ambient lighting abounds. Yet, despite this and the earth-tone two-tone, the new Malibu’s interior still leaves me cold. Why? Am I being overly picky?

To begin, the areas that aren’t upholstered, included the top of the instrument panel and the upper front sections of the door panels, are all too obviously hard plastic in their shape and in their sheen. Why are the door handle surrounds and the form that curves along the base of the A-pillars so chunky? They appear as if the design team made a rough cut in the clay, then decided it was good enough. (I first noticed this chunky theme in the 2009 Chevrolet Traverse, so its not new to the 2016 Malibu.)

Looking across the car, the joint between the upper and lower taupe-colored, hard plastic panels, just ahead of the arm rest, appears somehow wrong. Maybe I’d think differently if the panels weren’t the same color? Or is it the way the joint curves? Does it look odd to anyone else but me?

Another odd detail: the plastiwood trim around the lock and window buttons has a chrome ring around its perimeter, and then a rough-edged band of taupe hard plastic surrounds and extends a little higher than this chrome ring. Why are there so many pieces at so many different levels?

All of these I’d probably get used to. Then there’s the door pull. Formed of untextured hard plastic and widening from bottom to top, the door pull feels cheap and functions poorly. It’s neither easy nor comfortable to grasp. A stronger grip is needed to keep ones hand from slipping out. How did the designers overthink so many interior details, and put so little thought into the door pulls? They’re something people touch every single time they get into the car, and they are part of that critical first impression. It’s a shame, since as I noted much of the interior is very well designed and executed.

There’s no such problem with the trunk lid pull down handle, since there isn’t one. Either keep the exterior clean, or don’t wear white gloves.

So, should Chevrolet at least revise the door pulls, or am I being overly picky?