Malibu or Camry

I have to buy a car ASAP because my old one was died. The car should be a family car which means safe is the most imporatant thing and price is also a very big issue. I am thinking about Camry or Malibu. I am a dummy about the car. Choosing Camry because there are so many people driving it. For Malibu, there will be a last 4 days employee price sale for Malibu, the advise said 05 Malibu classic start from $10978 (don't know the detail). My question is I just found a commend from Edmunds and it said the break of Malibu is not very good, is that true? Thanks a lot and we have to decide and buy in a few days.