2004 CHEVROLET IMPALA Complaints

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2004 CHEVROLET IMPALA. THE CONTACT STATED THAT WHILE DRIVING DOWNHILL AT A LOW SPEED, THE LOW BRAKE FLUID LIGHT ILLUMINATED ON THE INSTRUMENT PANEL. AFTER REACHING HIS DESTINATION, THE CONTACT EXAMINED THE VEHICLE AND NOTICED A BRAKE FLUID LEAK. THE CONTACT ALSO STATED THAT THE BRAKE LINES NEAR THE MASTER CYLINDER WERE SEVERELY RUSTED. THE VEHICLE WAS INSPECTED BY AN INDEPENDENT MECHANIC, WHO ADVISED THE CONTACT TO REPLACE THE BRAKE LINES. THE LEAKING BRAKE LINE WAS REPAIRED. THE FAILURE AND CURRENT MILEAGES WERE 26,388 . UPDATED 08/01/11*LJ UPDATED 08/03/11

MY DASH CLUSTER IS MALFUNCTIONING. IT SAYS MY CAR IS OVERHEATING. HAD IT WORKED ON AND AFTER FOUND IT WAS A KNOWN CLUSTER PROBLEM. THE SPEEDOMETER IS NOT ACCURATE AND I GOT PULLED OVER FOR SPEEDING. NEXT THE CRUISE CONTROL WENT OUT. NOW THE GAS GAUGE IS NEXT. CHECKED ON LINE AND GM IS AWARE OF THESE ISSUES BUT HAS DONE NOTHING. REPAIR BILL IS AROUND 500.00 DOLLARS. SEEMS UNFAIR TO ME. WILL BE TRAVELING ON INTERSTATE SOON HOPE NO ONE GETS HURT DUE TO SPEED/ENGINE OVER HEATING AND NOT KNOWING/RUNNING OUT OF GAS ON A BUSY INTERSTATE. I THOUGHT I BOUGHT A DEPENDABLE CAR...GUESS I WAS WRONG. *TR

I DRIVE A CHEVY 2004 IMPALA. WHEN DRIVING MY CAR, THE SPEEDOMETER BEGIN TO ACT RANDOMLY. I WAS ABLE TO CLOCK MY SPEED USING MY GPS. MY CAR SAID I WAS DOING 70 MILES PER HOUR, BUT I WAS REALLY DOING 30 MP/H. NOW, THE SPEEDOMETER DOES NOT WORK AT ALL. IT CONSTANTLY SAYS I'M DOING 0 MP/H. THIS IS A SERIOUS ISSUE. THE DEALERSHIP WANTED $700 DOLLARS TO FIX A DEADLY DEFECT IN THEIR OWN CAR. MANY IMPALA DRIVERS HAVE THIS ISSUE AND GM HAS FAILED TO RECALL THIS PRODUCT. *TR

1) TRIED TO SLOW CAR DOWN. CAR WOULD NOT TURN NOR HALT. ENDED UP HITTING THE VEHICLE IN FRONT OF ME. RESTORED IT 100%. 2) A YEAR LATER, HAD 3 BRAND NEW RACK AND PINION'S REPLACED IN ONE MONTH. HAD THE VEHICLE CHECKED OUT. THE A-FRAME IS IN EXCELLENT SHAPE AND SO IS THE AREA SURROUNDING THE RACK AND PINON. HAVE PICTURES AND MECHANICS AS PROOF. 3) CALLED THE CHEVY COMPANY & WAS TOLD THAT THE CAR WAS MANUFACTURED IN WISCONSIN. THEY CLAIM THEY SAW NO REASON TO HELP WITH THE RACK & PINION AS THOSE CARS WERE RECALL-FREE. 4) CAR LEANS TOWARDS ONCOMING TRAFFIC AT TIMES (THIS STARTED AFTER EACH RACK AND PINION WAS REPLACED). THERE IS ALSO A 2 O'CLOCK AND 10 O'CLOCK DEAD ZONE IN THE STEERING COLUMN. STEERING USED TO FEEL A BIT NORMAL. IT WAS NOT LIKE THIS UNTIL I HAD A NEW RACK AND PINION PUT ON. TWICE (IN BETWEEN) THE BOOT WOULD EXCESSIVELY LEAK (AS DID THE ORIGINAL FROM CHEVY). 5) WHEN I TURN THE WHEEL OUT OF THE DRIVEWAY, THE CAR MAKES KICK DRUMMING GRINDING SOUNDS. WAS TOLD THIS WAS NORMAL. IT IS IRRITATING THOUGH. 6) THE CAR DIDN'T EVEN HIT IT'S 5TH YEAR (BEING NEW) BEFORE IT STARTED TO RUST PAINT OFF THE TOP OF ITS ROOF. I LIVE WHERE THERE IS NO SNOW OR COAST, AND EXTREMELY LITTLE ICE. 7) THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT NEVER GOES OFF. HAD IT CHECKED. WAS TOLD IT WAS FINE. 8) WAS DRIVING RIGHT NEXT TO A COP GOING DOWN A STEEP HILL WHEN THE SPEEDOMETER STUCK AT 10 MPH. I CROSSED MY FINGERS THAT I WASN'T SPEEDING SINCE I KEPT MY SPEED NEXT TO THE OFFICER. REPLACED. 9) COMBO TURNING SIGNAL & CRUISE BROKE OFF THE STEERING FOR NO REASON DURING A TURN. REPLACED. 10) LOCKS ME OUT OFF & ON FOR NO REASON. 11) THIS CAR IS MY BABY AS IT WAS ONE OF THE LAST THING I GOT THAT WAS MY MOTHER'S BEFORE SHE DIED. IT IS ALSO MY FIRST CAR THAT HAS SEEN ME THROUGH (AND STILL) MY COLLEGE YEARS. IT IS VERY SENTIMENTAL TO ME FOR THOSE REASONS. MY DREAM IS TO KEEP THIS CAR EVEN WHEN IT'S A CLASSIC.

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2004 CHEVROLET IMPALA. THE CONTACT STARTED THE IGNITION AND A SIGNIFICANT AMOUNT FUMES EMITTED INSIDE OF THE VEHICLE FROM THE FUEL TANK. THE CONTACT REFERENCED NHTSA CAMPAIGN ID NUMBER: 07E021000 (FUEL SYSTEM, OTHER: STORAGE: TANK ASSEMBLY: PRESSURE RELIEF DEVICES) BUT WAS ADVISED BY THE MANUFACTURER THAT THE VEHICLE WAS NOT INCLUDED IN THE RECALL. THE VEHICLE WAS NEITHER DIAGNOSED NOR REPAIRED. THE APPROXIMATE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 94,000.

THE HEADLIGHTS ON MY 2004 CHEVY IMPALA JUST SUDDENLY WENT OUT DURING NIGHT TIME DRIVING. THE ONLY THING THAT WOULD GIVE ME ANY LIGHT WAS TO HOLD BACK ON THE DIMMER SWITCH LEVER. I HAVE SINCE LEARNED THAT THIS MALFUNCTION HAS HAPPENED TO HUNDREDS OF OWNERS OF IMPALAS. THE SWITCH IS QUOTED AS COSTING OVER $500 AND INSTALLATION ANOTHER $200. THAT'S ALOT FOR A COMMONLY DEFECTIVE PLASTIC PART! IT'S ALSO A VERY POOR DESIGN TO HAVE ALL HEADLIGHTS GO OUT SIMPLY BECAUSE THE DIMMER SWITCH IS MALFUNCTIONING. *TR

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2004 CHEVROLET IMPALA. THE CONTACT NOTICED THAT THE SPEEDOMETER WAS INOPERABLE AND SHE WAS UNABLE TO DETERMINE HOW FAST SHE WAS TRAVELING. THE DEALER AND MANUFACTURER WERE NOTIFIED OF THE FAILURE HOWEVER, DID NOT OFFER ANY ASSISTANCE. NO REPAIRS WERE PERFORMED. THE CURRENT MILEAGE WAS 132,000 AND THE APPROXIMATE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 100,000.

TL*THE CONTACT OWNS A 2004 CHEVROLET IMPALA. THE CONTACT STATED WHILE DRIVING 30 MPH SHE ATTEMPTED TO STOP AT THE TRAFFIC LIGHT WHEN THE BRAKES WERE DEPRESSED AND EXTENDED TO THE FLOOR. THE VEHICLE WAS TOWED TO A LOCAL DEALER WHO PERFORMED A DIAGNOSTIC TEST THAT LOCATED THE FAILURE WITHIN THE THREE BRAKE LINES. THE BRAKES LINES FAILED DUE TO CORROSION. THE VEHICLE WAS REPAIRED. THE DEALER REPLACED THE CORRODED BRAKE LINES. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOT NOTIFIED OF THE FAILURE. THE CURRENT MILES WERE 51,220. UPDAETD 07/20/11*LJ UPDATED 02/28/12

FIRST MY TEMPATURE GAUGE STARTING READING VEHICLE WAS OVER HEATING AND I HAD JUST STARTED THE CAR. NOW THE NEEDLE IS PINNED AT THE BOTTOM EVEN WHEN THE VEHICLE IS OFF AND THE GAUGE IS ON THE TOP. THEN THE GAS GAUGE STARTED JUMPING. NOW IT DOES NOT READ ACCURATELY AT ALL, AT TIME IS WAY PASS FULL OR DOESN'T READ ANYTHING, EVEN WHEN I FILL UP THE GAS. FINALLY THE SPEEDOMETER STOPPED WORKING OR GIVES FALSE SPEEDS. I HAVE BEEN TRAVELING ON THE HIGHWAY OVER 50-60 AND THE SPEEDOMETER READS 10MPH. THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT NOW HAS COME ON ALSO.

OUR CAR, AND THOUSANDS OF OTHERS HAVE FAILING INSTRUMENT CLUSTERS DUE TO A FAULTY STEP MOTOR. THIS IS THE SAME PART THAT HAS CAUSED A RECALL FOR OTHER GM VEHICLES, AND YET NOTHING FOR THIS MODEL. I HAVE RESEARCHED MANY REPAIR BLOGS, AND WEBSITES AND FIND THAT THIS IS INDEED A VERY COMMON PROBLEM. SPEEDOMETER READS WILDLY INACCURATE AT TIMES, CLOSE ON OTHER OCCASIONS, NOT AT ALL MOST OF THE TIME NOW. THE TEMPERATURE GUAGE SUDDENLY SHOOTS UP, CAUSING MY WIFE TO PULL TO THE SIDE OF THE ROAD AND POP THE HOOD, ONLY TO FIND THAT THE CAR IS NOT OVERLY HOT. NEVER REALLY SURE WHEN WE MAY RUN OUT OF GAS... WHY IS IT THAT THE RECALL DOES NOT APPLY TO ALL CARS AND TRUCKS TO HAVE RECEIVED THIS FAULTY PART? I REALLY CANNOT FIND THE REASONING TO THAT. CHEVROLET WANTS OVER 600 DOLLARS TO FIX A PART PROVEN TO BE FAULTY FROM THE FACTORY!! THERE ARE LOTS OF PEOPLE MAKING A LIVING AT REPAIRING THIS ONE PROBLEM. DOES IT NOT SEEM UNSAFE TO SELL A CAR WITHOUT PROPERLY FUNCTIONING GUAGES?? PLEASE STEP UP AND FORCE A RECALL ACROSS THE BOARD FOR THESE MOTORS!!!