2004 CHEVROLET IMPALA Complaints

ON SEVERAL 2003-2006 GM VEHICLES, THE SPEEDOMETER STOPS WORKING (THE NEEDLE STOPS MOVING). THE FIX REQUIRES THAT THE ENTIRE GAUGE CLUSTER BE REPLACED FROM WITHIN THE DASH. THE SPEEDOMETER TYPICALLY FAILS SHORTLY AFTER THE VEHICLE'S 36K-MILE WARRANTY EXPIRES. CARCOMPLAINTS.COM HAS A FORUM THREAD WITH 125+ POSTS: HTTP://WWW.CARCOMPLAINTS.COM/CHEVROLET/IMPALA/2004/ACCESSORIES-INTERIOR/SPEEDOMETER_GONE_HAYWIRE.SHTML THERE ARE SEVERAL OTHER WEBSITES WITH FORUMS OF PEOPLE WHO HAVE THE SAME ISSUE... *TR

THE SPEEDOMETER WILL ALL OF A SUDDEN STOP WORKING AND NOT GIVE AN ACCURATE READING, AND IT MAKES CLICKING NOISE WHEN IT HAPPENS. IT OCCURS AROUND ONCE OR TWICE A WEEK NORMALLY, WITH MINIMAL DRIVING. THE DASH HAS TO BE REPLACED TO CORRECT THE ISSUE, THERE ARE MANY OTHER PEOPLE WITH THIS PROBLEM AND IT SHOULD BE FIXED AT THE COMPANY'S EXPENSE. THIS IS A SAFETY ISSUE BECAUSE I COULD BE GOING THE WRONG SPEED AND NOT HAVE ENOUGH TIME TO REACT TO SOMETHING SUCH AS A DEER IF I AM GOING FASTER THAN IT SAYS I AM OR IF I HAVE TO GUESS MY SPEED. *TR

INSTRUMENT CLUSTER ON 2004 CHEVY IMPALA GIVES INCORRECT READINGS TO INCLUDE SPEED WHICH COULD RESULT IN DRIVING AT EXCESSIVE SPEEDS WITHOUT PROPER INDICATION AND RESULTING IN UNJUST SPEEDING FINES. *TR

2004 CHEVY IMPALA, 35,000 MILES. WAS DRIVING DOWN THE INTERSTATE AND NOTICED THAT TEMPERATURE GAUGE WAS READING IN THE RED, PULLED INTO A MCDONALD'S TO SEE WHAT WAS GOING ON (NORMALLY THE IMPALA HAS AN ALARM THAT GOES OFF WHEN OVERHEATING, THIS DID NOT HAPPEN) AS I DECELERATED, I NOTICED THAT THE SPEEDOMETER DID NOT MOVE, BUT RATHER STAYED AT 60MPH, AND THE TEMPERATURE GAUGE ALSO DID NOT MOVE. UPON TURNING THE CAR OFF, THE SPEEDOMETER MOVED BACK TO 0, THE TEMPERATURE GAUGE STAYED IN THE RED. TURNING THE CAR BACK ON DID NOT RESET THE TEMP GAUGE, BUT AS I ACCELERATED, THE SPEEDOMETER STAYED AT 0 FOR THE REST OF THE TRIP (I HAD TO USE GPS TO GET SPEED). THE SPEEDOMETER HAS NOT WORKED CORRECTLY SINCE. DOING SOME INSPECTION LATER, I FOUND THIS IS AN EXTREMELY COMMON PROBLEM IN IMPALAS OF MOST 2000-2010 IMPALAS. OUR LOCAL POLICE FORCE DRIVES IMPALAS, AND THE SPEEDOMETERS FAIL ON ROUGHLY 60% AT BETWEEN 30K AND 60K MILES. A QUICK SEARCH ONLINE ALSO REVEALED THAT IT IS A SEVERE PROBLEM, AND SEVERAL PEOPLE HAVE BEEN EITHER PULLED OVER, OR HAD BEEN GOING MUCH TO FAST BEFORE NOTICING. DEALERSHIP SAYS THE ONLY WAY TO FIX IT IS A COMPLETE REPLACEMENT OF INSTRUMENT CLUSTER($150 USED, $400 NEW), AND SEVERAL PEOPLE WHO HAVE GOTTEN THE REPLACEMENT SIMPLY HAVE THE PROBLEM AGAIN. AS YOU CAN SEE, THIS IS AN EXTREMELY SEVERE PROBLEM, AND WHILE THE EMPLOYEES AT THE DEALERSHIP SAY IT HAPPENS ALL THE TIME (AT LEAST 3 IMPALAS WITH FAULTY SPEEDOMETERS PER WEEK), CHEVY AS A COMPANY DOES NOT SEEM TO NOTICE. PLEASE HELP! LINKS TO SOME REPAIR FORUMS ABOUT SIMILAR PROBLEMS: HTTP://WWW.TOPIX.COM/FORUM/AUTOS/CHEVROLET-IMPALA/TJSMIQPD8J0FT5DK8 HTTP://WWW.CARCOMPLAINTS.COM/CHEVROLET/IMPALA/2004/ACCESSORIES-INTERIOR/SPEEDOMETER_GONE_HAYWIRE.SHTML HTTP://WWW.AUTOMOTIVEHELPER.COM/TOPIC640920.HTM HTTP://WWW.AUTOMOTIVEFORUMS.COM/VBULLETIN/T752665.HTML. *TR

2004 CHEVY IMPALA: THE SPEEDOMETER STEP SERVO MOTOR IS DEFECTIVE IN MY CAR. IT STARTED ABOUT 2 YEARS AGO GIVING FALSE READINGS. I FOUND OUT ONLINE THAT THERE ARE THOUSANDS OF THEM DOING THIS. THE SAME PROBLEM WITH THE SAME STEP MOTORS USED ON OTHER CHEVY VEHICLES WERE ACTUALLY RECALLED. THIS IS A DANGEROUS SITUATION. I'M HAVING TO USE MY GPS FOR A SPEEDOMETER NOW, AND IT CAN BE HARD TO READ AT TIMES. WHY HASN'T CHEVROLET EXTENDED THE RECALL TO THE IMPALA'S AS WELL.THEY MUST BE HOPING THE CAR OWNERS WILL TAKE CARE OF THE PROBLEM IN THEIR VEHICLES FOR THEM? CAN YOU DO ANYTHING ABOUT THIS? THE DEALERSHIPS I'VE TALKED TO SAY THEY EXPECTED CHEVY TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT, BUT THEY STILL HAVE NOT PUT OUT THE RECALL ON THE IMPALA. IT'S BEEN GOING ON FOR YEARS NOW. EVEN BEFORE THE 2004 MODEL.THERE ARE MANY OF THESE COMPLAINTS LISTED 'ON LINE'. [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6). *TR

1.) THIS CAR IS USED AND HAS A SALVAGE TITLE FOR VANDALISM, I HAVE HAD FOR FIVE MONTHS, I HAVE NOTICED THAT ALL GAUGES (SPEEDOMETER, TACH & GAS GUAGE) DO NOT FUNCTION PROPERLY AND SAFELY 2.) THE FAILURE OCCURS DAILY; STARTED OFF AND ON ABOUT TWO MONTHS AGO 3.)I WENT TO WWW.CARCOMPLAINTS.COM, THIS MODEL, MAKE, AND YEAR ALL HAVE FAULTY GAUGES. THIS SHOULD BE RECALLED BY GM!!!! THERE ARE 124 COMPLAINTS. I AM GOING TO A MECHANIC, BUT I KNOW I SHOULDN'T HAVE TO REPAIR IT IF THERE ARE SO MANY COMPLAINTS ABOUT THE GAUGES GOING HAYWIRE ON CARS WITH LESS MILES THAN MINE. *TR

I HAVE A 2004 IMPALA AND ABOUT ONCE A WEEK IT WON'T START FOR ABOUT 10-15 MINUTES. HAVE TO SIT THERE A JIGGLE THE KEY AROUND. TOOK IT IN AND THE CHEVY GARAGE COULD NOT FIGURE IT OUT AT ALL AND I WAS CHARGE FOR THIS ANSWER "I DON'T KNOW" SOMETHING IS SERIOUSLY WRONG WHEN YOU HAVE THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE COMPLAINING OF THE VERY SAME THING IN THEIR IMPALA. I RECEIVED ALL KINDS OF POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS LIKE A NEW COMPUTER THAT COSTS OVER A $1000.00 GIVE ME A BREAK. *TR

TL*THE CONTACT OWNS A 2004 CHEVROLET IMPALA. THE CONTACT ATTEMPTED TO START THE VEHICLE WHEN THE SECURITY WARNING INDICATOR LIGHT ILLUMINATED ON THE INSTRUMENT PANEL. THE ENGINE WOULD NOT OPERATE WHILE THE SECURITY WARNING INDICATOR WAS ILLUMINATED; HOWEVER, THE ENGINE STARTED AFTER APPROXIMATELY TEN MINUTES. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE FAILURE APPEARED TO BE MORE PRONOUNCED WHEN THE TEMPERATURE WAS 50 DEGREES. THE IDENTICAL FAILURE OCCURRED TWENTY TIMES. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN A DEALER WHERE THE TECHNICIAN STATED THAT THE FAILURE WAS CONTRIBUTED TO THE VCM UNIT AND CONNECTORS, WHICH HAD BEEN REPLACED. THE FAILURE CONTINUED TO OCCUR. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 97,000. THE CURRENT MILEAGE WAS 105,000.

DASH GAUGES NOT MOVING AT ALL, OR WHEN THEY DO WORK THEY ARE NOT EVEN CLOSE TO BEING CORRECT. MY SPEED WILL SHOW I'M GOING OVER 120 MPH (I KNOW I AM NOT GOING 60). TEMP SHOWS THE CAR IS RUNNING HOT WHEN IT NOT. RPM WILL STAY ON RED. SOME DAYS THE GAUGES WILL WORK FINE AND THEN ALL OF A SUDDEN THEY WILL GO HAYWIRE. I AM TERRIFIED THAT MY GAS GAUGE IS GOING TO STOP WORKING OR SHOW I HAVE MORE GAS THAT I DO AND I END UP RUNNING OUT OF GAS. I AM A 24 YEAR OLD FEMALE AND I DON'T KNOW WHAT I DO IF I RAN OUT OF GAS SOMEWHERE ALL ALONE. I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO PUT FOR AS THE DATE. IT JUST STARTED HAPPENING AND I CONTINUE TO HAVE THE PROBLEM. I GOOGLED 2004 IMPALA GAUGES AND THERE ARE A LOT OF PEOPLE HAVING THE SAME PROBLEM. SOME ONE IS GOING TO GET HURT BY NOT KNOWING HOW FAST THEY ARE GOING, SOMEONE COULD BE HAVING PROBLEMS WITH THERE MOTOR AND WILL NOT ABLE TO TELL (RUNNING HOT, LOW OIL, ETC). *TR

I HAVE A 2004 CHEVY IMPALA THAT THE ELECTRONIC INSTRUMENT CLUSTER DOES NOT WORK ON. THE GAS GAUGE, TEMP GAUGE, AND SPEEDOMETER HAVE NOT WORKED CONSISTENTLY ON THIS CAR SINCE I PURCHASED THIS CAR BACK ON 09/2007. THE SPEEDOMETER WILL SHOW THAT I AM GOING 0 MILES AN HOUR WHEN I AM ACTUALLY MOVING, AND MY GAS GAUGE WILL BE POINTING STRAIGHT DOWN, SAME AS MY TEMP GAUGE. I HAVE TAKEN THE CAR BACK TO BILL SEIDLE CHEVROLET, THE DEALER THAT I PURCHASED IT FROM, AND THEY WILL NOT ADDRESS THE ISSUE. I HAVE ALSO CONTACTED CHEVORLET ABOUT THIS SITUATION AND WAS TOLD THAT IT IS NOT IMPORTANT ENOUGH AND LIFE THREATENING ENOUGH TO HAVE THIS ADDRESSED. EVEN THOUGH THERE ARE BLOGS OUT THERE WITH HUNDREDS OF PEOPLE WITH THE EXACT SAME PROBLEM THAT I AM EXPERIENCING. I FEEL THAT THIS IS EXTREMELY DANGEROUS NOT JUST TO MY 2004 CHEVY IMPALA BUT TO VIRTUALLY EVERY GM OWNER SINCE THRU 2005, THAT THERE IS A SERIOUS KNOWN SAFETY ISSUE RESULTING FROM THE FAILURE OF THE INSTRUMENT CLUSTER UNABLE TO DETERMINE SPEED OF VEHICLE, WHEN OR IF A VEHICLE IS OVERHEATING, UNABLE TO DETERMINE HOW MUCH OR IF ANY GAS REMAINS IN THE VEHICLE, THESE ARE SERIOUS ISSUES WHEN DRIVING A 2004 CHEVY IMPALA. A DRIVER HAS NO WAY OF KNOWING CRITICAL INFORMATION NEEDED WHEN DRIVING A VEHICLE. THE GAS GAUGE, TEMP GAUGE, SPEEDOMETER DO NOT WORK. CHEVY IS AWARE OF THE ISSUE AND HAS CONSISTENTLY REFUSED TO MAKE REPAIRS OF THE FAULTY INSTRUMENT PANEL. I IMPLORE YOU TO PLEASE DEMAND THE CHEVY RECALL ON THIS ELECTRONIC INSTRUMENT CLUSTER FAILURES FOR THE SAFETY OF ALL OF US. I CHALLENGE YOU TO GOOGLE 2004 CHEVY IMPALA, INVARIABLY EVERY RESULT WILL PERTAIN TO ELECTRONIC INSTRUMENT CLUSTER. HOW COULD THIS NOT RISE TO THE LEVEL REQUIRING A RECALL? *TR