2004 Chevrolet Impala

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.

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.

I HAVE A 2004 IMPALA. IT ONLY HAS 36,000 MILES ON IT. I HAVE KEPT IT WELL MAINTAINED AND IS GREAT SHAPE WITH LOW MILES. THE GAUGE CLUSTER ON THE CONTROL PANEL BEGAN ACTING CRAZY AS MANY OTHER POSTINGS I HAVE SEEN ON THE INTERNET. THE SPEEDOMETER AND TEMPERATURE GAUGE IS SCREWED UP. IT READS 100 WHEN I'M GUESSING 40 OR 50 MPH OR 10 WHEN I'M AROUND 35 OR THE TOTAL OPPOSITE. I CAN RESET IT TEMPORARILY BY TURNING THE KEY ON AND OFF UNTIL THE SPEEDOMETER AND THE TEMPERATURE GAUGE REACHES ZERO. IT IS SOMETIME OK FOR A SHORT WHILE. BUT IT DEFINITELY WILL GO WACKY AFTER I GO OVER 50 MPH OR IF I GO OVER 60 MPH HOUR ON THE INTERSTATE. THEN I HAVE NO SPEEDOMETER UNTIL I TRY TO RESET IT AND SOMETIMES IT TAKES ME DAYS TO GET IT BACK TO ONLY TEMPORARILY WORKING. I NOTICED THIS HAPPENING IN 2009 WHEN I GOT THE CAR FROM MY BROTHER AFTER HE PASSED AWAY. THE CAR AT THAT TIME ONLY HAD AROUND 28,500 MILES ON IT. BUT AS TIMES GOES ON, THE ISSUES ARE GETTING MORE PROMINENT AND WORSE. THERE ARE SOMETIMES I HAVE TO WAIT A DAY OR TWO TO EVEN GET IT BACK TO RESET. I HAVE CALLED THE LOCAL CHEVY DEALER LARIA CHEVY IN RITTMAN, OHIO WHERE MY BROTHER HAD PURCHASED THE VEHICLE FROM ORIGINALLY. I TOLD THE SERVICE MANAGER TOLD OF THE NUMEROUS COMPLAINTS I HAD READ ON THIS PROBLEM. HE INFORMED ME THERE WAS NO RECALL AND THE COST TO REPAIR IT WOULD BE AROUND $550 TO $650. I BELIEVE THIS IS A TOTAL RIP OFF BY CHEVY!! THIS IS NOT AN ISOLATED PROBLEM, CONSIDERING THE MOUNTING NUMBER OF COMPLAINTS I HAVE ALREADY READ ON THE INTERNET. THERE IS DEFINITELY A SAFETY FACTOR INVOLVED AND I CAN NOT BELIEVE THERE WAS NO RECALL BY CHEVY OR BY THE NHTSA BOARD. I AM SO DISPLEASED WITH THIS VEHICLE THAT THIS WILL BE MY LAST CHEVY I WILL EVER BUY AND I HAVE VOICED MY DISPLEASURE WITH SEVERAL OF MY FRIENDS. I WILL GO BACK TO A DEPENDABLE HONDA CAR WHICH I DROVE FOR 12 YEARS AND NEVER HAD ISSUES WITH IT AS I HAVE HAD WITH THIS CHEVY!! *TR

SPEEDOMETER FREQUENTLY INDICATES THE WRONG SPEED. THE SPEEDOMETER NEEDLE GOT STUCK AT ZERO MPH WHEN OUTSIDE TEMPERATE WAS ABOUT 20 DEGREES FAHRENHEIT. EVER SINCE THAT TIME (FOR 3 MONTHS NOW) THE SPEEDOMETER NEEDLE WILL FREQUENTLY STICK OR JITTER AS VEHICLE SPEED CHANGES. WHEN SPEEDOMETER NEEDLE IS STUCK IT FAILS TO RESET ALL THE WAY TO ZERO WHEN CAR IS STARTED. IT ONLY MOVES COUNTER-CLOCKWISE A LITTLE BIT WHEN STARTING THE CAR; IT DOES NOT MOVE BACK TO ITS RESET POSITION. THE RESET PROBLEM COULD BE COMPOUNDED BY A PROGRAMMING PROBLEM WITH THE SIGNALS SENT TO THE STEPPER MOTOR. THE FUEL GAUGE NEEDLE CAN BE HEARD AND SEEN DURING STARTING OF THE CAR TO SWING THE FULL RANGE OF THE FUEL DIAL TO RESET ITSELF. THE SPEEDOMETER ONLY MOVES A LITTLE BIT COUNTER-CLOCKWISE DURING STARTUP; NOT NEARLY ENOUGH TO RESET TO ZERO WHEN IT GETS STUCK. *TR

PROBLEM IS SPEEDOMETER. DRIVING ON HIGHWAY AT 60 MPH, AS SUN WAS SETTING, SPEEDOMETER SLOWLY WENT 60 TO ZERO OR A LOW NUMBER (OVER 5-10 MINUTES) WITH NO ACTUAL CHANGE IN SPEED. THIS HAPPENED ON SEVERAL CONSECUTIVE DAYS. CURRENTLY, FOR MANY MONTHS, SPEEDOMETER IS NOT ACCURATE. E.G. GOING ABOUT 40 MPH, READS 20 MPH. E.G. GOING ABOUT 35 MPH, READS 120 MPH, REPEAT 120 MPH. E.G. CAR AT STANDSTILL, SPEEDOMETER READS 120 MPH. E.G. GOING 40 MPH, READS ZERO. OFTEN SHOWS CORRECT SPEED THEN SLOWLY GOES DOWN WITH NO CHANGE IN ACTUAL SPEED. VERY DANGEROUS ON HIGHWAY AT NIGHT NOT KNOWING HOW FAST YOU ARE GOING. SEARCHED INTERNET, MANY SIMILAR COMPLAINTS. PROBLEM - POSSIBLY STEPPER MOTORS. NEED RECALL. *TR

EVENT: USE THE BRAKES. FAILURE: FRONT END SHAKES. REPAIR: REPLACE ROTORS. EVENT: DRIVE AT ANY SPEED. FAILURE: SPEEDOMETER GONE HAYWIRE, SAYS YOUR GOING 20 WHEN YOU ARE GOING 70? REPAIR: REBUILT INSTRUMENT CLUSTER. EVENT: ANY TIME ENGINE RUNNING. FAILURE: TEMP GAUGE HAYWIRE. YOU PULL OVER THINKING YOUR CAR IS OVERHEATING; IT'S NOT. REPAIR: REBUILT INSTRUMENT CLUSTER. EVENT: ANY TIME ENGINE RUNNING. FAILURE: FUEL GAUGE HAYWIRE. DON'T KNOW HOW MUCH FUEL YOU HAVE, COULD RUN OUT OF GAS (DID NOT HAPPEN TO ME). REPAIR: REBUILT INSTRUMENT CLUSTER. EVENT: USING BLINKERS. FAILURE: BLINKERS EITHER DON'T WORK WHEN ACTIVATED, OR FLASH RANDOMLY. REPAIR: REPLACE BLINKER/HAZARD MODULE. EVENT: TURNING IGNITION KEY FAILURE: NO CRANK, NO START - SECURITY LIGHT ON. WAIT A WHILE, CAR STARTS LIKE NOTHING HAPPENED. REPAIR: BYPASSED AND DISABLED SECURITY 'PASSLOCK' SWITCH. EVENT: USING WIPERS/RAIN. FAILURE: WINDSHIELD WIPERS STOP IN MIDDLE OF WINDSHIELD, CONTINUE AFTER TURNING OFF, OR DON'T COME ON WHEN SWITCH TURNED ON. REPAIR: REPLACE WIPER MOTOR & PULSE BOARD. EVENT: STOP AT INTERSECTION WITH ENGINE RUNNING FAILURE: ENGINE SURGING AND STALLING. YOU MUST KEEP YOUR FOOT PLANTED ON THE BRAKE SO THAT YOU DON'T RUN INTO THE CAR IN FRONT OF YOU. IT STALLED OUT OF STATE IN AN INTERSECTION. REPAIR: REPLACE MASS AIR FLOW SENSOR (MAF). THIS MOST RECENT MAF PROBLEM WAS THE LAST STRAW. THIS CAR HAS OTHER NON-SAFETY RELATED ELECTRICAL PROBLEMS, AS WELL AS THE NORMAL WEAR ITEMS THAT YOU WOULD REPLACE ON A 'REAL CAR'. THIS CAR IS A ROLLING ELECTRICAL DISASTER. THIS CAR IS A MONEY PIT, JUST LIKE ITS MANUFACTURER. GOOD LUCK WITH THAT CHEVY VOLT. *TR

I OWN A 2004 CHEVROLET IMPALA SEDAN WHICH HAS 123,551 MILES ON IT. I BOUGHT IT WITH 108,000. I DISCOVERED AFTER I BOUGHT IT THAT MY SPEEDOMETER CLUSTER WAS ACTING UP. I COULD RESET IT BY TURN THE KEY ON AND OFF TIL IT REACHED 0 AND BOTH THE WATER TEMP GAUGE AND SPEEDOMETER WOULD WORK FOR A DAY OR SO. NOW, ONLY THE SPEEDOMETER WORKS BY RESETTING AND THE WATER GAUGE NEVER WORKS. I HAVE SEEN MAY OTHER IMPALA COMPLAINTS FOR THE SAME REASON. THEY DID A RECALL ON THE TRUCKS BUT NOT ON IMPALAS. I FEEL THIS SHOULD BE A RECALL. 2ND PROBLEM. TRANSMISSION SHOP DIAGNOSED AND REPLACE VALVE BODY. STILL DID SAME JUMPING IN AND OUT OF GEAR SO REPLACE AGAIN. STILL DOES IT. WAS TOLD BY ANOTHER TRANSMISSION SHOP WHO DROVE MY CAR THAT IT MAY BE CONTROL MODULE. IT NEVER DOES IT WHEN I TAKE TO A TRANSMISSION SHOP BUT MY MECHANIC GOT IT TO DO IT ON FRI. AND SAID HE THOUGHT IT COULD EITHER BE SPEEDOMETER CLUSTER RELATED OR MAY A CONTROL MODULE. IT IS AN INTERMINENT PROBLEM AND HAVE HAD SINCE I BOUGHT CAR IN DEC. 09. ANOTHER FRIEND SAID HE BOUGHT A NEW 08 AND IT DID SAME THING. NO ONE EVER FOUND OUT WHY. *TR