2009 Chevrolet Impala

KEY STUCK IN IGNITION AND WILL NOT RELEASE. REPAIRED TWICE UNDER WARRANTY PROBLEM STILL PERSISTS. NUMEROUS COMPLAINTS ON INTERNET. GM HAS INTERNAL KNOWLEDGE OF ISSUE WITH PROPOSED WORKAROUND WHICH DOES NOT REMEDY THE ISSUE. THIS IS A POOR DESIGN. FREE STANDING CABLE IN SHIFT COLUMN MOVES AND BECOMES PINCHED OR SOLDER COMES LOOSE FROM HARNESS NOT ALLOW KEY TO BE RELEASED. VEHICLE CANNOT BE UNATTENDED DOORS CANNOT BE LOCKED LEFT STRANDED. VEHICLE IS NOW AT DEALER AND NO LONGER COVERED UNDER WARRANTY. TERRIBLE DESIGN BY GM. NOW FORCED TO PAY FOR A REPAIR WHICH WILL NOT HOLD UP AND THAT HAS ALREADY BEEN REPAIRED TWICE WELL UNDER WARRANTY. *TR

THE ENTIRE DASH BOARD (SPEEDOMETER AREA) WILL LOSE POWER AND ALL THE GAUGES WILL GO OUT AS IF THE CAR WAS TURNED OFF WHILE DRIVING. THE RADIO WILL STILL WORK, I CAN'T USE THE TURN SIGNAL WHEN THIS HAPPENS. THE CAR WOULD EVENTUALLY GO BACK TO WORKING ON THE DASHBOARD FOR AWHILE AND THAN REPEAT ITSELF. THE AIRBAG LIGHT STAY ON SAYING I NEED TO HAVE IT SERVICE, BUT WHEN I WENT TO A CHEVORLET DEALER TODAY IT DIDN'T READ A DIAGNOSIS CODE SO THEY COULDN'T DO ANYTHING BUT RESET, BUT THAT STILL DIDN'T WORK. *TR

WAS DRIVING CAR AND TRACTION CONTROL LIGHT CAME ON AND THEN CHECK ENGINE LIGHT. LOST POWER AND BRAKES. CAR WAS ABLE TO STOP BUT VERY HARD. GLAD NOBODY WAS IN FRONT OF ME OR I WOULD HAVE IT THEM. THIS IS VERY DANGEROUS AND I THINK THERE SHOULD BE A RECALL ON THE THROTTLE BODY AND SENSORS. I DID HAVE IT FIXED BUT HAD TO TAKE IT TO SEVERAL DEALERS TO FIGURE OUT IF IT WAS THE ACCELERATOR PEDAL OR THE THROTTLE BODY.IT WAS THE WHOLE THROTTLE BODY UNIT. *TR

STOPPED AT THE TOP OF A SNOW COVERED HILL. PUT THE TRANSMISSION IN 2ND GEAR AND PROCEEDED DOWN THE HILL. THE VEHICLE GOT UP TO ABOUT 15 MPH THEN LOST ALL POWER; ENGINE QUIT, NO BRAKES, AND THE STEERING WHEEL LOCKED IN PLACE. BECAUSE THE BRAKES WERE NOT WORKING THE VEHICLE GAINED SIGNIFICANT SPEED GOING DOWNHILL. NOT BEING ABLE TO STEER THE VEHICLE BECAUSE THE STEERING WHEEL WAS LOCKED IT WENT OFF THE ROAD AND HIT A TREE. UPON IMPACT THE AIR BAGS DID NOT DEPLOY. AS A RESULT THE DRIVER AND PASSENGER WERE SERIOUSLY INJURED. *TR THE CONSUMER STATED AFTER OWNING THE VEHICLE FOR A FEW MONTHS, THE VEHICLE BEGAN TO LOOSE POWER AND SEVERAL MESSAGES APPEARED ON THE DASHBOARD. ALL THE POWER SHUT OFF AND THE CONSUMER HAD TO AAA TO HAVE THE VEHICLE TOWED TO WHERE SHE PURCHASED IT. AN INSPECTION REVEALED THE THROTTLE BODY NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. UPDATED 07/10/14

THE REAR POWER DOOR LOCK ACTUATORS HAVE FAILED. THE REAR PASSENGER DOOR LOCK FAILED FIRST, THEN A FEW THOUSAND MILES LATER THE DRIVER SIDE ACTUATOR FAILED. THE PROBLEM IS INTERMITTENT BUT WITH A 90%+ OCCURRENCE OF FAILURE. ONE OR BOTH WILL FAIL FOR WEEKS AT A TIME, BUT MAY OCCASIONALLY SURPRISE YOU AND WORK ONCE OR TWICE. THE FAILURE IS IN BOTH THE LOCK AND UNLOCK MODES. THE FAILURE IS UNRELATED TO USING KEYLESS ENTRY OR THE MANUAL SWITCH OR HAVING CHILD SAFETY LOCKS ON OR OFF. IT IS VIRTUALLY IMPOSSIBLE TO REACH THE REAR DOOR TOP MANUAL LATCH POST FROM THE FRONT SEAT. ON ONE OCCASION I WAS TRYING TO MANUALLY UNLOCK THE REAR PASSENGER SIDE DOOR FROM THE FRONT SEAT. MY HEAD/NECK BECAME TRAPPED BETWEEN THE SIDE OF THE FRONT PASSENGER SEAT AND THE DOOR PILLAR. I WAS UNABLE TO REMOVE MY NECK UNTIL I WAS ABLE TO REACH THE SEAT ADJUSTING MECHANISM AND MOVE THE SEAT FORWARD. IN THE PROCESS OF THAT I AGGRAVATED A CHRONIC BACK CONDITION PULLING A MUSCLE IN MY BACK. AN INTERNET SEARCH OR DISCUSSION WITH REPAIR SHOPS WILL QUICKLY REVEAL THAT THIS IS A WIDESPREAD ISSUE FOR MANY 2008-2009 CHEVROLET IMPALA, TAHOE, MALIBU AND SILVERADO OWNERS. DUE TO THE APPROXIMATE $365 PER DOOR REPAIR COST, THE DEFECTIVE LATCHES ARE NOT BEING REPLACED BY MANY OWNERS. CHEVROLET IS WELL AWARE OF THE PROBLEM AND OFFERS NO REPAIR ASSISTANCE. IN A CRASH SITUATION THE CRASH COMPUTER SEQUENCE CANNOT BE RELIED ON ACTUATE THE DEFECTIVE LOCK ACTUATORS. THE POSITION OF THE MANUAL LOCK POST DOES NOT FACILITATE MANUAL OPERATION WITHOUT EXTREME CONTORTION OF THE BODY. IN A FIRE, CRASH OR EMERGENCY IT WOULD BE DIFFICULT TO ACCESS CHILDREN OR PASSENGERS FROM THE REAR SEAT FOR EXTRACTION. MY SON HAS TOLD ME THAT IT IS COMMON KNOWLEDGE THAT THE REAR DOORS ON THIS GENRE OF VEHICLE ARE COMMONLY UNLOCKED AND A TARGET OF THIEVES AND POTENTIALLY CARJACKERS. *TR

TODAY MUST OF BEEN A RECORD FOR HOW MANY TIMES MY IMPALA SHUT ITSELF OFF! I LOST COUNT AT ABOUT 20 TIMES! IM OVER A HUNDRED MILES AWAY FROM HOME AT MY PARENTS HOUSE AND ON MY ATTEMPT TO GET HOME THE IMPALA WOULDN'T LET ME DRIVE MORE THAN 10 MINUTES. BECAUSE OF THIS I HAVE NOW HAD TO CALL OFF WORK AND AM OUT OF A DAYS WAGE BECAUSE I MADE THE MISTAKE OF BUYING THIS CAR. I HAVE NO MONEY AND CANT GET THIS FIXED FOR AWHILE BUT IT SEEMS THAT I MAY HAVE TO CHOSE BETWEEN EATING THIS MONTH OR FIXING THIS SO I GUESS ILL JUST GO HUNGRY. I'VE BEEN SEARCHING THIS SITE FOR OTHER YEAR IMPALAS AND IT SEEMS THAT EVERY SINGLE YEAR IS HAVING THIS ISSUE, EVEN THE 2014 MODELS! THIS HAS MADE ME REACH THE CONCLUSION THAT THE NHTSA DOESN'T REALLY CARE ABOUT OUR SAFETY NOR DO THEY ATTEMPT TO SOLVE ANY PROBLEMS BASED ON HOW MANY TIMES THIS COMPLAINT GETS REPORTED AND DOES ANYTHING EVER HAPPEN!? THE ANSWER IS NO! SO IM BASICALLY WRITING THIS TO INFORM OTHERS WHO PLAN ON GETTING AN IMPALA, PLEASE FOR THE SAFETY OF YOURSELF, THOSE AROUND YOU, AND YOUR WALLET DON'T! THIS IS MY LAST GM CAR I WILL EVER PURCHASE! NOT THAT GM REALLY CARES BECAUSE THEY ALREADY GOT MY $60,000 FOR MY LAST 3 CARS SO THIS PROBLEM WILL NEVER GET RECALLED, NOR WILL THIS WEBSITE ATTEMPT TO PROVIDE ANY TYPE OF HELP SO SAVE YOURSELF THE HEADACHE AND BUY FOREIGN. *TR

AFTER JUST CLEARING THE ONBOARD COMPUTER WITH MY OBD2 SCANNER JUST A FEW MINUTES BEFORE IT HAPPENED AGAIN. AFTER SITTING AT ANOTHER STOPLIGHT I PROCEEDED INTO MY LEFT TURN AND AS I'M COMING INTO THE LANE MY IMPALA DIED MIDWAY THROUGH THE INTERSECTION AS IT CHANGED FROM YELLOW TO RED LEAVING ME IN THE INTERSECTION AS THE CROSS TRAFFIC BEGAN TO GO ALMOST CREATING A HEAD ON COLLISION AND A MULTIPLE VEHICLE COLLISION. CAN A RECALL PLEASE BE IN EFFECT FOR THIS! ITS TO THE POINT TO WHERE I'M AFRAID TO DRIVE MY CAR TO WORK! I'D RATHER WALK THE 20 MILES TO WORK THEN BE IN THIS UNSAFE GM CAR! *JS

ON MY COMMUTE TO WORK ON THE INTERSTATE MY IMPALA SHUT ITSELF OFF. I WAS IN THE LEFT LANE WHEN THE CAR SHOWED THE REDUCED ENGINE POWER ON THE INFORMATION PANEL, IT THEN FULLY DISENGAGED ALL ENGINE POWER AND POWERSTEERING. BEING IN THE OUTSIDE LANE I HAD TO MANEUVER MY IMPALA THROUGH THE HEAVY TRAFFIC AND ALMOST CAUSED NUMEROUS ACCIDENTS TRYING TO SQUEEZE TO THE SHOULDER. I THEN COASTED OFF INTO THE GRASS ALMOST INTO A LARGE DITCH BUT I SLAMMED ON THE BRAKES HARD AND WENT INTO A SKID COMING TO A FULL STOP. I SCANNED THE CAR WITH MY OBD2 SCANNER, IT READ P0601. *JS

I WAS DRIVING DOWN A VERY BUSY STREET LOOKING FOR A RESTAURANT AND MY CAR MADE THREE DINGING SOUNDS INDICATING A ISSUE. BEFORE I EVEN COULD READ WHAT WAS DISPLAYING ON MY INFORMATION PANEL THE CAR LOST ALL POWER STEERING AND ENGINE POWER. BECAUSE I WAS TRAVELING AT ABOUT 55MPH I COULD VERY LUCKILY COAST TO A PARKING LOT NEAR BY. AFTER COASTING TO A PARKING SPOT I PUT THE CAR IN PARK AND READ THE INFORMATION PANEL, IT READ REDUCED ENGINE POWER, SERVICE STABILITRAK, AND SERVICE THROTTLE BODY. BECAUSE I KNOW MOST AMERICAN MADE CARS ARE PURE GARBAGE I WONT DRIVE ONE WITHOUT A EBDII SCANNER. AFTER READING THE EBDII SCANNER IT SHOWED A P0601 CODE, WHICH INDICATES A PCM MEMORY ISSUE. AFTER CLEARING THE CODE IT STARTED RIGHT BACK UP AND DROVE FOR ABOUT 10 MORE MINUTES UNTIL I WAS AT A PARKING LOT ON A STEEP GRADE. THE 3 DINGS HAPPENED AGAIN AND MY ENGINE SHUT OFF CAUSING ME TO ROLL BACKWARDS ABOUT 10 FEET ALMOST INTO OVER VEHICLES. I HAVE DONE SOME RESEARCH ON THIS AND HAVE COME TO FOUND THAT THIS IS A ENGINEERING FAULT CAUSED BY TO MUCH CURRENT FLOWING INTO THE POWER CONTROL MODULE, WHICH CREATES A SMALL HAIRLINE CRACK ON THE PCM ONBOARD COMPUTER, WITH WHICH MANY MANY OTHER GM PRODUCTS HAVE EXPERIENCED. I FEEL A RECALL SHOULD BE DONE ON ALL GM PRODUCTS AFFECTED BY THIS, THIS IS VERY UNSAFE AND I FEEL COULD LEAD TO DEATHS. I AM A [XXX] MALE WHO COULD CONTROL THE VEHICLE WITH NO POWER STEERING, IMAGINE A STUDENT DRIVER ENCOUNTERING THIS ISSUE AND NOT BEING ABLE TO MANEUVER THE VEHICLE AWAY FROM OTHER DRIVERS OR EVEN INNOCENT PEDESTRIANS! I KNOW FOR A FACT THIS HAS HAPPENED TO MANY OTHER GM VEHICLE OWNERS SO DOES A BODY COUNT HAVE TO STACK UP BEFORE A RECALL IS ISSUED BY GM?? *TR