general problems of the 2008 Chevrolet Impala - part 2

When I attempt to lock or even unlock my Chevrolet with the remote, the door locks react irratically. Sometimes they all unlock when I push the remote and sometimes only1, 2 or 3 will unlock. Since I carry my gun in the car at all times, my wife and I have to always stand by the car to make sure that all of the doors lock when using the remote which is very aggravating and then we also have the problem of some of the door not unlocking with the remote. The service manager at our Chevrolet dealer said he couldn't be sure what it would take to solve the problem. I suppose this will be another expensive problem to correct.

In August 2014 I received a letter from gm stating that there is a recall on my vehicle recall# 14299, the letter stated that there is a problem with the ignition switch where if I happen to go over a speed bump, hit a pothole or off road my key "may unintentionally move the key away from the run position". The letter also states that if this were to occur it would affect my power steering, breaking and air bags due to the fact that the switch is not in the run position resulting in high risk of crash increasing the risk of injury or fatality. I was shocked when I received this information, I followed the directions of the letter and removed anything that added extra weight to my key and called gm immediately. I was told by a gm rep to contact my local dealer to see when parts will arrive to resolve this issue which still to this day they have not. Upon doing further research I come to find out that due to this issue there has been multiple crashes even some fatality's!!, now I am terrified to drive my vehicle seeing as how gm does not guarantee that even when only using the ignition key without added weight that the ignition wont be jarred to switch to the off position. I feel these vehicles should not be on the road seeing how they can cause harm to chevy owners and people on the streets, also should be compensate in some way due to the fact that I have been having to find other ways to transport myself where I need to be. I refuse to put my life and the life of my passengers at risk by driving this unsafe vehicle. I am very frustrated and extremely unhappy with sluggish response as well as the disinclined attitude of the reps at gm.

While driving at highway speed, noticed some vibration from rear tires. Checked tires when I got home. Rear tires have extreme tread wear on the inside edge. This wear is hidden because it is on the very inside edges of the tires, and you don't notice when looking at the tires from the side of the car. Most of the tire you can see looks normal. The wear is on the inner most 5% of the tread. And it is extreme wear, all the way through the steel belts. I researched and found a gm service bulletin for 2007-8 Impala tire wear and suspension problems like this. But that bulletin only called for service on models with police suspension in the rear. The solution required replacement spindle arms to be installed. Called gm and they will not replace my consumer spindles. But I have the same problem. This tire wear has caused bow outs and crashes if you look at reports that a google search can find. Search for Impala spindle and tire wear. You will be amazed at how obvious this deadly defect is.

Fowler Chevrolet, part of. . Read more...

I have been having a problem with the ac vent trying to close when I shut off the car. It makes a loud sputtering clunking sound after the car shuts off. I was told it is the vent trying to close and would have to replace a motor for $2-300 plus labor. Anytime I start the car up, it makes a high pitch squealing sound under the hood and stops when I back out of park.

Had vehicle repaired at fowler Chevrolet in tulsa oklahoma and very concerned that vehicle should have been total loss. Vehicle taken in 2nd time for rework. We have some pictures and video. Body shop manager was terminated. We need assistance. Very concerned about safety issues on vehicle at highway speeds. Unsure where to turn. Several with Chevrolet involved to cover for dealer.

All four door locks stopped working from the driver door control or the fob. The only way to unlock the doors is to physically pull up on the lock. In the case of an accident, I will be unable to unlock any of the doors without physcially pulling the door lock. This creates a safety hazard, especially since the car may suddenly stop working. I'm afraid I will be killed while driving this car! the car does not stay in alignment. The car has been realligned at least three times and this for a vehilce with only 37637 miles, this is an injustice.

Driving down highway when check engine light and "engine power reduced" appeared on my dash. Soon after my speed and power was cut from 70 mph to under 40. I got another message saying "service throttle disabled" and my car lost all ability to accelerate and steer. I was forced to pull over and waited until it started up again. This is a dangerous flaw that is happening to many gm owners. Please recall for everyone's safety.

When driving through st. Louis around midnight on I-270 on may 3, the "engine power is reduced" message came on and the car slowed dramatically right in the middle lane of the interstate. Quite scary indeed, not to mention the lurching. After being nearly run over on both sides, I pulled off in a very dark part of town and the police came by to check on me. Initially the car wouldn't start with the message, "starting is disabled, service throttle. " after about an hour, the thing allowed me to start it, but still with the "power is reduced" message. I actually drove that thing home (over 90 miles) with semis bearing down on me, alternating flashers and watching over my shoulder. Anyway, the next day, it still wouldn't run normally, but I limped over to an autozone and I replaced the throttle assembly and the throttle body (the engine code said p0651, but that was a waste of $300). No help, same message. I let the car sit. When it first started up, still had the message. But about 5 minutes later, the car started normally!!! the check engine light is on now, but those codes haven't been accurate so far. While the car was running normally, I went out and jiggled all the wiring both under the dash and above the throttle, but could not find a loose wire or get the car to shift into the "engine power reduced" message. I also tapped on and jiggled the air box (because I was told that's where the ecm is located). Still couldn't get it to go bad. Came back out the next time and the car had the "engine power is reduced" message and running horribly. I was fortunate not to be killed, these cars are moving chicanes. I am totally at a loss as to what is going on. Gm service reps say "go to the dealer" but online shows this only results in a bunch of expensive replaced parts that didn't fix the problem. I only suffered a backache but this car is an accident waiting to happen.

On Friday may 2, 2014, I went and bought $72 worth of groceries, all but $10 were frozen or cold and it was about 80 degrees outside. When I got home and went to take the groceries out of the trunk the trunk would not open. I then took it to the shop to see if they could get it open they could not. They told me that they looked the problem up online and said it was a factory defect/recall and that if I took it to an actual chevy dealership or manufacture that they would have to pay for it. When I took it to a chevy dealership, Saturday may 3, 2014, they said that I was going to have to pay for it because my car isn't under warranty any more. I feel like chevy should still pay for it and reimburse me for my groceries that I lost. It was not my fault that the trunk would not open and it is also not my fault that the previous owner either 1) did not turn the recall in or 2) didn't bother to tell anyone about it.

The driver side fan blows only cold air, so no defogging occurs on drivers side, obstructing drivers view.

The service traction control light comes on and the engine power reduced messesge appears. The entire car shuts down and you can not accelerate. I was on the freeway and could have been hit from behind. I immediately put on my hazard lights and pulled off to the side of the road. This was the first time, happened again this month(March). Taking to chevy dealer for a diagnosis.

Car was parked in carport and could not get it out of park . Called dealer and he said I would have to get it towed to dealer. I did that and they had to replace cable that connects to brake pedal for safety so you cannot put in gear without brake pedal depressed. I was lucky car was in my driveway in a safe place rather than while travelling. It was out of warranty and I had to pay for towing and cable replacement.

Tl- the contact owns a 2008 Chevrolet Impala. The contact stated while driving 50mph, her vehicle engine shut completely off with out warning. The contact stated her, traction control, check engine light and a message that stated reduce traction control illuminated on her control panel. The vehicle was taken into (price Chevrolet) in pleasanton texas. The dealer stated they would need to perform a diagnostic test in order to find diagnose the problem. The vehicle had not been repaired at this time and the problem had not been diagnosed. The failure mileage was 73,000. Lnc.

I turned my car on, put on my seat belt, put my foot on the brakes, and tried to shift my car out of park and into drive. I could not push the button on the shifter in, and the shifter would not move out of park. I researched the problem and found that there is a quick release button underneath the center console on the passenger's side. I had to put my emergency brake on, turn on my car, have someone reach under the center console from the passenger's side to press the button, and shift into drive while they held the button. I still am unable to shift my car out of park unless someone is holding that button.

Shifter is locked - again - and will not go into gear.

This situation happens frequently with this car when it rains and the ground is wet. My steering wheel locks when driving my car in the rainy weather. It appears that when something underneath the car gets wet the steering wheel locks. I've taken it to the dealer for this problem and they can't find anything wrong with it. The belt was replaced and the problem persist. I'm afraid to to drive the car, especially, when it rains. I'm afraid the steering wheel will start locking when driving in dry weather too!.

My check engine light comes on, I took it to auto zone to diagnose, it's my accelerated pedal position, I just had this replaced maybe 2 years ago because it did the same thing, now this I don't think should be a common thing but it is, and as dangerous as this is I think it's more of a defect on gm's side. There needs to be some type of recall or replacement for free.

Since I have owned the car,it gets randomly stuck in park. It usually is in a driveway on a slight incline. It takes 20 or 30 minutes of pushing the brake and starting and restarting to finally get it to shift from park to drive. The last time this happened it was definitely a safety issue. I was on an interstate driving in the fast lane when I came upon stopped traffic. There was a bad accident ahead and traffic was not moving at all. After about 20 or 30 minutes I turned my car off and waited for traffic to start moving. When traffic started moving, I tried to put my car in drive and it would not move. I was not on an incline. I was on level ground. I was in the fast lane and here I sat unable to move at all, could not pull of the road. Irate drivers and 18 wheelers coming up on me at 70 mile an hour. I was so scared, I thought I'm going to get killed and so is the driver that crashes into me. I did everything I knew to do and after about 20 minutes it finally went into gear. Had it not, I was going to abandon the car because I knew it would get creamed. My only concern was the person that would hit the abandoned car would be hurt or killed. When I got home I called the gm customer service and was told to take it to my local chevy dealer. I took it to them as well as another mechanic and was told, I would have to bring it in when it happened because they could not get it to do it again so they couldn't repair it. Well duh, if I could bring it in when it happened I wouldn't have a problem. One told me if it was a stick shift, he would know what it was but since it was on the column, he had no idea. After spending money and time I still have a major safety issue in my eyes.

Shifter locked and would not go into any gear. Service found broken wire at transmission shifter. They removed center console and repaired wire.

Inside tread of each back tire wears out prematurely because of an adjustment that cant be made to the rear wheels, all police vehicles have been repaired for this defect as a spindle rod with an adjuster was put in to correct it, I own a 2007 and 2008 and both cars r doing this why should the consumer be stuck for a part that should be put in at manufacture time. How can u expect gm loyalty when u treat us that way.

Power door lock quit working on rear door on drivers side and then 3 weeks later the rear door on the passenger side quit working. This is a huge safety issue if you have small children and you think the doors are locked.

When placed in park, gear shift gets stuck. Unable to shift from park without using the override button.

Once my vehicle got near 80k miles, it began to randomly shut down on me as I drive. The message "engine power reduced, service throttle" comes on and I barely have time to pull out of harm's way before the car won't move. This has happened numerous times over the past year--most recently, three times while driving on the freeway and turnpike on Saturday June 28. Driving at 70mph and having my car suddenly lose power is beyond ridiculous. When my mechanic pulls the error code, it's just a general computer error every time. Nothing at all about the throttle has ever shown. Why is this not a recall when you search "impala engine power reduced" and see there are a ton of people with the same issue? does someone have to die before this issue gets fixed?.

2008 Impala often when I try to accelerate from a stop the car feels sluggish and does not accelerate. I talked to a mechanic and this is a common defect with these vehicles. I figured by now there would have been a recall since this is so common, but I suppose there have to fatalities and lawsuits in order for the manufacture to step in.

A mechanic had to replace the ignition lock solenoid. The key got stuck in the ignition and it could not be removed until it was repaired. I am requesting reimbursement from my repair. There was a recall issued on June 20, 2014 for an unintended ignition key rotation apparently this was the cause of the problem I had in 2013 therefore I would like reimbursement.

Both rear and the passenger door locks have stopped functioning with either fob key control or driver/passenger door controls. Totaling three door lock failures in two years. This is a large safety hazard to small children in the back of the car as there is no fast or easy way to open the rear doors once locked to get the child out in an emergency. I request this be looked into further for a recall as it creates a safety hazard especially for children in car seat on the back seat, which there is no quick way to unlock the doors to remove them in an emergency. Mechanic states: this is a known issue with 2008 and 2009 chevy Impala vehicles. These model years were produced with a type of grease that bleeds into the latch actuator. After time the carbon from the motor brushes builds up around the actuator motor and shorts the communitator. Resulting in no power lock or unlock function. Requiring full lock replacement totaling over $1,500.

Every time it rains, or even if the air has been damp overnight, my front in-door speakers fail. The front passenger side, in-door speaker is completely burnt out and the front passenger side door lock actuator has also failed. I called the local dealership who wants to charge me to repair this. There is water leaking into the doors causing electrical failures to occur. Once the inside of the doors dry, then the driver's side front door speaker begins to work again. The passenger side front door is completely dead but the window works.

The rear power door locks no longer lock automatically when shifting transmission in drive or when using driver master door lock switch. Problem began soon after purchase. Has been continuous problem. Known issue with lubrication grease entering actuator motor and shorting motor connections. Very prevalent problem with 07 08 Impalas, also similar year malibus.