This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.
So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.
I was driving on a highway going approximately 55 mph, the engine light, stability control light, and reduced engine power light came on at the same time. Within two (2) minutes of the dash warning lights coming on, the car completely shut it self off while I was driving in the left lane going 55 mph. I lost steering, had no power, or braking. I threw the car in neutral, in an attempt to get it started it while I was in motion with no power. The Impala didn't even try to turn over. The car wasn't responding because the power steering / braking was not responding. The Impala went into "limp mode" without warning. I let the car cost for a while until I could find a safe spot to apply the emergency brake. I really had to muscle the steering wheel with some significant force to get it to turn. I have never had any problems with this vehicle before this issue. It turns out that the "pedalassembly" gas pedal sensor went bad, causing the 2011 Impala to go into "limp mode" while I was driving.
2/17/2015 was the second event. I was driving approx- 65 mph up a mountain when my electronic display panel showed stabilitrack/service traction control/vehicle in reduced power. As the power suddenly reduced I lost power steering control and brake function. Since I was traveling at a up hill grade, I was barely able to jerk the steering wheel enough to roll across the lane of traffic beside me to the side of the road. I wasn't able to get out of the road completely and was almost hit by a logging truck. After removing the keys from the ignition for a few minutes, I restarted the car without any hesitation. The engine light still remains on at this time. I did contact onstar and have them run a diagnostic test which revealed a problem with supposed fuel system. I have not taken it to a dealership yet. After so many complaints on various sites that I have reviewed, looks like GM would do a recall and investigate the problem before someone loses their life.
Driving at approx 35 mph, my car showed service stabilitrack / service traction control / vehicle in reduced power. I did have reduced power, could not go any faster than 15 or 20 mph. I continued down the road another block and without warning, the car shuts down while going down a slight grade, , which cause steering to become very hard to use along with little to no braking, I ended up going thru a stop sign at the bottom of the grade because of lack of braking power, luckily no vehicles were coming, I got the vehicle stopped, and looked at the display, it said ignition disabled, service throttle. By the vehicle shutting down that is a safety issue, the vehicle should never shut down making steering and braking almost impossible, if it finds an issue with the throttle, it should just disable the throttle so I can steer and brake without problem. After attempting to start the vehicle a few times without success, the 4th time I tried the vehicle did start back up and was able to continue to work, but was did not seem to be running right and check engine light stayed on.
Reduced engine signal came on shortly after service traction, brakes, steering, came on then car shut off no power to anything. Brakes, steering nothing worked. Put car in neutral to try a restart nothing. Got car to a complete stop took the key out. The dash made a weird noise almost like something reset. I put keys back in turned the key car started no problem only thing the check engine light was on. Took vehicle home went back later that night. Started it up and check engine light was off. This happens almost once aweek. 2nd issue heater blower going down the road just shut off weather -2 plus a wind chill. Had it serviced they replaced a module blower ran fine for 4 days, weather advisory windchill temp is -10 45 miles away from home heater blower not working again.
The contact owned a 2011 Chevrolet Impala. While driving approximately 40 mph, the steering wheel seized and caused the contact to lose control. The vehicle crashed into a pole. The contact sustained neck, back, and ankle injuries that required medical attention. A police report was filed. The vehicle was destroyed. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 90,000.
- Antelope, CA, USA
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On 7/22/2011 while operating the vehicle at highway speed, the power steering abruptly quit working. Vehicle was repaired by dealership (al serra Chevrolet North - Colorado springs) under warranty. Mileage 5875. On 9/27/11 while operating the vehicle at highway speed, the power steering abruptly quit working. Vehicle was repaired by dealership (al serra Chevrolet North - Colorado springs) under warranty. Mileage 7661. On 2/16/2012 while operating the vehicle at highway speed, the power steering abruptly quit working. Vehicle was repaired by dealership (al serra Chevrolet North - Colorado springs) under warranty. Mileage 9948 on 8/20/2013 while operating the vehicle at highway speed, the power steering abruptly quit working. Vehicle was repaired by dealership (al serra Chevrolet North - Colorado springs) under warranty. Mileage 23429 on 8/13/2014 while operating the vehicle at highway speed, the power steering abruptly quit working. Vehicle has not yet been repaired. Mileage 27130. On each occasion dealership stated that the seal for intermediate shaft on rack and pinion failed and the rack and pinion were replaced. Problem continues to occur. This is a serious safety hazard for this vehicle...
Coming off of a freeway, the exit is a wide curve. About half way through the turn (going toward the right) the engine turned off. Lost all power steering and brakes. Fortunately, I am strong enough to be able to muscle the car through the rest of the curve and pull over to safety. The muscling caused minor injury to left shoulder. Car did restart without a problem.
The contact owns a 2011 Chevrolet Impala. The contact was driving 35 mph when the vehicle skidded during a right turn. The contact stated that one wheel was spinning. The failure recurred three times. The dealer replaced the wiring harness and both hub bearings on the front passenger side wheel. The manufacturer was notified. The approximate failure mileage was 39,000.
The malfunction indicator (page 5-17 in my manual) came on and the message was to prevent serious damages, go to your service station immediately. I was in the parking lot of a grocery store, and made my way to the interstate heading to our service station when my car stopped dead in the middle of interstate 485 about 3 miles away maybe ( about 7 miles from home and our service station). I was in the far left lane of a major hwy that was/is under construction when I felt something unusual. I grabbed the steering wheel as hard as I could between the cars and just made it to the far right side of this major highway. The steering, A/C and brakes were gone and then I realized if I did nothing I would have been run over by the trucks on this interstate. I got close to the guardrail and collected my wits and called both aaa and the charlotte nc police. Fortunately I did not have the opportunity to see if the air bags would have gone off! the nc police were to come immediately but never showed up, but an hour later the aaa driver came and assisted to help me out of my car into his tow truck. He said to sit in the ac and drink some water. It was a hot day in the carolinas. No ac, nothing to drink and could not open my windows. I could not open my door as cars whizzed by me on the driver's side. The car just died. Finally got it towed to the Chevy service station and the repairs cost (enclosed) $696.84. After seeing the event on tv I realized I could have been killed!!!! please do something about his issue, as I hear all the horror stories of the innocent killed upsets me. I was fortunately to be able to get me and my car off the highway while cars whizzed by on a busy highway but how many haven't.
Loses control of vehicle as it shuts down. Throttle related warning will appear for a few seconds before this happens. This has become a frequent and very gut wrenching occurrence.
While driving at 60 mph, messages were flashing: Service stabilitrac soon, reduced power to engine, check traction control. Car decelerated to 30 mph on the highway, hard to steer. I pulled off the road, turned it off and waited. Several minutes later it restarted and I was able to drive it home. The engine light and the traction control light still come on. It shifts hard (and it's an automatic transmission). In addition, cruise control will not work during this condition.
We purchased the Impala in April of 2013 with 35,408 miles on the clock, we drove it around town then we took it on a trip to California from las vegas a few months later, when we where on the way to California on a not so steep downgrade we hit the brakes at about 70mph to slow down the steering wheel shook violently side to side like the famous 'death wobble' but we only slowed to about 60mph. On the way back it did it again this time went from 70 to 67 mph, we took it to the dealer and they said my rotors needed to be turned and gave me the dealer cold shoulder.. I replaced the front rotors and all 4 new tires as of today and it still doing it, went back to the dealer and same thing, this car is unsafe to drive over 50mph but the dealer does not care and is out of warranty... I will never buy a GM product ever as long as I live. I took video of the shaking from 70 to 67mph I will post it on youtube. This car is certified too not that it mean anything to anyone.
The contact owns a 2011 Chevrolet Impala. The contact stated the steering wheel would squeal when turning. The contact took the vehicle to the dealer, who stated that fluid was leaking for the steering system and needed to be replaced. The contact did not replace the power steering unit. The failure mileage was 47,626.
While going to work approx. 6 months ago a deer crossed the road in front of me. I attempted to steer away from the deer only to notice that the steering wheel felt as if it had no power steering. I was lucky that the deer changed its course or I would of ran into it head on due to the steering being so hard. The 2012 Impala has the same issue? GM is not addressing this issue. I have a pi document from GM which is not available to the general public. It confirms this steering issue with the 2011 Chevy Impala (all models). This pi states to the mechanics to take consumers for a ride in a parking lot and perform parking lot maneuvers at slow speeds.then tell the consumer it is a normal condition if the steering issue is duplicated. My attorney still has possession of my independent technical expert report which states that the steering is extremely hard at low speeds. My case was lost in arbitration and the decision was made in a few hours. I do have the document no. [xxx]. document id [xxx]. I want all consumers to know what to expect if they purchase a 2011 Impala and have this problem. I did note that the NHTSA has this steering issue documented. However GM states that this is not their bulletin and none exist for this issue. I was given this pi by mistake. Information redacted pursuant to the Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
While driving on thruway my 2011 Chevy Impala lost power steering went due to a belt broke within the engine compartment. Nearly lost control of car. After getting off the thruway, we noticed that a pulley had come apart. Which caused the belt to disintegrate.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Newark, NJ, USA