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Sedans Chevrolet Impala Chevrolet Impala 2006
3460 messages, Last post on Sep 05, 2009 at 6:21 AM
You are in the Chevrolet Impala Forum. Your Hosts are pat & karens
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Replying to: ryster (Nov 23, 2008 6:27 am) |
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Replying to: ryster (Nov 23, 2008 6:27 am)
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Replying to: rhonda20 (Nov 24, 2008 6:25 pm) Calling GM can help somewhat, but most dealers are independently owned and operated. Ultimately, GM has very little influence over the dealers when it comes to resolving issues of this nature. Shoddy workmanship by the dealer caused the failure, the part itself did not fail on its own. GM may not agree to pay to fix a problem caused by incorrect installation by one of their independently owned dealers. GM can call the dealer and suggest for things to be handled a certain way, but that is about it. Some dealers are more responsive to calls directly from GM than others. At this point, you should be calling the General Manager of the dealership and escalating the issue to him or her. He/she will have more influence over the service department than will GM. Does your dealer know that you have contacted your attorney, or has your attorney ever contacted the dealer directly on your behalf? Once attorneys get involved in resolving car issues (Lemon claims, warranty issues, etc.) it becomes next to impossible to get timely service from a dealer. I would suggest your attorney not contact the dealer at all until such time that you actually file a lemon claim and start the arbitration process. Your attorney can certainly advise you behind the scenes in the meantime. It sounds like you need to find a new dealer after this gets fixed. When/if you get a follow-up call or survey about the visit, give them all poor ratings. A poor survey rating will hurt them more than calling GM. You can take your Impala to any Chevrolet dealer for warranty and non-warranty service. You don't have to stay with the original selling dealer. I currently use 2 or 3 different dealers for warranty and routine service depending on when and where I need work done. |
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My neighbor has a 2006 Impala LTZ, he has not had any problems with his car at all. He always tells me it's the best car he has ever had. I am surprised to read some of the issues people are having here.
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Replying to: vanman1 (Nov 27, 2008 5:53 pm) Keep in mind that the people who post here on this thread of problems are in the vast minority of individuals who've had problems with the car as the great majority of people who own the car have had no problems at all and do not post. Sometimes one gets a false and disproportionate impression of the total problems with the car by looking at the people here who have had less than optimal experiences with the Impala. As far as I am concerned, the glass is definitely half full!
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Replying to: priggly (Nov 27, 2008 11:49 pm) Keep in mind that the people who post here on this thread of problems are in the vast minority of individuals who've had problems with the car as the great majority of people who own the car have had no problems at all and do not post. Sometimes one gets a false and disproportionate impression of the total problems with the car by looking at the people here who have had less than optimal experiences with the Impala. As far as I am concerned, the glass is definitely half full! While I generally agree with such an assessment, in the case of the '06 Impala there are known issues that all owners will face at some point in their ownership of the vehicle. Whether it be the prematurely warped brake rotors, the Intermediate Steering Shaft issue, the popping seatbacks of the front seats, reduced range of the keyless entry system, failure of the high pressure power steering hose in low temperature climates, loss of heat at idle due to air bubbles in the heater hoses, etc. These are all problems that General Motors has acknowledged and for which they have issued Technical Service Bulletins. In fact, Chevrolet has issued 66 Technical Service Bulletins for the 2006 Impala. In comparison, Dodge has only had to issue 39 TSB's for the 2006 Charger, Ford has issued 17 for the '06 Five Hundred, and Toyota has issued 14 for the '06 Avalon. Consumer Reports is also reporting the '06 Impala as a used car to avoid. The V6 models have only average reliability, while the V8 models have worse than average reliability. I normally ignore CR's ratings, but after having lived with my '06 Impala for the past 28 months and 34,000 miles it is hard to argue with their survey results. If I am experiencing "average" reliability I would hate to see what "worse than average" is like. The '07 Impalas are slightly better. Chevy has issued 39 TSB's for the '07 model year. However, there is a rather serious rear wheel alignment concern on the '07's that should be watched for. Where there is smoke there is fire. If I go to a message board and see 500 postings about a model, then your assessment is most likely the case. When I go to a message board and see 3400 messages, many discussing "this problem" or "that anomaly" it gives me great pause. I bought my '06 Impala because my parents had great service from their '03 Impala. Their '03 was as trouble free as a car gets and in 40,000 miles never went back for anything other than one recall and annual state inspections. Their replacement for the Impala, an '07 Mercury Montego, is just as reliable as their '03 Impala. If you really want to see what the vast majority of owners are experiencing with their Impalas, check out online communities like naioa dot com and read the thousands upon thousands of postings (both good and bad). It can be a real eye-opener.
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Replying to: ryster (Nov 28, 2008 5:33 am) > I go to a message board and see 500 postings about a model, then your assessment is most likely the case. When I go to a message board and see 3400 messages, many discussing "this problem" or "that anomaly" it gives me great pause The number of posts in a discussion is not relevant. I can probably go find lots of Honda and Toyota discussions with 10000+ posts. What is relevant is how many different posters actually have a problem. Notice I said different: in some discussions a single person keeps reposting about their problem and then evoking responses from some of the same people declaring there is no problem with the car or at least not with their car or their friend's car. Reading the flow of the discussion and comparing that with the number sold and the type of buyers to whom they are sold can help gauge the scope of the real or the imagined problem. >, Chevrolet has issued 66 Technical Service Bulletins for the 2006 Impala. In comparison, Dodge has only had to issue 39 TSB's for the 2006 Charger, Ford has issued 17 for the '06 Five Hundred, and Toyota has issued 14 for the '06 Avalon. The number of service TSBs that are PUBLIC knowledge is not relevant. In fact that means the company acknowledges something is there for some cars out of a group. Again I can search discussions and find where people said that certain popular cars with no problem reputations hid problems with their cars in the 90s and didn't issue fixes just to avoid the stigma of the TSBs or recalls at a greater depth of problem. >Consumer Reports is also reporting the '06 Impala as a used car to avoid. I take Consumer Reports with a big grain of salt. Remember their automatic love for anything Toyota or Honda. And then remember their having to say the Camry V6s aren't that great; they were "over-loving" the brand. And the Avalon came out with a rebuild based on the Camry and it was automatic love again. But months later there was a small picture and a statement that there were some problems with the car. And I realize you said that you don't accept CR as the automatic authority that's always right. CR relies on the same reporting mechanism that the forums do-voluntary participation by a specific group who happen to be internet savvy and have a problem with a car they don't love and are willing to complain about; as opposed to those who won't complain because they don't want to affect the car brand's image. I would evaluate a car for purchase by driving it first and being alert for symptoms of any of the problems which might be in some cars. I can go to the TSBs list for my Buick and there are many, many problems but my car doesn't have them. It means they occured in a number of models with parts from a certain supplier's group or day's output; but not all cars will have them. Notice that I have not said there are not cars with problems.
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Replying to: imidazol97 (Nov 28, 2008 8:44 am) I understand that the number of posts in a discussion may not be a hard indicator of issues, but the more posts there are the more likely there will be a higher concentration of reported issues. Particularly in discussions related to "problems" or "issues". Granted, popular models will have more posts. At that point you just have to skim through them and see what they relate to. It's always fun and interesting to read through them  When purchasing a new car, it is next to impossible to check for symptoms of known problems. When I test drove my new '06 Impala 28 months ago the steering was fine, the exterior trim pieces weren't peeling, the dash didn't rattle, the doors didn't rattle, the windows didn't rattle, the brakes weren't warped, and the seatbacks didn't pop. By 7500 miles the power steering hose ruptured, by 12K miles the brakes were warped, by 32K miles the ISS was unacceptable, and at ~33K miles the water pump failed. Somewhere in there the seats started popping as well. Additionally, TSB's for these issues most likely didn't immediately exist back then. If buying used, then a careful evaluation as well as awareness of a models known problems can be invaluable while shopping. Honestly, I couldn't care less about a brand's image. Be it Chevy, KIA, Lexus, BMW...it doesn't matter. If someone asks me to complete a survey about my car I am honest and report everything realistically. I will report problems regardless if I love or hate the vehicle. You hear people all the time say "I love the car, but it seems to have a constant problem with blah, blah, blah." Too many companies are riding purely on their image/brand name and need to start becoming accountable for their actual products and services (good or bad). I agree that there are no perfect vehicles. Some are better than others, even within the same model. Myself, along with numerous other different posters in this forum, seem to be experiencing very similar problems across various trim levels. We talk about them, share our solutions (and our frustration), and try to help. Many times it can be therapeutic to know we aren't alone
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Replying to: ryster (Nov 28, 2008 12:32 pm)
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Replying to: rhonda20 (Nov 28, 2008 4:07 pm) I owned a Ford several years ago. The dealer had to keep it for 17 days straight, including over a Thanksgiving holiday, to track down an abnormal noise. They eventually called out someone from the factory who tracked down the problem to a manufacturing defect with the frame. During the time they had it, they only contacted me twice. Otherwise I had to keep on top of them for updates. They did give me a free rental for the entire 17 days however...the only bright spot to an otherwise poor service stint. The dealer showed me the final warranty charges for all of the work that needed to be done, and Ford paid over $5,000 to fix the vehicle during that 17-day trip! Honestly, I am ready to trade my Impala on something else. Unfortunately the trade-in value is very low. Since purchasing my '06 Impala new 28 months ago the car has dropped 67% in value. Despite a decent down payment, an additional $2,000 dealer discount, and 0% through GMAC, it has been impossible to keep up with the depreciation. I know that all cars depreciate significantly, but the Impala is one of the worst I have ever experienced personally. My other issue is that nothing out there interests me all that much that I would want to buy. The Pontiac G8 is nice, but after Friday's news that GM may be killing the Pontiac line as part of their "recovery plan", I am a little gun shy about that. The Dodge Charger and Challenger are nice, but again not sure that Chrysler will be around in the next year or two. The Ford Taurus is a nice car as well, and Ford is in the best shape of the Big 3, so that is a small possibility. None of the aforementioned vehicles, though, provide that "I must buy this!" excitement that a new vehicle should give you. I test drove a new Mazda CX-9 a few weeks ago, and did not care for it at all. How it has won so many media accolades and awards escapes me. There is nothing special at all about it. The dealer was even offering a $7,200 discount on the vehicle and that wasn't enough to entice me. So, my Impala will most likely stay until the Spring. By then it will be out of warranty and have 40,000 miles on it. Hopefully nothing major will go wrong with it between the time the warranty ends and I find a suitable replacement. |
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