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chevy impala "REDUCED ENGINE POWER" message

430 messages,  Last post on May 22, 2013 at 3:53 PM

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What is this discussion about? Chevrolet Impala, Auto Repair, Electrical, Fuel System, Sedan

    
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Messages Page 25 of 44

#232 of 430 Engine Power Reduced by stephy13

Jan 02, 2013 (11:38 am)

I have a 2008 Chevrolet Impala; I experienced this problem with the "reduced engine power" in July 2010. I took my car to the dealership and they fixed it, thankfully was still under warranty, BUT I still had to pay the $99.95 diagnostic fee. Now, here we are over 2 years later Jan. 2013, we are experiencing the SAME problem. I call the dealership and ask what's the warranty on the parts, they tell me 12 months...REALLY!!! That's ridiculous!!! This is so frustrating, of course now I don't have a warranty, and they will charge $300 plus $99.95 for the diagnostic fee to tell me that is the SAME problem that happen 2 years ago...again, Ridiculous!!! This will be my last GM car, after reading all of these comments about the SAME issue. Why isn't this a recall??? And why is the dealership charging so much for labor?? Looks to me this is a simple and easy fix.

#233 of 430 Re: Engine Power Reduced [stephy13] by dasupa

Jan 02, 2013 (1:16 pm)

Replying to: stephy13 (Jan 02, 2013 11:38 am)
Stephy13,
 
You can get a diagnostic for free at Advanced Auto. Also, I posted earlier on how to fix it. It ended up costing me about 200$ to replace the gas pedal and throttle body ($70 for the gas pedal; $120 for the throttle body; about 2-3 hrs of my time). The gas pedal is extremely easy to fix. The throttle body wasn't too bad either. I did it and I don't know much about cars!
 
Best,
 
David

#234 of 430 Re: Traction control error message - [cnhmommy] by dasupa

Jan 02, 2013 (1:27 pm)

Replying to: cnhmommy (Dec 18, 2012 4:03 pm)
This is a shame. The gas pedal costs $70 bucks and putting in a new one takes all of 5 minutes. I did mine: take out a few screws, unplug gas pedal, plug in new gas pedal, put screws back in. Easy as 1, 2, 3. This customer service rep has you take in your car so that GM can AT LEAST get $ out of you for your diagnostic fee (I once took mine in and gave them the diagnostic codes that were coming up. They ran a diagnostic anyway and charged me for it.) She's not trying to help you. She's trying to get more $ out of you even though you're already paying way too much for the car itself.
The sensors are attached in ways that they are supposedly inseparable from the car parts, thus making the customer have to spend twice as much when the sensor goes out. This isn't just for the gas pedal and throttle body. If your muffler goes bad, they will try to charge you 900$ to replace the entire exhaust system because those parts are now inseparable as well.
Also, they could have easily replaced your gas pedal and driven the car around for a few minutes to see if that did the trick. If not, put the old gas pedal back in (as it's not the problem) and fix the throttle body. But they didn't do this. They want you to pay them to fix every possible problem all at once, thus raising the bill even higher. It's a sham.

#235 of 430 Re: Engine Power Reduced [littlegrayone] by dasupa

Jan 02, 2013 (1:31 pm)

Replying to: littlegrayone (Dec 31, 2012 8:39 am)
Hey, sorry for the late response. I hope you didn't pay them 275$ to fix that gas pedal! It costs 70$ and take 5 minutes to fix, so long as you have a screw driver and know how to unplug a plug (which I'm sure you do).
 
Simply back up the front seat. Reach down under there and unplug the gas pedal. Undo 2-4 screws (can't remember how many). Plug in new gas pedal. Screw screws back in. They are all very easy to reach. Like I said: you'll be done in 5 minutes. Best of luck!

#236 of 430 Re: Engine Power Reduced [stephy13] by gmcustsvc

Jan 02, 2013 (1:36 pm)

Replying to: stephy13 (Jan 02, 2013 11:38 am)
stpehy13,
 
We certainly understand why you're frustrated and would be happy to check into this further with you if you liked. Please email us at socialmediagm.com (include your name and contact information, the last 8 digits of your VIN and mileage, and a summary of the situation).
 
Regards,
Sarah, GM Customer Service

#237 of 430 For future posters by dasupa

Jan 02, 2013 (1:43 pm)

So far I've been seeing that GM is charging well over 200 dollars to fix the gas pedal problem. PLEASE don't give them this money. You can fix it yourself for $70 (the cost of the part) and 5 mins of your time. It is extremely easy to do. See my past posts and you'll find out.
 
The only way to stop GM from taking advantage of us is to get smart to their game.
 
1st- Stop taking your car to GM dealerships.
2nd- Always check youtube and other online resources to see if the problem is fixable at home.
3rd- Don't just get on here to complain. After you've solved the problem, be sure to get back online to inform everyone else before they go through all the same problems that you did!
4th- For this particular forum, the problem is going to be either the gas pedal or the throttle body. Both are fairly simple fixes. The throttle body isn't quite as simple for the average Joe, but it IS simple for anyone who knows about cars. So if you can find someone like a friend to do this for you for 50$, all the better. Don't worry. He won't mess it up. It's an easy fix for someone who knows his stuff.

#238 of 430 Engine Power Reduced [stephy13] by stephy13

Jan 02, 2013 (3:51 pm)

Thank you everyone that has responded!!! All of your comments have been VERY helpful! After I posted this, I kept doing research and found a video on Youtube on how to fix it and as you all mentioned it is an easy fix and a cheap fix!!! I found the part at Autozone for $72, also found it at O'Riely's even cheaper for $51. Needless to say, my husband will be fixing this. He was at work when I did all of this research so he was surprised to see that I had all this figured out...hahahaha
 
I'm done with GM! I also, do not like the Cheverolet dealership in my town, so I wasn't taking my car there anyway. The customer service is horrible!!
 
Thanks again!!!

#239 of 430 Re: chevy impala "REDUCED ENGINE POWER" message [gmcustsvcsarah] by pigglet27

Jan 02, 2013 (5:05 pm)

Replying to: gmcustsvcsarah (Jan 12, 2012 11:02 am)
Sarah,
 
I must tell you I am extremely ticked off right now. Almost a year ago this happened (see my post above) and it happened again tonight!!! This time I was on the highway. Do you have any idea how frightening that is?? It is 20 degrees out there and dark. I was alone and I am disabled. I cannot have this happening every year.
 
They replaced the throttle body last time but apparently either the work is shoddy or the parts are. The Impala is unreliable and I only wish I could dump this car but I'm stuck with it. Now I have to take more time off of work and find money somewhere to pay for a loaner so that they can come up with some other BS reason that this happened. And this is a CERTIFIED used car. Imagine the issues with an uncertified one?
 
The original broker/dealer who is 45 miles away from my home, so now I have to find a new dealer to work with. I have been watching this thread for a year now and I see that GM does not care about keeping their customers happy nor safe.
 
You can be assured that everyone I know is going to hear about this, especially now that it is a consistent and KNOWN problem that GM doesn't care to address on a large scale.
 
Sincerely,
A Ticked Off Customer

#241 of 430 Any codes with Reduced engine power message? by nick2006matrix

Jan 03, 2013 (12:46 am)

Does the service engine soon light come on too when the reduced engine power message appears? Trying to see if there is a trouble code for the accelerator pedal/sensor assembly. Thanks!

Messages Page 25 of 44

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