Chevrolet Impala problems: recalls, complaints and what they cost
The Chevrolet Impala was sold in the US for model years 2000–2020. Pick a year below for its open safety recalls and the components owners complain about most — then, for each of those, whether it is safe to keep driving and what the repair should cost.
Model years with their own breakdown
Other years — look up live
Searched but never built
There is no 2024, 2023, 2022 Chevrolet Impala — US production ran 2000–2020. Those pages explain what a listing showing that year is likely to be.
Choose a year to load recalls and complaints.
What goes wrong with the Chevrolet Impala?
Across 9 model years sampled between 2010 and 2019, NHTSA records 26 recall entries — one campaign counts once for each model year it covers, so the number of distinct campaigns is lower — and 2,454 owner complaints for the Chevrolet Impala. Counts track how many were sold as much as how good the vehicle is, so the useful signal is which components the complaints cluster on and which years stand out against the rest of the run.
Where complaints concentrate
| Component | Owner complaints | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Electrical System | 571 | 23% |
| Steering | 346 | 14% |
| Power Train | 229 | 9% |
| Air Bags | 196 | 8% |
| Unknown or Other | 188 | 8% |
| Electronic Stability Control (esc) | 149 | 6% |
Electrical System draws the most reports on this nameplate. That is a starting point rather than a verdict — a component can dominate because it genuinely fails or simply because it is the part owners notice. Match it against what your own vehicle is doing before spending anything.
By model year
| Year | Recall entries | Complaints |
|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 1 | 28 |
| 2018 | 1 | 59 |
| 2017 | 0 | 116 |
| 2016 | 0 | 111 |
| 2015 | 3 | 300 |
| 2014 | 12 | 636 |
| 2012 | 3 | 258 |
| 2011 | 2 | 505 |
| 2010 | 4 | 441 |
Model year 2013 is not in this retrieval, which means no records were returned for it — not that there were none. Use the year selector above to query that year live.
Older years accumulate more complaints simply by being on the road longer, so compare a year against its neighbours rather than against the newest one.
Recent safety recalls
Air Bags
The front passenger seat frame may contact and damage the wires of the passenger presence sensor module.
Free remedy: GM will notify owners, and dealers will double wrap the wires with anti-abrasion tape and replace damaged wires as necessary, free of charge. The recall began on August 1, 2016.
Electrical System
This defect can affect the safe operation of the airbag system. Until this recall is performed, customers should remove all items from their key rings, leaving only the ignition key. The key fob (if applicable), should also be removed from the key ring.
Free remedy: GM will notify owners, and dealers will install two key rings and an insert in the key slot or a cover over the key head on all ignition keys, free of charge. The recall began on September 23, 2014.
Suspension
This safety recall does not include non-police Chevrolet Impala vehicles.
Free remedy: GM will notify owners, and dealers will replace both front lower control arms, free of charge. The safety recall began on August 21, 2012. Owners may contact the Chevrolet owner center at 1-866-694-6546.
Recall repairs are free with no mileage or ownership limit. Take the campaign number to any franchised dealer. How recalls work.
Recall text above is abridged from the NHTSA record. Search the campaign number at nhtsa.gov/recalls for the full notice, affected VIN ranges and dealer instructions.
Source: NHTSA (US Department of Transportation), public domain, retrieved 2026-10-08. Use the year selector above for the current live figures.
How does a sedan or hatchback typically fail?
High-volume sedans and hatchbacks produce the largest complaint counts of any segment, and that is mostly an artefact of how many were sold rather than how good they are. Read concentration, not totals. What genuinely distinguishes the segment is that these cars do a lot of short urban trips, which is the hardest duty cycle there is for oil life, exhaust components and batteries — engines never fully warm, moisture never boils off.
What should I check first?
For a sedan or hatchback, the systems worth ruling out before anything else are short-trip wear: oil condition, battery age, exhaust corrosion. Match what the vehicle is actually doing to the guide below — each one opens with a safety verdict, not a parts list.
- Check engine light steady
- Rough idle or stalling
- Won't start — clicking
- Grinding when braking
- Shaking at highway speed
What is the difference between a recall and a complaint?
A recall is a defect the manufacturer must fix free of charge, forever, with no mileage limit and regardless of how many owners the car has had. A complaint is one owner’s report filed with NHTSA. One complaint is an anecdote; two hundred naming the same component is a pattern, and patterns are what you want before you buy or before you authorise a large repair. Read the complaint list by concentration, never by total — a model that sold three times as many units collects roughly three times as many complaints while being no worse.
What should I check before buying one?
Short-trip history matters more than mileage here. A 90,000-mile highway car is usually in better health than a 45,000-mile one that never got warm. Ask what the commute was, and weight the service records accordingly.
Beyond that, the checks that find expensive problems are the same on any vehicle: see it started from stone cold, look under the oil cap, smell the transmission fluid, and scan it for stored and recently-cleared codes. Our used car inspection checklist walks through each one, and why cars fail explains how systemic defects emerge in the first place.
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Does the Chevrolet Impala have any open recalls?
Open safety recalls for the Chevrolet Impala are listed on this page, pulled live from NHTSA's public database. Recall repairs are free with no mileage or ownership limit, so an open campaign is money the manufacturer owes you rather than a repair you pay for. Check by VIN for certainty on one specific vehicle.
What are the most common Chevrolet Impala problems?
The complaint list on this page groups owner reports by component, which is the useful view: one component dominating the list is a pattern, while complaints spread evenly across many systems usually just means the model sold in volume. For this class of vehicle, short-trip wear: oil condition, battery age, exhaust corrosion are the areas worth checking first.
Is the Chevrolet Impala expensive to repair?
Cost depends far more on which system fails than on the badge. Each symptom guide linked from this page carries a parts-and-labour range for US independent shops, so you can price the specific fault rather than the car in general.