I probably don't belong in this discussion group, but I just want to clear up a few things about the great L-67 engine. I own a '98 Buick Regal GS and can testify that it will whip just about every competitive sedan out there. I'm not talking about the M-5, or C-32, or other super sedans. The engine is a proven winner. Just ask Pontiac GTP owners. So I'm tired of people whinning about the fact the 2004 Impala SS will be getting this engine. I read where Chevy tried to install a detuned LS1 in the Impala, but it wouldn't fit. I don't understand why, because if it fits in the Holden Commodore SS, it should fit in the 2003 Impala. Besides that, the LS1 fits in the Z28, which isn't that much bigger than the Impala LS. Right? Maybe it's because of the FWD.
We just returned from a few days trip to Arizona with my wife; after a year-and-a-half in an '01 LS, I had gotten used to it - used to it meaning I didn't always appreciate the Impala enough.
Anyway, we ended up having a Mazda Millenia as a rental. I still can't believe how awful it was to drive - horrible ergonomics, uncomfortable seats, poor performance, the worst cruise control I've ever experienced (it went +/-6mph on a fairly flat road), cramped interiors, terrible fuel economy. I was even more shocked to later find out the model sells for something like $30k! I honestly thought it'd be something in the $18-20k range..
The point of this slight off-topic post is that it was one great feeling when I got back in our Impala. What an eye-opener. A good reminder that our Impalas really are MUCH better than some considerably more expensive cars.
2 choices 1)Base model with 1sc option package and 3.8 This is basically the ls w/o the side impala name and spoiler.No leather or moon roof. 23100 out the door
2)Ls model with 250 dealer miles on it. leather and moon roof 23400 out the door
It sounds like a great deal. I am holding on to my 2000 base Impala till the SS comes out. Just drove to Virginia from NYC and it was soooo comfortable and smoothe. If I were you, i would buy the second one.. the LS with moonroof.
If both cars are basically the same money, I'd choose #2. I'd get him to drop the price, though. There's a huge $2500 rebate, you know. Plus, you should be able to get about $2000 off the MSRP (Fairly standard discount PLUS demo model). BTW, If leather and roof are your only options, the MSRP is $24,045. So, $24K - $4500 = $19.5K plus TTL = OTD price. Hey. Make him an offer. If he says no, leave. Don't look back. I guarantee that "no" will turn to "yes". You may have to go up a little, but not to 23.4K.
Yep,those two prices included tax,title & license. Because the dealer or GM put 243 miles on the LS model(Car # 2), the dealer took an additional 1500 dollars off. I'm in phoenix.
Oops. What was I thinkin'? The price sure went up on those guys since last April! (The MSRP on mine with evrything except heated seats, was just under $26K. Identically equipped, it's now $26,965. Ouch.)
I guess his prices ain't too bad, then! Although, Chevy's web site shows a new LS, equipped as described, to MSRP at $26,080, not $26,610. Were there other options not mentioned besides leather and roof?
Can this be right, Chevrolet is making the 03 Impala with only a driver's side airbag? For $300 plus some change they could afford two. These things only cost about $40 each.
Well, I thank all you folks for your input, I got the wholsale sheets from Consumer Reports($12.00), and Car #2 is $197.00 above Consumer Reports Wholesale value, so it was there earlier t'nite so t'morrow morning I hope to get it. Its Forest Green.
to pluto5, That was going to be my question.If this is true,not having a passenger side airbag,in the '03 Impala,them,I'm going to purchase it. What is in the heads of GM engineers,or people further up the line,to decide not to have the car equipt this way?Geez,maybe an option cost?Otherwise,Chevy,you almost had me.Too bad!
The Chevrolet SSR is a convertible pick up on a rear drive platform. It is reported to be coming out in 2003 as a 2004. After it is on the market and consumer reaction is evaluated, possibly a Impala SS on the same platform???? Enjoy the ride.
If you have an Impala sedan or Impala LS with the light group package (2 rear side mounted courtesy/map reading lights integrated into the passenger assist handles and no center mounted dome courtesy lamp) pay close attention to my saga in trying to get a suitable replacement bulb (Sooner or later if one of your rear courtesy light bulbs go out, you'll face the same problems as I have trying to find the correct replacement).
The light bulb on my rear right courtesy/map lamp burnt out yesterday. The Owner's manual (Page 6-39) gives a 3 step set of instructions as to how to remove the plastic cover lense, remove the old bulb and reverse the procedure. Removing the plastic lense cover is the easiest part. Removing the bulb is extremely difficult and the owner's manual does not really give clear instructions on how to do so. The bulb is mounted sideways in the socket, but you need a flat head screwdriver to take it out of its socket on a side to side motion (you need lots of patience to do this)as it is a very tight space. Putting a replacement bulb back is even trickier. You have to have fingers the size of a toddler's to be able to reinsert the bulb sideways back into the socket. A nightmare, I just don't understand why they made changing a bulb so much more difficult of what it needed to be.
But the fun part is TRYING to get a bulb replacement. The Owner's manual state that the correct bulb size for that socket is a 12V 912 bulb. This is a mistake on their part. The 912 bulb is too big to fit in the socket fixture as this bulb is intended for Impalas equipped with the standard center roof mounted interior dome light, which my car does not have. I went to the dealership this morning and lo and behold, their parts computer network also displays the WRONG bulb size type (912)for Impalas equipped with the rear side mounted courtesy lights. I took the old OEM bulb to the parts counter and the person looking at the bulb could not cross reference the correct socket bulb size and watts (Or candle power rating) with the original burnt bulb that I had on my hand.
So in the end, the parts person decided to give me a bulb to try and one that matched the size of the original OEM bulb socket. The bulb he gave me was a 12V 194 2CP (2 Candle Power rating). I went back to the car and after trying to fit the new bulb back into the socket for about 5 minutes, it immediately lighted up (I had the rear right door open). However I noticed the bulb was not as bright as the other one mounted on the opposite left side. Then I realized that while the bulb socket size was correct the Candle Light rating or Watt rating was still incorrect. Well took it out again and went back to the parts counter person. I told him that the bulb was the right size but it was too dim. I also told him that the 12V 194 bulb is for dashboard lighting applications, not interior lighting applications which require higher watt bulbs. He started arguing with me that the bulb he gave me was the right one, blah, blah, blah. Politely I kept telling him that if the replacement bulb is not the right watt rating whether it fits perfectly in the socket and lights up, it does not matter, it simply will not work. By the way, the original OEM bulb has the following inscription in it: 12V6W-X. This reads as 12 Volts, 6 Watt rating, extended life (But It doesn't give any indication whether the orginal bulb is a #194 or #192). I told the parts person that the bulb has to be 6 Watts or it will not illuminate the right rear passenger side at night. So he went back to the parts computer terminal and began to look for another cross reference part number. After 10 minutes the system gave him an alternate part number that matches with a 12V number #192 bulb replacement. However no watt or candle power rating was provided in the computer. He did not have any 192 bulbs in stock, so he went ahead and put an order for a few of these. they should arrive at the dealer tomorrow morning. If the new #192 replacement bulbs still don't work, then he will proceed to contact the Oshawa, Canada factory and order them directly from them.
So what a mess!!!! GM has the OEM light bulb parts number mixed up in their computer parts database and the owner's manual also has the replacement bulb type # all wrong as well. So in the end no one knows what this mystery courtesy lamp bulb is suppossed to be...frustrating!!!!
Never had so many problems getting a stupid $1 interior bulb replacement!!!!!
Can anyone with a complete technical manual try to find the correct GM part number or bulb rating and size for the rear side mounted courtesy/reading lamps????
I'll let everyone know whether the "192" bulbs work or not.
GM: Correct this part number mess in your system ASAP!!!!!
Anyway, I called another nearby dealer and they also confirmed that the "192" bulb is the correct replacement for the map/reading light. But they wanted $5.38 for the bulb! In top of that they had to ordered it and wait a week for it to come. No thanks. My local dealer is charging me $1.95 for the 192 bulb (Still steep) and will get here tomorrow morning. Let's see what happens.
I also went to the Sylvania web site (www.sylvania.com) and their recommended bulb replacement for a 2001 Impala with the rear reading lights is the "168" bulb that is rated at 3 Candle Power. If the ordered 192 proves to be dissapointing in power, then I will try to get the 168 bulb as it appears to be that it gives the maximum amount of illumination.
The 194 bulbs are for ashtrays, glove box compartments and dashboards.
Its incredible the things you learn about your car when the need arises!
By the way, the burnt courtesy lamp bulb is the only thing that has gone wrong with my Impala in over 1 and a half years of ownership.
My brother-in-law is the parts manager at the dealership where I bought my 2001 LS. He says that replacement bulbs are one of the worst parts he and his crew have to deal with!
Drivinisfun, I had a similar experience with replacing a fog light bulb - the GM computer system shows (or at least used to show) the incorrect one. Fortunately the owner's manual is correct.
Obviously "standardization" is a bad word in the vehicle engineering world!
...bulb is the only thing that has gone wrong with my Impala in over 1 and a half years of ownership."
It sounds like "the best car you've ever owned". There used to be a completely different guy that posted here that is definitely not you that used to say that all the time.
The trick to changing the air fliter is to: Disconnect the connector to the sensor in the rubber boot between the Air Filter box and the Air Flow Valve Loosen the boot clamps Carefully clean off the boot and the ends Remove the boot Undo the clips on top of the Air Filter Box Remove the Air Filter Lid Remove the Air Filter Clean out the Air Filter Box (found dead bugs in mine) Replace the Air Filter (Clean/Service K&N Filter) Reverse the process. Put a very thin coat of dishwashing soap on the inner end of the boot that connects to the Air Flow Valve
I haven't gotten around to reading the whole owner's manual (I know, bad me;) Is it normal for the "Change Oil" light to come on at 5000 miles?
As some of you will remember, I bought the dealer's demo car at 3K miles. The oil was changed the day I took ownership. So, why would the change oil light come on again at 5K miles? Does that mean they just didn't re-set the thing when they changed the oil?
Called the service department and the guy told me I could bring the car in and they can either change the oil now, or re-set the car to get the light to turn off. I asked if I could wait a week or so to have the oil changed (so I can be closer to 6K miles) and he indicated there was no urgency in changing the oil.
The light only goes on when I start up the car and then turns off in a couple of minutes, so it's not a big deal to me. Does this sound right?
Sorry,all. What I meant to say,was,that GM blew it this time. If Chevy is designing the new Impala without the passenger side airbag,they have lost a potential customer.That's too bad...Good Luck,all! See ya,here.
Anyone know how many miles i need for my first oil change. Also do i need to do anything else to change in breaking in my impala. I dont want to screw up my 3 month old car with about 4000 miles.
Copychix - Odds are they simply didn't reset the light when they changed the oil. You could reset it yourself, but then again, if you can get a free oil change out of it, why not? My oil change light typically comes on around 5-6,000 miles. Many folks feel uneasy running conventional oil that long (although "they" claim oil is improved now to the point that it will safely go that long). I run Mobil 1 synthetic in mine (which some claim is good for 10k miles or more between changes), but I change it whenever the "change oil" light comes on. I'll likely keep my Impala for 10 years or more, so I figure it's worth it in the long run.
vblstud - If you bought the car new and have never changed the oil, now would probably be a good time. Just be sure they re-set the oil monitor (or you can do it yourself when you pick up the car just to be sure). The monitor determines when the oil needs changed based on engine rpms and temperature (it doesn't actually monitor the condition of the oil per se), which is why if the light isn't reset, it will invariably go off within a couple of thousand miles of the oil change - the oil doesn't really need changing, the monitor just doesn't know the oil was changed.
I'm a little anal about oil changes, and changed my oil for the first time at 500 miles; figuring that during the initial break-in process, there's more metal particles knocking around in there than there will be down the road. I changed it with conventional at that point, and again at 3000 miles. I think it was at 6000 miles that I switched to synthetic, and relied on the oil monitor from that point forward.
I agree with nosirrahg: I like to get the factory oil out of a new car pretty darn soon. 500 miles is a good time. Rinses out manufacturing slag but doesn't allow it to lodge in somewhere and get stuck.
Folks normally change their oil every 3000 miles. This may be changing soon, but for now 3000 remains a good rule of thumb. If you have 4000 miles with the factory oil, you're likely OK but by my standards you're sorely overdue.
I changed my oil at 1500 miles with organic oil then again at 3000 with synthetic. I then changed the filter at 7500 miles and then the oil/filter at 12000. From then on I change the filter every 6000 and the oil every 12000 with synthetic. If I was using organic oil I'd change the oil every 3000 miles and the filter every 6000. A few thousand posts back I noted my rationale for this.
I change the filter when I change the oil. No use outting nice clean oil in there, only to have a dirty filter defeat the purpose.
I also like to do the first oil change at 1000 miles, for the same reasons. Therafter, 3000-4000 miles between oil changes. One of these days I'll switch to synthetic, and double the mileage in between.
For those of us who don't change our own oil, is synthetic oil something the dealer's service department will have as an option when getting the car serviced?
I'm the type of person who prefers to have the dealer do the oil change vs the local quick lube place (which I only resort to when desperate). But the synthetic stuff sounds like a good thing--do you think most Chevy dealers have the stuff on hand if one pays a little extra?
My Chevy dealer will get whatever kind of oil I want from his parts supplier which could also be your local parts store. IMO you are wasting your money on syn oil unless you live in Alaska or are a high mileage driver.
Just got back from the mountains in N.C. yesterday. Spent a week up there but had to come back home Wednesday for business and then drove back up the same day. It is 255 miles away so I put 1530 miles just driving up and down I-26. For those who care about how long it takes it is usually 3:20-25 minutes. Impala never got less than 28.5 mpg on these blasts to the mountains. Front seat doesn't bother my back anymore. I now have over 27,000 miles on my 14 month old Impala.
It can be done. When I used to take my Camaro up to NC I would make banzai runs up and down the various winding roads near Hendersonville. I tried it in my intrigue and the impala but it was not quite the same since both are autos and FWD. The other day i decided to drive one of the roads at a fairly good clip but not pushing like I have in the past. The impala was running and handling well with the gear selector in 2nd. I slowed for a hard right hander and the equally hard and steep left hander that was to follow. I came around the corner at about 30 mph and shoved it into first for the 15 mph posted left curve that was approaching. I was accelerating at about 20 mph when I noticed a black Contour on my right coming out of a driveway almost parallel to me and going over 30 mph. I jumped on the brakes and he missed my right front corner by about 5 feet. He was staring at me the whole time and never lifted. He pulled away from me until i got mad and floored it. I caught him at the hard right that almost doubled back. In front of him was a pickup with a trailer going less than 25 mph. He crossed the double yellow line and passed him on a curve! Luckily no one was coming. He pulled away quickly and then the pickup pulled into a driveway. I was now going down the mountain and could see him ahead of me. The chase was on and i steadily gained ground. The next turn was a decreasing left hander(decreasing) with a hard right following. I carried to much speed into the left turn and felt the front tires sliding. I jammed on the brakes and felt the front slide even more and the back coming around since I had unloaded the rear. I quickly hit the gas which set the front back in line as I approached the grass shoulder. Giving it the gas also stopped the rear slide and for a brief instant I was in a four wheel drift as my right tires came to the edge of the pavement. I again was going into a hard turn too fast and stabbed the brakes and hit the gas in mid turn. This spun the front tires and leveled the car out, although I was about 2 feet in the other lane when the front end stopped sliding. I was down on the bumper of that guy so fast I could see him staring slack jawed in his sideview mirror. After that he slowed down and we went our seperate ways at the next stop sign.
I agree that synthetic motor oil is superior to conventional petroleum oils, but length of time between oil changes should be no different then conventional oil. They both get contaminated, synthetic oil/ conventional oil should be changed when your owners manual tells you to. Extending the length beyond GM's recommended oil change per your warranty could void your 3 year 36,000 warranty if you have mechanical problems. This information from a Chevrolet service advisor and mechanic technician.
So, you're saying to change synthetic oil at 7,500 miles? That would be twice as long as I change my organic oil.
Also, I wouldn't trust a Chevy service advisor with a bucket of water if my pants were on fire. (He'd probably tell me the fire was normal for those model pants, anyway.)
Synthetic oil is better for reducing friction and lowering engine temperature then organic oil. However synthetic oil should be changed at the same mileage or time period that conventional oil is changed. Its not made to last any longer. If American auto manufactures believed that synthetic oil was better in so many ways for their engines then maybe the Impala would come from the factory with synthetic oil. I agree with pluto5. Not worth the cost. Unless you are going to keep the car for several years or doing excessively high mileage the cost is not worth the effort. I didn't state that synthetic oil would void your warranty. What I stated was that you can not extend the time period between oil changes with synthetic oil. If you had mechanical problems subject to lack of lubricaton and you were changing your synthetic oil/ or organic oil at time and mileage periods beyond what is GM recommended you could have a problem with your warranty. Personally I think synthetic oils are a waste of money or GM Ford etc.. would install synthetic oil at the factory in their cars.
There's a lot of stuff that GM, Ford, etc don't put in/on their cars, not because they wouldn't improve the vehicles, but because they don't want to spend the money. For the new Impala, side airbags is a case in point. Better tires are another. A glove box fit for human use. The list goes on. All omitted because of cost. Organic oils break down faster than synthetic oils. That much is known. As such, synthetics last longer before requiring replacement. Remember, GM recommends an oil change interval of 7,500 miles. I doubt very much that you'll find a knowledgable (which would preclude dealership) mechanic that would find that long a period acceptable, unless you were using synthetic.
I was looking through my manual for some information this afternoon, and ran across a statement about the oil life monitor, that basically says that once reset, the monitor should signal an oil change between 3000-6000 miles. However, it states that you should NEVER go longer than 7500 miles/12months between oil changes, even if the oil monitor never comes on. Likewise, if operated in very dusy conditions, oil should be changed every 3000 miles - regardless of what the oil monitor says.
I've got 40k miles on my Impala, so I'm not worried about voiding the warranty much anymore. However, I suspect I'll stick with using synthetic, changing both oil and filter based on the monitor. I'm sure it's overkill, as I could probably run the synthetic twice as long as I am, and it costs about 4x the price of organic; but since I change my own oil, I can justify the cost that way.
Organic oil has been improved to the point that you'd probably be safe running organic oil based on the oil monitor - we've just all been programmed to change oil every 3000 miles over the years. I've just now begun to rotate radial tires as per the owners manual (rear to front, front crossed to rear), because all my life growing up, I was told radials should only be rotated front to rear - possibly true in the early days of radials, but certainly not the case today. I often let the oil go in my old '89 Celica for 4000-5000 miles before changing; sold it to a friend's parents with @ 112k miles (after I bought the Impala) and it continues to run fine to date.
It was fun. I don't think I will ever run the car that hard again. Some of things I noticed was that the temp gauge hardly moved and the brakes held up incredibly well. I did this same road over 10 years ago and raced a Camaro RS and I warped the right front rotor. Needless to say the brakes on the impala are much stronger than the 10.5" rotor 4 wheel discs in my '87 IROC. Clearly this car was designed for severe duty. The cops in Hendersonville are now running Impalas, which makes sense due to snow and ice conditions they have up there.
Garypen you are correct in your post #9947. "theres a lot of stuff that GM Ford do't put in/on their cars not because it wouldn't improve the vehicles but BECAUSE THEY DON'T WANT TO SPEND THE MONEY" ..........My point exactly. The costs for synthetic oil changes over 100,000 miles would result in a few hundred $ extra in costs. I believe if your car is driven in extreme situations often like trailer towing or a lot of major hill or desert driving synthetic oils might be extra insurance but for me and many others driving 10 to 25K a year (average driver) its not benificial. Just my opinion.
TOP SELLING VEHICLES FOR 2002 TO DATE JULY 31
#1. FORD F SERIES PICKUP 479,000 2. Chevy Silverado 380,000 3. Toyota Camry 264,000 4. Ford Explorer 234,000 5. Dodge Ram pickup 229,000 6. Honda Accord 222,000 7. Ford Taurus 195,000 8. Honda Civic 164,000 9. Dodge Caravan 164,000 10. Chevy Cavalier 156,000 11. Chevy Trail blazer 142,000 12. Toyota Corolla 141,000 13. Ford Ranger 140,000 14. Ford Focus 139,000 15. Chevy Tahoe 123,000 16. Jeep Cherokee 122,000 17. Nissan Altima 119,000 18. CHEVROLET IMPALA 113,000 -3.2 % 19. GMC Sierra 112,000 20. Chevy Malibu 105,000
I am surprised seeing the low numbers for the Impala considering that they have high fleet sales and maybe 7-10,000 Impalas sold for Police Vehicles so far this year. Without those numbers the Impala sales would be well below 90,000. Maybe they don't need that 3rd shift at Oshawa after all.
My understanding is that they stop production of the civilian Impalas and do a large run of police and taxis at one time. This reduces the amount of cars in the pipeline that are going to the dealerships. My dealer who is fairly large never had more than 5 cars in at a time and that was mostly this summer. Last year he had at least 10 on the lot the whole year. He told me he could have sold a lot more but of course theyare on allocation so he could only get so many.
Comments
Anyway, we ended up having a Mazda Millenia as a rental. I still can't believe how awful it was to drive - horrible ergonomics, uncomfortable seats, poor performance, the worst cruise control I've ever experienced (it went +/-6mph on a fairly flat road), cramped interiors, terrible fuel economy. I was even more shocked to later find out the model sells for something like $30k! I honestly thought it'd be something in the $18-20k range..
The point of this slight off-topic post is that it was one great feeling when I got back in our Impala. What an eye-opener. A good reminder that our Impalas really are MUCH better than some considerably more expensive cars.
1)Base model with 1sc option package and 3.8
This is basically the ls w/o the side impala name and spoiler.No leather or moon roof.
23100 out the door
2)Ls model with 250 dealer miles on it.
leather and moon roof
23400 out the door
any one?
When you say "out the door", is that including tax and license? If so, take option #2.
I'd get him to drop the price, though. There's a huge $2500 rebate, you know. Plus, you should be able to get about $2000 off the MSRP (Fairly standard discount PLUS demo model).
BTW, If leather and roof are your only options, the MSRP is $24,045.
So, $24K - $4500 = $19.5K plus TTL = OTD price. Hey. Make him an offer. If he says no, leave. Don't look back. I guarantee that "no" will turn to "yes". You may have to go up a little, but not to 23.4K.
Because the dealer or GM put 243 miles on the LS model(Car # 2), the dealer took an additional 1500 dollars off.
I'm in phoenix.
Sticker price on Car #2 is 26610.00
I guess his prices ain't too bad, then! Although, Chevy's web site shows a new LS, equipped as described, to MSRP at $26,080, not $26,610. Were there other options not mentioned besides leather and roof?
Preferred Equip Group 2
Leather seat trim
electric sunroof
Then, you're looking at an MSRP of $26,865 for a 2002 LS, so equipped. (According to Chevy's web site.)
probably go look at it again tonight.
I'm surprised they have not called me back on it....
Ask for two FREE oil changes as part of the deal.
And a DVD of "The Fast and the Furious".
I thank all you folks for your input, I got the wholsale sheets from Consumer Reports($12.00),
and Car #2 is $197.00 above Consumer Reports Wholesale value, so it was there earlier t'nite so t'morrow morning I hope to get it.
Its Forest Green.
That was going to be my question.If this is true,not having a passenger side airbag,in the '03 Impala,them,I'm going to purchase it.
What is in the heads of GM engineers,or people further up the line,to decide not to have the car equipt this way?Geez,maybe an option cost?Otherwise,Chevy,you almost had me.Too bad!
The light bulb on my rear right courtesy/map lamp burnt out yesterday. The Owner's manual (Page 6-39) gives a 3 step set of instructions as to how to remove the plastic cover lense, remove the old bulb and reverse the procedure. Removing the plastic lense cover is the easiest part. Removing the bulb is extremely difficult and the owner's manual does not really give clear instructions on how to do so. The bulb is mounted sideways in the socket, but you need a flat head screwdriver to take it out of its socket on a side to side motion (you need lots of patience to do this)as it is a very tight space.
Putting a replacement bulb back is even trickier. You have to have fingers the size of a toddler's to be able to reinsert the bulb sideways back into the socket. A nightmare, I just don't understand why they made changing a bulb so much more difficult of what it needed to be.
But the fun part is TRYING to get a bulb replacement. The Owner's manual state that the correct bulb size for that socket is a 12V 912 bulb. This is a mistake on their part. The 912 bulb is too big to fit in the socket fixture as this bulb is intended for Impalas equipped with the standard center roof mounted interior dome light, which my car does not have. I went to the dealership this morning and lo and behold, their parts computer network also displays the WRONG bulb size type (912)for Impalas equipped with the rear side mounted courtesy lights. I took the old OEM bulb to the parts counter and the person looking at the bulb could not cross reference the correct socket bulb size and watts (Or candle power rating) with the original burnt bulb that I had on my hand.
So in the end, the parts person decided to give me a bulb to try and one that matched the size of the original OEM bulb socket. The bulb he gave me was a 12V 194 2CP (2 Candle Power rating). I went back to the car and after trying to fit the new bulb back into the socket for about 5 minutes, it immediately lighted up (I had the rear right door open). However I noticed the bulb was not as bright as the other one mounted on the opposite left side. Then I realized that while the bulb socket size was correct the Candle Light rating or Watt rating was still incorrect. Well took it out again and went back to the parts counter person. I told him that the bulb was the right size but it was too dim. I also told him that the 12V 194 bulb is for dashboard lighting applications, not interior lighting applications which require higher watt bulbs. He started arguing with me that the bulb he gave me was the right one, blah, blah, blah. Politely I kept telling him that if the replacement bulb is not the right watt rating whether it fits perfectly in the socket and lights up, it does not matter, it simply will not work. By the way, the original OEM bulb has the following inscription in it: 12V6W-X. This reads as 12 Volts, 6 Watt rating, extended life (But It doesn't give any indication whether the orginal bulb is a #194 or #192). I told the parts person that the bulb has to be 6 Watts or it will not illuminate the right rear passenger side at night. So he went back to the parts computer terminal and began to look for another cross reference part number. After 10 minutes the system gave him an alternate part number that matches with a 12V number #192 bulb replacement. However no watt or candle power rating was provided in the computer. He did not have any 192 bulbs in stock, so he went ahead and put an order for a few of these. they should arrive at the dealer tomorrow morning. If the new #192 replacement bulbs still don't work, then he will proceed to contact the Oshawa, Canada factory and order them directly from them.
So what a mess!!!! GM has the OEM light bulb parts number mixed up in their computer parts database and the owner's manual also has the replacement bulb type # all wrong as well. So in the end no one knows what this mystery courtesy lamp bulb is suppossed to be...frustrating!!!!
Never had so many problems getting a stupid $1 interior bulb replacement!!!!!
Can anyone with a complete technical manual try to find the correct GM part number or bulb rating and size for the rear side mounted courtesy/reading lamps????
I'll let everyone know whether the "192" bulbs work or not.
GM: Correct this part number mess in your system ASAP!!!!!
Anyway, I called another nearby dealer and they also confirmed that the "192" bulb is the correct replacement for the map/reading light. But they wanted $5.38 for the bulb! In top of that they had to ordered it and wait a week for it to come. No thanks. My local dealer is charging me $1.95 for the 192 bulb (Still steep) and will get here tomorrow morning. Let's see what happens.
I also went to the Sylvania web site (www.sylvania.com) and their recommended bulb replacement for a 2001 Impala with the rear reading lights is the "168" bulb that is rated at 3 Candle Power. If the ordered 192 proves to be dissapointing in power, then I will try to get the 168 bulb as it appears to be that it gives the maximum amount of illumination.
The 194 bulbs are for ashtrays, glove box compartments and dashboards.
Its incredible the things you learn about your car when the need arises!
By the way, the burnt courtesy lamp bulb is the only thing that has gone wrong with my Impala in over 1 and a half years of ownership.
Drivinisfun, I had a similar experience with replacing a fog light bulb - the GM computer system shows (or at least used to show) the incorrect one. Fortunately the owner's manual is correct.
Obviously "standardization" is a bad word in the vehicle engineering world!
It sounds like "the best car you've ever owned". There used to be a completely different guy that posted here that is definitely not you that used to say that all the time.
Disconnect the connector to the sensor in the rubber boot between the Air Filter box and the
Air Flow Valve
Loosen the boot clamps
Carefully clean off the boot and the ends
Remove the boot
Undo the clips on top of the Air Filter Box
Remove the Air Filter Lid
Remove the Air Filter
Clean out the Air Filter Box (found dead bugs in mine)
Replace the Air Filter (Clean/Service K&N Filter)
Reverse the process.
Put a very thin coat of dishwashing soap on the inner end of the boot that connects to the Air Flow Valve
As some of you will remember, I bought the dealer's demo car at 3K miles. The oil was changed the day I took ownership. So, why would the change oil light come on again at 5K miles? Does that mean they just didn't re-set the thing when they changed the oil?
Called the service department and the guy told me I could bring the car in and they can either change the oil now, or re-set the car to get the light to turn off. I asked if I could wait a week or so to have the oil changed (so I can be closer to 6K miles) and he indicated there was no urgency in changing the oil.
The light only goes on when I start up the car and then turns off in a couple of minutes, so it's not a big deal to me. Does this sound right?
What I meant to say,was,that GM blew it this time.
If Chevy is designing the new Impala without the passenger side airbag,they have lost a potential customer.That's too bad...Good Luck,all!
See ya,here.
Thx
Rob
vblstud - If you bought the car new and have never changed the oil, now would probably be a good time. Just be sure they re-set the oil monitor (or you can do it yourself when you pick up the car just to be sure). The monitor determines when the oil needs changed based on engine rpms and temperature (it doesn't actually monitor the condition of the oil per se), which is why if the light isn't reset, it will invariably go off within a couple of thousand miles of the oil change - the oil doesn't really need changing, the monitor just doesn't know the oil was changed.
I'm a little anal about oil changes, and changed my oil for the first time at 500 miles; figuring that during the initial break-in process, there's more metal particles knocking around in there than there will be down the road. I changed it with conventional at that point, and again at 3000 miles. I think it was at 6000 miles that I switched to synthetic, and relied on the oil monitor from that point forward.
Club formed.. Wish someone will take the bull by the horns..... walter
Folks normally change their oil every 3000 miles. This may be changing soon, but for now 3000 remains a good rule of thumb. If you have 4000 miles with the factory oil, you're likely OK but by my standards you're sorely overdue.
I changed my oil at 1500 miles with organic oil then again at 3000 with synthetic. I then changed the filter at 7500 miles and then the oil/filter at 12000. From then on I change the filter every 6000 and the oil every 12000 with synthetic. If I was using organic oil I'd change the oil every 3000 miles and the filter every 6000. A few thousand posts back I noted my rationale for this.
Enjoy your new ride.
I also like to do the first oil change at 1000 miles, for the same reasons. Therafter, 3000-4000 miles between oil changes. One of these days I'll switch to synthetic, and double the mileage in between.
I'm the type of person who prefers to have the dealer do the oil change vs the local quick lube place (which I only resort to when desperate). But the synthetic stuff sounds like a good thing--do you think most Chevy dealers have the stuff on hand if one pays a little extra?
However, since synthetic oil is purported to work better than organic, you'll have that going for you...which is nice.
For those who care about how long it takes it is usually 3:20-25 minutes. Impala never got less than 28.5 mpg on these blasts to the mountains.
Front seat doesn't bother my back anymore.
I now have over 27,000 miles on my 14 month old Impala.
When I used to take my Camaro up to NC I would make banzai runs up and down the various winding roads near Hendersonville. I tried it in my intrigue and the impala but it was not quite the same since both are autos and FWD.
The other day i decided to drive one of the roads at a fairly good clip but not pushing like I have in the past.
The impala was running and handling well with the gear selector in 2nd.
I slowed for a hard right hander and the equally hard and steep left hander that was to follow. I came around the corner at about 30 mph and shoved it into first for the 15 mph posted left curve that was approaching. I was accelerating at about 20 mph when I noticed a black Contour on my right coming out of a driveway almost parallel to me and going over 30 mph.
I jumped on the brakes and he missed my right front corner by about 5 feet. He was staring at me the whole time and never lifted.
He pulled away from me until i got mad and floored it.
I caught him at the hard right that almost doubled back.
In front of him was a pickup with a trailer going less than 25 mph.
He crossed the double yellow line and passed him on a curve! Luckily no one was coming.
He pulled away quickly and then the pickup pulled into a driveway.
I was now going down the mountain and could see him ahead of me. The chase was on and i steadily gained ground. The next turn was a decreasing left hander(decreasing) with a hard right following.
I carried to much speed into the left turn and felt the front tires sliding.
I jammed on the brakes and felt the front slide even more and the back coming around since I had unloaded the rear.
I quickly hit the gas which set the front back in line as I approached the grass shoulder.
Giving it the gas also stopped the rear slide and for a brief instant I was in a four wheel drift as
my right tires came to the edge of the pavement.
I again was going into a hard turn too fast and
stabbed the brakes and hit the gas in mid turn.
This spun the front tires and leveled the car out, although I was about 2 feet in the other lane when the front end stopped sliding.
I was down on the bumper of that guy so fast I could see him staring slack jawed in his sideview mirror.
After that he slowed down and we went our seperate
ways at the next stop sign.
***Extending the length beyond GM's recommended oil change per your warranty could void your 3 year 36,000 warranty if you have mechanical problems***
ONLY if the problems can be traced to the use of synthetic oil and extended drain periods. See the federal warranty legislation (at least in the USA).
Using synthetic oil will NOT void the warranty on the trunk hinges!
Also, I wouldn't trust a Chevy service advisor with a bucket of water if my pants were on fire. (He'd probably tell me the fire was normal for those model pants, anyway.)
For the new Impala, side airbags is a case in point. Better tires are another. A glove box fit for human use. The list goes on. All omitted because of cost.
Organic oils break down faster than synthetic oils. That much is known. As such, synthetics last longer before requiring replacement.
Remember, GM recommends an oil change interval of 7,500 miles. I doubt very much that you'll find a knowledgable (which would preclude dealership) mechanic that would find that long a period acceptable, unless you were using synthetic.
I've got 40k miles on my Impala, so I'm not worried about voiding the warranty much anymore. However, I suspect I'll stick with using synthetic, changing both oil and filter based on the monitor. I'm sure it's overkill, as I could probably run the synthetic twice as long as I am, and it costs about 4x the price of organic; but since I change my own oil, I can justify the cost that way.
Organic oil has been improved to the point that you'd probably be safe running organic oil based on the oil monitor - we've just all been programmed to change oil every 3000 miles over the years. I've just now begun to rotate radial tires as per the owners manual (rear to front, front crossed to rear), because all my life growing up, I was told radials should only be rotated front to rear - possibly true in the early days of radials, but certainly not the case today. I often let the oil go in my old '89 Celica for 4000-5000 miles before changing; sold it to a friend's parents with @ 112k miles (after I bought the Impala) and it continues to run fine to date.
Some of things I noticed was that the temp gauge hardly moved and the brakes held up incredibly well.
I did this same road over 10 years ago and raced a Camaro RS and I warped the right front rotor.
Needless to say the brakes on the impala are much stronger than the 10.5" rotor 4 wheel discs in my '87 IROC. Clearly this car was designed for severe duty.
The cops in Hendersonville are now running Impalas, which makes sense due to snow and ice conditions they have up there.
TOP SELLING VEHICLES FOR 2002 TO DATE JULY 31
#1. FORD F SERIES PICKUP 479,000
2. Chevy Silverado 380,000
3. Toyota Camry 264,000
4. Ford Explorer 234,000
5. Dodge Ram pickup 229,000
6. Honda Accord 222,000
7. Ford Taurus 195,000
8. Honda Civic 164,000
9. Dodge Caravan 164,000
10. Chevy Cavalier 156,000
11. Chevy Trail blazer 142,000
12. Toyota Corolla 141,000
13. Ford Ranger 140,000
14. Ford Focus 139,000
15. Chevy Tahoe 123,000
16. Jeep Cherokee 122,000
17. Nissan Altima 119,000
18. CHEVROLET IMPALA 113,000 -3.2 %
19. GMC Sierra 112,000
20. Chevy Malibu 105,000
I am surprised seeing the low numbers for the Impala considering that they have high fleet sales and maybe 7-10,000 Impalas sold for Police Vehicles so far this year. Without those numbers the Impala sales would be well below 90,000. Maybe they don't need that 3rd shift at Oshawa after all.
This reduces the amount of cars in the pipeline that are going to the dealerships.
My dealer who is fairly large never had more than 5 cars in at a time and that was mostly this summer.
Last year he had at least 10 on the lot the whole year.
He told me he could have sold a lot more but of course theyare on allocation so he could only get so many.