2005 and Earlier Chevrolet Impala

fathertyricius

I have a 2001 LS and experienced the same identical problem. Your rear window has to be changed. My car had the same problem, and the service manager explained that the rear window attenna took a micro surge. The service manager ordered a new rear window and when it arrived(within three days), they made the swap in a matter of less then two hours. I was told that this problem also runs in the Buick Regal too. Everything will be okay when they change the window. Goodluck.
FatherTyricius

emtb

Thanks! I'll ring them up tomarrow.

What's the mating pluf then for, if I'm just going straight off the fuse there?

mediumfry

No need for the mating plug if you're going to tap into the fuse directly. Just thought you might want to run the power off the actual power drop so the system is easily removeable if you want to sell, upgrade, etc. Either way works.

[Deleted User]

They're excellent for used cars, or cars that were purchased new, are near the end of their factory warranty, and are going to be kept for a few more years.
To buy one at the same time as the new car doesn't make sense to me. The car is covered for 36/36 or longer already! (not to mention emissions systems 7/100 coverage, which includes many powertrain components.)
Plus, do you know for sure you will keep the car past the factory warranty? What if it's totalled?

yurakm

My extended warranty company returns the unused part of payment, pro-rated, if the warranty is dropped for any reason: either car is totaled, or sold, or the owner just do not want the warranty any more.

However, there is a catch in pro-rating, if I understood it right when reading the contract, and remember it right now. If you bought a 100K mile warranty at 25k, and dropped it at 50K, only half of payment will be returned. 50k / 100k = 50%. It does not matter than you did not have tha warranty for the first 25k, and had the manufacturer warranty till 36k...

Additionally, there is a fee, $50 or so...

[Deleted User]

That's not too bad. I'd still wait until the 35th month or 35,000 mile mark to consider buying one, though. That's just me.

teo

"That's not too bad. I'd still wait until the 35th month or 35,000 mile mark to consider buying one, though. That's just me."

And that's often the smart way of going about it and also for the same reasons you stated in your previous post.

Often, the maximum coverage that can be purchased after the original warranty has expired is 3 years/100,000 miles.

I personally prefer to keep ANY car under warranty for the amount of time I plan to own it.

For me I prefer to keep cars no longer than 5, or 6 years tops and about 75K miles.

New cars are just too complicated and parts and labor are very expensive. To me the extended warranty is just insurance against unexpected car repair expenses. If a tranny goes, then you have to part with $3K that you might had saved for your Roth IRA contribution or a nice vacation?

To me that kind of risk is simply not worth it.

Remember, even if you are mechanically inclined, I doubt you are going to mount a new transmission in your home garage or do some other major repair work.

But to each his/her own..

yurakm

Well, I bought it at about 30 to 32k miles.

yurakm

The warranty companies are paying the same price as their costomers would pay for repairs. Additionally, companies they have other expences, like sale commissions, advertising, back office, etc, and want ot make some profit.

Over life, a typical family probably owns as much as 10-15 cars. Averaging over the number, huge majority would turn better at end without buying extended warranties.

However, there are different cases. Spending on warranties are much more predictable than spending on repairs. Good for those families, who do not have enough slack in budget nor enough savings. Either because of low income, of character, or other reasons.

I believe, that warranties pays in special cases, like with former rental cars, or repocessed cars, even lease returns. Because the cost of warranty is the same, and probability of failure is much higher.

emtb

Ok, see, you have to understand, I'm relatively clueless and still am learning.

What does the mating plug exactly do? Does it plug in there, and just feeds power straight into the components (IE, scanner) that I wire to it?

[Deleted User]

We're agreeing with you as to the value of the extended warranties. It's the timing that I, and I think yurakm too, don't agree 100% with.

stormdavy

Do you know for sure when '03s will be on the assembly line at Oshawa. I'm visiting friends in Ontario this Spring & to also see next year's Impalas would make my day.

teo

Maybe around June or July. Typically next year's production begins during these months.

b4z

After a slowdown in production, impalas are being produced at a record pace. 19,936 cars in February!
That is annual pace of about 240,000.

johnclineii

And perhaps more importantly, does anyone know if there are any substantial changes in the 2oo3's?

letsgetmikey

Been lurking on this thread for a long time, and plan on getting a base Impala for my next company car (other salespeople in my company are going the Taurus route, but I digress). I was planning on waiting until I got $2000 in GM card earnings to get one. I'm up to $1850.

Anyway, I get my GM Card year end summary in the mail today, and they show the maximum redemption allowances on all GM products, and the Impala has been cut to $1500. Ugh.

tommy42

Moritz Chev Fort Worth TX.just ordered their first L S Sport. Will be in 3 weeks.

brettca

I heard a rumour today that GM sells a "Super Chip" that will give you more horsepower. I want to emphisize "Rumour" because I have heard of these in the past and thought that they were mainly OEM and don't really know any more than that. Is there one available for the Impala?

yurakm

You wrote: the maximum redemption allowances on all GM products, and the Impala has been cut to $1500

Just checked the GM card site: the max redemption for Impala is $1,500, The same for Buick Century. However, for Buick Regal still $2000. The same 2,000 for Pontiac Gran Prix, for Olds Intrigue...

http://www.gmcard.com/generic/a_indexredemption.html

Most probable, because of lower demand. Or because the price range is higher. Or for the both reasons, or for some other...

teo

Don't forget also, that GM is also giving either $2002 cash back or 0% GMAC up to 36 months financing and all new 2002 Impalas. You must take delivery from dealer stock by 4/1/02.

If you take the cashback, you can combine it with your accrued GM Mastercard points. So if you want to buy a new Impala right now, GM is giving you a total of $3502 in rebate money on top of your best negotiated price.

As for the Ford Taurus, just curious, why you don't like it? I rented a '02 Taurus last month when we traveled to Seattle and the car was decent. Interior is nice, but the powertrain is no where near the performance, response and efficiency of the Impala's powertrain combo.

Of course, I still take an Impala anyday over the Taurus.

[Deleted User]

Was that Ford's best powerplant for that car? Rental fleets quite often don't have the most powerful engine offered for a particular vehicle.

teo

3.0L Duratec 24 valve V6 engine offered in the Taurus SEL and SES.

Don't care that much for this engine either. Problem with this car above all is the lousy automatic tranny.

[Deleted User]

Noisy? Hard shifts? Too "slushy"?

I believe Ford is known for pretty firm shifting, or was back when they still used Type F fluid.

teo

The Taurus tranny has an annoying tendency to hunt between gears when going on steep uphill streets. Actually shift quality is smooth but half the time the tranny is trying to guess what the engine is doing. Some shift points on normal driving conditions are erratic as well.

charts2

I don't see Chevrolet making any major changes to the 2003 Impala model. The current Malibu has not changed since its inception in 1997. The sheet metal on the Cavalier since 1995. minor updates are usually made to their cars during a model run. In this case I am assuming the Impala will run from 2000 to 2004, with the same sheet metal. The 2003 Impala might have a change in seat fabrics or add a color or two or maybe a minor change in the wheel covers. With 3 current offerings base, LS and LS sport I doubt very much you will see a 4th such as an SS car for 03', I could be wrong. You can make your own SS car!! Get a set of wheels from the 1994-1996 IMPALA SS they are the same design and style except they are 17" have a deeper dish to accomodate the 8" width. (get your speedo recalibrated) Add some SS script from a 60's Impala SS car, and order a 350 Cubic Inch 400 horsepower crate engine from Chevy.

The only thing missing would be the cool grille that was on the experimental Impala SS that was in the lobby of the Oshawa assembly plant last year.

hvan3

<<Anyway, I get my GM Card year end summary in the mail today, and they show the maximum redemption allowances on all GM products, and the Impala has been cut to $1500. Ugh>>

I think there is a difference between the NEW GM Card, and the original GM Card. Our original GM Card (when it was first introduced), we were able to accumulate as much as $7K over 7 year time span, and redeem the entire amount at one shot if we wish. But 3 years ago, GM reduced the amount you can accumulate to a maximum of $500 per year over 7 year time span.

With the New GM Card, GM placed a restriction on how many points you can accumulate and redeem.

When I bought my Impala LS last year, I redeemed the entire $3,750 on my GM Card. Now, with the other Gold Card that I have, I still have about 2K points. I"m not sure what to do with it since my next car will be Infiniti G35. I'm not too crazy about the CTS.

By the way, the dealer will allow you to charge a maximum of $2-3K (i think?)on your GM Card as a down payment. Of course, it varies by dealership. Be sure to ask since you can accumulate points all over again.

Oh, did anyone get their GM Card t-shirt? Couple months ago, I posted on this board that GM is offering FREE GM Card t-shirt if you answer a short survey. My t-shirt arrived last month. Really nice quality shirt!!

hvan3

Click on this site. Then click on "merchant offer" Find the site that offers free t-shirt. Answer a short survey, and voila, a free t-shirt deliver to your home. Caveat...I think you must have a GM Card.

https://www.gmcard.com/generic/a_indexoffers.html

teo

"With the New GM Card, GM placed a restriction on how many points you can accumulate and redeem."

Not quite correct. I have had both, the old and "New" GM Mastercard credit card accounts.

Basically, with the new account you no longer have a "Cap" or limit as to how many points you can accumulate over time (Per year basis). You can accumulate as many points as you wish, but the catch is that you have a limit in terms of how many of those accrued points can be redeemed, according to the new GM vehicle of your choice. For example, I can accumulate $3K worth of New GM card points on one year, but if I wish to buy tomorrow a new 2003 Pontiac Vibe, GM only allows me to redeem $1K worth of points. The only advantage of the new GM Card points program is that you can accrue points much faster in comparison to the old GM Card points program.

With the "Old" GM Card blue and Gold accounts, you had a "Cap" as to how many points you could accrue per year. Often the limit was $500.00 per year for a maximum of 7 years (Unused points expire after 7 years on both old and new GM card accounts)or $3,500 accrued.

So, under the old GM Card program it took much longer to accrue any significant amount of points, but the advantage is that you could then redeem a maximum of $3,500 on all participating new GM cars and trucks, with no redeeming limitations as in the New GM card accounts.

I switched to the "New" program 2 years ago as we wanted to be able to accrue points much faster rather than waiting years to have any significant amount of points accrued.

Both programs are good but they both have their "catch 22's". The old GM blue and Gold accounts are no longer offered for new GM account holders. Previous blue and gold account holders get to keep their old program guidelines if they wish. Once you switch from the old to the new GM cards, there is no turning around.

Last, but not least, if you are not planning on buying a new GM product anytime soon and have points that you wish to give to someone else, you can transfer them to that person, but the problem is that new person must be added as an "Authorized" user in your GM credit card account.

teo

"By the way, the dealer will allow you to charge a maximum of $2-3K (i think?)on your GM Card as a down payment. Of course, it varies by dealership. Be sure to ask since you can accumulate points all over again."

You can charge any amount of downpayment on your GM mastercard account as long as you don't exceed your established credit limit. If your credit limit is $12k, you can charge $12k for downpayment.

There is no restrictions on this among any GM dealers. Money is money to them, if you know what I mean ;-)

hvan3

<<There is no restrictions on this among any GM dealers. Money is money to them, if you know what I mean ;-)>>

I know some dealers limit the amount you can charge on your credit card. If money is money to them, I"m sure they're counting their money MINUS 2% charge for accepting credit card payment. Thus, on a max out $12K card limit, the dealer would incur $240.

It all depends on what policy the dealers have for accepting credit card payment.

hvan3

<<So, under the old GM Card program it took much longer to accrue any significant amount of points, but the advantage is that you could then redeem a maximum of $3,500 on all participating new GM cars and trucks, with no redeeming limitations as in the New GM card accounts.>>

I prefer the original GM Card since my average yearly spending is about $10K, which comes out $500 in rebate points yearly.

My original GM Card allowed me to redeem the full amount of $3750 (not $3500) because originally the cap was $7K over 7 years. However, GM made the changes midstream, and had to honor the original agreement.

<<you can transfer them to that person, but the problem is that new person must be added as an "Authorized" user in your GM credit card account.>>

I'm not sure, but I think that "new person" must reside within the same address as the account holder. I dont' think it's that easy to transfer these points just by adding them as an "authorized" user.

spence30

Some one asked what the life of brakes on the Impala should be... It is all in your driving habits, but I have 58,000 miles on my 2000 LS, and am still on the original pads (3rd set of rotors). My 99 Blazer has 66,000 miles on original rotors and pads, and I just had the inspection done... still good.

spence30

I replaced my Eagle GA's at 48,000 miles and put Dunlop Sp Sport A2. They have been great in wet and dry surfaces, unfortunatly we haven't had much snow to report winter driving on them. I have heard the Yokahama db are a very quiet tire, but not good in winter weather.

b4z

Wheels from '94-96 Impala will not fit. Completely different backspacing. Plus RWD vs. FWD.

[Deleted User]

>>>and am still on the original pads (3rd set of rotors). <<<

What's wrong with this picture?

[Deleted User]

What does RWD vs. FWD have to do with wheels?

charts2

I wasn't aware of the back spacing. I know the wheels are identical in design other then the diameter and width. Thanks for the info.

mediumfry

I took the GM Card survey the other day and received a T-shirt in the mail the next day. Then a couple weeks later I received another identical T-shirt. I think I took the survey twice and didn't remember the first time. Anyone wanna have a contest to see how many shirts we can get?

I finally got some work done on the clicking/tapping feeling in the brake pedal and steering wheel on my '01 LS built in 11/00. I asked the dealer for the ISS grease kit but they said that this TSB was not fixing the problems the way they hoped. They said they'd like to replace the steering sector (rack) and while I didn't think it was the problem I let them do it. I've been about 100 miles since and it's been PERFECT. Surprising? Yes. Delightful? Yes.

We'll see how it does with the test of time...

b4z

Wheels built for FWD cars generally have more backspacing than wheels built for RWD cars.
If you look at the wheels on the LS the centercap actually sticks out past the rim.
If you look at the SS wheel the centercap is set within the rim.

teo

LOL, I just got my GM Card T-Shirt in the mail...but it is XL size...TOO BIG!

bh0001

Just booked an appointment for the 30,000km service. They're going to check out the ISS as well since I've started experiencing the dreaded "clunks" (2001 LS, build date 04/01).

I spoke with the service manager, he said they've done a few of the lube kits and so far so good. None of them have come back with a repeat problem, but he did say that if the problem re-occurs they will replace the shaft. He hadn't heard anything about the steering rack being the problem. They are 100% straight with me because my brother-in-law is the parts manager.

We'll see how it goes on Monday.
Brad

teo

Brad, so are you close to the 19,000 mile mark?

dmullins

I had the shim kit applied at 28,000 miles for the dreaded clunk. Now at 48,000 miles it's back. Guess I'll have to live with it as the car is now out of warranty. 00' Impala LS.

teo

Interesting. Some say the "Lube" will fix the problem permanently, others claim otherwise. One thing I am sure of is that the reliability of the repair will depend on how well or properly the "Lube" fix was applied.

The bulletin notice in Nathan's web page, not only lists the Impala but nearly every other GM sedan currently marketed. What I find a bit intriguing is that I don't read about the same frequency complaints from owners of Buick LeSabre's, Pontiac Bonneville's, Buick Regal's to name a few in terms of the IIS. All these cars share the same exact ISS hardware as the Impala.

teo

"had the shim kit applied at 28,000 miles for the dreaded clunk. Now at 48,000 miles it's back. Guess I'll have to live with it as the car is now out of warranty. 00' Impala LS."

The "Shim Kit" fix was meant to cure the early production problems with the engine cradle noises. Totally unrelated to the ISS.

Did you have, both, the "Shim Kit" fix for the engine cradle and the "ISS Lube Kit" fix applied on your car, or just one of them?

People, don't confuse the engine cradle, with the ISS, two very separate issues.

teo

I am not sure if this company produces an aftermarket ISS part compatible with GM sedans:

http://www.torrington.com/products/preccomp/steeringintermed.htm

teo

TSB# 01-05-23-011: Rattle type noise coming from front of vehicle (Install front brake caliper service kit); 2000-2001 Buick Century, Regal, Chevrolet Impala, Montecarlo, Venture, Oldsmobile Intrigue, Silhouette, Pontiac Grand Prix, Montana, built before specified VIN breakpoints (VIN sequence breakpoints or build dates not listed in the notice, however).

TSB# 01-06-04-058: Hesitation stumble on acceleration (Recalibrate PCM); 2000 Chevrolet Impala (only) with 3.8L V6 engine (VIN K - RPO L36) and NC8 (California Emissions).

teo

01-02-32-001A; replaces 01-02-32-001; Clunk noise from front of vehicle during turning maneuver/steering wheel rotation (Lubricate intermediate shaft); specified 1997-2002 Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, Oldsmobile and Pontiac models.

01-08-111-003: Roof panel joint (ditch) molding (Roof Strips); 2000-2002 Chevrolet Impala.

01-03-10-008: False tire inflation monitor (TIM) Message/Lamp illumination (Install new electronic brake traction control module - EBTCM); 1999-2001 Buick Century, Regal, 2000-2001 Chevrolet Impala, Montecarlo.

01-08-44-011: CD Cannot be inserted into CD player or Ejected (Reset radio); 2002 Chevrolet Cavalier, Impala, Malibu, Montecarlo, Venture, Oldsmobile Intrigue,Sillouette, Pontiac Montana.

Check this TSB out, very interesting....

01-08-44-012: Radio Bass level TOO HIGH (Adjust bass level using GM Tech Tool Level 2); 2001-02 Chevrolet Impala, Montecarlo. (Didn't know the Boomy bass sound issue could be solved via using the GM Tech Level 2 tool, COOL!)

01-08-50-008: Power seat track adjusters: 2001 Buick Century, Regal, Chevrolet Impala, Montecarlo built after specified VIN breakpoints.

dmullins

I only had the shim kit applied. I don't think the ISS lube kit was out at the time. I guess it's too late since it's out of warranty. Thanks for the info though.

teo

Ok, so that means you still have your original ISS installed. Did you ever have any problems with it while in warranty?