Should I buy a used Chevy Impala?

kman06

Hello everyone,

I have found a nice clean 06 Impala LT3/3.9L with 40,000 miles on it. It runs great and is GM certified. The in-service date was 01-23-2006 so I guess I have 60,000 miles or until 2011 in the powertrain warranty. Before I make an offer, is there anything else I should look for in the '06 for potential problems. I will have the 3-month/3000 mile bumper to bumper warranty on it to get anything that needs to fixed, fixed. But, I would love to hear from an Impala owner first hand.

Also, I have this nagging feeling if I should try to find a 3.5L that will give me better mileage. But, I doubt if it will have the leather fold-down seats. Can anyone confirm if the 3.5L - leather fold down seats - bose sound system combination can be found?

Thanks and looking forward to enjoying our Impala!
Cheers!

jacarney8657

Hello and hi to all!!!

I will quickly get to the point. I am looking to buy a used car. I have twins(11mos old) and a 6 year old so backseat space is key(carseats) along with the normal safety, gas mileage, reliabilty, etc. This will be my families only vehicle. I am looking to spend right around 6k and have my eye on a 2002 impala with 57k miles on it. It is a base 3.4. Listed price is $6,495(hoping to get down to at least 6k)

I always do research on the internet, but always freak myself out because I have come to the conclusion that a majority of people who post there thoughts about certain makes or models are because they are having problems and want to let the world know because they are angry(as car ownership can be a major cause of anger) or looking for a solution.

I figure with the amount of impalas on the road that there has to be a Large amount of people happily driving into the sunset compared to the disgruntled impala owners. Usually if there is no major problem there is no urgent need or want to post your good experience because it seems to me frustration and anger or malfunctions lead to the motivation to find a solution in today's world of the web.

Anyway after reading about all the passlock, intake, transmission problems with 5-7 year old impalas am I making a good choice by kind of setting my sights on the 02 impala or should I go with my original plan of the mini-van(which also led me to numerous problems w/every make and model).

Is there any positivity out there, just looking for a little direction. To me 6k bucks is 6k bucks too much for me to throw into something without feeling good about it.

Thanks.

nosirrahg

I had a 2000 Impala with the 3.8 engine and loved it (bought new in 2000); only sold it this year because my kids are reaching driving age soon, and I knew if I didn't get something new now I might be driving the Impala for a LONG time to come. I think the Impala is a great family car, big, safe, fuel-efficient, huge trunk, very comfortable on road trips. My only concern with the 3.4 over the 3.8 is that I know on the 2000 models you only got traction control (and maybe ABS) with the 3.8, so from a safety standpoint it was better to go with the 3.8 (that may have changed by 2002 though). I would have been comfortable driving mine for another 3 years, but that'd be the same time my oldest will be going to college, so I wanted to get myself something new and get it paid off before then. Just be sure to have the car checked out, and try to get a Carfax report to make sure it wasn't too abused in the past.

thekraut

Find out if it has DexCool anfifreeze in the radiator. I have a 2003 Impala w/dexcool. The car has a leaking intake manifold gasket. The leak maybe caused by the dexcool antifreeze. I also have a 2004 Impala with no problems. Both cars have the 3.4 engine.

slingha

I've been offered a 2007 Chevy Impala LS with anti-lock/traction package along with a bench seat rather than the floor shift. It has 12,200 miles on it and Carfax verified that it was not a rental. It was allegedly a company car for a person from GE.

It is also GM certified.

The price is $13,490

michaeltalley2

LET ME TELL YOU ABOUT MY 2002 IMPALA. I HONESTLY THINK THE CAR CURSES ANYONE WHO DRIVES ONE. FROM WHAT I'VE READ FROM SOME FOLKS WE ALL LOVE OUR IMPALA VERY MUCH BUT, WE JUST CAN'T LET THEM GO. I BOUGHT MY 02 IN AUGUST OF 2007. IT'S BEEN IN THE SHOP AT LEAST 15 TIMES AND PRESENTLY IN THE SHOP AS I TYPE FOR TRANSMISSION . MY LIGHTS WENT OUT, WINDSHIELD WIPERS WENT OUT MESSAGE CENTER REPORTS WRONG, AT 50,000 MY CALYTIC CONVERTER WENT OUT. THE DEALER WOULD NOT FIX CAUSE IT WAS REPLACED BEFORE. THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT STAYS ON. EVERYTIME IT GOES INTO THE SHOP A DIFFERENT CODE COMES UP. YOU CAN NOT CHANGE THE RADIO CAUSE ALL RESETS ARE DONE THROUGH THE RADIO. THE POWER WINDOWS BREAKS EASILY. THE CALIPERS NEEDED REPLACING, BREAKS SOME TIME DON'T STOP ON POINT, EVEN WITH BRAND NEW ONES. MY CAR WOULD NOT PAST EMISSION TEST DUED TO CHECK ENGINE LIGHT. I LUCK UP CAUSE, BY ME GETTING HURT IN IRAG I RECIEVED PERMIT DISABILTY TAGS AND MVA WILL EXCUSE YOU FROM TEST. THERE ARE OTHER PROBLEMS I DO NOT CARE TO REMEMBER AND MY 02 IMPALA NOW HAS 72,756 ON IT. BUT, LIKE I SAID,"I STILL THIS CARE." LOL

JZT317

I bought my Impala 4 years ago with 30,000 miles on it. Since then I have replaced, two catalytic converters, the transmission, the upper and lower intake gaskets, the power steering system, the entire cooling system including the thermostat, the power windows, I have to put brakes on it every year, my windshield wipers have decided they will stand straight up when they are not being used instead of laying flat, and now my heat blower has gone out, and one of my cooling fans have quit working so I overheat when I idle. But the stupid thing will be paid off next month, so since I've already replaced just about everything, maybe it will last me a while.

mixed35

So I have a02 chevy imapla iam just pouring money into this car. My abs light is on the traction light is saying its off iam taking this car to get it fixed every other week. I've had the electric system looked at b/c my turn signals don't work or should I say they work when they want to now its smoking from the top part of the engine iam at a lost of what it is now.