I was turning in my driveway off of the main road and the car seemed to cut off. The first thing that I noticed was that I had to struggle to turn the wheel as I was trying to avoid a cement post on the side of my driveway. I got it in the driveway while basically coasting, and I noticed some lights on in the dash. I put the vehicle in park and proceeded to start it.
2008 Chevrolet Impala engine complaints
Page 4 of 6: complaints 71 to 100 of 160, newest first, as owners wrote them.
So im drving down the expressway i57 at about 85mph and the car beeps 3 times displaying service stabilatrack/ service traction and check engine seconds later the car completely cut off. While in traffic.
Tl* the contact owns a 2008 chevrolet impala. While driving 65 MPH, the check engine warning light illuminated. The contact mentioned that the throttle sensor shut down warning message appeared. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic who diagnosed that the throttle position sensor needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired twice, but the failure persisted. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The VIN was unavailable. The approximate failure mileage was 65,000.
Throttle disable light comes on and the engine shuts down, including steering. This has happened twice. The first time was january of 2014, speed was approximately 50 MPH. We were able to steer the car into a neighborhood and after about 30-40 minutes, the engine started again. This happened again yesterday, in a much more dangerous situation. I was entering a highway with traffic travelling at and above posted speed of 70 MPH. As I merged, the throttle disabled light flashed on and the engine immediately shut down. Luckily I was able to steer the car onto the shoulder. I truly feel my life was in danger. The vehicle started after about 30 minutes of me sitting on the very busy shoulder of this highway.
Tl* the contact owns a 2008 chevrolet impala. While driving approximately 35 MPH, the engine stalled without warning. The vehicle was merged to the side of the road. Upon restarting, the vehicle was able to operate normally. The failure occurred five times. On a separate occasion, the vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic where the power control module was replaced. The manufacturer was notified. The approximate failure mileage was 27,000. Updated 11/20/14*lj updated 01/13/15
Without warning, an engine power reduced notice appears, and the vehicle slows down from 65 MPH to under 20 MPH.
Tl* the contact owns a 2008 chevrolet impala. While driving approximately 40 MPH, the steering wheel seized without warning. The failure occurred twice. The vehicle was towed to a dealer and the technician stated that the rack and pinion, both front wheel bearings, and the intake manifold needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 78,000.
This is the third time this has happened to me and luckily not while traveling on a highway. I am getting a traction control loss with reduced power light on that actually powers down the engine. I have been able to shut the car off and clear the light and it works o.k. But that is not a permanent fix. This problem with these vehicles has been well documented hundreds of times on forums all over the internet and why has gm done nothing about this? Someone is going to die or seriously become injured due to this defect, I hope to god it is not me!!! This is really a problem if you are traveling at a high rate and speed and the engine decides to power down. I want this addressed asap before we are reading and hearing about another fatality at the hands of gm!!!!
Tl* the contact owns a 2008 chevrolet impala. The contact stated that while driving approximate 80 MPH, the engine stalled without warning. The contact was able to restart the vehicle. The failure recurred three times. The vehicle has not been repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 97,000.
Tl* the contact owns a 2008 chevrolet impala. The contact stated that the engine reduced warning indicator illuminated and the vehicle stalled numerous times. The contact was able to restart the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed that the evap sensor needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired, but the failure recurred. The vehicle was driven to an authorized dealer for further diagnostic testing. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 50,000.
Tl* the contact owns a 2008 chevrolet impala. The contact stated while driving approximately 50 MPH, the vehicle stalled without warning. As a result, the contact crashed into a pole and the air bags failed to deploy. The contact sustained a concussion, sprained neck, and whiplash which required medical attention. The contact received notification of the federal safety agency campaign id number: 14v355000 (electrical system), however the parts are not available to perform the repairs. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 70,000.
Tl* the contact owns a 2008 chevrolet impala. The contact stated that while having maintenance performed on the vehicle, the technician made her aware that there was a leak coming from the cooling reservoir and gaskets. As a result, the seals on the motor mount and a new coolant reservoir would need to be installed. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 89,000.
Tl* the contact owns a 2008 chevrolet impala. The contact stated while driving 50 MPH, the vehicle suddenly stalled. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The failure mileage was 73,000. The VIN was unavailable.
I was driving in the rain on my way to work on a highway. With out warning my steering locks up, my battery light and engine lights turn on. Along with this my cars temp goes through the roof. This is happening at 65 MPH its 3 am I can no longer see or control my vehicle. Thanks to my skilled driving I was able to pull the car over. I can't figure out what is wrong with my car I've had a professional look at it he doesn't know what do over than replace parts and do trial and error. Im lucky to be alive every time I drive in the rain but its not me that I'm worried about. I don't want anybody to get hurt or killed due to my steering locking up.
Th engine of my 2008 impala completely shut off on two occasions approximately two years ago after hitting a relatively large pot hole. In the first incident, I was traveling west bound on snell road (oakland township, mi) between orion and rochester road and hit a large pot hole traveling approximately 40 miles per hour and the vehicle engine and electrical system completely shut off. As I recall, I steered the vehicle (manually) to the side of the road, put the vehicle in park, and restarted the engine. No other cars were coming either way. A similar incident happened approximately 3 months later as I was heading eastbound on snell road between mt. Vernon and rochester road. When the gm ignition recalls started, I did not correlate these incidents with the recall. However, when I read a newspaper account recently of a gm employee experiencing the same situation with her 2006 impala, I realized it must have been an ignition issue as well. I assumed the 2008 impala would be recalled like the 2006 impala but to date, I the 2008 impala has not yet been recalled. Please contact me with any further questions.
Tl* the contact owns a 2008 chevrolet impala. The contact stated that while driving 60 MPH, the engine power reduced warning light illuminated and the vehicle decelerated. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The failure mileage was 200,000 and the current mileage was 210,000.
I was driving when vehicle lost power and car shut off. I put the car in neutral and restarted the motor and this has happened on a few occasions. More recently, at times car will not turn over or crank and the check engine light comes on. Then suddenly the car cranks and after some time has passed the check engine light shuts off. I took the car to the dealership and they told me it was the battery. I replaced the battery at the dealership but it still does the same thing. I took the car back to the dealership but the dealership said they could not find the problem. So I took the car to another mechanic and he told me it was the ignition 1 switch circuit 2 (code p1682).
I was driving when vehicle lost power and car shut off. I put the car in neutral and restarted the motor and this has happened on a few occasions. More recently, at times car will not turn over or crank and the check engine light comes on. Then suddenly the car cranks and after some time has passed the check engine light shuts off. I took the car to the dealership and they told me it was the battery. I replaced the battery at the dealership but it still does the same thing. I took the car back to the dealership but the dealership said they could not find the problem. So I took the car to another mechanic and he told me it was the ignition 1 switch circuit 2 (code p1682).
While driving 65mph vehicle just died. Was not able to start for about 15 mins. This has happened several times nearly causing several accidents. The vehicle intermittently has reduced engine power while driving and jerks from a complete stop sometimes. Now the oil engine pressure/turn off engine light and alarm go off all the time. Replace the sensor, but to no avail. The loud knocking sound from the dash is utterly annoying. I think the fact that only the police cars got recalled is insane, no matter what the recall was. I'm sure once they took those vehicles in; all the other issues I have mentioned were also fixed. Also the rear driver side power lock is faulty and unsafe when traveling with young children. I honestly believe with so many consumers having the exact same problems, gm should issue a recall on these vehicles before several tragedies occur and we then just become statistics. Please help. There are so many of us out here with the exact same issues on these impalas who should not have to pay for the repair of something that apparently should be recalled by gm. Thank you for your attention to this matter. *tr updated 2/18/2015
Once my vehicle got near 80k miles, it began to randomly shut down on me as I drive. The message "engine power reduced, service throttle" comes on and I barely have time to pull out of harm's way before the car won't move. This has happened numerous times over the past year--most recently, three times while driving on the freeway and turnpike on saturday june 28. Driving at 70mph and having my car suddenly lose power is beyond ridiculous. When my mechanic pulls the error code, it's just a general computer error every time. Nothing at all about the throttle has ever shown. Why is this not a recall when you search "impala engine power reduced" and see there are a ton of people with the same issue? Does someone have to die before this issue gets fixed?
While driving to work on 29 may 2014 I hit a small pothole. The pothole is 10" across, 3-4" deep, and I hit it head on. This caused my car to shut off, which I didn't realize until I tried to accelerate. I then realized I had no power steering or breaks and had to pull off to the side of the road to restart the car. Luckily there were no cars behind me, so other than having to pull off the road on a curve I was lucky. I called both my local gm dealer (ressler of bozeman, mt) and gm customer support to tell them about the issue. The local dealer told me there was no issue with the car, no recalls, and nothing to worry about. The technician told me to "avoid hitting potholes". Given the state of the roads that may be hard to do. The gm support told me there was no recall at the moment but there might be one down the road and to watch the news.
The following has happened twice to me in the last 3 months. I was driving on the freeway 65-70mph when the service traction control/engine power reduced lights came on dash. My car then lost all power on the freeway and my speed was reduced to under 35mph. After stopping the vehicle and turning it off for approximately 5 minutes, the car started back up.
Service traction control/engine power reduced lights came on dash. Car lost all power and when stomping the gas pedal speed would resume, very hesitant from a dead stop. Car was jerking, shut off traction control and car jerked then too. Gm needs to fix this before there are deaths. Also I have no unlocking doors. They have to all be manually unlocked. Battery was replaced in car and on key fab. Gas pedal sensor and throttle body sensor are the triggered codes, gm needs to find the real solution as these don't seem to fix problem.
I was at a stop sign, when I went to pull onto the highway, the transmission slipped and hesitated! I took it to gm dealer and was told they could find no problem with it! It would actually have to go bad before they could do anything about it! Now I have 68000 miles on it, and the problem happens daily! Two days ago, when pulling on to the highway, it hesitated again, but this time there was a semi coming! Luckily it finally took hold and I could proceed! I saw on the internet, that this is a common problem for this vehicle!! Why, doesn't gm fix it?? Also, I have had my car in for engine problems, they have removed the engine from the car, and "decarboned the cylinder"! Now about 30000 miles later it has the same problem again!
Vehicle was stopped at stoplight. Driver reached down to pick up paper he dropped on the floor, and accidentally got finger caught in lanyard attached to key ring that had the ignition key in it. Ignition switched turned to off, and engine quit. Had to shift to neutral to restart engine.
Our 2008 impala ls, with 100,000 miles, is having the same problem I am seeing at this web site and all across the internet. Last month, may, 2014, and this month, june, 2014, there was a sudden reduced power alert on the dashboard and the check engine light came on. The speed immediately dropped to no more than 35 MPH. Before I could get it to advance to have them check to see if any codes had been dropped by the computer, the check engine light went off. There was no reduced power message either, and the speed returned to normal. I was told to try fuel injector cleaner, which I did. All went well for almost a month, when the same thing happened again this month. This time I was able to get it to advance with the check engine light still on. The computer had dropped 2 codes, both related to the accelerator pedal position sensor. Advance did not have the part, nor did autozone. Fortunately, napa did, for $90, including tax. Our local chevy dealership wanted $50 more. Since it is a very easy part to replace even for an amateur like me, I replaced it. There are only 2 10 mm bolts to remove and an electrical connection to unplug. So it was pretty simple, and so far, this has done the trick, but it's only been 24 hours. This apparently is a job that the dealerships want to charge $300 to $400 to do. As I said, this is a widespread problem for gm, and they have not and will not, so far, do a recall. They should. I'm only out $90 so far, but other people are out much more. If I have the dreaded, follow-up problem with the throttle body, I will be out a whole lot more. I sent an e-mail to chevrolet after the first instance, and did get a response back. I told him I didn't want to take any further action unless this happens again. I will be contacting him again now about this latest incident.
Tl* the contact owns a 2008 chevrolet impala. The contact stated that while driving 20 MPH, the vehicle stalled and the check engine indicator illuminated. After five minutes, the contact restarted the vehicle and it operated normally. The contact immediately drove to the dealer who stated that the accelerator pedal needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was notified. The failure mileage was 41,550.
Frequently, service traction control and engine power is reduced lights come on. When this happens, car is sluggish and will not accelerate. This is very dangerous because it happens unexpectedly and causes vehicle to decelerate quickly. Typically the car will start normally after sitting for 15-30 minutes but check engine light remains on for some time. Also, the message engine hot/AC off fires randomly. Temperature gauge rests at zero. It will start working again either through manual reset by removing battery cables and reconnecting or randomly start working again on its own. There are numerous reports of both issues on the internet which indicate replacement of sensors/throttle are very expensive and do not fix the issues.
This is the second incident we have had with our 2008 chevrolet impala where this problem has occurred. The most recent incident was on wednesday may 21st, around 730 pm. My wife was driving on a road with a posted speed limit of 45 miles per hour, she said she was going about 48 when the traction control light came on, and the messaging system indicated "reduced engine power." when this happens the vehicle slows rather rapidly, and then it is impossible to accelerate beyond about 30 miles per hour or so. Due to the rapid decline in speed and the fact that this occurs without warning, I believe this should be an immediately acted upon problem. I contacted gm only to be told that I have to take it to get it looked at by one of their local dealerships, and pay for that diagnostic. In my online research I have discovered many, probably in the hundreds, who've experienced this identical issue. Some of which have take their car to gm who has concluded according to post of experiences on edmunds that they were unable to determine the source of the problem or repair it. This is a problem that require immediate attention. I can't imagine how differently this could have gone should my wife have been going 75 MPH on interstate 80. We live along I-80 and travel it frequently. However as a result of this problem we are essentially unable to trust our vehicle beyond about 50 miles per hour.
I own a 2008 chevy impala which has been having computer problems for 1 yr now. It reads out reduced engine power and the car wont go faster than 40 MPH. Ive had it fixed but then comes right back up, one mechanic says to clean the throttle and another says its sensors. This is becoming quite a problem and nobody can fix it permanently. It is a serious saftey issue due to the fact that I transport grandchildren around and the car looses power out of nowhere,then just shuts down in the middle of traffic. I cant keep paying all this money for it to just happen over and over with no results. When is this going to be on the recall list? I went online to find out there are alot of other people having the same exact issue. Please help me? I cant afford to keep paying for this when its never actually been fixed. I have no problem paying to have my car fixed but I do when I have to pay over and over again and its still not fixed.
VIN decoder
See the problems and recalls for an exact car
Buying a used 2008 Chevrolet Impala?
Check the exact car before you pay: accidents, salvage or flood titles, odometer readings and previous owners.
Check its history