Assembly quality is good for a domestic, but the electrical system is possessed. I've had two power window motors fail, dash lights flicker, power door locks have failed three times. The radio has been replaced.
I've also had mechanical problems. The "reliable" 3.8 liter V6 loves to leak oil at only 14,500 miles from around the valve covers. I lose 1 quart every 1000 miles and Chevy says "It's within a tolerable amount."
I've also had to replace a water pump at 5500 miles and the rotors are warped- which to the dealer's credit they said this was common and will replace. The alternator went at 11,700 miles.
I had driven Toyota for a while and decided to go domestic for a change thanks to the 0% financing. This car has been a nightmare and I've had a lot of problems I think are unreasonable at this level of use. The car I traded in on this one was a 1993 Camry. I had 117,000 miles on it when I traded it in and had it in the shop ONCE for a repair other than scheduled maintenance. That repair was a new starter at 108,000 miles.
I bought an Impala for my wife two years ago (I think it's a 2001). We had intermittent problems with the blinkers for two years (they say this is in the hazard module) and we also have a water pump leak. Mostly, the car is fine, but I've certainly had better experiences with Japanese cars, and it sounds like the water pump issue might be chronic. You know about the recall on Impalas for a bad "coolant low" message?
Note: A Comments RSS Feed 
is available. New comments appear in the Members Area before the main site