2004 Chevrolet Impala Sedan Model from North America - Comments

Nothing!

This vehicle is the best I've ever owned.

Great performance and much attention on the roads.

Both interior and exterior present a family yet sporty look.

I'm glad to have a car that does not need to be repaired monthly and I'll never buy a Chrysler again.

An added bonus is being invisable to cops. Since I bought it whenever I pass buy a cop they raise their hats thinking I'm one of them. Sweet.

Hey, don't put down Chrysler because of a single model. You probably got one of those Intrepids that had a 2.7L engine.

Sorry, I hate it when people say "I'll never buy from this company again" because of a single car. IMO, that's bad logic...

'92 Jeep Cherokee just didn't have an air conditioner after I had it for three years. tired of spending the money to get it fixed. rolled the windows down for a week before I traded it.

'98 Dodge ram V-8 got a new rear end at 30K miles. because the original one just mysteriously went out. interior was constantly falling apart.

2000 300M rarely played CD's after 50k, and the passenger side window would roll down, and then not come back up around 60K.

Now, my Crossfire has been back to the dealer AT LEAST every other month with too many problems to list.

I'm thinking about an Impala for my daughter.

And... I WILL NEVER BUY ANOTHER CHRYSLER AGAIN.

How well do you take care of your cars? You probably neglected your cars for all I know.

Listen up, I took care of that intrepid as though it were a baby. Everywhere I researched had proof of Chrysler's flaws with the Intrepid. I've always wanted that car since it first came out and got the opportunity to do so. This vehicle was well maintained and beyond, I had every oil change and every required service done, additionally I frequently had engine flushes and engine treatment done by the dealership. Still I was stuck with the similar nation wide problem of the following; Rad fans both of them blew ($1000 to fix), Struts rear ($500 and this car has 65,000km just off warranty still practiclly new?), Sludge build up in engine ($55 about 5 times), AC Compressor seized ($700 to Fix), AC belt snapped ($360 God knows why this happened), Oil sensor ($200 times 2 yes it broke 2 times), window failure 5 times ($50 every time to fix) I could go on however I'd have to research through the novel of repair invoices I had for this car to recover more. I used to look at the comments on the web about this same car and it's flaws suddenly it came to me, I have the exact same things. The only difference is that my engine didn't blow up unlike those poor unfortunate souls. I'm glad I had the opportunity to own this vehicle however the evidence out there against Chrysler and the $5000 dent in my line of credit makes me think not to buy Chrysler. Since I've bought my Impala I've had no problems and everything minor was gladly taken care of by the dealership. Chrysler needs to understand that you cannot screw the customer if you intend to have future business. And once again, I Will Never Buy A Chrysler Ever Ever Again. I choose not to be a poor unfortunate soul.

I have to speak up here also. I own a 1997 Dodge Stratus and it to has had its lion share of problems. That's why I am looking into getting rid of it and possibly buying a 2003 or 04 Impala. The dodge is sitting in my garage not wanting to move anymore. And yes like the previous commenter, I took excellent care of this car. And like him when I started looking on the net other Stratus owners were having the exact same problems and not finding the answerers or fixes for the problem and many of them had engines blown. My dad owned a Concord and boy was it a pain, the air conditioner never worked and could never be fixed. The leather seats were terrible for a trip longer than 25 miles. Back in the 80's my dad bought a brand new Ram I mean it was parked in the show room when we bought, that kind of new and its stared blowing blue smoke at around the ripe old age of 1 month took it back to dealer over 10 times they never did find the problem. Then it air conditioning went out around 5 months and never worked again. And yes all these cars were properly maintained. I am with the writer, I will never buy a Dodge/Chrysler product again. Oh my father-in-law just spent $1300 having his dodge ram transmission rebuilt.

I traded my 2004 Impala for a 2006 PT Cruiser and have regretted every day since. The gas mileage on the PT Cruiser is less than my Impala and the two Chrysler dealers I have taken my car to for warranty work and service are the worst I have ever dealt with. Four hours for an oil change? At least at Chevrolet, they guaranteed you in and out with 30 minutes or it was free. Once they took 32 minutes, and yes, it was free. The lousy service I have received at the Chrysler dealer has put me off from ever buying another one.

Original Review owner:

This car is still the best by far, I love not going to the dealership every month. A common problem is the intermediate steering shaft which will be replaced by the dealer for free so get your's done. Also I owe my life to this car I was sick and going home one day when another driver coming from the opposite direction decided to gun it to make the lights right in-front of me. We hit head on! Not my fault and barley any damage to my Impala. Only the bumper, headlight (driver), hood and driver fender had to be replaced. The other car was a total loss. The had to cut them out, the car was a Saturn 4 door probably 1999. I'm lucky however I have to take physiotherapy. I only trust driving my Impala. Even the rental which was brand new was not as smooth as my Impala. My friends and family love it. Best $30,000 I ever spent. PS. I still will never buy a Chrysler again.

Original Review Owner

July 26, 2006 Current Odometer 65,500Kms

To date this vehicle has still been reliable. I have had several problems, however the dealership has gladly taken care of all of them. I’ll list them so that everyone can see if there is a trend.

First off I had scratches in all 4 windows caused by aftermarket tint which was installed by the dealer, they gladly replaced and re-tinted at no charge.

Had all 4 rotors machined and replaced all 4 brake pads - maintenance.

Had the lock switch replaced because it did not illuminate - warranty.

Replaced both sway bar links in the rear of the vehicle - warranty.

Finally, did you know that if you put your climate control setting to feet only, the AC compressor comes on! Surprised, I took it in and they could not find the problem, so decided to replace the control unit. Guess, what same problem. I told them to check the 2 other Impalas they had in the lot, and what do you know, the same problem/ defect. I had to pay the $100 deductible for the warranty, but felt that that was not reasonable. The service advisor agreed, but her boss made her charge me.

When I got home, I decided to call GM to see if they would replace my $100, and immediately they agreed, they told me that they would call the dealer and call me back later. Two days later the dealer called to say that a cheque was on its way. I know a lot of people have said that customer service at GM is horrible, but I can definitely vouch to say that it’s been the best I’ve ever received from any dealership. I’ve owned 5 vehicles, and I’m 22, and GM has been the only dealership that’s treated me with professionalism and respect.

I know I listed a lot of things that were replaced, and this car is still fairly new, so I’m starting to get worried about the long term ownership, as I bought this car to drive to the ground. If you have any questions or suggestions, please reply.

Well, I'm glad to hear that you have a good dealer who cares about his customers. We now own 2 GM cars and one Ford, and our GM dealer is GREAT about every little detail. That is why we traded our other two Fords in for GM products. The Impala is a great car, and in my opinion a much better value than the imports. The gas mileage is certainly great.

As for Chrysler, we have had three and all were incredible. Our old '88 Daytona went 100,000 miles with virtually no problems, our '90 Omni went an incredible 240,000 miles with only two brake jobs and 2 timing belts. My Dakota ran flawlessly and never had a problem until it was totalled 5 years after buying it. The MAJOR problem we had with Chrysler was that they just refused to honor the warranty on our cars. That is why we no longer drive Chrysler products. The cars themselves were great (at least ours were).

Well, I bought my Chevrolet Impala used at about 25000 miles. I was so excited because it was my first new car. About a year into the contract my transmission went out. It was too late for the warranty, but luckily I found a transmission that only had 9000 miles on it. Since then my car has been the best I've had. A lesson learned, don't drive your car like a race car unless it's been properly modified. The person that complained about the steering gave me some insight to the steering column. When we dismantled the Impala and proceeded to replace the transmission, I noticed that after it was all said and done, that I had a little "play" in the steering wheel, whereas there was none before! So I'm glad I read his comment so I can do something about it. Overall, I'm am very pleased with Chevrolet's work on improving and old classic!!

Original Review Owner:

So far everything is great I just have one problem that's been bothering me. The steering gives off a squeaky sound when it's hot and you are turning this bugs the crap out of me. When I took it back they replaced the rack and pinion for $1500 CAD covered under warranty. Now 3 days later while on vacation in the U. S the sound came back. Now they are telling me the shaft needs to be lubed and don't know if it's covered. I hate being screwed and told misleading information and most importantly I refuse to be taken advantage of. I'm waiting for my service adviser to come back from leaf for her to take care of me. If anyone else has this problem please let me know.

Original Review writer:

Now I'm annoyed. This vehicle has only 79,000KMS on it and there are so many unbelievable problems.

Firstly, since the steering wheel noise it makes a whining sound when I turn both sides. Took to the dealer 5-7 times!!! The last time they just lubed it.

One week ago the airbag light came on!! I took it in and they told me that they needed to look at the wiring. The next day they told me that there was a leak under the cabin filter where the water fried a couple of sensors and apparently leaks aren't covered by the warranty, and since that is so, the repair all together is not covered!!! The total due is roughly $1,500!! (CAD) I don't know what I going to do if this keeps up.

I researched on the net and found that this was a common problem. WHY NO RECALL??? Any suggestions would help.

I bought a 2004 Chevy Impala LS, after running a Buick Regal LS (1998) up to 178K miles. I traded the Regal for the Impala and it has been the best car I have ever owned! Yes I have had a couple problems, which started with oil leaking into the anti-freeze recover bottle. The dealer (under warranty) replaced the intake manifold gasket and hence the problem went away. The car now has 76K on the odometer and yes, I too had the intermediate steering shaft replaced. My AC blower motor would occasionally fluctuate or not work and it was the result of a loose (fan) connection plug (I Fixed it)! I am still on my original brakes and the original tires were replaced at 37K (Maintenance). Great car and excellent gas mileage (30-31 hwy).

I have a 2004 Chevy Impala and my son had an accident with it. He was driving on a gravel road and the car lost traction and slid into a shipping container. The right front (passenger) door received a major dent in the middle (verticle dent). The door is totalled, but I was able to pick up a 2005 door and now want to replace it. I need good instruction on repacing the door.