2006 Chevrolet Impala from North America - Comments

I've had a new 2006 Impala less than a month. I noticed wind noise on the passenger side the first day. They've tried to work on it twice, but it is about the same once you're going around 60 mph.

Also, after being at the shop to work on the wind noise, the next day the Driver's side power window would screech real bad about half way down. They say they will have to order a strip for it. I wonder what happened as it never happened before.

The very light upholstery is all one color and leans to staining or getting dirty very easily, even though I am very careful.

The in town gas mileage isn't very good... only about 14 miles per gallon.

I didn't care for the bright Metallic colors or Neon type colors. No wonder I see so many Silver cars. Every car maker should ask for customer suggestions and problems. When I called the 800 number, they just say to take it up with the dealer.

The salesman has been kind and helpful, but you would think you wouldn't have to take a brand new car in for service so soon. It takes gas and time to take it back and forth.

I wrote the last post regarding the 2006 Impala LS. Took the car back again as the wind noise on the passenger side was no better. They tried again and still No difference.

I love the big trunk and enjoy driving the car. Gas mileage in town has gone up to about 17 mpg. It sure seems like I have to fill the car up more than I did with my Monte Carlo 1996...good car for 10 years.

October 30, 2006.

I just test drove an Impala SS and think it's a terrific car for the money. I've been looking for a used one all summer and a fully loaded one popped up.

I think the interior is very good, the fit and finish are also very good. The car is very tight, the transmission is the 4 speed, but you'd never know it-very smooth.

The car was listed at $25k and they'll sell it for $23k. That's not bad for a very good car with the biggest trunk on the market, leather, a sun roof and the beautifully performing 303 V-8.

I don't need all of the options, but this car is loaded. I particularly like the safety rating, past three years of reliability ratings (Very good) and the SS options. The doors are a bit high to rest your arm on, I'm a little concerned about "Real world mileage" but so what?

It's a full sized, great looking car for an affordable price. What's not to love?

Basing a criticism of ANY car on purely subjective impressions is unfair to the brand as a whole. I LIKE the styling of the 2006 Impala much better than the previous models. My taste in cars has changed as I've grown older (I'm pushing 60) and I find the Impala to be a great compromise in providing decent performance, great comfort and (strictly in MY opinion) great styling. My family has owned a number of GM, Ford, and Chrysler vehicles, as well as two Japanese cars (NEVER AGAIN!!!) and one German car. We've found the GM cars we've owned to be very well built and reliable, though none of our American made cars ever had any problems. We like the solid feel, the excellent handling and the smooth ride. I've also really liked the interior layouts on most of our GM cars and trucks better than that of the competition. Ford and Chrysler have had a nasty habit of hiding ALL the gauges and the speedometer behind the rim of the steering wheel in several of their models we've owned. This has never been a problem with any GM models.

I have been driving a 2006 Impala rental for about the last week or so…. I agree the styling is bland, but almost everything else about the car is great. The 3.9L V6 had so much power, I had to pop the hood and see if it was a V8! (and it made such a lovely sound when you put your foot to the floor) The handling was good, if a bit on the heavy side. Road/wind noise was minimal even at 70mph. Our rental was dark gray with dark gray seats and black dash/interior trim (I love dark interiors and actually thought the fake wood trim was nice!) The trunk was gigantic! Lotsa room for the occasional dead body. The only quibble so far is that the little climate control wheels require too much concentration to adjust while the car is moving. They should put an extension paddle on the wheel so you can tell how far you’ve adjusted it without taking your eyes off the road (or just switch back to dials). I was so impressed with the car, I went on carsoup. com and stared checking out prices for used ones.!

My family has had several Impalas over the years. They have all been very solid, reliable cars that offered great value at a very good price. I've been amazed at the fuel mileage of the latest one (a 2004). 33 mpg highway!! None have ever had any mechanical problems, and the ride is very good. Having driven all of the big 3 offerings at some point, plus two rice burners and a German VW I'd have to rate the Impala right up there at the top of the list of the best ones.

I was contemplating buying a 2007 Impala recently. Did the research and went to some dealerships. I took a test drive and liked what I was felt and was seeing. It was a very comfy car, with an attractive if somewhat bland exterior. The interior was comfortable, but a little odd given the colors. Not bad looking necessarily, just something to get used to. The trunk was big and roomy and they offered the split fold and flip rear seats.

As far as the drive, it accelerated and handled well, was quiet. The controls were laid out just fine and their standard options were fine.

The pricing was very good for a car this size and well equipped. I would have pulled the trigger and bought one, but I was just unable to find any in my area that had the color combinations and features I wanted. Either they came with too much stuff, too little, or in ugly color combos. I was unwilling to wait up to 3 months (which is what the sales guy told me it could take) to wait for a custom built Impala, so I ended up going with a competing brand.

OK, first of all, I found your review very unconvincing; Half of it being yelled out illogically in CAPS.

I personally liked the new Impala a lot when compared to the previous one. Yes, the styling is much more generic than the last one, but overall, everything is better about the car. The dashboard and interior trim aren't top notch, but the plastics look and feel a lot better with tighter fitting pieces, nothing wrong with that.

And yes sir, the buttons are easier to access, that's a good thing by the way.

The sitting position and comfort of the vehicle was nice. Though it does feel like the A-pillars are a bit too low and close to your head, and rear visibility is a bit bad too.

Oh and something else, normally everyone hates are the triangular mirrors; I think they're very stylish, not like the usual blobs of black ugly plastic every other vehicle has. Yes it might hinder visibility for some, but for me I had no hard time seeing behind me; and I would have no qualms about buying this car.

I recently bought an 06 Impala SS and I have mixed feelings about it. I really wanted that V8 car that was fully loaded. On that front they succeeded. Nice stereo, dual climate control (a must, since I'm always hot 24/7 365 a year), leather, power seats on both sides, sunroof, xm stereo etc. I love the way the car drives, though the back window is too small for my taste. I don't understand what's not to like about the interior. I was a little disapointed that my SS didn't get the cherry wood paneling (instead I got some futuristic metallic panelling that I grew to love), but the fact that I have the SS emblem on the steering wheel (which also has a lot of great controls and features) and seats is a plus. Now the bad. I've only had one other car (an 01 malibu which was also great), and the gas was mediocre AT BEST! I knew this was a v8 so the potential was there to drink gas, but BOY was I unprepared. This car sucks gas BAADDDDDDDDD! She is hungry, and she sends me to the gas station about 3 times a week. And since this car MUST take premium (trust me I dried the mid grade, and the engine was pinging everywhere), this is not economical. Even on highway mpg, I check the console to see how much mpg I'm getting and it reads only about 21 mpg. That isn't too bad, but for highway driving isn't satisfactory. The displacement on demand makes little if any contribution to overall highway mpg. Also talk about power. I'm not one to complain about it being a fwd, as it does better than rwd in inclimate weather. However the torque steer is heavy at best. Other times I'm praying I don't go off the road during acceleration. It took quite a while for me to get used to the car. Also the gas pedal in my opinion is "touchy," but I knew that when I bought the car. When I test drove it with the dealer I sent up a plume of smoke and rubber fumes at the first stoplight, and I didn't even come close to flooring it. Needless to say I scared the salesman, but that just demonstrated the power this car has. This car has great performance and power though she's extremely quiet. At full throttle I was expecting to hear my engine, but the best I got was a pretty display of my tach and speedometer floating up gracefully. She's undeniably fast, but she doesn't give that sporty feel with the exception of terrible torque steer.

Despite the lack of sportiness, and awful mpg, I am satisfied with my purchase. Chevy made great compromise between power and comfort. In hindsight I would have bought the ltz version as it is fully loaded like my SS, but with a less powerful (still more than enough), but more economical engine. For those looking for a new car, the Impala is a great choice. Comfortable, smooth and slick. Just buy the Ltz for the sake of mpg!

I own an '04 Impala with the sport appearance package.. black with the sport appearance package (rear spoiler, body color taillight panel..etc. I also dislike the looks of the newer 06 and up Impalas... The look is too conservative... I am a male in my early 40's and like the sporty looks of the previous generation 00-05 Impala...I also get compliments from others on my '05...Unless Chevy makes the styling look less bland on the current Impala, I will probably look for another model when it comes time to trade in my '04...

I bought a used 2006 Impala LT. Love the car, nice styling (much improved over 2005), comfortable interior, great mileage, when I check the instant economy I get 36-38 on the road. Average with mixed city/highway driving is 32 mpg. Super legroom in front and back. I really like the power recliner on the driver's seat and the manual lumbar support. The center console holds CDs and coins and flips up to make it a true 6 passenger car. Adequate standard floormats. Silky smooth 4 speed automatic (the only way I can tell it is shifting on the highway is watching the standard tachometer). The 3.5 engine has plenty of power and I can pass with ease and safety. The ride is smooth and very quiet. I do get some wind noise on the driver's side though. I like the power points, especially the one on the back of the console where I plug in my cell phone. I have added a small round stick on convex mirror for blind spots and will add a rear spoiler for seeing where the back of the car ends. The only problems I have had with the car are rocks getting stuck in the 4 wheel disc brakes and the rubber hose that connects the power steering line sprung a leak and left me without power steering. I would highly recommend this car. I added one more thing, a locking gas cap as it doesn't come with one. Oh, one more thing, the trunk is huge and I love the on dash trunk release and the trunk opener release on the key fob. Will probably add remote start in the future as I don't have a garage and it gets very cold in the winter and hot in the summer and would like to preheat the car in the winter and melt ice off the windshield and precool the car in the summer. The car is a real 'head-turner' and the first car I have ever owned that my kids haven't made fun of and they all want one and love to drive it. I bought the car for me (my wife has an '04 Venture) and I can't keep her out of it. We had looked at Camry and I even drove a Limited Edition, but the Impala still comes out on top!

I brought a used 2007 Impala LT with the 3.5 engine; I wanted one since the 2006 styling change. I have mixed emotions about my car. I love the looks but the ride I feel could be better, but after reading posts all over the internet it seems that the OEM Goodyear tires share much of the blame, as there are better quieter tires. My biggest problem has been two things wind noise drivers side and passenger side but not as noticeable and the front end feels like something is loose, when I turn it side to side there is a squawking noise in the control column and I notice a grinding feel and something is loose in the steering shaft because I feel it when making low speed turns. I guess that would be four problems. I have owned several GM cars and in my experience the dealership and service have been top notch

I would be breaking the rules of this posting site if I started talking about my Ford experiences.

Anyway if anybody has had similar problems please post and if the dealer fixed it what did they do? I will be taking mine in again the second time for the problems I describe above. Last time they went through the front end and said everything checked OK.

Even with these problems I still love the Impala and GM as a whole so I hope they can find the problem and fix it.

I agree with you for the most part. The new Chevy Impala looks like a new Lumina and a Honda Accord. It does not make sense to base a style offer of another car manufacturer.

I also dislike the huge bright yellow bowtie in the back, they should use the Impala logo.

Another thing I don't like about the new Impala's is that shiny gray strip in the back, it draws your attention, but to me GM is trying too hard.

What I also don't like about them is the rear view mirrors. What is the point of making a rear view mirror small, is GM trying to save on glass? I have a 2004 Impala and the mirrors are huge, Why did GM shrink them so much? I think that all cars, regardless of size, should have huge rear view mirrors. I think that there should be a law on rear view mirror size.

To be positive, the new Impala looks a lot better than the new Toyota Camry. The new Toyota Camry looks like a boat. Also the Camry before looks bad because of the huge tailights in the back. If the tailights were average size, the car would look alright but it would not be anything near special.

Also, the new Impala looks way better than the new Taurus or Sable (500/Montego). Those new Fords look too big and goofy looking.

Another thing I like about the new Impala's is the pop style door handles. These handles are easy to use and they always work. On the previous ones, you pull up and eventually the handle will get stuck, if not in the winter.

One thing I also don't like about the new Impala is where you put the key to start it. The key is by the steering wheel and you have to look for it, the key in the old ones is on the dash.

Another thing I don't like are the locks. They are the pull up style, which makes it easy for someones to break in.

I have never driven, or was a passenger in the new Impala. Someday I will be and I will post my experience on this site.

My brother has owned 2 Impalas, and currently drives an '04. It has the 3.5 V-6 and has been 100% reliable in every way. Not a single problem. I am jealous of his fuel mileage because his heavier V-6 gets BETTER mileage (33 highway) than my 4-cylinder Pontiac compact!!

We've owned both GM and Ford and never had any issues with EITHER (one Ford made over 300,000 with practically zero repairs). We now own 1 Ford and 2 GM's and all three are flawless.

I'm ever so slightly more impressed with the overall feel of GM, and their service technicians impress me much more than Fords, though we've really never had to make much use of either.

We had a brief fling with Japanese imports, but never again. I'm too busy to take cars to the repair shop every other week.