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Are The New Gen (2014-2017+) Impalas Reliable At All?

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68K views 107 replies 44 participants last post by  SAAN  
#1 ·
I'm thinking of buying one.

Wondering if the new Chevy Impala (2014-2016) are reliable at all? I know they are new, just want to hear real users experiences from owning them. First time buying an American car, my previous cars are from Mitsubishi, Hyundai, and Mazda. So I'm not sure how this new Chevy car would compare to Japanese/Korean made cars?

Also based on wikipedia this should be the 10th Gen already or is this wiki entry wrong?
 
#2 ·
Resale value is horrific. I would suggest not buying new. V6 or bust. The 4 bangers are gutless for the size of this car. Reliable? Eh. I don't know. Have not owned it long enough. But, have certainly had a few issues with ours. The worst so far was when the emergency brake would not fully disengage and was getting stuck. Happened with in the first few miles. It was bought brand new. Some of them also exhibit front end shaking. Not all do it as reported by members on here not having the issue. Its been well documented on here though. Chevrolet continues to ignore it. I have the problem myself along with others. Just crossed barely over the 15k mark. Overall. A big meh for me. If Chevrolet acknowledged and fixed the shaking problems for the front end that some people have. I might suggest it. I love the interior of this thing. Rides smooth and V6 has decent power for such a big car. If I could do it over again. This is going way off the rails. I would have got the SS. Chevrolet also cut back on the warrantys with 16+ on. 14's and 15's had the longer warranty if you cared about that. Might be able to find a new 15 still on the cheap with longer warranty.

In all honesty. Reliability as a whole. Its a bit to early to tell. If judging by the last gen. I heard those happened to be complete junkers. Then again. I really don't know how true it is. The Impala continues to have the rental car stigma attached. Even with this latest model.
 
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#3 ·
Haven't had any problems with our 2015. Great car but yea you can get them much cheaper used. Try and find a certified pre owned one.
 
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#107 ·
10th Gen.



I was just thinking about the whole 9th vs 10th gen thing and made a comment on another post about what I found on Wikipedia.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chevrolet_Impala#Model_year_changes

I guess it did not help matters that GM/Chevy built the New body style at the same time (2014-2016) as building the older body style and slapping a name plate on the older style car calling it the Impala Limited. I actually found a GM Dealers site that refers to both the 9th gen 2006-???? (site says Present) and the 10th gen 2014-???? (again, site says Present) at the same time as current generation. I suppose technically, that might have been true at the time the site was generated but I also believe this site I am referring to has not been updated since 2016.

https://www.dancummins.com/the-chevy-impala-nearly-sixty-years-and-still-going-strong/

No wonder there is confusion!

However, I do believe the latest body style is a 10th Generation of the Impala and I love mine.
 
#6 ·
My biggest concern with a 9th gen is that some of the 3.6L V6 versions have an engine vibration problem - at idle and/or at about 1500 RPMs - and GM/Chevy refuses to do anything about it.

It's enough of a concern that I personally would probably not risk buying one. The problem is that it may not be there when you buy it - but *may* show up 5k, 10k, 15k miles down the road. And if it does, you're SOL. You'd either have to put up with it or sell it for a significant loss.

There is a poll somewhere on the forum - and there was a significant percentage of 9th gen owners that had this issue. Make sure you review the issue (there are many posts about it on this forum) and consider it before purchasing. Its up to you whether or not it's worth the risk. If you get a "good" one, you'll be happy with it - if you get a "bad" one, you'll most likely regret your purchase.

Sent from my HP SlateBook 10 x2 PC using Tapatalk
 
#8 ·
Vetted this car thru various sites.
But as someone mentioned, it's a "crap shoot"...
Get one with no problems....you'll love it...
I loved mine for the first week.
Then every week for 2 months straight it was in for something. Drove loaners cars each week than my car.
Then at 5000 miles, car started to have the idle vibration problem. And stated GM/Chevy refuses to
acknowledge the problem. ... Read thru the various threads for yourself.
Then roll the dice..maybe you'll be lucky, but if you're
not you're SOL with a car that vibrates...then what?

p.s. Note a member of this forum test drove a 2017
midnight edition and could feel the idle vibration...
 
#11 ·
I have a 2016 Impala 2LT and very happy with it so far at 3600 miles since May. As for the horrible resale value, it is what it is, but hopefully the changes made since the last generation will have bettered the resale, which was at 38% of new value after 3 years for the last gen. Guess we will find out in 3 years eh?
Last 2 vehicles were 2012 Volt and 2005 Corvette.
 
#13 ·
15 ltz here. Bought 4 months ago at 25k. Now at 45k.... litterly zero problems.
Still on original tires. I run the car WOT on long trips. Tons of power. Pulls to 200km ez. Only problem I have is my in channel rain guards are starting to get stuck/caught when rolling up window.
 
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#14 ·
Had my 2014 for almost 2 years great vehicle one 2 issues (MyLink screen when blank 3-4 times always seemed to come back on after a little bit, and had a bad noise when backing up dealership looked at it found no issues, lubed up some parts and it was fine for about 3k then it came back).


Buy used resale value really sucks $36k car (sticker), got $19k w/ 24k miles.
 
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#18 ·
Tape has failed on my in channels. So it sags towards window glass, thus when I put up window it litterly binds up on the visor. Just needs 2 b re taped.
 
#20 ·
if by reliable you mean it always starts and runs. get one now! except for the occasional 'remote not found' message, my car has always started. heck i forgot to turn it off one day in the work lot apparently and it ran for FOUR hours. the car is that good!. very reliable.

i only have 86K but the only true problem i can report that i feel is caused by chevy is that at idle i have a vibration more than 50% of the time.

i do have an issue where wheel weights keep falling off but that may be the shop i'm using. i have the all you can eat wheel balancing plan thankfully. i'm very sensitive to vibrations and the like and one time they told me it was only off a bit. well i could feel it.

oh the front emblem fell off a long time ago. i am not happy with that. someday i want to write to them and see if they will give me a new one cause i'm such a good customer.

i HATE the outward visibility. its horrible. turning a corner and avoiding the center concrete median thing was something i feared when i first got the car. visibilty to the sides sucks. i was at a stop sign and to the right was a road sloped down and they had no stop. i didnt see them and started going. i cannot see cause the darn wide pillar! you learn to bob your head a lot in the car

after 86K i still cannot park perfectly all the time unless i'm backing in with cam. then i can do it but if i do a pull through and no one else is around, i find it hard to line up the car. i'm so used to my SS length. i feel i'm sticking out but i'm not. i hope someday i get used to the car.

i hate the black on the rear exhaust ports but all the cars have it so it must be cool

the shifting takes a LOT of getting used to and if you are coasting and then you mash it, you may not have the power for a few seconds. its apparently against GM programming that you can have what power you want all the time. i'm told they do this to protect the tranny so the 'torque mgmt' better make mine last at least 300K! again this is something you get used to.

i just read a AAA report that indeed said top tier fuel makes a difference but none are on my regular routes.but i have to say i recommend it after doing that reading.

i've gotten comments from even women telling me how smooth this car is. girl from work surprised me. with the right tires its great in the rain. i have a jeep for the snow so i cannot comment there.

so overall i must say this is a very reliable car. no reason to believe it will leave you sit and i see very few reports of it letting anyone sit on the road on this forum.

oh and get the GM brakes. after just 1 year and 30K i was told by my shop that they still measure as if brand new. i forget 2nd year what they were but still didnt need them at 60K.
 
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#21 ·
if by reliable you mean it always starts and runs. get one now! except for the occasional 'remote not found' message, my car has always started. heck i forgot to turn it off one day in the work lot apparently and it ran for FOUR hours. the car is that good!. very reliable.

i only have 86K but the only true problem i can report that i feel is caused by chevy is that at idle i have a vibration more than 50% of the time.

i do have an issue where wheel weights keep falling off but that may be the shop i'm using. i have the all you can eat wheel balancing plan thankfully. i'm very sensitive to vibrations and the like and one time they told me it was only off a bit. well i could feel it.

oh the front emblem fell off a long time ago. i am not happy with that. someday i want to write to them and see if they will give me a new one cause i'm such a good customer.

i HATE the outward visibility. its horrible. turning a corner and avoiding the center concrete median thing was something i feared when i first got the car. visibilty to the sides sucks. i was at a stop sign and to the right was a road sloped down and they had no stop. i didnt see them and started going. i cannot see cause the darn wide pillar! you learn to bob your head a lot in the car

after 86K i still cannot park perfectly all the time unless i'm backing in with cam. then i can do it but if i do a pull through and no one else is around, i find it hard to line up the car. i'm so used to my SS length. i feel i'm sticking out but i'm not. i hope someday i get used to the car.

i hate the black on the rear exhaust ports but all the cars have it so it must be cool

the shifting takes a LOT of getting used to and if you are coasting and then you mash it, you may not have the power for a few seconds. its apparently against GM programming that you can have what power you want all the time. i'm told they do this to protect the tranny so the 'torque mgmt' better make mine last at least 300K! again this is something you get used to.

i just read a AAA report that indeed said top tier fuel makes a difference but none are on my regular routes.but i have to say i recommend it after doing that reading.

i've gotten comments from even women telling me how smooth this car is. girl from work surprised me. with the right tires its great in the rain. i have a jeep for the snow so i cannot comment there.

so overall i must say this is a very reliable car. no reason to believe it will leave you sit and i see very few reports of it letting anyone sit on the road on this forum.

oh and get the GM brakes. after just 1 year and 30K i was told by my shop that they still measure as if brand new. i forget 2nd year what they were but still didnt need them at 60K.
Amen to that. It is so freaking annoying to have that lag first few seconds. Makes the car feel completely gutless. But, when it starts taking off. It takes off well. It capable of so much more. But GM has it stuck in tame mode.
 
#23 ·
Do you have engine vibration at 1500rpm? Put you foot on the gas in park and hold it there at exactly 1500rpm. Any shaking? Watch out for it down the line. Mine started up shortly after 5k. Did not have the issue before the first 5k when bought brand new.
 
#24 ·
That's what really sucks about this issue - you just can't be sure that the problem won't creep up on you down the road. If the issue was either present or not present from the factory, I'd feel a lot better about buying/recommending the 9th gen - but you just can't' tell if you're going to have this issue or not at the time of purchase...

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#26 ·
Close to 13,500 on ours and no sign of any vibration. It's smoother than a couple dozen Krispy Kreme doughnuts sliding down Oprah's tremendous gullet.
 
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#27 ·
My 2015 LTZ 3.6 had the vibration issue sine the car had 300 miles ( at idle with brake applied) in cold weather. Decided I was not going through another winter arguing with GM or shaking like I had a chunk of dry ice on my lap. Tried trading for a couple different brands with no luck, either to expensive for options I wanted or would give nothing on trade. Had a long visit with Manager at my dealership, refreshed his memory about vib problems. He said they would check with GM to get me help on trade with another vehicle. Took about a week and they provided a little help, not much. Test drove a Mailbu, Traverse and Equniox none of them compared to the Impala. According to the poll on this forum about the vibration issue seems to be somewhere about 40% have the issue but not sure if those that don't live in a warm climate. Anyway I'm rolling the dice, hoping I'll be in the 60% this time. Taking delivery on a 2017 Preimer next week and hope it will be shake free and the adaptive Cruise doesn't have issues like others have had. My dealership went way beyond what they should have to make the deal.
 
#28 ·