Impala Forums banner
21 - 40 of 54 Posts
I can see why you might not want to buy anymore GM vehicles, Hatsie. However, the last GM vehicle I had any computer problems with, was an '88 Pontiac 6000. My family and I have had a lot of them since, with several over 200K miles, zero problems related to the computers. So, IMHO, and I think everyone has a right to one of their own, it's not that big of a problem.
 
You have to wonder why the OP's vehicle had so many problems - was it a flood vehicle, or what?

Reading about Global A, I am now a bit less enthusiastic about my recently purchased 2016 Impala Limited.It still runs fine, but I will have to be really careful about any used goodies/upgrades I might want.
 
I have to say that my 2011 Impala LT (3.5L) was absolutely the most reliable vehicle I have ever owned. In five years of ownership, I had zero major repairs—none, nada, nichts. I was very dismayed when a drunk (in a Chevy Colorado pickup) rear-ended a Jeep and propelled it into the back of my Impala, totaling all three vehicles, mine at a mere 78,000 miles.

The general reliability of all cars is definitely greater than it was a few decades ago. When I was growing up, a car with 100,000 miles on it was considered to be worn out and living on borrowed time, as evidenced by odometers that only showed six digits, including tenths of a mile. Today, a well-maintained car can go double or even triple that and the odometer won't trip over until it reaches one million miles. As a result, people tend to keep cars longer than they did. Most vehicles on the used car market these days is filled with vehicles that have more than 100,000 miles on them and buyers don't blink at it, although I still prefer to acquire vehicles with considerably fewer miles.

All that said, I am a great proponent and supporter of the Right to Repair movement and decry the corporate world's continued move toward non-repairability. Some manufacturers, including Apple, argue that you don't really own the products you purchase. You merely buy a license to use it until they--the manufacturers--decide the device has outlived its useful lifespan. The device itself is disposable and thus repair is irrelevant. I actually got a message to this effect on the screen of a Samsung Chromebook. It said the device had reached the end of its useful life and I should replace it as soon as possible. To Samsung's credit, they didn't brick the device and it is still working quite well, although it no longer receives updates.
 
I tend to agree the lazy US carmakers and the corrupt unions not only ruined American iron but also drove the price with their sissy demands ...the ONLY reason they are getting anywhere near improvements is that the foreign cars are wiping the floor with them .. doesn’t matter though there will be no gas or oil in 3 1/2 years ...
 
If you love constantly fixing things on you car that break for no reason then buy a chevy impala!!! For real though these cars suck so bad. Every single power window has been out. The ac went out 3 times. The car is garbage and is one of the most regrettable purchases i have ever made. Stay away!
It seems that way with a lot of cars, there just seem to be lemons in all brands, bring back the days of the old slant six in mopars:)
 
It seems that way with a lot of cars, there just seem to be lemons in all brands, bring back the days of the old slant six in mopars:)
I inherited a 1969 Dart with the leaning tower of power that was just awful. It was one thing after another for my great aunt as well so it wasn't just that it didn't get driven a lot and then was passed to a teenager. I had a low mile 1981 D100 with the LA318 that was the same way. Gramps called em Friday afternoon or Monday morning machines.
I've had several W200 Dodge trucks and a Monaco that were rock solid. As you say there are Lemons in every make.
 
  • Like
Reactions: freepims
If you love constantly fixing things on you car that break for no reason then buy a chevy impala!!! For real though these cars suck so bad. Every single power window has been out. The ac went out 3 times. The car is garbage and is one of the most regrettable purchases i have ever made. Stay away!
I had a 2006 Impala LT, other than a few minor things it was still going strong at 275,000 miles when I got T-boned by someone who ran a stop-sign. I bought a used 2008 LTZ and added a used 2008 SS and we are still driving both. Other than the same kind of little things like original engine sensors going bad (new ones work fine), and HVAC damper-door actuator gears stripping out (due to sticky dampers), and the known design faults of the Displacement On Demand V8, the cars are great cars to travel in and get good fuel mileage. All three Impalas have very durable front-end joints and brake components compared to other car makes I have had.

I figured out via YouTube how to replace the SS 5.3L V8 oil-pan gasket with the engine in the car using a redesigned gasket with splash-guard to prevent oil-pump-bypass spray on the underside of the pistons. Haven't replaced the redesigned valve-cover or done the chemical piston-ring clean procedure yet, so the 5.3 uses a bit of oil. The SS is so fun to drive that I pretty much have not made time to fix those last items (granted, I may have waited so long that I would have to replace pistons and rings to fix oil-use).
 
Over at the Equinox forum, members have successfully transplanted radios for Global A vehicles from junkyard units, patching their VIN# into memory using a hex editor program to make it work ... so it’s not impossible to do.
 
  • Like
Reactions: hatzie and sheila
Over at the Equinox forum, members have successfully transplanted radios for Global A vehicles from junkyard units, patching their VIN# into memory using a hex editor program to make it work ... so it’s not impossible to do.
The anti-repairability serialization and pairing of Global A controllers are similar to the serialization of common failure components in recent iPhone and Samsung phones and John Deere and IH and ...
Right to repair is a cultural issue. Electronics, Farm Implement, Appliances, Vehicles, etc are being purposely made less repairable by anyone not "approved" by the manufacturer.
The anti right to repair manufacturers that are giving us the middle finger need to find that it'll cost them market share.
Here is Louis Rossman being a lot more articulate than I am about right to repair.

This is his commentary on the small win with Apple over the iPhone parts serialization that was bricking recent phones with replaced screens and how it translates to other things.
 
  • Like
Reactions: John F
I’m all for “Right to Repair”, but I’m not for “Right to Hack” ... which is what I think some of this stuff is trying to stop. When I hear people saying they’re replacing software that controls their vehicle I think that’s a very bad idea! People might say, “hey - its my car, I can do what I want with it”, but I disagree! You should have every right to repair it, but you should not have the ability to logically modify a controlling piece of software in it. Changing parameters, yeah - but not logic controlling the brains of the vehicle. When that happens, you have a free-for-all on our roads with everybody running different (un-validated) software, which is a situation that cannot be allowed to happen with all the Controls being built into automobiles nowadays (eg: SuperCruise, for example). It will just lead to fatal accidents and a lot of litigation.
 
If you cannot install a used heater control head or door switch module (the door switches are on the Class II databuss in my GMT800 pickup and I see no reason the CAN buss vehicles would be less advanced) and program them to match your vehicle you might be inclined to get rid of the older vehicle and hopefully buy a newer one.
This is also to stop the more intrepid from adding options not included at their trim level. Say you wanted heated mirrors or heated seats on your base or low trim model.
Not even close to something that's going to cause an accident but it cuts into the bottom line when folks can upgrade and repair their older vehicles from salvaged equipment.
 
If you cannot install a used heater control head or door switch module (the door switches are on the Class II databuss in my GMT800 pickup and I see no reason the CAN buss vehicles would be less advanced) and program them to match your vehicle you might be inclined to get rid of the older vehicle and hopefully buy a newer one.
This is also to stop the more intrepid from adding options not included at their trim level. Say you wanted heated mirrors or heated seats on your base or low trim model.
Not even close to something that's going to cause an accident but it cuts into the bottom line when folks can upgrade and repair their older vehicles from salvaged equipment.
Can speak from personal experience that replacement door switches don't need programming in current gen Impalas. Have also seen several members here add things like heated seats and steering wheels with no issues, apart from having to replace the wiring harness as well if it doesn't have the required connectors.
 
It depends on what they've built into them. The RH door switches on the T800 trucks contain the TPMS module and have to be mated to the truck. Thankfully they aren't Global A with VIN serialization.
 
It depends on what they've built into them. The RH door switches on the T800 trucks contain the TPMS module and have to be mated to the truck. Thankfully they aren't Global A with VIN serialization.
But we're focused on Impalas here.
 
If I had a dollar for every thread like this one on pretty much all the car forums I've ever seen, I wouldn't have to work anymore!
 
  • Like
Reactions: RobHazmat
If you cannot install a used heater control head or door switch module (the door switches are on the Class II databuss in my GMT800 pickup and I see no reason the CAN buss vehicles would be less advanced) and program them to match your vehicle you might be inclined to get rid of the older vehicle and hopefully buy a newer one.
This is also to stop the more intrepid from adding options not included at their trim level. Say you wanted heated mirrors or heated seats on your base or low trim model.
Not even close to something that's going to cause an accident but it cuts into the bottom line when folks can upgrade and repair their older vehicles from salvaged equipment.
I get what you’re saying, but I think it is possible to transplant some modules. Like I said - people are replacing the entire radio system over on the Equinox forum (2017’s!), but it’s not straightforward.

But I agree - it should be straightforward!

And tweaking parameters to “turn ON” hidden features is simple and safe to do.

Where it could potentially get unsafe is when ECU programs get replaced wholesale ... which is something some people claim to be doing (although I’m skeptical).
 
Iirc, going from non-heated to heated side view mirrors on gen8's is plug-n-play. And, how is Will @ Overkill Motorsports able to send pre-tuned ecms/tcms to customers w/o them being the originals?
 
21 - 40 of 54 Posts
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top