Letter To GM On 2005 Impala

[Stretch58]

I sent this the other day to GM
Sirs 05/31/05
I recently purchased a Chevrolet Impala LS Sedan. There are several things about this car I feel keep it from being a first class product.

1. Electronics-Radio has poor selectivity. SIgnals bleed into adjacent 10KHZ slots. Also appears more sensitive to noise.

2. Seats
A. The front seat bolsters are too large and tend to squeeze a persons rear.
B. The lumbar support at minimum setting protrudes too much, should be flat or no support.
C. Arm rests are too low and too hard. The door arm rest has no cushion at all. They are not located, so someone could rest your elbows and still reach the wheel. I had a 93 Buick Regal that had the same problem with the door armrest, no improvement in 12 years.
D. I would rate the seats poor at best. My 2000 Dodge Caravan has much better seats.

3. Ride--I would term it harsh. Rides like a old truck with a worn out suspension on rougher roads.

4. Floor Shift--While sporty to some, in a sedan, all it does is take up a lot of floor space. I would prefer a column shift.

5. Steering Wheel--The layout of the buttons on the wheel has already
caused a problem. The resume button for the cruse control is too easily depressed inadvertently due to its position at the bottom.
It really startles a person when the car starts accelerating when you don’t want it to.

6. Outside mirrors--Why fixed mounts and not fold backs? These stick out waiting for someone to knock them off.

7. Rear VIew Mirror-- I would much prefer an override for the auto mirror function.

8. Glove Compartment-- Interior too small.


9. Exterior--What is the purpose of the indented “ribs” on the top near the doors . They run the length of the top. All they do for me is make it much harder to wax.

10. Engine--Mine is a 3.8L. I was very disappointed to find it is not a Flex Fuel engine. I was so used to my Caravan Flex Fuel 3.3, that I never thought that anyone was still making them non-Flex. Our nearby states talking of mandating E85 Fuel make a person nervous with a brand new car that is still marching in the past.

Other than what I have mentioned, the car has run fine, gets good mileage. At this point though, I am mostly disappointed in it and wish I had gotten another Grand Caravan, 22 MPG and all.

Regards

[guenther]

Gotta ask, did you buy this car sight unseen? Not trying to be a jerk but nothing that you put down, aside from the stereo issue, warrants a letter to GM. Sounds to me that you should have doen better homework on selecting the Impala. I have a LS also and none of what you have put down has ever crossed my mind on being a problem. If your LS truly rides that bad, you need to take it in. My LS rides like a dream and I've put 110,000 miles on it.

[bermis519]

Well i'm happy to see at least thats the what you call a problem....read the post on "all the problems that i have had". I would love to sit there and complain about the arm rests, but i think mine has been in the shop getting thosands of dollars worth of work done on it, i haven't really had time to get use to my car......

mike

[Stretch58]

Originally Posted by guenther

Gotta ask, did you buy this car sight unseen? Not trying to be a jerk but nothing that you put down, aside from the stereo issue, warrants a letter to GM. Sounds to me that you should have doen better homework on selecting the Impala. I have a LS also and none of what you have put down has ever crossed my mind on being a problem. If your LS truly rides that bad, you need to take it in. My LS rides like a dream and I've put 110,000 miles on it.

Yeah you are probably right, could have looked it over better. Was looking for better mileage which it does. Would have gotten a rice burner if we had a dealer in town. As it is, this car will probably stay in the garage except for road trips. In my opinion, it is a piece of crap with a good engine. Wife said she did not like driving the minivan and wanted a car. So I got her one. Guess what she drives now? The van. A lot of the seat issues on the 05 did not become apparent till a little longer term driving took place. It also is not as if we have big rear ends either. 6 ft 4in. run daily, in shape. The car also rides nicely on smooth roads. On rougher roads, no good. Still only have 2000 miles on it. Stuck with it for now.

[MCO_Death]

A lot of these are more just you dissagreeing with the cars design. The 2000-2004? Impala's all had shifters on the colomn. I will agree with the mirror issue, barrel's have tendency to tear them right off causing quite a bit of damage when struck.

I personally think the Impala's should be built more like the Police Packaged ones. Its a world of difference, they don't ride/handle/drive the same whatsoever. To the extent I rather take the harsh looking cruiser for a drive over the leather trimmed, fully loaded LS sitting in the driveway.

[guenther]

Originally Posted by MCO_Death

The 2000-2004? Impala's all had shifters on the colomn.

Most of the LS, like my 2000, have bucket seats with the shifter in the center console. I think that most of the non-LS are colomn shift, if not all of them.

[MCO_Death]

Originally Posted by guenther

Most of the LS, like my 2000, have bucket seats with the shifter in the center console. I think that most of the non-LS are colomn shift, if not all of them.

I have a 2003 LS sitting in the driveway, its bench-seat with column shifter. . . =/

[guenther]

Originally Posted by MCO_Death

I have a 2003 LS sitting in the driveway, its bench-seat with column shifter. . . =/

Good.

[victimizati0n]

the 2004 impalas at the dealer had floor shifters

[MCO_Death]

Originally Posted by guenther

Good.

If it ran as well the Impala with 160+ miles on it, i'd be happier.

[Mod'd_Cav]

really dude..all that shit is something that you should have checked before you bought the car..you sound like you picked a car at random , bought it , then started complaining about it...thats why they call it test driving it..see if you like it before you buy it...and it sounds more like you need a caravan rather then an impala

[Stretch58]

Originally Posted by Mod'd_Cav

really dude..all that shit is something that you should have checked before you bought the car..you sound like you picked a car at random , bought it , then started complaining about it...thats why they call it test driving it..see if you like it before you buy it...and it sounds more like you need a caravan rather then an impala

Thanks for the gripping commentary "dude" and you are right, need a new Caravan, got one over the weekend.