2009 Chevrolet Impala

TRACTION CONTROL WARNING LIGHT CAME ON THEN IT SAID REDUCED ENGINE POWER THEN IT SHUT THE ENGINE OFF GOING 65 DOWN THE HIGHWAY WITH MY [XXX] YEAR OLD DRIVING IT. THE POWER STEERING WAS NOT WORKING SO SHE COULD HARDLY GET THE CAR OFF THE ROAD AND ALMOST WAS HIT BY A LARGE TRUCK. THIS IS DANGEROUS. I WON'T LET HER DRIVE IT AND IT HAPPENED TO ME THE NEXT DAY. *TR PARTS OF THIS DOCUMENT HAVE BEEN REDACTED TO PROTECT PERSONALLY IDENTIFIABLE INFORMATION PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).

THE VEHICLE SUDDENLY DECELERATED AND DISPLAYED MESSAGES: "REDUCED ENGINE POWER" AND "SERVICE TRACTION CONTROL". THIS WAS THE SECOND INCIDENT. THE FIRST INCIDENT RESULTED IN THE ENGINE SHUTTING OFF COMPLETELY AFTER THE SAME INITIAL SYMPTOMS DESCRIBED; LOCKING UP THE STEERING DURING RUSH HOUR TRAFFIC (ESTIMATED 65 MPH, NO INJURES, APPROX. 4 MONTH AGO). OUR MECHANIC CLEANED OUT THE THROTTLE BODY SENSOR AFTER THE FIRST INCIDENT, AND PHONED THE DEALERSHIP WITH THE TROUBLE CODES. THE DEALERSHIP REFUSED WARRANTY SERVICE AS THE TROUBLE CODES HAD GONE BY THE TIME THE CAR HAD ARRIVED AT THEIR SHOP, AND WOULD NOT TAKE OUR MECHANIC'S PHONE CONVERSATION AS EVIDENCE. WE WERE INFORMED THAT THE THREE SERVICES COMMONLY PERFORMED TO FIX THE PROBLEM WERE TO REPLACE THE THROTTLE BODY, THROTTLE BODY SENSOR, AND ACCELERATOR PEDAL; THE LATTER NOT COVERED UNDER WARRANTY. *TR

AS I WAS DRIVING TO GOLF ON MONDAY SEPTEMBER 24TH, ON INTERSTATE I-80 HEADING WEST, MY 2009 CHEVY IMPALA ONBOARD COMPUTER STATED THE FOLLOWING, SERVICE TRACTION CONTROL, REDUCED POWER, STARTER DISABLED AND THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT ALL AT ROUGHLY THE SAME TIME. MY CAR COMPLETELY DIED AND I HAD NO POWER STEERING. LUCKILY I WAS ABLE TO COAST OUT OF HARMS WAY AND GET TO THE SIDE OF THE ROAD. I CHECKED SOME WIRES UNDER THE HOOD AND DIDN'T FIND ANYTHING LOOSE. WHEN I ATTEMPTED TO START THE CAR BACK-UP, THE ONBOARD COMPUTER FLASHED, STARTER DISABLED. I SAT WITH THE CAR FOR ABOUT 15 MINUTES AND TRIED ONCE MORE. THIS TIME IT STARTED AND RAN NORMAL, BUT THE CHECK ENGINE LIKE WAS ON(STILL IS). HOW SCARY IS THIS REALLY? ENOUGH TO MAKE ME HATE DRIVING THIS CAR ANYWHERE. NOT TO MENTION I'M A SINGLE DAD OF 4, WHO NEEDS TO GET TO WORK, SCHOOL AND MANY OTHER THINGS. *TR

I WAS DRIVING TO WORK ON THE FREEWAY THEN I NOTICED THAT MY CAR'S RPM STARTED BOUNCING UP AND DOWN FROM TWO AND A HALF TO TWO AND BACK AND FORTH AND THEN MY CHECK ENGINE LIGHT TURNS ON AND SAYS ENGINE POWER IS REDUCED AND AS WELL AS THE SERVICE TRACTION LIGHT TURNS ON. I SEE THAT I HAVE TO PRESS ON THE GAS PEDAL A LOT MORE FURTHER DOWN FOR MY CAR TO STAY AT 60 MPH AND AFTER 2 MINUTES OF THIS MY CAR'S RPM DROPS TO 0. MY CAR TURNS OFF WITH THE CAR READING STARTER DISABLED AND SERVICE THROTTLE. I HAD TO PULL TO THE SHOULDER. THIS INCIDENT HAD MADE ME LATE FOR WORK AND THIS INCIDENT HAPPENS A LOT NOW. THIS CAN HAPPEN FROM ONCE EVERY TWO OR THREE WEEKS TO TWICE A WEEK. JUST RECENTLY MY CAR'S SEAT BELTS WILL BECOME UNDONE WITHOUT ANYONE CLICKING THE BUTTON FOR IT TO RELEASE. ALSO RECENTLY MY SERVICE AIRBAGS LIGHT HAS CAME ON. *TR

I HAVE A 2009 CHEVY IMPALA LT WITH FLEX-FUEL. OVER THE LAST FEW MONTHS WHILE DRIVING AT ALL SPEEDS I'VE NOTICED THAT THE ENTIRE DASH BOARD (SPEEDOMETER AREA) WILL LOSE POWER AND ALL THE GAUGES WILL GO OUT AS IF THE CAR WAS TURNED OFF. THE TURN SIGNALS DON'T FLASH ON THE DASH EITHER. BUT THE RADIO, INTERIOR/EXTERIOR LIGHTS AROUND THE CAR AND TURN SINGLES WILL ALL WORK FINE. ALSO THERE IS NO NOTICEABLE LOST IN PERFORMANCE. AFTER A FEW MOMENTS OR MINUTES THE PROBLEM WILL CORRECT ITSELF BUT IT MAY HAPPEN MULTIPLE TIMES IN A TRIP. ALSO I'M HAVING ISSUES WITH THE CAR TURNING OFF AS SOON AS I OPEN THE DRIVER DOOR AFTER STARTING THE CAR BY REMOTE START. SO I HAVE TO SIT AND WAIT A FEW MINUTES BEFORE THE CAR WILL TURN OVER AGAIN. *TR

CAR STALLED ON THE INTERSTATE. MERGED CAR TO BREAK DOWN LANE WITHOUT BEING HIT. TRACTION CONTROL LIGHT ILLUMINATED. CAR WOULD NOT RESTART FOR ABOUT 20 MINUTES. CAR THEN RESTARTED AND WARNING LIGHT WAS OFF. PREVIOUS ELECTRICAL ISSUES WITH THIS VEHICLE INCLUDING REAR WINDOWS THAT WILL NOT ROLL DOWN AND DEFECTIVE AIR BAG SENSOR. *TR

I-40 EAST BOUND; 60 MPH; COMING DOWN A 4 TO 7% GRADE THROUGH THE SMOKEY MOUNTAINS, NORTH CAROLINA SIDE; 1ST ERROR: "SERVICE TRACTION CONTROL, REDUCED ENGINE POWER, SERVICE ENGINE. APPROXIMATELY 5 MINUTES LATER 2ND ERROR: "STARTING DISABLE,SERVICE THROTTLE" LOST ALL POWER TO VEHICLE. A VERY DANGEROUS AND FRIGHTENING EVENT HAVING NO CONTROL OF YOUR SPEED, STEERING, AND BRAKING TRYING TO GET OFF TO THE SIDE OF I-40 WITH THE TYPE OF GRADE, TRACTOR TRAILER TRUCKS THAT CAN NOT SLOW DOWN FAST ENOUGH TO LET YOU OVER. WE WERE VERY.... VERY FORTUNATE WITH OUR OUTCOME. HAD TO BE TOWED TO A LOCAL DEALERSHIP. RAN DIAGNOSTIC; ERROR CODES P2122, P2138. DEALERSHIP REPLACED THE COMPONENT: ELECTRONIC ACCELERATOR PEDAL

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2009 CHEVROLET IMPALA. THE CONTACT STATED THAT ALL OF THE DOORS REMAINED LOCKED AND THE VEHICLE COULD NOT BE LOCKED OR OPENED MANUALLY, ONLY BY USING THE ELECTRONIC KEY REMOTE. THE CONTACT TOOK THE VEHICLE TO THE DEALER AND WAS TOLD THAT THE ELECTRICAL SYSTEM FOR ALL FOUR DOORS NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. THE VIN WAS NOT AVAILABLE. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE FAILURE AND THE CURRENT MILEAGE WAS 6,700.

TRAVELING AT HIGHWAY SPEED ON 2 LANE ROAD, CHECK ENGINE AND TRACTION CONTROL LIGHTS ILLUMINATED THEN VEHICLE SHUT DOWN. LIGHTS AND RADIO WORKED BUT VEHICLE WOULD NOT TURN OVER. AFTER APPROXIMATELY 15 MINUTES VEHICLE CRANKED AND STARTED AND WAS DRIVABLE. TOOK TO CHEVROLET DEALER WHO MADE REPAIRS BY REPLACING 24 TERMINALS. VERBALLY TOLD ME THAT THERE WAS CORROSION ON WIRES ON THIS 2 YEAR OLD VEHICLE WITH BARELY 60,000 MILES. HAD THIS HAPPENED ON A MULTILANE INTERSTATE HIGHWAY SHUTTING DOWN LIKE THIS COULD HAVE BEEN VERY DANGEROUS. *TR

I NOTICED SOME TIME BACK THAT WHEN APPLYING THE BRAKES THAT I WOULD GET A ROUGH VIBRATION, SUCH AS WITH BAD ROTORS. I TOOK THE CAR TO THE DEALER THAT I PURCHASED IT AT AND THEY LOOKED IT OVER AND STATED THAT EVERYTHING WAS FINE. SINCE THEN EVERYTIME I HIT THE BRAKES THE VIBRATIONS HAVE ONLY GOTTEN WORSE, IT'S TO THE POINT NOW THAT IT VIOLENTLY SHAKES THE ENTIRE CAR AND FEELS AS IF IT'S GOING TO JERK THE STEERING WHEEL RIGHT OUT OF MY HANDS. SO I MADE ANOTHER APPOINTMENT FOR THIS ISSUE AND A NEW ONE; SOMETIMES MY DASH LIGHTS WILL FLICKER AND IT WILL TELL ME IT'S 102 OUTSIDE WHEN IT'S ONLY 70 AND AUTOMATIC TIRE PRESSURE SENSOR IS WAY, WAY OFF. I HAVE ALSO NOTICED RECENTLY THAT MY FRONT TIRES HAVE BECOME EXCESSIVELY WORN ON THE OUTER EDGES TO WHERE THERE IS ONLY TREAD IN THE CENTER AND THIS SHOULDN'T BE A PROBLEM WITH ONLY 21,500 MILES ON THE VEHICLE; I SHOULD HAVE BEEN ABLE TO GET ABOUT TWICE THAT OUT OF THE FACTORY TIRES. AT MY LAST APPOINTMENT THEY HAVE STILL SAID THERE IS NO NOTABLE PROBLEMS WITH MY IMPALA. *TT