Owner-reported complaints naming the visibility system, filed with NHTSA
Data refreshed
Reports naming windshields, glass, wipers, defrosters and mirrors. Every record below is an owner-reported complaint about the 2008 Chevrolet Impala submitted to NHTSA — not a confirmed defect, not a recall and not a manufacturer bulletin. 16 reports on file name it.
Complaints are reports submitted by owners and drivers to NHTSA. They are not verified and do not establish that a defect exists.
Shown in the owner’s own words, exactly as filed
TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2008 CHEVROLET IMPALA. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE FRONT WINDSHIELD DEFROSTER MALFUNCTIONED AND DID NOT OPERATE. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO THE DEALER WHERE IT WAS DIAGNOSED THAT THE AIR CONDITIONER CONVERTER WAS FAULTY. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOT NOTIFIED OF THE FAILURE. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 83,000.
TL*THE CONTACT OWNS A 2008 CHEVROLET IMPALA. THE CONTACT STATED THAT WHILE DRIVING, THE REAR WINDOW DEFROSTER FAILED TO ACTIVATE. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT DIAGNOSED OR REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOTIFIED OF THE FAILURE. THE VIN WAS NOT AVAILABLE. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 69,500.
DURING FREEZING RAIN THE REAR WINDOW DEFROSTER QUIT OPERATING MAKING VISIBILITY OUT THE REAR WINDOW LITTLE TO NONE. AFTER TROUBLESHOOTING, THE PROBLEM CAME FROM A WIRING HARNESS BELOW THE FUSEBOX ON THE PASSENGER SIDE OF THE VEHICLE BY THE PASSENGER FOOT AREA. THE WIRE FOR THE REAR WINDOW DEFROSTER HAD MELTED AT THE POINT INSIDE THE CONNECTOR MELTING THE PLASTIC,AND IS A FIRE HAZARD. AFTER RESEARCHING THIS ISSUE, MANY NEWER CHEVROLET IMPALAS HAVE ENCOUNTERED THIS ISSUE, AND IT SHOULD BE ADDRESSED. *TR
I STARTED GETTING THIS CLICKING NOISE BEHIND THE GLOVE BOX ON MY 2008 CHEVROLET IMPALA. MY MECHANIC DETERMINED THAT IT WAS THE RIGHT SIDE TEMP DOOR ACTUATOR AND THE AIR INLET DOOR ACTUATOR. THEY REPLACED BOTH AND THE CLICKING NOISE WENT AWAY AND CONTROLS WORKED FINE AGAIN. NOW IN NOVEMBER, 2014, THE SAME THING IS HAPPENING. FROM ALL THAT I HAVE READ THE ACTUATORS ARE MANUFACTURED WITH CHEAP PLASTIC GEARS THAT DON'T LAST. I HAVE READ SEVERAL COMPLAINTS OF THIS SAME NATURE ON LINE. IN SOUTHERN FLORIDA, AIR CONDITIONING IN THE CAR IS A ABSOLUTE NECESSITY AND IT GETS VERY EXPENSIVE TO CONTINUE TO FIX THE DEFECTIVE PARTS. THIS PROBLEM WILL CERTAINLY BE A DETERMINING FACTOR WHEN I DECIDE TO BUY ANOTHER NEW VEHICLE. *TR
WINDSHIELD WIPERS STOPPED WORKING WHILE TRYING TO CLEAR DEBRIS FROM WINDSHIELD TRAVELING AT INTERSTATE SPEEDS OF 65MPH+. WINDSHIELD WIPERS MADE ONE SWEEP, WHEN ACTIVATED AGAIN, MOTOR CLICKED AND WIPERS SEIZED IN PARTIAL UP POSITION CREATING VISIBILITY HAZARD. CONTINUED TO ATTEMPT TO GET WIPERS TO FUNCTION WITH NO LUCK. STOPPED VEHICLE, SHUTDOWN AND RESTARTED, ATTEMPTED USE OF WIPERS AGAIN STILL WOULD NOT FUNCTION. FUSE CHECKED AND STILL GOOD. *TR
I'VE HAD MY 2008 IMPALA SINCE MARCH 2014, AND I'VE YET TO HAVE MY REAR DEFROST IN WORKING CONDITION. I FEEL LIKE THIS A CONSTANT COMPLAINT SO THERE SHOULD BE SOMETHING DONE ABOUT THIS WHEN THERE IS OVER 400 COMPLAINTS MADE ABOUT THIS SAME ISSUE. IT IS VERY UNCOMFORTABLE TO NOT BE ABLE TO SEE OUT YOUR REAR WINDOW CAUSE OF FROST AND WHEN YOU WIPE IT WITH A CLOTH THAT IS NO HELP NEITHER BECAUSE IT GOES RIGHT BACK TO BEING FOGY. HELP *TR
TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2008 CHEVROLET IMPALA. THE CONTACT STATED THAT WHILE DRIVING APPROXIMATELY 35 MPH, THE DEFROSTER SYSTEM WAS NOT PROPERLY DEFROSTING THE REAR WINDOW AND WAS AFFECTING HIS VISIBILITY. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO AN INDEPENDENT MECHANIC FOR DIAGNOSTIC TESTING AND THE MECHANIC INFORMED THE CONTACT THAT THE WIRING HARNESS HAD OVERHEATED AND WAS NOT CARRYING ENOUGH VOLTAGE FOR THE VEHICLE. THE MECHANIC ALSO STATED THAT WHERE THE CONNECTOR WAS LOCATED, THE WIRING HARNESS WAS SMOLDERED AND COULD HAVE CAUSED A FIRE. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOTIFIED OF THE FAILURE. THE APPROXIMATE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 61,000.
THE DRIVER SIDE FAN BLOWS ONLY COLD AIR, SO NO DEFOGGING OCCURS ON DRIVERS SIDE, OBSTRUCTING DRIVERS VIEW. *TR
WHILE DRIVING I NOTICED REAR WINDOW WAS STILL COVERED WITH ICE,THE REAR DEFROSTER WAS NOT WORKING ALTHOUGH THE SWITCH WAS ON AND LIGHT WAS ILLUMINATED,AFTER THAT I SEARCHED INTERNET SITES AND FOUND THAT A CONNECTOR ON THE PASSENGER SIDE HAS COMMONLY BURNT UP SO I CHECKED MINE AND SURE ENOUGH IT IS,ANOTHER GUY AT WORK HAS THE SAME THING ON HIS IMPALA,CURRENTLY CAR IS AT DEALER BEING INSP BUT THEY HAVE SAID SO FAR THEY WON'T COVER REPAIR,THIS IS A FIRE HAZARD INSIDE THE PASSENGER COMPARTMENT OF THE CAR. *TR
REAR WINDOW DEFROST STOPPED WORKING. REPLACED FUSES AND RELAY. LIGHT COMES ON BUT DEFROST DOES NOT WORK. INVESTIGATION BY OWNER SHOWED WIRING HARNESS UNDER FRONT PASSENGER KICK PANEL BURNT BADLY. FURTHER INVESTIGATION ONLINE INDICATES THIS HAS PROBLEM HAS BEEN EXPERIENCED BY A LARGE NUMBER OF IMPALA OWNERS. DUE TO THE BADLY BURN CONNECTION, PASSENGER CABIN FIRE COULD HAVE OCCURRED. LOCAL CHEVY DEALER SERVICE DEPARTMENT DENIED ANY KNOWLEDGE OF SIMILAR INSTANCES. RECOMMEND INVESTIGATION. *TR
2008 CHEVY IMPALA. CONSUMER WRITES IN REGARDS TO WINDOW DEFOGGER MALFUNCTION. *SMD THE CONSUMER STATED HE CHECKED THE FUSE BLOCK UNDER THE HOOD AND FOUND THE DEFOGGER RELAY TO BE WORKING. THE FUSE BLOCK DID NOT HAVE A FUSE FOR THE REAR WINDOW DEFOGGER. HE TOOK THE VEHICLE TO AN AUTO REPAIR SHOP, AND AFTER HOURS OF INVESTIGATING AND TESTING, THE DOOR TRIM UNDER THE IP FUSE BOX WAS REMOVED AND A 30 AMP FUSE AND HOLDER WAS FOUND HIDDEN UNDER THE TRIM. THE HOLDER AND FUSE WERE REPLACED. LAST DECEMBER THE DEFOGGER STOPPED WORKING AGAIN. THE DOOR TRIM HAD TO BE REMOVED AND THE FUSE HOLDER WAS REPLACED.
TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2008 CHEVROLET IMPALA. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE WINDSHIELD WIPER TRANSMISSION FRACTURED. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO THE DEALER WHO REPLACED THE TRANSMISSION FOR THE WINDSHIELD WIPERS. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOTIFIED AND ADVISED THAT THERE WAS NO RECALL FOR THE FAILURE. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 94,860.
THE A/C ACTUATOR IS MAKING A CLICKING NOISE WHICH PREVENTS THE DEFROST SYSTEM FROM WORKING PROPERLY. IT STARTS TO CLICK WHEN THE TEMPERATURE IS WARM OUTSIDE BUT IT DOESN'T DO IT IN THE COOL TEMPERATURES. DURING COOLER TEMPERATURES, THE CAR MAKES A REVVING NOISE. *TR
FOR A FEW DAYS I HAVE BEEN SMELLING A BURNING SMELL IN MY CAR. I NOTICED THAT MY REAR WINDOW DEFROSTER HAD STOPPED FUNCTIONING. AFTER A GOOGLE SEARCH I CAME UP ON A POSTING AT THE NAIOA WEBSITE WITH MANY PEOPLE HAVING A CONNECTION BURN UP IN THE PASSENGER KICK PANEL WITH PICTURES POSTED. I WENT AND LOOKED AT MY CAR AND THE CONNECTOR WAS BURNT AND MELTED JUST LIKE EVERYONE ELSE'S IN THE FORUM POSTING. THIS IS A CONNECTOR WITH MANY WIRES IN IT, AND I THINK COULD BE A FIRE HAZARD OR SAFETY HAZARD ON THE VEHICLE IF THE OTHER WIRES BURNED OR SHORTED. *TR
TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2008 CHEVROLET IMPALA. WHILE THE VEHICLE WAS PARKED THE CONTACT CLOSED THE FRONT PASSENGER SIDE WINDOW AND DID NOT NOTICE THE PASSENGERS FINGER WAS IN THE WINDOW WHILE IT CLOSED. THE PASSENGER WAS TRANSPORTED TO THE HOSPITAL AND LOST THE PINKY FINGER ON THE RIGHT HAND. THE MANUFACTURER WAS MADE AWARE OF THE FAILURE AND STATED THEY WOULD RETURN THE CONTACTS CALL. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE APPROXIMATE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 49,000. UPDATED 09/21/11 *BF
I DROVE TO WORK AT 8 AM, SAT IN MY CAR AT LUNCH AROUND NOON, AND WHEN I LEFT WORK AT 5 PM, SAW AN 8-12 INCH CRACK ON THE BOTTOM DRIVER SIDE OF MY WINDSHIELD. ONCE RETURNING HOME AND GETTING A BETTER LOOK AT THE CRACK, THERE IS NO SIGN OF IMPACT OR CHIP FROM ANY ROCK. THE CRACK IS SMOOTH AND SEEMS TO STEM FROM THE EDGE OF MY WINDSHIELD AND THERE IS ANOTHER MARK WITHIN THE GLASS THAT LOOKS LIKE ANOTHER CRACK MAY BE COMING. WHEN I SPOKE WITH THE DEALERSHIP, ONE OF THE PEOPLE TRIED TO PASS IT OFF AS A CHIP FROM A ROCK THAT SPREAD, BUT THERE IS NO MARK FROM A ROCK IN THE AREA AND IT'S ALSO VERY LOW DOWN ON THE WINDSHIELD-HARD TO BELIEVE A ROCK COULD HIT AT THE BASE OF MY WINDSHIELD AND NOT LEAVE A MARK. I AM CURRENTLY IN TALKS WITH CHEVY AND THE DEALERSHIP TO HAVE THIS MATTER TAKEN CARE OF. THIS IS NOT SOMETHING THAT I CAUSED, BUT RATHER SOMETHING WITH MY WINDSHIELD I BELIEVE AS DO OTHERS WHO HAVE LOOKED AT THE WINDOW. I HAVE HEARD THAT THERE WAS A BULLETIN ON THE 2008 IMPALA'S WINDSHIELD INDICATING THAT STRESS CRACKS MAY OCCUR. *TR
Higher-selling and older vehicles accumulate more reports. Counts are not failure rates and are not directly comparable between vehicles that sold in very different numbers.
Categories with enough reports to have a page of their own
Data on this page last refreshed .