2016 Chevrolet Impala Steering Problems

I was driving and entering [XXX] at [XXX] when my power steering went completely out! I was unable to steer my vehicle at all and was on a windy road with my children in the vehicle! I pulled to the side of the road! Shut my car off waited a couple minutes and turned it back on and the problem went away! This has happened twice now. My power steering is due to it being electrical and not a fluid issue. This is extremely dangerous as you are unable to steer the vehicle at all when this happens! INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

NHTSA ID

11627748

Incident

Nov 20, 2024

Very hard to steer

NHTSA ID

11500749

Incident

Jan 1, 2023

I was driving down the road at night and attempted a right hand turn when my power steering quit. The warning light on the dash came on. I almost got rear ended by cars coming from behind. I called the previous owner to see if they had ever had this happen. They stated it had happened once. They said they turned off the ignition and waited about 1/2 hour then cranked the car and the problem was solved. That’s what I did and it worked. Since this is an intermittent problem the service tech could not help.

NHTSA ID

11448078

Incident

Jan 18, 2022

I parked my car at work and worked a full day Saturday the 13th of November. I go out to start my vehicle and 3 warnings appear all at once. Stabilitrak, ABS, and power steering. Reading online I’m not the only one but with only 109,xxx miles it’s kind of BS that there’s obviously an engineering flaw with these vehicles and I probably will give a few car payments worth to get this fixed. I’ve owned this vehicle since 17,xxx miles

NHTSA ID

11440395

Incident

Nov 13, 2021

After starting car (and sometimes put in reverse), steering appears locked and message says to get power steering serviced. After putting back in park, power steering starts working. This happened multiple times last few weeks. Took car in to Joe Johnson Chevorlet (Troy OH) for scheduled next morning service. After 2 full days of excusses why they couldn't get to our car, we picked it up and took it to independent service shop. He test drove it and steering was fine. Got car back and next day it happened multiple times again. Took it back to independent to run code, which did not give exact problem. Drove car 1 block and power steering went out turning. Then again 1 block later. It is now parked and afraid to drive it. Chevy seems not to want to work on it and independent does not know what is wrong, said it could take him up to a week to trouble shoot entire system. He hasn't got back to me yet. HELP! Also, parking brake seems to engage by itself overnight. When starting car, sometimes it is on. We never use it. This may be related.

NHTSA ID

11430033

Incident

Aug 21, 2021

While driving home from work on the highway, the power steering failed and the steering wheel became very physical to actuate. The DIC indicated the warning for power steering off. The failure occurred simultaneously with the warning indication with no prior warning. While driving at high speed, this failure could have caused a serious accident. The failure happened on the street as well. Both times while reaching destination the car was shut off and when restarted, the steering worked once again.

NHTSA ID

11428750

Incident

Aug 11, 2021

The contact owns a 2016 Chevrolet Impala. The contact stated while driving out of a parking space, the steering wheel was difficult to maneuver and she heard an abnormal clinking sound coming from the steering wheel. There were no warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer who diagnosed that the front axle needed to be replaced. The contact stated that the vehicle was repaired, however, the failure persisted. The vehicle was taken back to the dealer, where it was diagnosed with the steering gear needing to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure but did not provide any assistance. The approximate failure mileage was 75,000.

NHTSA ID

11424089

Incident

Mar 13, 2021

Mileage

75,000 mi

I WAS DRIVING ON THE FREEWAY AND THE REDUCE ENGINE POWER CAME ON, MY VEHICLE IMMEDIATELY START SLOWING DOWN AND I COULDN'T GO OVER 19 MPH !! VERY SCARY AND UNSAFE AND GM HAS FAILED TO TAKE CARE THE PROBLEM!!

NHTSA ID

11385486

Incident

Dec 25, 2020

WHILE DRIVING VEHICLE AT A LOW SPEED SOON AFTER STARTING, A SERVICE WARNING " SERVICE POWERSTEERING DRIVE WITH CARE" APPEARED ON THR DIC. VEHICLE BECAME EXTREMELY HARD TO STEER BUT I WAS ABLE TO MANEUVER IT TO A SAFE LOCATION PUTTING A LOT OF PHYSICAL PRESSURE ON THR STEERING WHEEL. SWITCHED CAR ON AND OFF SEVERAL TIMES AND WARNING STILL APPEARED. AFTER REMOVING KEY FROM IGNITION AND SPENDING APPROXIMATELY 20 MINUTES ATTEMPTING TO TROUBLESHOOT, RESTARTED VEHICLE AND WARNING REMOVED AND WAS ABLE TO STEER AGAIN. WOULD'VE BEEN A VERY NASTY SITUATION FOR A NOVICE DRIVER OR ON A BUSIER AND CURVIER ROADWAY.

NHTSA ID

11366724

Incident

Oct 26, 2020

Mileage

159,000 mi

POWER STEERING GOING OUT WHILE DRIVING

NHTSA ID

11352440

Incident

Aug 31, 2020

Mileage

100,000 mi

SERICES LIGHT CAME ON FOR POWER STEERING

NHTSA ID

11311380

Incident

Feb 24, 2020

Mileage

110,233 mi

I PURCHASED A '16 IMPALA LS2 WITH 37K MILES, AFTER OWNING IT FOR A WEEK, I CHECKED THE AIR PRESSURE ON THE SPARE TIRE TO FIND THE TRUNK WITH ABOUT 4" OF WATER IN TRUNK, THE DEAL REPLACED THE TAIL LIGHT GASKETS AND HAVE NOT HAD AN ISSUE SINCE. AFTER DRIVING THE CAR FOR 6 MONTHS AND JUST OVER 10K MILES, I WAS DRIVING THROUGH THE SMALL TOWN I LIVE IN AND MY POWER STEERING JUST STOPPED WORKING AND "POWER STEERING FAILURE" NOTE POPPED UP. THANKFULLY GOT PULLED OVER SAFELY, TURNED CAR OFF, WAITED 30 SEC., RESTARTED THE CAR AND STILL NO POWER STEERING. WAS ABLE TO GET THE CAR TO THE DEALER SHIP WHERE I BOUGHT CAR, I WAS FORTUNITE THAT I WAS ONLY 200 YARDS FROM DEALERSHIP. DEALERSHIP CALLED AFTER HAVING CAR FOR ABOUT 4-5 HOURS AND THEY CANT FIND ANY PROBLEM!!! I SURE HOPE THAT THEY DO FIND SOMETHING AND THEY FIX IT. MY "CERTIFIED" WARRANTY WILL EXPIRE IN ABOUT 2500 MILES AND I DON'T WANT THE PROBLEM TO HAPPEN AGAIN AND HAVE TO PAY OUT OF POCKET WHEN THIS IS CLEARLY AND ISSUE ON THESE ELECTRONIC STEERING MODULES.

NHTSA ID

11282389

Incident

Nov 25, 2019

Mileage

3 mi

THE POWER STEERING IS ELECTRIC AND IT'S JUST TURNING OFF WHEN THE CAR MAKES A TURN WITHOUT NOTICE.

NHTSA ID

11244176

Incident

Aug 12, 2019

Mileage

69,000 mi

DRIVING ON 2 LANE HIGHWAY AROUND 40-45 MPH WHEN SUDDENLY THE STEERING WHEEL BECAME EXTREMELY HARD TO TURN. WARNING MESSAGE "SERVICE POWER STEERING DRIVE WITH CAUTION" POPPED ON. HAD EXTREME RESISTANT TRYING TO TURN INTO A PARKING LOT TO CHECK FOR LOST OF FLUID. NEARLY HIT A CAR TRYING TO GET THE IMPALA INTO THE PROPER RIGHT LANE. AFTER ABOUT 30 MINUTES OF LOOKING IN OWNER'S MANUAL AND SEARCHING IN ENGINE COMPARTMENT TO DISCOVERED THAT THIS IS AN ELECTRIC STEERING. CHECK FOR ANY BLOWN FUSE - FOUND NONE. AFTER ABOUT 45 MINUTES FROM PULLING OVER, RESTARTED THE ENGINE AND FOUND POWER STEERING HAS RETURN TO NORMAL OPERATION. MILEAGE IS 52,454. WILL BE CONTACTING DEALER.

NHTSA ID

11234659

Incident

Jul 24, 2019

Mileage

52,454 mi

ON THE 24TH OF DECEMBER AS I WAS PULLING INTO THE DRIVEWAY MY POWER STEERING SYSTEM LOCKED UP AND I COULD NO LONGER TURN THE VEHICLE. THE "CHECK POWER STEERING" INDICATOR LIGHT CAME ON. IT WAS TOWED TO A LOCAL MECHANIC WHO "RESET THE ERROR CODE" AND INFORMED ME HE DIDN'T KNOW WHEN AND IF THIS WOULD HAPPEN AGAIN. I LEFT THAT MECHANIC AND WENT TO THE DEALERSHIP WHERE I PURCHASED THE VEHICLE (PRESTON HOOD IN FORT WALTON BEACH). AFTER RUNNING A DIAGNOSTIC THERE, THEY SAID NOTHING WAS WRONG AND THEY HAD NEVER SEEN THIS PROBLEM BEFORE. I HAVE RECENTLY SEPARATED FROM THE MILITARY AND WAS ON THE WAY TO MY NEW JOB ON NEW YEAR EVE. I WAS DRIVING ON THE INTERSTATE (AT INTERSTATE SPEED) AND THE SAME PROBLEM OCCURRED AGAIN. I WAS ABLE TO MANEUVER TO AN OFF RAMP WITHOUT CAUSING AN ACCIDENT AND PARKED THE CAR. IT IS NOW AT A CHEVY DEALERSHIP IN PENSACOLA BEING DIAGNOSED AGAIN. A SEVERE SAFETY ISSUE THAT COULD HAVE EASILY COST ME MY LIFE OR SOMEONE ELSES'. I CAN NO IONGER DRIVE THIS VEHICLE WITH CONFIDENCE. I NEED A LONG TERM SOLUTION AND I NEED YOUR HELP !!!!!!

NHTSA ID

11164638

Incident

Dec 31, 2018

Mileage

86,000 mi

CAR LOSS POWER STEERING, ABS BRAKE CONTROL AND SPEEDOMETER. MULTIPLE SERVICES LIGHTS FLICKED ON / OFF. HAPPENED SEVERAL TIMES IN THE LAST 1-2 MONTHS, HAPPENED ON CITY STREETS AND THE HIGHWAY. HAD TAKEN TO BE SERVICED TWICE. INTERMITTENT CHECK ENGINE LIGHT TURNS OFF AFTER A DAY OR TWO.

NHTSA ID

11063631

Incident

Jan 18, 2018

Mileage

30,000 mi