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Verdict

2014 Chevrolet Impala: Complaints, Recalls & Known Issues

What the public record actually says about the 2014 Chevrolet Impala — every figure below is a NHTSA or EPA number, not an opinion.

The read

More reported complaints than most sedan.

Owners filed 630 NHTSA complaints — more complaints than 93% of 2014 sedans. Electrical System leads the reports (29%). 12 safety recall campaigns on record — check the VIN and remedy terms with a dealer.

Based on NHTSA complaint volume against 2014 sedans, not adjusted for how many were sold. It describes the model year, not the individual car you are looking at.

Complaints filed

630

Reports to NHTSA, 2014

Safety recalls

12

NHTSA campaigns on record

NHTSA crash test

Overall NCAP rating

Combined MPG

22

EPA estimate

Complaint volume vs. segment peers

More complaints than 93% of 2014 sedans

The bar is this car's percentile among 2014 sedans by complaint volume — a full bar means the fewest complaints in its class. Not adjusted for sales.

Known issues

Electrical System issues lead owner complaints (29% of 630 reports), followed by steering (22%).

Electrical System29% · 184 reports
Steering22% · 137 reports
Unknown Or Other8% · 52 reports
Power Train6% · 36 reports
Electronic Stability Control (ESC)5% · 29 reports
Exterior Lighting4% · 27 reports
Air Bags4% · 26 reports
Engine4% · 26 reports

+ 16 more component categories with fewer reports.

Share of all 630 NHTSA complaints for this model year, grouped by the component owners named. Bars are scaled to the largest category. Examples: ODI 11340416, ODI 11420721, ODI 11407604, ODI 11193781, ODI 11111319.

Recalls(12)

Open a recall to read what NHTSA says is wrong, what can happen, and how it gets fixed. Check the VIN and remedy eligibility with a dealer; federal no-charge requirements have an age limit, though a manufacturer may offer more coverage.

Parking BrakeNov 2015 · 15V085000Details +

General Motors LLC (GM) is recalling certain model year 2014 Chevrolet Impala vehicles manufactured November 15, 2012, to May 30, 2014. In the affected vehicles, the electronic parking brake piston actuation arm may not fully retract causing the brake pads to stay partially engaged. Thus, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Systems (FMVSS) No. 135 "Light Vehicle Brake Systems."

Risk: Brake pads that remain partially engaged with the rotors may cause excessive brake heat that may result in a fire.

Remedy: GM will notify owners, and dealers will reprogram the electronic parking brake control module with new software, free of charge. The recall began March 5, 2015. Owners may contact Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020 (Chevrolet). GM's number for this recall is 15100. Note: This recall covers a limited population of vehicles that were remedied incorrectly under recall 14V-541.

Parking BrakeJun 2015 · 15V202000Details +

General Motors LLC (GM) is recalling certain model year 2014 Chevrolet Impala vehicles manufactured March 22, 2013, to May 22, 2014. In the affected vehicles, the electronic parking brake piston actuation arm may not fully retract causing the brake pads to stay partially engaged. Thus, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Systems (FMVSS) No. 135 "Light Vehicle Brake Systems."

Risk: Brake pads that remain partially engaged with the rotors may cause excessive brake heat that may result in a fire.

Remedy: GM has notified owners, and dealers will reprogram the electronic parking brake control module with new software, free of charge. The recall began on May 6, 2015. Owners may contact Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020. GM's number for this recall is 15259. Note: The vehicles covered by this campaign were previously remedied incorrectly under campaigns 14V541 or 15V085.

Parking BrakeSep 2014 · 14V541000Details +

General Motors LLC (GM) is recalling certain model year 2013-2015 Cadillac XTS vehicles manufactured February 14, 2012, to August 22, 2014, and 2014-2015 Chevrolet Impala vehicles manufactured November 5, 2012, to September 2, 2014. In the affected vehicles, the electronic parking brake piston actuation arm may not fully retract causing the brake pads to stay partially engaged.

Risk: Brake pads that remain partially engaged with the rotors may cause excessive brake heat that may result in a fire.

Remedy: GM will notify owners, and dealers will update the electronic parking brake software, free of charge. The recall began on October 28, 2014. Owners may contact Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020, or Cadillac customer service at 1-800-458-8006. GM's number for this recall is 14471.

StructureAug 2014 · 14V489000Details +

General Motors LLC (GM) is recalling certain model year 2014-2015 Chevrolet Impala vehicles manufactured May 7, 2014, to July 28, 2014. In the event of an accident, the center storage console may not stay latched. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 201, "Occupant Protection In Interior Impact."

Risk: The storage compartment door may not remain closed in the event of a crash, increasing the risk of occupant injury.

Remedy: Parts to remedy this condition are not currently available. GM will send owners an interim notification in early October 2014, and will send a second letter when parts are available. At that time dealers will inspect, and if necessary, replace the console storage compartment door inertia latch, free of charge. Owners may contact Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020. GM's number for this recall is 14476.

SteeringFeb 2014 · 14V409000Details +

General Motors LLC (GM) is recalling certain model year 2014 Buick Regal, Cadillac XTS, Chevrolet Camaro and Chevrolet Impala vehicles. Improperly torqued fasteners may cause the steering intermediate shaft and the steering gear and/or the lower control arm and the lower ball joint to separate.

Risk: If any of the components separate, the vehicle may have a loss of steering, increasing the risk of a crash.

Remedy: GM began to notify owners on June 27, 2014, and dealers will inspect the fasteners for correct torque, correcting them as necessary, free of charge. Owners may contact GM customer service at 1-800-521-7300 (Buick), 1-800-458-8006 (Cadillac) or 1-800-222-1020 (Chevrolet). GM's number for this recall is 14378.

Electrical SystemJan 2014 · 14V614000Details +

General Motors LLC (GM) is recalling certain model year 2013-2014 Cadillac CTS, Escalade, Escalade ESV, Chevrolet Suburban, Tahoe, GMC Yukon, and Yukon XL, and 2014 Buick Enclave, Chevrolet Express, Impala, Silverado HD, Traverse, GMC Acadia, Savana, and Sierra HD vehicles. In the affected vehicles, the chassis electronic module may be internally contaminated, resulting in an electrical short.

Risk: If the module experiences an electrical short, the vehicle could stall, increasing the risk of a crash.

Remedy: GM will notify owners, and dealers will replace the chassis electronic module, free of charge. The recall began on December 26, 2014. Owners may contact GM customer service at 1-800-521-7300 (Buick), 1-800-458-006 (Cadillac), 1-800-222-1020 (Chevrolet), and 1-800-462-8782 (GMC). GM’s number for this recall is 14515.

Electrical System · 13V220000Details +

General Motors LLC (GM) is recalling certain model year 2013 Cadillac ATS and model year 2013 Cadillac XTS; model year 2014 Chevrolet Impala; and 2013 Chevrolet Sonic vehicles. Originally, in May 2013, GM recalled 1,627 model year 2013 Cadillac ATS and model year 2013 Cadillac XTS; and model year 2014 Chevrolet Impala vehicles. In October 2013, GM informed the agency that it was adding model year 2013 Chevrolet Sonic vehicles to this campaign , representing an additional 8,050 units. The total number of vehicles being recalled is now 9,677. On the affected vehicles, the brake lamps may intermittently flash without the brakes being applied and the cruise control may disengage. Thus, these vehicles fail to conform to the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 108, "Lamps, reflective devices, and associated equipment."

Risk: If the brake lamps flash when the vehicle is not slowing, a following driver may not adjust vehicle speed when the vehicle is in fact braking, and the brake lamps are illuminating as intended, increasing the risk of a crash.

Remedy: GM will notify owners, and dealers will reprogram the body control module. The recall began on June 13, 2013. Owner's may contact Chevrolet at 1-800-630-2438 or Cadillac at 1-866-982-2339. GM's recall number is 13158.

Power Train · 14V092000Details +

General Motors LLC (GM) is recalling certain model year 2014 Buick Regal, LaCrosse, Verano, and Enclave, and Chevrolet Impala, Malibu, Cruze, and Traverse, and GMC Acadia vehicles equipped with automatic transmissions. In the affected vehicles, the transmission shift cable adjuster may disengage from the transmission shift lever. As such, these vehicles do not conform to Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) number 102, "Transmission Shift Lever Sequence, Starter Interlock, and Transmission Braking Effect." They also fail to conform to FMVSS number 114, "Theft Protection and Rollaway Prevention."

Risk: If a vehicle's shift cable disengages from the transmission shift lever, a driver may be unable to shift gear positions and the indicated shift position may not represent the gear position the vehicle is in. Should a disengagement occur while the vehicle is being driven, when the driver goes to stop and park the vehicle, the driver may be able to shift the lever to the "PARK" position, but the vehicle transmission may not be in the "PARK" gear position. If the vehicle is not in the "PARK" position there is a risk the vehicle will roll away as the driver and other occupants exit the vehicle or anytime thereafter. A vehicle rollaway increases the risk of injury to exiting occupants and bystanders.

Remedy: General Motors will notify owners, and dealers will inspect and replace any affected transmission shift cable adjusters, free of charge. The recall began on April 10, 2014. Chevrolet owners may contact General Motors at 1-800-222-1020, Buick owners at 1-800-521-7300, and GMC owners at 1-800-462-8782. General Motors' number associated with this recall is 14048.

Electrical System · 14V355000Details +

This defect can affect the safe operation of the airbag system. Until this recall is performed, customers should remove all items from their key rings, leaving only the ignition key. The key fob (if applicable), should also be removed from the key ring. General Motors LLC (GM) is recalling certain model year 2005-2009 Buick LaCrosse, 2006-2011 Buick Lucerne, 2000-2005 Cadillac DeVille, 2006-2011 Cadillac DTS, 2006-2014 Chevrolet Impala, and 2006-2007 Chevrolet Monte Carlo vehicles. In the affected vehicles, the weight on the key ring and road conditions or some other jarring event may cause the ignition switch to move out of the run position, turning off the engine.

Risk: If the key is not in the run position, the air bags may not deploy if the vehicle is involved in a crash, increasing the risk of injury. Additionally, a key knocked out of the run position will cause loss of engine power, power steering, and power braking, increasing the risk of a vehicle crash.

Remedy: GM will notify owners, and dealers will install two key rings and an insert in the key slot or a cover over the key head on all ignition keys, free of charge. The recall began on September 23, 2014. Owners may contact General Motors customer service at 1-800-521-7300 (Buick), 1-800-458-8006 (Cadillac), and 1-800-222-1020 (Chevrolet). GM's number for this recall is 14299.

Steering · 14V450000Details +

General Motors LLC (GM) is recalling certain model year 2014 Chevrolet Impala vehicles manufactured November 5, 2012, to December 20, 2013. Due to a poor electrical ground connection to the Power Steering Control Module (PSCM), the affected vehicles may have a loss of power steering assist during start up or while driving.

Risk: If power steering assist is lost, greater driver effort would be required to steer the vehicle at low speeds, increasing the risk of a crash.

Remedy: GM will notify owners, and dealers will clean paint from behind the ground stud nut and update the PSCM software, free of charge. Owners may contact Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020. The recall began on August 21, 2014. GM's number for this recall is 14330.

Air Bags · 14V518000Details +

General Motors LLC (GM) is recalling certain model year 2013-2014 Cadillac XTS vehicles manufactured April 11, 2013, to June 27, 2013, and 2014 Chevrolet Impala vehicles manufactured May 13, 2013, to November 5, 2013. The affected vehicles may have left the factory with the sensing and diagnostic module (SDM) set to "manufacturing mode."

Risk: In manufacturing mode, the vehicle's air bags will not deploy in the event of a crash, increasing the risk of occupant injury.

Remedy: GM will notify owners, and dealers are to reprogram the SDM to the correct mode, free of charge. The recall is expected to begin in September 2014. Owners may contact Cadillac customer service at 1-800-458-8006 or Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020. GM's number for this recall is 14532.

Air Bags · 15V465000Details +

General Motors LLC (GM) is recalling certain model year 2014-2015 Chevrolet Impala vehicles manufactured April 15, 2013, to June 19, 2015, equipped with front vented-heated passenger seats. Accordingly, the Automatic Occupant Sensing (AOS) system may fail to suppress the front passenger air bag if a child seat is in the front passenger seat. These vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 208, "Occupant Crash Protection."

Risk: If the front passenger air bag deploys with a child seat in the front passenger seat, it increases the risk of injury to the child.

Remedy: GM will notify owners, and dealers will correct the calibration-learning error by preconditioning the empty seat, and also resetting the ECU to a seat zero-value, free of charge. The recall began on August 25, 2015. Owners may contact Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020. GM's number for this recall is 15400.

A campaign can apply to this model year without being incomplete on a specific vehicle. Check the VIN with NHTSA or a dealer to confirm whether a particular car needs repair.

Investigations

2 NHTSA investigations on record

Investigations are agency reviews, not findings that a vehicle is defective.

BiCal Chevrolet/Loss of Power Steering

NHTSA opened AQ17-002 to determine whether BiCal Chevrolet of Valley Stream, New York (BiCal) has complied with the requirements of the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act, 49 U.S.C. Chapter 301 (Safety Act) and its implementing regulations. The Safety Act requires, among other things, that a manufacturer notify its dealers of defects related to motor vehicle safety and non-compliances with Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards and, in turn, that a dealer not sell a new vehicle subject to a recall unless the recall remedy has been performed (49 U.S.C. ?30120(i)).NHTSA issued an information request (IR) letter to BiCal on March 15, 2017. BiCal responded to this request on November 8, 2017. On March 16, 2017, an IR letter was issued to General Motors LLC (GM) and a response was received from GM on April 28, 2017. In NHTSA?s view, it had difficulties in obtaining responses to IR letters from BiCal throughout the AQ investigation, including not receiving a response to the first IR until more than three months after the original deadline. Additionally, in NHTSA's view, BiCal failed to provide a full response to the second IR. BiCal does not contest NHTSA's conclusion that it violated the Safety Act by initially failing to provide full and complete responses to the IRs from NHTSA by their deadlines. NHTSA's investigation also indicated that BiCal sold and delivered at least 54 recalled vehicles that did not have the recall remedy completed at the time the vehicles were delivered to the customers.BiCal did not contest NHTSA?s conclusion that it violated the Safety Act by selling and delivering certain new motor vehicles that were subject to a recall before the vehicles were remedied.Under a Settlement Agreement dated March 11, 2019, BiCal agreed to pay compromised civil penalties in the amount of $40,000. This Audit Query is closed.

Active Safety System Malfunction

On April 15, 2014, the Office of Defects Investigations (ODI) opened Preliminary Evaluation PE14-010 based on two complaints alleging incidents of sudden/severe uncommanded braking resulting in rear impact collisions in model year (MY) 2014 Chevrolet Impala vehicles.ODI analyzed all complaints related to allegations of unwanted brake activations while driving that were provided by GM or submitted to ODI from consumers and has not identified any additional incidents involving sudden, extended (greater than 1 second) autonomous braking.The two crash complaints that were the basis of PE14-010 involved rental vehicles equipped with an Electric Park Brake (EPB) system.Neither vehicle was equipped with Full Speed Range Adaptive Cruise Control (FSRACC) or Forward Collision Alert (FCA) systems. According to GM, brake lights will be illuminated if the service brakes are applied or the EPB system is activated while the vehicle is moving (dynamic EPB brake apply).In a dynamic EPB brake apply, the Electric Brake Control Module (EBCM) initiates a controlled deceleration while activating a chime and a telltale light.If the service brake is applied at any time during dynamic EPB brake apply, the system provides a substantially greater deceleration.Witness statements and analysis of crash data from the two incidents are consistent with inadvertent dynamic EPB brake applications.Both reports alleged beeping noise immediately before the accidents and one pre-crash data report shows a moderate initial vehicle deceleration followed by in increase in deceleration to approximately 0.6g just prior to the vehicle stopping and being struck from the rear.During this investigation, General Motors LLC (GM) inspected the two crash incident vehicles and examined each of the EPB switches to assess potential mechanical and electrical fault conditions.The testing and part examination did not find any evidence of mechanical or electrical failure of the EPB switches and GM did not identify any faults in the subject components or systems that could have caused or contributed to autonomous brake applications in the incident vehicles.According to GM, the evidence indicates the events were caused by inadvertent driver actuation of the EPB switch. Additionally, during this investigation, GM identified a defect condition in the EPB software in approximately 132,921 model year (MY) 2014 through 2015 Chevrolet Impala and MY 2013 through 2015 Cadillac XTS vehicles (Recall No. 14V-541) that could result in failure of the EPB to release after vehicle start-up.In this condition, the electronic parking brake piston actuation arm may not fully retract when the driver disengages the EPB, which may cause the brake pads to stay partially engaged with the rotor.According to GM, the parking brake indicator may not illuminate when the EPB is engaged and the driver may experience poor vehicle acceleration, undesired deceleration during idle coast-down, excessive brake heat, and premature wear to some brake components. If the vehicle is operated for an extended period of time in this condition, there is a potential for the rear brakes to generate significant heat, smoke, and sparks.GM and its supplier, Mando Pyeongtaek, upgraded the EPB software to address brake drag conditions and issued a recall bulletin on September 4, 2014 instructing dealers to reprogram the electronic parking brake control module on all affected vehicles. This preliminary evaluation is closed.The closing of this investigation does not constitute a finding that a safety-related defect does not exist.For additional information regarding this investigation, see Attachment A to this c

Crash-test ratings

2014 Chevrolet Impala 4 DR FWD NHTSA source

Overall
Frontal
Side
Rollover

Source: NHTSA New Car Assessment Program (NCAP).

Fuel economy by trim

TrimEngineDrivetrainCityHwyCombined
Impala2.5L 4-cylFront-Wheel Drive213124
Impala3.6L 6-cylFront-Wheel Drive192822
Impala3.6L 6-cylFront-Wheel Drive182821

EPA laboratory estimates by trim and engine. Actual mileage varies with driving, weather, load, and maintenance. EPA source.

Before you buy

Useful next checks

Federal records tell you about patterns. These checks can tell you more about the specific car in front of you.

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Compare model years

"Fewest reports" and "most complained" describe raw NHTSA complaint totals, not vehicle reliability. The last few model years are left unlabelled because they have had less road time.

2014 Chevrolet Impala: frequently asked

What does the complaint record show for the 2014 Chevrolet Impala?

Owners filed 630 NHTSA complaints about the 2014 Chevrolet Impala — more complaints than 93% of comparable 2014 sedans, so it sits toward the weaker end of its class. That's a signal, not a guarantee about any single car.

What are the most common problems on the 2014 Chevrolet Impala?

The most-reported problem areas are Electrical System (29% of complaints) and steering (22%).

How many recalls does the 2014 Chevrolet Impala have?

12 recalls have been issued that affect the 2014 Chevrolet Impala, covering components such as parking brake. Check the VIN with NHTSA and ask a dealer to confirm remedy eligibility; federal no-charge requirements have an age limit, though manufacturers may offer more coverage.

What gas mileage does the 2014 Chevrolet Impala get?

The EPA rates the 2014 Chevrolet Impala between 21 and 24 mpg combined, depending on trim and drivetrain.