Replaced water pump still lost radiator fluid. Did notice car came home hot and steam coming from intake manifold. Guess need that replaced next. Car seems to go a few months and slowly loses fluid. Very low miles on this. Gaskets must be leaking in intake they probably not compatible with gas and oil mixture. My Toyota Pick up 1990 had this issue with 150000 miles and they recalled it gave me loaner for 3 days and I had the truck almost 8 years. That is customer loyalty. Finally sold it with 350,000. Well I fix this and get my wife a used Lexus 350.

My husband bought this car new in 2001. We have had regularly scheduled maintenance and I have lady driven this car. The first problem happened about two years after we bought the car. One of the bushings went for no apparent reason and Chevrolet were a bunch of a**holes and told my husband it wasn't covered under power train. Then about a year ago the door sensor started going off for no reason and again just recently all of the sensor lights on my dash started coming on whenever/wherever for no apparent reason. Mid-way through winter, my husband had to replace the thermostat because suddenly the temperature gauge was not going about the second mark. Then yesterday after taking my auntie to the hospital I noticed a pool of antifreeze to the side of my car. When I started it up, the temperature automatically jumped to 1/2 which is 1/4 higher than it normally runs. As soon as I got going, you could automatically smell anitfreeze. We drove to the nearest service station and pulled in. About 1/2 an hour later I am shelling out $1050 to have my intake gasket and all of my hoses replaced. There was so much oil in my coolant that it was brown! Every single hose was sweating. The guy at the shop (who is a family friend so he wasn't "hosing" me, pardon the pun) told me that this is a standard problem on all Chevs and GMCs for 2001 to about 2004 and that they have known about it forever but never issued a recall! My husband has also had nothing but problems with his GM pickup for around the same time. Next time we buy vehicles it will be all Ford, all the time!

Bought this brand new in 2001 for my wife, wanted a good dependable safe car for her to take to work! Wrong choice! Latest problem is the intake manifold/gasket leaking. Just learned that GM knew all about this problem many years ago and notified their dealers, but not the owners of the vehicles! No warning or recall on this even considered for the consumer. VERY BAD BUSINESS!

And now for a little history on this vehicle:

1). While it was still within warranty the radio/control unit failed and had to be replaced twice as none of the sensors that tie in to the engine or tires worked properly. Each time it was replaced the dashboard would develop more and more squeaks and rattles! We settled for the final replacement even though all the functions still didn't work properly (the lesser of 2 evils as the dash was already quite loosened up and we were fed up). 2).Just out of warranty it starts making load clunk, clunking noise as you turn corners. Called GM and THEY KNOW ALL ABOUT THIS PROBLEM! It's a known manufacturing defect. They used an undersized bushing in the inner or secondary steering column! It's loosing all of the lube and will need re-lubing once a year at my cost. They did set up a single free lube for me at my dealer. No recall or advance notice to the consumer. Once again VERY BAD BUSINESS!

3).Just out of warranty and the car develops intermittent mis on at least 1 or 2 cylinders. Before taking it in, I look the engine over for anything obvious (disconnected sensor, vacuum hoses etc. that might be an easy fix), and the problem becomes quite obvious after removal of the top service panel. The front 3 spark plug wires are bolted down UNDER THE FRONT FUEL RAIL ASSEMBLY RIGHT AGAINST THE HOT ENGINE BLOCK!. So I call GM and complain about this and tell them about the partially melted wires to no effect NONE, as the car is out of warranty! VERY BAD BUSINESS as this was a quality control issue as the car was going down the line! I disassembled the fuel rail, bought a new set of wires and reinstalled them properly using the supplied wire spreader/keepers that were previously left unused for those front 3 wires at my cost and time! 4). Right about this time the #1 speed on the fan blower motor stops working, couple weeks later #2 speed, then #3 until you only had full-on that worked on the fan. Another call to GM and again THEY ALREADY KNOW WHAT THE PROBLEM IS, A FAULTY COMPONENT THAT THEY INSTALLED BUT NEVER RECALLED! (shielding from heat for a certain resister located under the dash for the speed controller). AGAIN the dealers know about this but not the consumer VERY BAD BUSINESS! They tell me again that it will need to be replaced about once a year at my cost as the replacement parts still have the defect as well!

5).At this point we've been dealing also with an annoying air conditioning system that only holds a charge thru most of the summer months, but is now only worsening. It will only hold a charge for a couple weeks at most at this point. Two different shops look it over but the fix for this problem is not clear. Repair bills on this will be $1000.00+, if I let them replace all the major components like what was being suggested. Right about then I start looking for anything obviously wrong myself (I'm not an air conditioning expert). I start grabbing hoses, fittings etc. and when I grabbed the high and low-pressure fittings to give them a little twist guess what?.............. They both came off in my hand. I'M NOT TALKING ABOUT THE KNURLED PLASTIC FILLER /DISCHARGE CAPS, I MEAN THE WHOLE FITTINGS UNDERNEATH THE CAPS, YOU KNOW...... THE 9/16, 5/8 (or whatever the metric equivalent), RIGHT IN MY HAND WITH ONLY FINGER PRESSURE!!!!! Again a call to GM about another quality control issue that has now cost us $$$$hundreds in recharging costs. They can't help us at all!

6). Other problems range from the non-functioning gas gauge........to the blinkers not working (you need to put the emergency flashers on for a sec. then they'll function again! For the gas gauge my wife resets the trip odometer to gauge/guess when she needs to refuel!

I have openly complained for years to GM (even on the regional district level to no effect), about all these issues. I have told them that even junk yard cars rotting in the hot sun and weather for 50 years still have operational steering wheels, and interior fan motors, and blinkers and gauges that need little to no extra work to function (because they were built right with right-sized bushings, resisters etc).

Finally, it is with profound shame, embarrassment, and regret that I publicly apologize to my dear loving wife who never has short-changed me and always taken great care of her family. I feel I have failed her when I (being an old GM man from way back), highly recommended this vehicle as her personal car........ I am both humbled and sorry!!!

Shame on you GM for making me out a liar! I can't tell you what my wife's next car will be, I can only tell you what it won't be!

I am the original owner of this 2001 Chevrolet Impala. I am not hard on a vehicle, the car is in the garage when not in use and I have all schedule maintenance done. My problems with this vehicle began in the fall of 2008, this is only one of the problems. My Low Coolant Light came on and never went off. The Low Coolant sensor was replaced on 12/24/08. The light still was coming on, but would sometimes go off after a period of time. After having it checked out, I was told there was a small leak in the Intake Manifold Gasket and it would need to be replaced eventually. After researching it on the internet, it appears that the Dexcool Coolant that was used by GM was the main culprit. It also appears that some Chevy/GM owners were notified of this problem and the repairs were taken care of under a class action suit. I know that I, the original owner of the car, was NOT notified and by the time I found out about it, it was too late to get in on the complaint. My repairs came out of my pocket at a whopping $500 plus, this being less than three months after the expense of replacing the transmission and arm bushings. Even as I was adding this complaint, there was a notice at the top of the page that this problem may be covered under warranty and to check with the dealer. I had checked on it and was told it was not covered. Had I known a few months earlier I was going to have these problems, I would have gotten rid of this car, as the problems continue and I have just turned 50,000 miles.

I bought my 2001 Impala in the summer of 2004 with only 26,000miles on it. In the winter of 2007 it started overheating. I flushed the coolant system, flushing out a large amount of stop-leak. I had never put any in there, so either the previous owner, or the dealership did. I then had problems with antifreeze leaking from the engine. I did the only thing I could do at the time and put more stop-leak in it.

Now, in May of 2009, my antifreeze is filthy, and you can watch bubbling coming from the intake manifold gasket as the car sits idle. I absolutely don't have the money or the time to fix this, and don't know what to do now.

I BOUGHT MY 01 CHEVY IMPALA FOR 3000 DOLLARS. IT HAS 180,000+ MILES ON IT WHICH I KNOW IS ALOT AND I DID ACTUALLY PAY TO MUCH FOR THAT MANY MILES. ABOUT 3DAYS AFTER I GOT IT THE PROBLEMS STARTED. I REPLACED JUST ABOUT EVERYTHING DEALING WITH MY COOLING SYSTEM, EVEN MY CATALYTIC CONVERTER AND ALOT MORE. IVE SPENT ALMOST 3OOO DOLLARS ON THIS DAMN CAR IN REPAIRS AND ITS STILL F*&^# UP! SUPPOSEDLY THERE IS A STEERING WHEEL PART RECALL IN LIKE A MONTH OR SO BUT I HAVE NO WARRANTY AND IM NOT THE ORIGINAL OWNER SO THATS NO HELP. BECAUSE OF THIS DEFECT, PEOPLES STEERING COULD GO OUT AND PICTURE GOING 60MPH OR MORE AROUND A REALLY CURVY ROAD AND YOUR STEERING FAILS.......NOT A PRETTY PICTURE. FATAL IM SURE. NOW IM A FULL TIME STUDENT, I WORK 2 JOBS TO PAY FOR MY SCHOOL AND MY BILLS AND THIS IS MY ONLY CAR SO BASICALLY ITS MY LIFELINE RIGHT NOW.IM A SINGLE MOM WITH A 8MONTH OLD AND IM SCARED TO LET MY BABY RIDE IN MY CAR. ITS DANGEROUS. I HAVE A HOLE IN MY RADIATOR AND THE WATER/ANTIFREEZE COMES OUT FASTER THAN I CAN PUT IT IN. I BLEW A HEAD GASKET AND THE PROBLEMS JUST KEEP ROLLING IN. AS MUCH AS I HAVE SPENT SO FAR I COULD HAVE JUST BOUGHT A BRAND NEW CAR!!! IM BEYOND PISSED. I LOVE THIS FREAKIN CAR BUT HONESTLY ITS A PIECE OF SHT.. BEAUTIFUL BUT A SACK OF DAMN SH*T. THIS IS DEFINITELY A DANGEROUS CAR. IT WAS SMOKING SO BAD EARLIER TODAY THAT I THOUGHT IT WAS GOING TO START FLAMING AND BLOW UP! IM SCARED TO DEATH OF LIFTING UP MY HOOD ON MY OWN DAMN CAR. THATS SOME BULLSHIT. I WILL NEVER EVER BUY ANOTHER GM VEHICLE.

I bought the 2001 Impala thinking that it would be as good as the older models, this is a piece of crap. Every time I turn around I have a major problem with this car, the price range for the repairs is from $400.00 to $2500.00. The first sign of trouble with the coolant light, I was told I just needed a coolant sensor for $85.00, well I had to go to work and told them I would come back. I came back again and the same technician came back and told me that it's not the sensor, I have a hole in my radiator, he said it was pouring water. I have not seen the water yet. I am constantly seeing that low coolant light and the thing is full. Then the guy tells me that I need the gaskets because the engine is pouring oil. Now I have problems with the ABS system and the alternator. By the time I get through repairing this car, I will have paid for it twice. I will never buy another one. I've decided to get an old clunker, they seem to ride better than the new cars.

When it asked me what was wrong on that last page it would not let me click on everything listed under coolant system. A leak, check engine light is on, Big puddles under my car, intake gasket shot, Oil leaks into water. This car is trashed and it seems to be because of the dextron or whatever acid they used as antifreeze. IM interested in the lawsuit to get my car fixed. With the price of gas I cant afford to get it fixed! What can I do to help this lawsuit? I need my car!! HELP! ALMOST STRANDED!!

This Impala was a trouble-free car until coolant started leaking from intake manifold six years after it was purchased new. As with other complainants, I found that the inherent leaking of oil and/or coolant into the exhaust system (because of the earlier manifold leak) required replacement of the catalytic converter a few months later . Fortunately, the converter was replaced under the 80,000 mile federally-required warranty on certain emissions control parts. I hope the manifold repair was accomplished prior to any other damage being done to the engine and that I do not have additional problems resulting from the initial manifold leak. The Chevrolet dealers warranty their work for only one year.

I took my car to my mechanic in Jan. 2007 because of a tapping noise in the engine. He said that I needed to replace the intake manifold gaskets, so I did and it cost me 400.00. So, here it is a little over a year (Mar,2008) and I get this tapping back along with the low coolant light coming on. Instead of taking it back to the mechanic I decided to take it to the chevy dealer and they told me this a common problem with the impalas and that they do about 6-10 replacements a year during the winter months. I had to replace the intake manifold gaskets again. This time it cost me 800.00, I guess because it was the chevy dealer, but get this he tells me AFTER he replaces the gaskets that he is 99% sure that I am going to have to replace my engine 6mo down the road that will cost anywhere from 3-5000.00. My car still has that tapping sound. I have had nothing but problems with this car since I bought it the list could go on and on. I love this car I really do but after this car I will never own another impala or a car by GM for that matter

I bought this car used 2 years ago and I love it except for the coolant sensor light . The light first went on 1 week after I got it so the dealer changed it for free . About 2 months ago it came on again so I had it changed again at my cost (120.00 ) . Now about 2 weeks ago the light started coming on again and it drives me crazy . What is the fix to this problem or do I have to put up with this , I don't want to keep putting in new sensors so my car can eat them after on about 2 weeks . Please someone tell me what the solution is so I can fix this once and for all . Thanks .