First off I never even knew I had a security system until the light started flashing and my car wouldn't start. That was roughly 21/2 years ago and it's still a problem. I've tried everything. Recently took the car to a Chevy dealer and they said it would cost me $800.00 for a new ignition, ignition housing and computer module. I asked if there was any way to disable the system and they of course said there was no way. Come to find out there is a way but dealers refuse to disable it seeing as they it makes them money.

I will never buy a Chevy again. It's ridiculous that every time I go to my car there's a 30% chance of it actually starting. I even called the GM Headquarters and was fighting with the guy for 45 minutes, all he had to say was it was my problem and they can do nothing to help me. There has been times when my car wouldn't start for months. The security system ended up draining the battery costing me a new battery also. Now it starts and the radio is locked..don't know what to do. I've had it with Chevy!!

I have had this problem with my 2002 model for 3 years. I have replaced the battery and ignition switch ($900.00) and none of this done any good. The car starts when it wants. This maddening nightmare should fall under a recall. I paid this car off really early but, if I had known of all the nightmare problems I was going to have I would never have purchased this pice of junk. It was brand new but has only give me stress and grief. The car dealership acts like your the crazy one. Chrysler should be ashamed of this car and do the right thing. You cannot drive it without always waiting for it not to crank and sooner or later "it won't."

Well, what can I say. I have suffered this passlock problem with my 20002 Impala for the last 3 years. Passlock service light comes on, and then I cannot start my car. O'Reagan's my dealer in Halifax says well it could be a computer module ($300) or it could be the ignition switch ($175+). Not a bit of help in short. Why should I eat a big repair bill so they can try any number of things at my expense. How is it that a Chev dealer cannot tell me what the problem is with their car? Infuriating to say the least. I am getting fed up. It is clear that I am not alone with this. I am reduced to waiting 10 minutes until the computer seems to reboot, and then proceed. But 3-4 times a day is ridiculous. My professional work requires that I be on time. I have no confidence in my car as transportation at this point. I would definitely not buy another Chev product based on this, nor would I recommend one to anyone else. This should be a recall, and a class action suit is certainly reasonable given the number of people affected. GM should be ashamed of themselves. This is obviously a major problem with their vehicle, and they should be professional enough to admit it and fix it. The Impala is not a cheap car. The response from my dealer HAS been cheap. No wonder GM is going belly up.

My problem started after I replaced the ignition switch because the key had stopped turning. It worked perfectly for about 6 months. Then I started needing to re-program it once in a while, especially in cold weather. I was told about 1 in 4 replacement switches will do this. After a few months the security light came on and stayed on. But the car started every time. after about 4 months the light went off and the problem started again. It happens 1 - 2 times a day now. I noticed that when the security light is on constantly while I drive, it will start the next time. When it goes out, I have to re-program it the next time. The A/C or radio has not been affected by this. I tried the quick fix, but with no luck. Maybe I didn't do it right. All the "dinging" stopps in about 5 or 6 seconds. How long should I wait? Chevy should definitely fix this. The problem is too widely known for it not to be their fault. If a class-action gets going, let me in.

some mornings it requires nothing more other than turn the key to start , maybe pull the cluster fuse once or twice and starts up .....after that when it gets hot here in Arizona it gets worse , i may have to hose off under the hood then maybe pulling the cluster fuse out , and after many attempts the dash lights up and yes red warning light too then i may have to hold the key in the start position for several minutes to get the starter to crank , thats only part of it turn off the key and pull it out everything remains on radio, dashlights ,whatever uses power then i have to pull out the cluster fuse and put it back in to shut down everything, i also experimented with the bcm i found that the metal bracket the bcm is attached is very hot from heat the the body gets from the sun , heat travels with metal even to inside the vehicle . i also put the bcm unit in a freezer for about an hour in the heat of the day and like clock work my car acted right started right up a few times the ding ding for having key in and door open sounded out i couldnt be happier although that was not to be long lived as it got hot all failed miserably ...... i don't have 100's of dollars to spend to see if this or that is the problem , i will find another bcm myself and have it programmed and do the labor myself i am willing go that far for now wish me luck thanx

Security light would turn on a few months ago intermittently.

Then it changed to always on. The exterior and interior lights would flash 3 times when starting the car. There is a clicking sound when that happens.

Now, security stays on, all lights flash, and AC doesn't blow cold air.

I tried the suggestion from complaint 85 and it seems to work for the time being.

1) Get in and shut all the doors. 2) Put key to "on" position 3) Wait until all the dinging and the sounds go QUIET. 4) Turn the car on and all security remains OFF.

Weird workaround but its working for the time being. I don't feel like dishing out 600 bucks for a problem that some people say its the BCM and others says its the ingnition cylindar.

The whole passlock bypass is confusing to me and I don't want to screw up my car.

I first started noticing out of the ordinary things with my car in March. First thing that happened is that on the message center of my dashboard it kept lighting up Security in the middle of me driving and wouldn't go off until I stopped and turned off my car but that was it. Then a week later I was driving at night and the security light came on again and my headlights started flickering. That's when I called the dealership and got in touch with someone nice that asked me if I had any extra weight on my keychain, which I had recently added some chains onto it, and he said that if there was extra weight it would offset the ignition and cause the security light to come on. So all I had to do was take off the weight and it should reverse the problem if it hadn't been on there too long. Well this worked for about a month and the security light would come on once every other week. But starting in May the fuse for my automatic lights kept going out and I since now (July) I have replaced about 4 fuses because they keep burning out. And today I drive to work the car is working fine and then I get ready to leave and my car wouldn't start. The lights, radio, and dashboard came on but the car wouldn't start. And to my dismay the check engine light came on and flashed to security and flashed to service vehicle soon. I knew it wasn't the battery and I called the dealership and they said it sounded like a problem with Passlock and to bring it in. But I'd rather not shell out all that money when there may be cheaper alternatives. I've had this car for 6 years now brand new and over 100,000 miles and haven't had any problems until now. SOMEONE HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have been having the same passlock problem for about a year. It started at about 76,000 miles. I now have about 118,000 miles on the car, and it has been happening intermittently the whole time. When I turn the key to start the car, the engine will not turn over, and the security light begins flashing. I told the salesman who sold it to me what was happening, and was told that i should use another key because the car wasn't recognizing the one i was using. I switched keys, to no avail. I have to believe all salespeople at chevy dealerships know of this problem, but since there is no commonly known way to bypass the passlock system, they just keep selling impalas without disclosing the possible risks. And their is pretty significant risk when buying a car with this faulty theft-deterrent system. It's more than just a pain in the ass. I have been stuck in blinding heat and humidity as well as freezing cold (I live in Michigan). This is potentially dangerous to the driver, depending on what situation they may be stuck in until the car feels like starting. Usually, the car will start if I just wait ten minutes for the securty light to stop flashing and try to start the car again. But a few times, I have been stuck for more than 30 minutes. I've read all of the complaints, and don't intend to spend any money trying to get this fixed. Sounds like all of the people who posted this same complaint have spent hundreds replacing various parts, and the problem still occurs. My original intent when buying the Impala was to pay it off and drive it for as long as it would still start, hopefully 200-300,000 miles. I thought I was buying a quality car from a quality American company. I thought it would run for years after paying it off. Now I just want to be rid of the damn thing. I'm sure I won't be able to sell the car, though I'd like to...I can't sell it to someone else without disclosing these problems, and if I do disclose, I am sure I won't be able to sell it. I guess I am stuck paying it off, at which point I will just get something else. NEVER ANOTHER CHEVY I intend to tell everyone I know about this problem, and never buy another Chevy. It's too bad, I really like everything else about the car. If Chevy would just institute a recall and disable the Passlock system with no charge to the car owners, I would be perfectly happy with the car.

I have a 2002 Chevy Impala LS, that I loved up until about a month ago. It just started going crazy. The first thing that I noticed was a clicking noise coming from the fuse box on the passenger side. We opened the box and the noise was coming from the battery run down relay breaker and it was very hot. We replaced this breaker and while waiting for the breaker to come in at the parts store I noticed while driving that my AC would blow hot air and my radio would lock. After about 10 - 30 minutes of driving the AC would finally kick in and blow cold air and the radio would come on again. After putting in new relay breaker the problem still continued. The problem gets worse from here. Sometimes when you go to start the car it will not start, the head lights go crazy and flash on and off while driving. The message center is flashing Security, Service Vehicle Soon, Change Oil, when you park the car and remove the key from the ignition the car still makes the dinging noise that it does if you leave your keys in the ignition. The problem seems to appear in the middle of the day when the temperature outside is very hot. I can drive the car early in the morning and at night and these problems do not occur.

I have taken this car to 3 mechanics and none of them know what the problem is. The last place I took it to was an Auto Electric Repair Center and they said that it sounded like the BCM and that it would cost about $550+ to fix and if it wasn't that he would change out the ignition switch next. No Guarantees that this will fix the problem. The last resort is the dealer and from what I am reading they don't know how to fix this problem either.

If you have any suggestions or soutions for this problem please let me know.

This problem first occurred when my mother owned the car.

She told me a funny light (Passlock) came on and when she next went to start the car it wouldn't start. I went over to see it and wouldn't you know it the car started fine. I took it home with me to use it for a few days and no problems until driving it back to her place when all the electrical systems shut off, radio, lights, flashers, and then eventually the car. It restarted without problems but I decided to take it in to the dealer.

They told me it was the Body control Module (BCM). It was a defective part that was no longer covered under warranty!! I told my mother about this and she told me about my father complaining about this to techs at the dealership and being told, "Oh don't worry about it, it's nothing. We'll just reset the sensor." Of course the part would have been under warranty at the time! I bought the car from my mom (so she could buy herself something smaller) and had the work done, $650 later and it was fine until just recently.

About a month ago I pumped some air into my tire and reset the monitor, and the car wouldn't start! I tried to start and start again and again but nothing doing. I walked to a nearby mechanic asked if he could take a look. He went to the gas station and it started up no problem. Two weeks later the exact same story, pretty much word for word!! A week later I filled my gas tank, tried to start the car, wouldn't start, tried a few more times (figuring it was this problem AGAIN) waited a minute or two tried again and it restarted finally. These incidents all happened at the same gas station, I figured it is haunted so I haven't been back and avoid it at all costs now!!

I must say that my family has always been a GM family, mother, father, brother, brother-in-law, always bought American (and more specifically GM) first, but after this and other comparable stories from people, I will personally not ever buy another American car again! It isn't the fact that there is a problem, it is the randomness of it. There isn't a warning or some sort of behavior from the car first, no it just happens!! Each time there is different way to finally get it started again. I can no longer defend my Chevy to anyone anymore. I had previously owned a Cutlass and it only had electrical problems, now this from a ten year younger Impala!! I feel bad for the workers at the closing plants and all their families but, for a catastrophic down fall of a once powerhous company, ALL involved must share some of the blame!! The American label alone will no longer be enough, my next cars will all be imports because I'm fed up of the North American manufacturers, lack of quality, service, and action. In the end they are getting what they deserve!

We have had our 2002 Impala for about 6 months. We have not had any problems at all with the car and have been totally impressed with the quality of the car. Plenty of power and around 30 mpg. Last week we were about 50 miles from home shopping and had several stops and starts. We were leaving Walmart and all got in the car and I went to start and nothing. I presumed the battery was dead. I turned on the headlights and got out to see if they were on. They were so I knew the battery was ok. Next I thought the starter was bad. Sometimes if your starter lets you down, you can tap on it and your vehicle will start. This did not help either. I set back down in the car and noticed that with the key on, the radio was not lit up, the daytime headlights were not on and the a/c blower would not blow. We always have the radio on, so it should have been lit up. I PUSHED THE RADIO POWER BUTTON AND THE DAY DRIVING HEADLIGHTS, RADIO AND A/C ALL CAME ON AND THE CAR STARTED NORMAL. Now when the car is running the security light stays on. I have made an appointment to get things checked out by a shop later in the week. I presume from what I have read it is the Passlock System. The car will not start at all now unless you push the radio power button. I know this seems strange but I thought I would throw out my 2 cents worth of info in case it helps someone out.

I have been having the same trouble as all the rest of you with this passlock. I call the dealer and was told to bring it in and they would be glad to look at the car for $95 and the fix could run between $400 and $600 to fix.

But I was thinking, what if I have a Auto car start installed this would bypass the passlock and no key issue right ? These cost around $200 cheap fix.

Can anyone tell me if they have tried this? before i go and spend the money. Use the send comment link below. Thanks!

This is the second time this happened. I had let the car sit, I work in the city and probably drive it once a month, sometimes more. I came back from a Doctors appointment, stopped to get a burrito, and the thing wouldn't start.

I towed it to a Chevy dealership. The threw me a $3,000 bill, and told me a Unicorn, excuse me a squirrel had chewed some computer wires and they weren't sure how long that would take to fix. The also told me they had to replace the passlock thing, $500 and a bunch of other crap. I don't drive it much so I haven't had them do any work.

Thank god for this site, if I didn't see all these other complaints I would have wasted three grand fixing a car that isn't worth the time. When I have a moment I'm going directly to a Honda/Toyota dealership and getting myself a new foreign ride.

AUTOBEEF YOU RULE.

Well I've been dealing with this for a year now. Most of the solutions have worked, aside from actually getting it repaired. But they are now no longer helpful. But since it is electrical...we all know the warranty on that from good ole' GM.

Now.... 9 out of 10 starts the lights strobe. It sounds as if there is a mad man in my glove box (actually coming from the passenger side fuse box) desperately performing morse code. When this happens..there is no A/C.. meaning it won't even come on. Then it will come on and just blow heat. I have to pull on my lights to stop the strobe effect, but the morse code still happens. I have driven with the sound alarm, radio locked, and seat belt lock light on. It seems to resolve in anywhere from 10 to 20 minutes.

I'm from the midwest..grew up in the General Motors town. Everything was GM. I will NEVER buy another American car...and Mr. Smith.. go figure.