With all of these complaints about the Impala's speedometer, which my 2004 3.8L has also, why hasn't GM offered a recall? I heard that other models may have a similar problem? I'm writing the NTSB and the BBB and filing a complaint! Everyone that has this problem should go to the NTSB and BBB and complain. The short term fix is to start your Impala, place your foot on the parking brake, put the car in reverse and turn off the ignition. Wait 5 seconds then with the transmission in "R" turn the key all the way to the right, after a click, release the key. The speedometer needle will go down 5 - 8 miles on the speedometer. Keep repeating this until the speedometer needle is slightly below "0" mph. Turn the key right and place the transmission in "P". Place you foot on the brake start your Impala. The needle will reset on "0" and it will be ok for a while? Some mechanics do this and then bill you, after a few hundred or thousand miles, it'll go bad again. When you take it back how do you know that the mechanic just resets, like my instructions? Of course they charge you again. There is no guarantee that the GM replacement speedometer will work correctly. Is there? A GM mechanic told me that the dealership he worked for got 4 to 5 speedometer problems a week. The Dealers up front desk guys, go out to the customer’s car and resets the needle and then creates a bill for the customer. GM is ripping us off, they refuse to issue a recall, so my next car will not be from GM!

The speedometer seems to stop working randomly. I look down and it says I'm doing some ridiculous speed. Sometimes it even goes off the charts, way past 120 mph. Oddly, I can get it to reset by turning the car off and then turning the starter to the a/c position. It only goes back towards zero a little way with each turn of the key so I have to turn the key off and on about 20 times to get it to go back to zero. It'll stay reset for a little while but then goes crazy again. Extremely frustrating!!

well i did as others said in here, i had the same problem with my speedometer the stepper motor was bad. in park it showed 150mph. i contacted the bbb,nhsa and gm about this problem.i heard from gm in about a week they told me the stepper motors was only bad in the avalanche and the Escalade. and since i didn't have it checked at the gm dealership or since i didn't buy the parts from gm there was nothing they would do about it(that's bullsh**). was sent a packet of papers from the bbb a few days ago filled out some papers and sent in all the info i had found on the stepper motors and impala's so i will see where this goes and keep you posted on this one. i found the motors in ebay for $19 and they are not (x c5 168 oem these are the bad one's) they are the updated x 25 168. was easy to install had the directions to do it or you can send them your cluster and they will repair it for $150 (ebay id. mandigital).here is a list of the gm models that used the bad stepper motors: 2003 to 2006: sierra,Silverado,suburban,Tahoe,Yukon,Escalade,Avalanche,Denali,GMC Envoy,Trailblazer,H2 Hummer,Impala,Monte Carlo. but don't forget everyone needs to complain or nothing will get done. don't let gm get away with this

I first noticed the speedometer problem when it read 15 MPH when I was doing 50. It progressively got worse. Sometimes it worked; sometimes it didn't. The main symptom was that the needle would ~try~ to go back down to zero, but would get stuck at some point. At the point it got stuck, it would make a barely audible ticking sound -- tick, tick, tick -- as the needle jitter ed slightly as if the mechanism were jammed. See complaint #65 below for a description of how the stepper motors break and the gears get jammed. From the symptoms I experienced, I believe that is an accurate description. Eventually, the speedometer would display any random speed, finally coming to rest at 105 and never moving again.

After reading the complaints here (thank you!) which seemed to match my symptoms, I was reasonably convinced that the gauge cluster had to be replaced. I took the dashboard apart and removed the gauge cluster myself. This is a fairly simple operation -- you just have to know where the screws are (some are revealed by taking other dash parts off first).

I brought the gauge cluster to the Chevy dealer. They had to send it out so that the mileage could be read from it and programmed into the replacement unit. Apparently they didn't have to send it too far, because by the end of the next day, I had a replacement gauge cluster. This part cost me $350 plus tax. There was no labor charge because I did the work myself. I was hoping to same some money by doing everything myself, but I only came in $100 less than the average repair cost of $450.

The new gauge cluster fixed the problem. I hope it continues to work for the remaining life of the car. I'm saving my receipt in case there is ever a recall.

Its really interesting to see that this problem affects a lot of people. The people at NTB told me it has something to do with the motherboard/electrical system/whatever. I bought this car new back in 2004 and here it is almost 2009 and I have a near electronic failure on my hands! My speedometer reads "off the charts" literally, the needle goes beyond 120mph and down near my odometer during accelerations. With GM in pre-bankruptcy mode, I fear they will never put a recall out on this particular issue. While I'd like to support American product and the people that make it, I have a hard time understanding why I keep going back to Chevrolet. This is my third Chevy with some type of quality flaw in the last 15 years! Step it up GM, you are losing faithful customers with each failed product you put out here.

I bought my Impala on a Saturday, and on the way to work on Monday, I was speeding up from a stop sign and thought I was accelerating kinda slow since the speedo said 20mph. The trees flying by told me I was definitely going faster. By the time I got to work, I was cruising along at about -2mph. This would come and go but when the needle moved, it was always jerky. Luckily, the dealer gave me a 1000 mile warranty so they got me a new instrument cluster after deciding it wasn't a speed sensor issue. My sister's 2004 Impala just went over 50,000 miles and she just started having the same issue. One more reason this is the last Chevy I am gonna buy.

My problem started with the temp gauge. It showed that the car was running hot when it really was not. Spent $400 dollars replacing thermostat, sending unit, and the water pump. We finally came to the conclusion that the gauge was bad. Due to the cost, I decided to live with it. Now the speedometer is giving crazy readings. One of my co-workers has a Chevy Silverado with the same problem. Chevrolet repaired his truck at no charge. They want $500 to repair mine. Chevrolet sucks. I driven GM products for 25 years. I have bought my last one. I see a Toyota in my near future.

When the speedometer started acting up, I thought it would be a minor repair. From what I see on line, there is an answer. It will cost over $400 to fix and that doesn't guarantee that it won't happen again. Now the dimmer switch is not working (sometimes) and the headlights sometimes go off for no reason!! I am pretty much on a fixed income and cannot afford to put a lot of money in repairs. There needs to be a recall on this problem. Evidently from what I have read on line the problem is ONLY on the 2004 IMPALA's. WHY NOT A RECALL. SOUNDS LIKE A MANUFACTURING DEFECT TO ME!!!!!!

i have been going through the same things as most of these other posters. my speedometer is stuck pointing at the neutral indicator as of now . it started out giving my false readings for awhile and going back to working and now it is just stuck and hasn't moved in about a month. my blinkers wont work sometimes but i have figured out when they don't work i can hit the flashers and they will start working again. i figure i will not fix this problem until GM puts out a recall on it and for now i will just use a gps