I have had all the typical faults with this Impala: Speedo not working, Tacho not working & now the transmission is not changing into firstwhen driving slow or taking off from stopped. It changes HARD after squeezing the throttle a little and gives a sudden kick in the rear (I amm afraid this will break something) This appears to happen after the engine is hot (after 1 hour of driving) I love Chevy's but now I am thinking of trading to another brand, maybe Jap.

Update from May 6, 2010: I did some research online about what type of transmission oil a 2004 Impala should use and how to assess the quality of the oil currently in the transmission.

I found that the level of fluid is critical als the type is critical. Chevy Impala's should ONLY use DEXRON III transmission oil because of the working temperature of the oil. I also found that if the oil is discolored (ie brownish or darker instead of red) and it smells like burnt toast, it has most likely been overheated and it will loose some of its qualities. Mine was brown and smelled like burnt toast, so I had my service guy flush the reansmission and change the oil to DEXRON III.

This appears to have worked...I think I was lucky to catch the problem early.

I bought the car used and thought it was the best car ever !! I started noticing that when the car shifts it would hesitate and then slam into gear it does not do it all of the time but after its been running for about an hour I have contacted every Chevy dealer done alot of research on the web and come up with this : There are many people complaining about the Impalas with the transmission either slipping making noise or having to replace it !!!!! I myself wonder why Chevy is not listening but ignoring the fact that there is a problem with these transmissions !!!! I do love my car but I am not willing to put a new transmission in it and if it comes to that then you bet ya I will be contacting the attorneys general office and I hope every one else who is having these problems will do so !!! I will never purchase another Chevy again! And I do hope for me and everyone else they will place a recall or at least look into the matter.

Driving has been fine so far, if I stop at a stop light, the transmission either slips, bumps or takes off as if someone has bumped my car from behind. Bought car 11-11-09, problem started about three days after I bought it. After I added a quart of transmission fluid and PRAYED, it stopped. Was doing it about three times a day, lately has only done it about three times this week. CHECK ENGINE light is also on. My brother has the machine that tells you what the light means, I have an ERG or some kinda "E" something leak. He says the part will only cost about 30.00-45.00 bucks. Will either keep it for my son or trade it next year.

about a year ago the transmission started acting up. and then it would be fine for awhile and then it would start doing it again, shifting hard,slipping,jerk when you go to take off. so finally i decided to take it and have the fluid changed. guess what!!! now it"s worse, around 1500 miles later. the salesman that sold me the car, told me that the transmission fluid didn"t need changing for 100,000 miles. what a joke!!! i have been a general motors customer for years, since i started driving @ 35 years ago. my place of employment is a supplier for GM, so i would get a discount if i bought a new car or truck. wife wants a toyota,,, may go there!!!! several problems happening every since i bought the car..

I have never had a car with so many problems. I purchased the car with approx. 45,000 km on it. After reaching about 55,000 km, items that were replaced under warranty included the "cluster" (gauges did not work properly), horn, and tie rod. Then after the warranty expired, I had to replace the mechanism used for changing to the high beams (probably around the 80,000 km) and then just this year at 150,000 km, I had to pay out $3000.00 to get the transmission repaired. Apparently there are these brass bushings that break down in the transmission and send metal filings all throughout the transmission. I called GM to see if they would warranty the transmission since it was under 160,000 km, but they said that my particular year of car did not fall under this warranty. More recently, my newest issue with the car is the water pump that needed to be replaced and cost me $300.00. I have always owned gm vehicles because I thought GM made a great product, but I am wondering if that is still the case. I am sadly disappointed in GM.