Took back to dealer. They replaced the whole subframe under the car. Said frame was bad. This never fixed the hard shifting. I had the fluid changed in tranny. No fix. GM said they could not find a problem with tranny when i continued to take it back 3 more times. Bought this car off the showroom floor. Front tire kept loosing air pressure. The GM fix was to put a tube in the tire. After i got a flat. I found out why the tube was put in. The RIM was bent on the inside. GM should have replaced the rim. Guess tube was their cheap fix. Still own this car. Still shifts hard. Car now has 131000 miles on it. Guess I will run till it burns up from the new recall. Could catch on fire it hit brakes hard. GM fix. Will redirect oil leak by moving spark plug wire retainer clip to redirect the oil leak. Will never by a GM car again. I will ride in my 67 Camaro L30-M20 car. No recalls there. Have a good day and if you own an Impala with this recall. Happy Clunking....

Few years ago and 35,000 miles ago, been noticing tranny down-shifting sometime being hard - with a bang into gear sometimes from starting out from a stop sign. Seems to be it didn't shift down to 1st gear at the stop. Mostly happens after climbing a long steep hill.

Also, in very cold weather (-30F) and another very-very steep hill I rarely use, I would lose the tranny and would have to coast backwards down the block the hill to a level ground and it would return to normal and be ok then. Fluid too cold I suspect as this rarely happens. Car was not warmed up yet either.

Yes, had a filter change 35k miles ago... But, 214k+ on it so I do expect some problems creeping up and I hear these trannys are weak to begin with...

I should do an Amzoil Syn. Tranny fluid & filter change soon, but who wants to sink a lot of money in a high-mile car?

In 2006 My car just out of the blue starting shifting really hard and I had to stop ,turn the car off then start back and it would shift ok. I took it to a shop and they replaced a shift sensor in the transmission I also had them flush the transmission since it ha about 9500 miles on it. Well now its doing it again and on top of that I now have the problem of the radio working but no sound coming from the speakers. Oh yeah and the rattle in the front end , I had the shocks replaced but it did not help. I take good care of my car, it seems like Chevy should have to fix some of this crap. I have always liked Chevy but maybe I should try another model.

Update from Jun 9, 2015: My car continues to shift hard at random times. I can stop ,turn off the car then it will shift normal again but then a few days or weeks later it does the same thing

well I prayed and laid hands on this car when I 1st saw it because I had a week to wait before I had the $ to get it.
I just wanted a reliable car since I went outta town every other weekend to pick up my son.
Well the 2nd week I felt a jerk so called the dealer. He had a mount for the transmission replaced. A year later I bought a '07 impala and parked the '04 since the low beams had gone out along with the radio and wipers. I was fed up.

Well due to a loss in income, I let the '07 go back and now once again, after driving it for a month and a half, the hard jerks are back. Changed bulbs--didn't work. Got new wipers--didn't work. So, hell, I'm gonna ride until it clunks out. It cost me $5400 to buy the car.

I won't pay that to repair it--I'd rather get a new car. And after having my transmission fluid changed and strainer replaced, it still jerked.

Well, I like the rest of yo have a slipping transmission for the second time with this 04 impala!The first slip covered by warranty.Now at 183K it's doing it again. "but' one year after it was fixed it started slipping and then stopped. Now it's on a regular basis. I have had just about every problem happen with this car that I have read about from: wipers,breaks,water pump, starter, passlock all with in the first 2-3 years. I have driven chevy all my life but I betcha one thing that's it for me! I have been in contact with GM about every issue and they claim it's isolated. @tireda p charlotte fl. I would love to start a class action my email crystalceed@yahoo.com for all who would like to lets get it going. email me if we get enough people we should make a difference in how consumers are treated. I have read 100's of complaints we all cant be wrong.

A month or so after having AAMCO change the fittings from the transmission to the radiator due to a leak, and change the fluid, filter and gasket, it rode fine until last week. I drove for about a half hour, and parked. An hour later, I started driving. With every stop I made, it slammed into gear when I started driving. This is the first time the car has done this. I went straight back to AAMCO and they checked the car out. NOW, they say it needs a transmission overhaul. Estimate is $1400 to $2000 plus tax for the job.

Lets get an attorney to take a class action lawsuit against General Motors for producing a defective transmission, and then not taking responsibility for it. There are enough people involved that it should interest an attorney. WHAT DO YOU THINK??? WE ARE MAD AS HELL, AND WE ARE NOT GOING TO TAKE IT ANYMORE.

First, I acknowledge that we aren't hearing from people who have no problems with their transmission. People don't seek out websites to describe how their car is doing everything they expect it to do. However, I find it compelling that a number of complaints regarding 2004 Chev Impala transmissions are having issues, and most of them appear to have developed within about 10,000 miles of each other. My problem began around 90,000, and now my car is at 100,000. Today I found out my transmission is "about ot go" after it's been increasingly shifting hard, especially in first gear.

It can also be said that GM isn't necessarily obligated to be responsible for ANY problem that occurs past a specific warranty period, whether that be self-imposed or through UCC. After all, I doubt GM is intentionally selling a product they know to be defective from the start. While specific failure within a similar usage amount certainly indicates a problem, it doesn't mean GM was aware of it when they put these transmissions in. However, no matter what obligation GM may or may not have to Impala owners--and I think there is no legal obligation--I will certainly think twice before purchasing another GM product. Even if GM begins having a wonderful track record and reliability is rated very high, the fact is my personal experience with the transmission will stick with me. Do I think GM sells bad vehicles? No, I don't. Do I think there are other auto makers who are leaps and bounds superior to GM? No, not unless I'm in the market for a super luxury vehicle. But when I have to come up with $2,000 to repair or replace a transmission after only 100,000 after I followed the recommended schedule for transmission services, I have a problem.

My vehicle was not being used for police or taxi service, and I'd say I'm a moderate driver. Most of my driving is highway, and when I accelerate I like to go slower to save gas. I would say I drove more carefully to save my transmission as well, but that didn't work out.

Would I consider another GM vehicle, or another Impala? Sure, but only after I research transmission information. If there is a lack of information on a given transmission and it's testing, I will not give GM the benefit of the doubt. A lack of information will be treated as negative information since uncertainty is more negative than positive.

There seems to be a big issue with transmissions in the Chevy Impala. Mine starting slipping and was told that the fluid needed changed. Well, it worked for a while and then it starting slipping and shifting hard after driving it for a while. I know my car has 100,000 miles on it but I have had other vehicles with this amount of mileage on them and never had issues with the transmissions. GM really needs to fix this problem. We bailed them out so now it is their turn to help out the people who bailed them out.