2008 Chevrolet IMPALA - Ratings, Complaints and Recalls

The 2008 Chevrolet Impala has received impressive safety ratings in various crash scenarios, including a 5-star rating for both the front crash on the driver side and the front crash on the passenger side. In side crash tests, the vehicle achieved a rating of 5 for the driver's side and 4 for the passenger's side. While the overall safety rating is marked as "Not Rated," the individual crash test ratings reflect the car's ability to protect occupants.

One notable feature of this vehicle is its optional electronic stability control, which can enhance handling and reduce the risk of skidding or losing control in challenging driving conditions. However, it does not come equipped with forward collision warning or lane departure warning systems, which may be considered by some as important safety technologies.

In terms of feedback from consumers and the industry, the 2008 Chevrolet Impala has had 804 complaints reported, along with 2 recalls. Although it has undergone 1 investigation, the details and outcomes of this investigation are not provided in the data.

Overall, the 2008 Chevrolet Impala demonstrates solid safety performance in crash tests, offering good protection for occupants in various scenarios. The optional electronic stability control adds to its safety features, although the absence of forward collision warning and lane departure warning systems may be worth considering for those prioritizing advanced safety technologies.

Top stats at a glance

Complaint Count

804

Recall Count

2

Investigation Count

1

Safety Rating

Not Rated

Search Vehicle Details

Advanced Search

The advanced search lets you search by safety ratings and features. This will return a list of vehicles that match your search criteria.

Safety Features

2008 Chevrolet Impala 4-DR w/SAB Safety Features

Here are the safety features that come as standard on the 2008 Chevrolet Impala 4-DR w/SAB

Electronic Stability Control (ESC)

ESC is an advanced safety feature in vehicles designed to help drivers maintain control during challenging driving conditions. By continuously monitoring various factors such as steering angle, vehicle speed, and individual wheel speeds, ESC can detect and reduce the risk of skidding or loss of control. It achieves this by automatically applying brakes to specific wheels to stabilize the vehicle.

Optional
Forward Collision Warning (FCW)

Forward Collision Warning (FCW) is a safety feature in vehicles that helps prevent frontal collisions by alerting the driver of an imminent collision with a vehicle or obstacle ahead. Using sensors such as radar or cameras, FCW monitors the distance and speed of vehicles in front, and if it detects a potential collision, it provides visual and/or auditory warnings to prompt the driver to take evasive action.

No
Lane Departure Warning (LDW)

Lane Departure Warning (LDW) is a safety feature in vehicles that alerts drivers when their vehicle unintentionally drifts out of its lane without signaling. Utilizing cameras or sensors to monitor lane markings on the road, LDW detects when the vehicle crosses these lines and triggers visual, auditory, or haptic alerts to notify the driver of potential lane departure.

No

2008 Chevrolet Impala 4-DR w/SAB Safety Ratings

Here we have the crash and rollover ratings for the 2008 Chevrolet Impala 4-DR w/SAB Where possible we've included the ratings for the oldest and latest models of this car so you can compare how the safety ratings have changed over time.

Frontal Crash Ratings

Combines Driver and Passenger star ratings into a single frontal rating. The frontal barrier test simulates a head-on collision between two similar vehicles, each moving at 35 mph.

Test 2005 Score 2008 Score 2020 Score
Overall Front Crash Rating Not Rated Not Rated 5
Front Crash Driver Side Rating 5 5 5
Front Crash Passenger Side Rating 5 5 4

Side Crash Ratings

Combines Side Barrier and Side Pole Star Ratings into a single side rating.

Test 2005 Score 2008 Score 2020 Score
Overall Side Crash Rating Not Rated Not Rated 5
Side Crash Drivers Side Rating 4 5 4
Side Crash Passenger Side Rating 4 4 5
Combined Side Barrier Pole Rating - Front Not Rated Not Rated 5
Combined Side Barrier Pole Rating - Rear Not Rated Not Rated 5
Overall Side Barrier Rating Not Rated Not Rated 5

Rollover Ratings

The Rollover Resistance test measures the risk of rollover in a single-vehicle, loss-of-control scenario.

Test 2005 Score 2008 Score 2020 Score
Rollover Rating Not Rated Not Rated 4
Rollover Possibility % 0% 0% 0%
Dynamic Tip Result No Tip
Side Pole Crash Rating Not Rated Not Rated 5

Complaints for the 2008 Chevrolet IMPALA

This chart show the number of complaints for each car component. A Higher number of complaints could indicate that this car might have a common fault. Something to look out for when purchasing one.

Component Complaints

Choose a component to see what complaints people have made about them.

Complaint:
"heating and air conditioning actuators and/or blen door getting stuck so the air will not switch from cold to hot or hot to cold without pulling the glove box out and manually turning them by hand. heater will blow hot air and then randomly switch to cold air. when it's cold outside, i cannot defrost my windows cause it gets stuck on cold air which impairs visibility."
Components Involved: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
Date of incident: 2021-01-08

Complaint:
"car was running fine. put car in part to run into the store and came back and was unable to shift car out of park."
Components Involved: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
Date of incident: 2022-01-11

Complaint:
"engine power reduced throttle disabled - car shut completely down on the highway going 65"
Components Involved: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
Date of incident: 2021-08-02

Complaint:
"rear door locks, defrost, trunk lid stopped working. noticed smoke on my passenger side while driving in town. i took it in and was shown that it melted the wires together and melted the rear body harness connector. ( i kept the part if needed) this is a danger to drivers. the fire can start at any time while driving! i believe this should be a recall. after researching i see this is happening to many of these cars."
Components Involved: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
Date of incident: 2020-06-09

Complaint:
"instrument panel engine hot air conditionar off. temp gauge stopped working and car started in 30 temp and still showed engine hot ac off. car was stopped, started, on highway, in town didnt"
Components Involved: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
Date of incident: 2019-08-03

Complaint:
"know issue of heater going out and ticking sound. heat not on one side of the car."
Components Involved: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
Date of incident: 2017-08-09

Complaint:
"the door locks malfunction when the temperature is above 80 degrees. when this happens you must use the key to unlock or lock the driver door and manually open the other doors from the inside. the remote key system is not effective when locking or unlocking the vehicle. i asked reed lallier dealership if there was a recall on the locks but it only applies to the "ss" model and not the lt, even though the issues are the same. the issue started last summer and has gotten worse this year, when the temperature is around 75 and below the locks function fine. the malfunction only happens when it is hot outside."
Components Involved: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
Date of incident: 2016-01-06

Complaint:
"tl* the contact owns a 2008 chevrolet impala. while driving approximately at 60 mph, the vehicle stalled. the contact called a dealer at an unknown phone number several times, but received no response in a reasonable time frame. the vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic for further inspection and diagnosis. the vin was not included in nhtsa campaign number: 14v355000 (electrical system). the contact stated that the key failed to turn over to start the vehicle numerous times. the manufacturer was notified of the failure. the failure mileage was not available."
Components Involved: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
Date of incident: 2018-10-05

Complaint:
"fire started in the fuse box. no aftermarket products were added to the vehicles electrical system. no additional load was put on the electrical system."
Components Involved: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
Date of incident: 2019-03-05

Complaint:
"random clicking and ticking rather it's on or off."
Components Involved: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
Date of incident: 2015-04-04

Recalls for the 2008 Chevrolet IMPALA

Component Recalls

Choose a component to see what recalls people have made about them.

Recall:
"this defect can affect the safe operation of the airbag system. until this recall is performed, customers should remove all items from their key rings, leaving only the ignition key. the key fob (if applicable), should also be removed from the key ring. general motors llc (gm) is recalling certain model year 2005-2009 buick lacrosse, 2006-2011 buick lucerne, 2000-2005 cadillac deville, 2006-2011 cadillac dts, 2006-2014 chevrolet impala, and 2006-2007 chevrolet monte carlo vehicles. in the affected vehicles, the weight on the key ring and road conditions or some other jarring event may cause the ignition switch to move out of the run position, turning off the engine."
Consequence:
If the key is not in the run position, the air bags may not deploy if the vehicle is involved in a crash, increasing the risk of injury. Additionally, a key knocked out of the run position will cause loss of engine power, power steering, and power braking, increasing the risk of a vehicle crash.
Remedy:

GM will notify owners, and dealers will install two key rings and an insert in the key slot or a cover over the key head on all ignition keys, free of charge. The recall began on September 23, 2014. Owners may contact General Motors customer service at 1-800-521-7300 (Buick), 1-800-458-8006 (Cadillac), and 1-800-222-1020 (Chevrolet). GM's number for this recall is 14299.

Component(s) Involved: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM > IGNITION
Date of incident: 2014-06-23

CHEVROLET Overall Complaint Ranking

This table shows the ranking of car manufacturers when it comes to most complaints and recalls. The manufacturer with the most complaints is at the top. However this doesn't necassarily mean they should be avoided. Some manufacturers might just have more popular or affordable cars which a lot of people have bought. Which means there's more scope for a complaint to be made. Use the ranking table below as a part your wider research into buying a car.

CHEVROLET ranks 2 out of 44 in the complaints ranking table.

Manufacturer Complaint Count Recall Count Ranking
FORD 208,358 3,259 1
CHEVROLET 111,306 2,082 2
TOYOTA 81,019 1,852 3
HONDA 61,937 1,268 4
NISSAN 56,226 930 5
DODGE 45,756 827 6
HYUNDAI 44,150 649 7
GMC 34,441 1,410 8
KIA 29,832 501 9
CHRYSLER 27,698 254 10
TESLA 26,230 730 11
BMW 24,890 1,877 12
VOLKSWAGEN 23,125 829 13
MERCEDES-BENZ 19,066 2,925 14
SUBARU 18,513 703 15
MAZDA 10,599 364 16
PONTIAC 10,430 138 17
CADILLAC 9,434 444 18
AUDI 7,865 1,093 19
BUICK 7,851 279 20
SATURN 7,672 84 21
MERCURY 7,374 135 22
LEXUS 6,373 408 23
LINCOLN 5,897 423 24
ACURA 5,722 382 25
MINI 5,585 366 26
INFINITI 4,000 187 27
MITSUBISHI 3,912 397 28
VOLVO 3,875 727 29
PORSCHE 2,646 1,231 30
SUZUKI 2,272 123 31
FIAT 2,205 80 32
SAAB 1,536 76 33
JAGUAR 1,195 198 34
SMART 528 17 35
GENESIS 436 42 36
ISUZU 249 37 37
ALFA ROMEO 161 37 38
MASERATI 76 46 39
BENTLEY 46 159 40
POLESTAR 42 2 41
LUCID 14 6 42
CODA 4 2 43
MAYBACH 0 0 44

Related Vehicles

Why not check out other CHEVROLET vehicles?

2008 AVEO
CHEVROLET
  • Overall Safety Rating: Not Rated
  • Complaints Count: 159
  • Recall Count: 1
View Car
2016 IMPALA
CHEVROLET
  • Overall Safety Rating: 5
  • Complaints Count: 102
  • Recall Count: 0
View Car
2008 HHR
CHEVROLET
  • Overall Safety Rating: Not Rated
  • Complaints Count: 607
  • Recall Count: 5
View Car
2019 TRAX
CHEVROLET
  • Overall Safety Rating: 5
  • Complaints Count: 92
  • Recall Count: 2
View Car