Problems with 2000 Chevrolet Impala STEERING

Gm not interested in satifying customers. offered $3500 for my trouble(20 days in shop) & must keep defective car that can't be fixed. no safety defect listed. *ak

My fingers developed curvatures and twisted knuckles. i developed lower back pain. shoulder pain. neck pain. carpal tunnel. sciatic pain. required physical therapy because i could not lift my arm above shoulder height. the stiff "high effort" steering was resulting in my body generating forces to overcome the resistance of the steering system which were resulting in shock loads to my skeletal system joints and bones. other drivers of the stiff steering chevrolet impala, saturn's, pontiac grand am, pick up trucks all experience the same deformities with hand/finger functional losses. *tr updated 05/27/10.*jb

Police vehicle: in pursuit of another vehicle at 40mph. both driver& passenger was properly belted. crossed railroad tracks which were raised, dugged up & paved over. driver lost control & went into a ditch, front end first. vehicle proceeded to roll end to end first & then corner to corner three (3) times. passenger in the front was ejected through door which had came open. seat belt buckle mechanism had released the belt. driver remained belted in vehicle. passenger sustained a torn ankle/ left knee/sprained shoulder & superficial cuts & bruises. driver sustained superficial cuts & bruises. *ak

The intermediate steering shaft assembly appears to be defective on a number of 2000 model year impalas. no tsb or recall from gm as of yet. aluminum engine cradle still a big safety concern in these vehicles.*ak

I have got the third steering column, third set of tires and a new cradle. the problem started at 4437 miles and has continued yet @ 37204 miles. have been to many dealers, contacted gm and now have a better business bureau complaint filed. the dealers told me it was the tires and the tire dealers told me it was the car. in 4000 miles my tires went from 9/32" to 3/32" wear. the "klunk" in the front end is still there. the vehicle likes to "wander" down the road with vibrations felt in the steering wheel. the service manager took it on many test drives and contacted the regional manager=who said "not another dime in this car". i was escorted to the sales department and introduced to a salesman for purposes of trading the vehicle in. the offer was less than nada trade value. i have contacted gm's assistance line many times and just got the "run around" with operators documenting conversation and no one would let me talk to a "real" supervisor. all i wanted to do was ask for a fair solution to the problems that the dealers and gm know that they have. my vehicle is now out of warranty with the same problems since i bought it. why = if gm states in their literature = they are committed to "customer satisfaction" = not responsive in a fair manner and i had to take this issue to all of these extremes????????????? also at issue = is the fact that gm penalizes dealers (with bad customer surveys) due to the manufacturers engineering problems. what happened to telling the "truth" and "customer satisfaction" in business????????? (tiresize: p225/60r16)

Possible defective tie rod failure caused rubbing sound in the steering column dealer fixed the steering unit and the steel frame still did not correct the problem. yh

The stiff/tight steering on my impala is causing my hands, wrist, elbow, shoulders and back to become very painful fingers. my fingers are bent and twisted to fit to the contour of the steering wheel. with this tight steering the texture on the wheel wears off and the operator has to grasp the wheel harder to turn the wheel. have to use two hands and grip wheel hard to turn it. go to web site http://photos.yahoo.com/miketomich for views of other people with bent fingers from same problem. police officers are experiencing the same bending and twisting. this bending and twisting results in arthritis. the police also complain about the wheel being too smooth to hold the wheel (saginaw county sheriff dept). also bay county sheriff deptartment deputies are complaining about back pain. reason they have the back pain is because the torque they have to expert on this stiff steering (which is much more then in the past) to turn the steering wheel goes directly to the small of their back in their hips, because the hips are secured to the seat by the seat belt. the seats are vinyl, and the excessive torque transmit to the secured part of the body (thus being the back/hip area). the steering wheel torque required to turn the wheel goes from a state of the muscles being relaxed to and immediate tauntness which results in a shock load to the joints in the bones. when making a turn, the torques requirement doesn't ease up, it becomes harder to hold the steering wheel in a turn thus more torque is required. to make a turn requires only 90% turn of the wheel. this limited use provides a break down of the fluids in the socket. any minor steering adjustments while driving straight down the road require the muscles to snap to attention to make the adjustment...thus the shock loading of the joints and muscles. while driving my impala, i made 68 steering adjustments in a one mile of level road, which meant i flexed all the required muscles to attention 68. dt

Driver lost control of vehicle at 40 mph and ran into telephone post head-on. upon impact, dual airbags did not deploy, causing bruises. seatbelts were worn at the time. no prior warning of defect. *ak

On jan.16 i was driving on interstate 95 when driver's seat cushion came out of adjustment. i was in the fast lane and lost control of the car several times before getting it to the shoulder of the road. 2nd incident on jan. 18. 3rd incident on jan 24. returned the car to bob bel for repairs. 4th incident on feb 2nd. car was towed to jp chevrolet in aberdeen. the way the car was repaired violates all safety standards! i have been hospitalized because of injuries suffered. i am now being treated for whiplash, severe vertigo, hearing and visual impairement and balance problems. the car is still not fixed according to national safety standards. bailing wire has been used by jp chevrolet to correct the problem. please help us if you can!! *ak

While driving at any mph could step on brakes and steering wheel will feel like coming out of consumer's hands. dealer had been contacted.*ak

Electrical failure, steering rack and pinion failure, lower ball joint/lower control arm/lower ball joints/long shaft sleeve failure

The consumer was parking vehicle, smelled smoke and noticed engine was on fire. front harness wires overheated. consumer lost power steering, and when the consumer went to move the vehicle, there was some type of fluid on the ground under. fire department came out and put out the fire.*ak