2008 Impala LTZ

[chad4835]

I had one for a couple of months for work and over all thought it was a very comfortable nice car at a great value. I was disappointed primarily in the interior and the hard dash and glove box that scratched easily. The door panels in the Impala are very nice and soft touch until you get to the dash which is hard as a rock and rough. I definatey agree with you about the exterior mirrors and wonder if any of the designers actually tried to look out of them! I also felt like the carpet and cloth used could have been off higher quality even if it meant a slightly higher price. This is Chevrolet's largest sedan and it would be nice to see the next generation move upscale at least in trim and build quality.

[mikmak]

That's a good point, how long until the next Impala? Anyone have new info?

[Tone]

I was in Florida in February and we rented an Impala LT for the week.

I was very impressed!

I should frame this by saying I've only ever owned smaller, Japanese cars and have generally found domestic sedans to be too big, to ponderous and generally not fun to drive.

Now that I have two kids, though, that kind of smaller car is getting a bit tight. The rental, bench-seat Impala was a revelation ... no wonder the bench seat full-size sedan used to be the standard choice for most families.

We got to the airport, rented the car, dumped all our luggage in the trunk (with room to spare!), installed the car seats and went.

We were visiting my folks and figured that we would have to take two cars if we went places together -- two car seats in my Protege basically fill the back seat. I was pretty suprised how much room there was between the car seats in the Impala .. so I tried installing them side-by-side. They fit ... and these are pretty wide car seats. That left a somewhat narrow, but livable perch in the back seat.

So, with my Mom in the back and my wife in the centre-front postion, we were able to get all six people into the Impala. None of us are very big (I'm about 5' 9, my wife is about the same height), but still, I was impressed.

I was a bit tight but livable for the hour's drive to Disney and back.

And the car itself was not the floaty American sedan of yore. No, it's no BMW, but it handled decently with an excellent ride. The 3.5 offered more than adequate power, was very smooth and quiet and seemed to get surprisingly good fuel economy. The car ate up highways, happily cruising at 80 mph while getting mid-20s FE according to the DIC.

While conservatively styled, I think the Impy is a great looking car inside and out. And while I think my next car really should be some sort of van or cross-over (fold down seats and the ability to carry big items once and a while are tough to live without), I was very impressed with the Impala. It's an honest, well built, good driving vehicle.

[rbarrios]

back to mileage...
I took a 220 something mile drive yesterday afternoon. Pasadena to Santa barbara and back.I filled up tank and took off....
going to- Cruise set at 65MPH. With a few miles of rush hour traffic. the way back. with much lighter traffic at 930-1130 pm- I had cruise set at 60MPH. it was 2 people in the car.
2007 3LT 3.9L with AFM. about 16,000 miles on the odometer.

[drees1]

Wow the dealer did a bad PDI and the salesperson should have set the DIC with you in the car. You get whatever rebate is on at the time of delivery. If you ordered a car today rebate and the rebate is $2,500 and when the car comes in it's $1,000 you get the $1,000 they can NOT lock in a rebate or consumer cash. Sorry you just picked the wrong dealer. I think you will love the car though.

[MelvinJ]

Originally Posted by rbarrios

does the lack of shift indicator on the bottom bother us... no.
Personally- I have the gear positions memorized. I know that if im in reverse- park is one way- and 2 positions over, its D. (I hate people who drive- stop- look down, shift, look up, stop, look down, shift, look up, etc etc)....
I have no trouble figuring out that if im going forward and in doing x miles per hour and I can hear my engine revving high.. then I must not be in the right gear.... and anyways. you look at the your dash cluster and see the gear youre in..... so im not sure why that bothers many people.....

I definitely agree with this. The way people here complained about the lack of a gearshift indicator on the console, you'd think they had left the frequency display off of the radio. I would think the vast majority of people can tell after a day or two what gear they are in without looking, and as you said, there's an indicator on the dash so that you don't have to look down and take your eyes off the road, parking lot, garage, or whatever.

And I personally think the lack of markings leaves the center console shifter area looking very classy and, well, symetrical.

[rbarrios]

thats exactly what my gf said---- the lack of- make the area around the shifter very nice looking

[caddycruiser]

Oddly enough, on the shifter regard, that shouldn't be an issue at all--perfect setup with the readout right in front of you. That's probably the one thing that does bug me about our new '08 Malibu...it actually has lighted gear indicators beside the shifter but nothing on the gauge cluster. So, if you're not set to the feel, you have to look down. Oh well, not a biggie.

Otherwise, I think the Impala is still a very respectable car, yet my main beefs remain: too fleeted and common (not a bad thing in regards to the car...just, you know), AND more so that it is a rather large car outside but has a back seat that almost defies logic. Essentially, too low and not supportive but also no leg or foot space...it's almost like an optical illusion, because you see the outside of the car and then open the back door and......what happened to the back seat? I think even the last gen, which seemed smaller/tighter had a significantly more habitable rear bench.

That's a side effect of recent ancient W-body formulations, though.

Regardless, it's attractive, solid, refined, and cheap as could be to build for GM...and therefore ends up a beefy bargain (well, if you don't need a back seat). My mother actually really liked the latest Impalas for quite some time, and "wanted" an SS after a neighbor got a black SS and she heard it (yes...just heard it and saw the wheels, and that was enough), but came to her senses and is thrilled to pieces instead with her '08 Malibu 2LT 4-cyl, a more sophisticated and efficiently laid out sedan just not as plump.

So the Impala soldiers on...friend to not only Enterprise and every big corporation and government agency known to man, but also the everyday people who buy and enjoy them. It's still also a car dealers continually want more of, because they can sell them quickly regardless. That larger sedan+V6+bargain pricing+good looks and refinement has always equaled fairly steady success for GM.

[SAngelo]

Guys the lack of the gear indicator looks a little cheap but your right no biggie. The big issue with this car is the lack of a 6 speed automatic especially with the LTZ and SS models. I also have a problem with no Nav screen but that can be somewhat corrected with an aftermarket one for only $250 or so dollars. If they offered a 6 speed and 3.6 with the LTZ and the SS 5.3, this car would be so damn competitive. Who says the backseat is small ? I sat in one, its pretty roomy, not huge like the Taurus but bigger than the Lacrosse.

Ive changed my mind about the dash, most cars in this class have hard plastics (ever see the 08 Accord) but the Impala does have some soft plastics on top of dash. The current Impala is one of the older designs that will be around for a few years that has to be fixed. That also includes the G6 (mostly dash-center stack), the Lucerne and DTS-(which is getting revised), the STS-better dash, SRX-Needs exterior refresh and Cobalt. I think its great the Trailblazer and Envoy are going in addition to the Grand Prix and current Lacrosse. Those cars are no longer competitive, lets face it.

I am a little disappointed that the NY Auto show is not showing us a concept Lacrosse and a revised Lucerne and DTS. Oh well maybe the next show.

Come on GM !!!!

[SDRacing]

Im sure there is a reason the remote doesnt unlock all four doors with one push. The first one that comes to my mind is safety. Our Tahoe is the same way. If my wife is in a hurry to get inside because she thinks she is being followed or something, if she pushes the button only her door will unlock. Thats a short explanation, but you could come up with more scenarios.

I really like the Impala. I just wish the would bring the extended version caprice from Holden over here.

[rbarrios]

I too left the remote unlock so that ONLY the drivers door unlocks.
for the same reason- you dont want all doors being opened - in case some criminal wants to jump in.
also- for the setting when you put the car in park- only the drivers door unlocks-
this is good- imagine- you stop to get gas- and you park, if all doors unlock then while you pump- some guy sneaks in thru one of the other doors- you dont see him because youre pumping and have a tint on glass..... one of those scenarios.

[firebird1324]

hmm...i do a bunch of pre-delivery inpsections here, and some of the first few things that we do is fill the washer fluid to the top, and check the tire pressure. then we attatch the front license plate bracket, xm attenna, centercaps (if you need to) and various other accessories that the factory doesn't put on. there is a list that we need to check off as we go along verifying that everything is okay, and then it is signed and turned in. you should check the PDI sheet your dealership did to see if they verified things that weren't okay. bum out man, I like the new impalas...sorry to hear you had a rough start.

[Candle1]

We have had our 2008 LTZ now for over a year 17000 miles on it. It really rides great and handles really good. I have had two problems since I got it one was the remote start it will not start the care if your more than 50 feet away from the car. and the other is the gas mileage it will get 27 -28 if I drive on cruise at around 60 to 64 it will kick into 3 cyl. mode and does great. But if I get on the interstate and I am doing 65-70-72 it will never kick into 3cyl. mode. and the mileage is around 18. At first the Dealer told me I had to put at least 7-10000 miles on before it would get any better. It hasn't no I am told that it is not suppose to go into 3 cyl. mode once you get over 65. Does anyone know if this is true or am I getting a snow job from the dealer??? Except for the mileage and the remote start everything has worked perfect. We really like it.

[caddycruiser]

The 3.9L gas mileage has always been iffy, even with the cylinder deactivation, and lots of owners remark on that. Especially compared to the classic 3.8L of old, it doesn't really match it for mileage, though the 3.5L tends to do quite well in comparison.

I'd say the numbers you're getting are normal, especially given that it seems to be operating fine and you've gotten it well settled with 17k now. Just a characteristic of the car and powertrain.

[WannabeRich]

Originally Posted by Candle1

We have had our 2008 LTZ now for over a year 17000 miles on it. It really rides great and handles really good. I have had two problems since I got it one was the remote start it will not start the care if your more than 50 feet away from the car. and the other is the gas mileage it will get 27 -28 if I drive on cruise at around 60 to 64 it will kick into 3 cyl. mode and does great. But if I get on the interstate and I am doing 65-70-72 it will never kick into 3cyl. mode. and the mileage is around 18. At first the Dealer told me I had to put at least 7-10000 miles on before it would get any better. It hasn't no I am told that it is not suppose to go into 3 cyl. mode once you get over 65. Does anyone know if this is true or am I getting a snow job from the dealer??? Except for the mileage and the remote start everything has worked perfect. We really like it.

I have an '07 LTZ. I have seen it kick into 3 cyl mode many times past 65 on a level road. Mine has 18000 miles on the clock. Highway mileage is great...27-29. City mileage sucks...anywhere from 17 to 20 (most of my driving is city). Using the A/C seems to affect mileage about 2-3 mpg. Overall, a great car for what it is.