We are pleased with our Impala

We have owned our Impala for a year and half and have put on over 12K miles on it so this felt like a good safe time to write a review of it.  We are overall pleased with this car because you can get so much for the money.  We shopped for this car wanting one larger car in the family for longer drive and hauling more people with luggage.

Drivetrain:
Our model is equipped with the base 3.5L V6 (non FlexFuel model) that puts out 211 HP and 214 ft lbs of torque.  By today's numbers you can find on other V6s those are not the most impressive looking numbers.  With that being said the power feels good and there is plenty of it.  The engine is smooth even at higher RPMs.  Merges on to highways are a breeze, moving along at any speeds comes easily.  I had one of these as a rental in Hawaii before buying one with the same engine and it was easily able to carry a car full of us up a 10000 ft mountain.  The transmission is a 4 speed which now a days is behind the competition with 5 and 6 speeds.  The great news about the transmission is if you did not know better you would swear it has more gears then it actually does.  Acceleration is good, RPMs are low on the highway and fuel economy has proved to be very good especially for this size car.  I have been averaging 26 mpgs commuting to work in fairly heavy traffic and 30 mpgs on highway trips both by the computer’s calculations and by mine.  These numbers exceed the EPA 19 city and 29 highway ratings the car has.  There is a larger 3.9L V6 (with cylinder deactivation) and a V8 as optional engines on this car.  My advice is save your money and stick with the base engine, it is all the engine most anyone could want or need.

Handling:
The Impala is no sports sedan.  I find the handling to be an acceptable mix between a soft and firm ride.  In cases where I have had to make quick changes in direction I had no problems getting the Impala to go where I intended.  Cornering on ramps has been good enough where I have no problem keeping up with all but sports cars.  The steering has a comfortable weight to it that balances well between effort and feedback.

The Impala comes standard with 4 wheel disc brakes.  In 2008 ABS was not standard as it should be; I believe that has now been corrected.  The brakes have performed well allowing me to stop quickly when needed with good pedal feel.  I have noticed in cases where they were get well heated such as extended periods of down hill driving there is some pulsation to the pedal.  I still have had no problems stopping but I do not like the pulsation in the pedal.  I am concerned this is an indicator of undersized rotors for a car of this size.  We will see over the long haul how well the original set of rotors and pads hold up.

Features:
Our car is the LT model (not LT2) with some options.  There are a lot of great features on this car.  Some of the more interesting features is keyless entry with remote start, flip and fold flat rear seat with a small cargo hiding place under the seat, dual zone climate control, satellite radio with steering wheel controls, and driver & passenger power leather heated seats.  There are also some smart features built in like when you use the remote start in either the warm or the cold the car automatically detects and turns on the appropriate climate control and then resumes your previous setting when you put the key in the ignition.  The car stereo has satellite radio and can read MP3 CDs, it also has a standard stereo input plug on the front so any brand of player can feed audio into the car stereo.  The driving computer has some nice features like showing you average and instant fuel economy(really helps you to drive more economically), the exact tire pressure for each of the tires(some cars just warn you they are low), percent oil life remaining, compass, outside temp along with other information.  Another smart idea is the headlights come on automatically shortly after turning the wipers are turned on, you may say you already do this yourself but is amazing how many people out there do not.  The list of features goes on and there are too many to list here even on this lower middle of the line model.

Interior Design:
The interior has a good amount of space for four and a reasonable amout for even five passengers.  Our model came with the floor console/shifter otherwise there would be a seating option for six.  I find the seats to be on the firmer side but not so firm that I am sore sitting in them for long periods.  The firmness to the seats comes across as feeling like they were well built and should hold up to the test of time.  The rear seats are about equally comfortable to the front seats.  I would only rate the leg room as average having been in a family member’s Taurus there was definitely more room in the Taurus’ backseat.  The seats in our car are leather and I do not recall the cloth rental versions being quite as firm, I have also found that after using some leather conditioner the leather softened up some in our car.  As noted in handling the engineer’s goal seemed to be a balance between ride and handling.  The Impala soaks up most of the average bumps well making for a comfortable ride for passengers, when switching out to a sportier car I appreciate just how much it is sparing me from.

There are several good interior storage spaces like door map compartments, storage in the bottom of the console, more in the arm rest and seatback pockets.  Our car has the optional split flip and fold flat rear seats (I think this feature should be standard) and this works out great that with the seats folded flat you have 6 feet from the trunk to the back of the seat.  The trunk itself is huge and has already come in handy on many occasions, people are always amazed at how big it is.

Exterior Design:
The Impala in my opinion has a more simple clean design to it. It is not likely to turn anyone's head but it has a nice clean flow to it that should age well.  One big complaint with this car is that the side view mirrors are smaller then they should have been on car this size.  I can see how others have complained about a blind spot and I have managed to adjust the mirrors in a way that that this has not been a problem.  Finding the right position took me a while and I would still like to be able to see more.  Our car lacks fog lamps and a car in this class and cost I feel really should have included fog lamps.

Quality:
The overall feel of this car is very solid.  All the switches operate precisely, the seats are on the firmer side but feel as if they will hold up well in the long term and fit and finish appears good as everything is fit together evenly.  Doors close smoothly and effortlessly.

We have had good luck with our car.  In 12K miles the only complaint we had for the dealer was a creak in the brake pedal itself.  Unfortunately the dealer said this is normal operation and not a safety issue but the sound has since gone away.  Beyond this we have been just doing oil changes as the computer indicates the oil life is getting low.  The oil life monitor gives you and easy to read percentage and this is owner resetable.

Safety:
Our car has both front air bags and also side curtain air bags.  The car is also equipped with anti-lock breaks.  Our came with one year of OnStar included that can call for help automatically in an accident or can ease your ability to get help if you needed it.  There are child LATCH safety seat mounts.  We have found the cost of the OnStar service to be too expensive and did not continue the service after the first year.

Value:
This is probably what I like most about this car.  If you look at the MSRP it does not seem like that great of a value.  What you need to keep in mind is the large rebates that are frequently offered and sometimes you can combine multiple rebates as we did.  You also need to consider with GMs current position in the market your ability to negotiate a great price.  When we put the savings together with the features that this car has there was really no other car that we could compare to it.  The bigger decision was if we kept driving our old car but the price we got this felt like too good of an opportunity to pass up.

Our Rating:
Why a 4?  There is a lot of car to love here for a great price.  The engine is smooth and powerful.  You get very good fuel economy in a very roomy car with a large trunk.  The car has an overall solid feel to it.  There are a lot of smart features in this car mentioned above that you will come to enjoy.

Why a 4 and not a 5?  First those mirrors are a safety issue and should have been made bigger, others have commented on the blind spot this would not have taken that much to have gotten right.  Next, the 4 speed automatically is among the best I have ever driven but everyone has 5 and 6 speeds now, anything less is behind the times.  That extra gear would result in even better fuel economy.