| NHTSA Complaint Number: 005043507 |
Incident Date: Jun, 14 2005 |
| Consumer's City: AMARILLO |
Consumer's State: TX |
| Vehicle Transmission Type: AUTO |
Manufacturers Name: General Motors, LLC |
| Model Name: IMPALA |
Model Year: 2002 |
| Vehicle Involved in a Crash:
No |
Component's Description: Power train:automatic transmission |
| Vehicle Involved in a Fire:
No |
Persons Injured: 0 |
| Vehicle's VIN#: 2G1WF52E429 |
Date added to File: May, 23 2021 |
| Date Complaint Received: Oct, 19 2005 |
Complaint Type: IVOQ |
| Incident Reported To Police:
No |
Purchase Date:
Jun, 09 2005 |
| Was Original Owner:
No |
Anti-lock Brakes:
Yes |
| Number of Cylinders: 6 |
Date of Manufacturer: - |
| Was Vehicle Towed:
- |
Description of the Complaints:
I purchased my '02 impala through the corporate leasing company of my father's employer. he had no problems with the car other than the transmission fluid turning black by 85,000 miles. when i got the car in june of '05, it was at 121,000 miles, i drove the car around all day, parked the car for 5 minutes, and when i went to start it, nothing happened. the dash lit up, the radio came on, but the car didn't turn over, not even a clicking sound, indicative of a dead battery. i waited 10 minutes, tried again and it started right up. i went for another month without any problems, however in late july, the car failed to start. again i waited 10-15 minutes, and it started right up. this continued sporadically until october 20, when it took 30 minutes of waiting to get it to crank. i took the car to a local gm dealer, who put it on the machine and advised me that the bcm (body control module) had failed and was sending a signal to the passlock system telling it that my keys were incorrect. the service writer informed me that a new bcm installed would run about $500.00, and the service tech advised that this has become a common failure in both the impala and the malibu, which gm has yet to recall. the technician did suggest that a more cost effective option existed with several of the after-market shops, in which a bypass-relay was installed under the dash, to block the erroneous signals from the bcm, which will allow the vehicle to operate normally. the cost for this bypass is about $55.00 and takes approximately an hour to install. the only problem with this solution, is it blocks the key recognition feature of the passlock system, which will make it easier to steal, if someone can start it without damaging the key ignition. i think it is necessary for gm to understand that a vehicle's failure to start due to faulty component in the anti-theft system is a very serious concern which needs to addressed. *nm
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