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Car Review - Chevy Impala
Apr. 8th, 2009 04:16 pmIt's been a whole month since I drove this car. I've been putting it off because it's going to be so negative.
Admittedly, some of my complaints have to do with the rental agency I rented the car from. That's not Chevy's fault, but the two are linked in my mind. My irritation with that company probably made me less forgiving of the Impalas faults, which were numerous.
First impression: Bland. The Impala is a full-size sedan. There doesn't seem to be anything about this car that really sets it apart from it's competitors. The 2000-2005 models had the distinctive circular taillights that most people either loved or despised, but in 2006 the model was redesigned. It now sports triangular tail lights with a chrome strip across the trunk lid. Chevy seems to have been going for a "family" look as I've seen this same design on most of their late-model sedans.
The first order of business was getting the child's seat secured in the back. Chevy didn't make it easy on me. The LATCH hooks were buried underneath the foam so far that it was impossible to see. The seats were marked where you were supposed to put the car seat hooks. Unfortunately the marks didn't match up to the LATCH bars. The rental agency was not legally allowed to put the seat in the vehicle for me, but did me a favor by pressing the foam down around the general area of the car's LATCH hooks. After wrestling with the car seat for a solid 15 minutes, I signed my rental agreement, started the car, and pulled into traffic.
This particular Impala was powered by a 3.5 L V6 engine. This is only slightly smaller than the engine in my Dodge Nitro. While this engine was able to get the car moving, I was disappointed with the lack of pick-up. This was clearly not a vehicle that was designed with fun in mind. Additionally, the brakes were an interesting mix of unresponsive and touchy. I put my foot on it and nothing happened. I pressed it a little harder and was suddenly stopped on the freeway. Dominic's comment, "Woah!"
The interior of the car was comfortable. The seats were large, though adjusting them was mildly difficult. The wood across the dash was a nice touch, lending it an air of sophistication. The gear shift, however, was unmarked. You couldn't see what gear you were shifting in by glancing at it. You had to look below the speedometer. This wasn't difficult to figure out, but it wasn't intuitive either.
The stereo was a confusing mess. I found the auxiliary input easily enough and was able to listen to music through my iPod for most of the trip. But during the nighttime crossing over Snoqualmie Pass, I tried to switch to the traffic report and couldn't find the switch to turn to AM radio. I finally found it by pressing random buttons, though I don't remember which one I pressed that finally got the stereo tuned to AM. Also, the center-mounted volume knob was awkward and ill-placed. The sound quality was OK, but no better than the worst stereo I listened to while car shopping last year.
But all of these complaints amount to a hill of beans compared to the worst one. Which may have been the fault of the rental agency. I don't know.
The car didn't come with a key fob to unlock the doors or trunk of the vehicle. Please note that my Kia also didn't come with a key fob. However, my Kia had locks on both the passenger-side door and the trunk. The Impala lacked that feature. Any time I wanted to get into the vehicle, I had to unlock the driver's side door, then I could unlock the other doors. If I wanted to get into the trunk, I had to unlock the driver's side door, then hit the trunk release button located next to the steering wheel. This was especially irritating in Seattle while I was parallel parked, trying to dodge traffic with my son in my arms while I got my vehicle unlocked, then run around to the other side to actually put him in his carseat. When getting out of the car, I had to unlock all the doors, get Dominic out, reopen the driver's side door, then hit the button on the inside of the door to lock all of the doors. Locking and unlocking your vehicle should not be this difficult. It was so cumbersome that it even makes this paragraph difficult.
I could go on for hours about how much I disliked this car (I only managed to on for 20 minutes before boring people I actually spoke to about it). I wondered out loud to![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
gement "Why would anyone buy this piece of crap?" She suggested that it was the neat stylized impala on the side of the car. She might be on to something.
Admittedly, some of my complaints have to do with the rental agency I rented the car from. That's not Chevy's fault, but the two are linked in my mind. My irritation with that company probably made me less forgiving of the Impalas faults, which were numerous.
First impression: Bland. The Impala is a full-size sedan. There doesn't seem to be anything about this car that really sets it apart from it's competitors. The 2000-2005 models had the distinctive circular taillights that most people either loved or despised, but in 2006 the model was redesigned. It now sports triangular tail lights with a chrome strip across the trunk lid. Chevy seems to have been going for a "family" look as I've seen this same design on most of their late-model sedans.
The first order of business was getting the child's seat secured in the back. Chevy didn't make it easy on me. The LATCH hooks were buried underneath the foam so far that it was impossible to see. The seats were marked where you were supposed to put the car seat hooks. Unfortunately the marks didn't match up to the LATCH bars. The rental agency was not legally allowed to put the seat in the vehicle for me, but did me a favor by pressing the foam down around the general area of the car's LATCH hooks. After wrestling with the car seat for a solid 15 minutes, I signed my rental agreement, started the car, and pulled into traffic.
This particular Impala was powered by a 3.5 L V6 engine. This is only slightly smaller than the engine in my Dodge Nitro. While this engine was able to get the car moving, I was disappointed with the lack of pick-up. This was clearly not a vehicle that was designed with fun in mind. Additionally, the brakes were an interesting mix of unresponsive and touchy. I put my foot on it and nothing happened. I pressed it a little harder and was suddenly stopped on the freeway. Dominic's comment, "Woah!"
The interior of the car was comfortable. The seats were large, though adjusting them was mildly difficult. The wood across the dash was a nice touch, lending it an air of sophistication. The gear shift, however, was unmarked. You couldn't see what gear you were shifting in by glancing at it. You had to look below the speedometer. This wasn't difficult to figure out, but it wasn't intuitive either.
The stereo was a confusing mess. I found the auxiliary input easily enough and was able to listen to music through my iPod for most of the trip. But during the nighttime crossing over Snoqualmie Pass, I tried to switch to the traffic report and couldn't find the switch to turn to AM radio. I finally found it by pressing random buttons, though I don't remember which one I pressed that finally got the stereo tuned to AM. Also, the center-mounted volume knob was awkward and ill-placed. The sound quality was OK, but no better than the worst stereo I listened to while car shopping last year.
But all of these complaints amount to a hill of beans compared to the worst one. Which may have been the fault of the rental agency. I don't know.
The car didn't come with a key fob to unlock the doors or trunk of the vehicle. Please note that my Kia also didn't come with a key fob. However, my Kia had locks on both the passenger-side door and the trunk. The Impala lacked that feature. Any time I wanted to get into the vehicle, I had to unlock the driver's side door, then I could unlock the other doors. If I wanted to get into the trunk, I had to unlock the driver's side door, then hit the trunk release button located next to the steering wheel. This was especially irritating in Seattle while I was parallel parked, trying to dodge traffic with my son in my arms while I got my vehicle unlocked, then run around to the other side to actually put him in his carseat. When getting out of the car, I had to unlock all the doors, get Dominic out, reopen the driver's side door, then hit the button on the inside of the door to lock all of the doors. Locking and unlocking your vehicle should not be this difficult. It was so cumbersome that it even makes this paragraph difficult.
I could go on for hours about how much I disliked this car (I only managed to on for 20 minutes before boring people I actually spoke to about it). I wondered out loud to
gement "Why would anyone buy this piece of crap?" She suggested that it was the neat stylized impala on the side of the car. She might be on to something.
