If a person really wants to learn the driving characteristics of a car, they should first drive it at night in a thunderstorm. It’s a delightful variation of the old adage “sink or swim, baby”.
Driving this silver Impala on a busy interstate during a night darker than a stack of black cats in a rain having an intensity best described as toad-strangling does require immediate familiarity with all the various controls, especially the windshield wipers. This is jumping into the deep end of driving, an experience much more memorable than piloting any new-to-you car on a sunny day in light traffic.
Being an advocate of full disclosure, I must confess a dirty little secret: I’ve driven scads of these Impala’s since this version appeared in 2006. In 2009, I was assigned a brand new one at work. Two years later, my employer also bought the Impala whose pixelated images are dancing across your corneas. It’s assigned to the motor pool and it’s the automotive equivalent of a library book. About 1,297 people have driven this Impala at its current station in life – give or take a few hundred.
To further my purge of secrets, I must also confess to not having driven any Impala in about a year. Quirks fade over time, so I was able to get reacquainted with the Queen Bee of the current crop of fleet vehicles available in the United States.
So what about this Impala sticks out the most in my mind? The windshield wipers were too short. Watching them sweep back and forth for over 130 miles on my way to St. Louis, I was able to quickly ascertain the amount of swept area seems rather small in relation to the size of the windshield.
Were the wipers the originals? It’s rather doubtful as the car is five years old with 72,000 miles on the odometer. Perhaps somebody grabbed the wrong ones during a preventive maintenance routine; perhaps they didn’t.
Another noteworthy observation is how this Impala swallows miles with an amazing amount of ease. Few are the cars that gobble up long expanses of interstate (either dry or wet) with both an anxious-to-please demeanor and unadulterated comfort.
Of course, I was driving. Having the honor to enjoy the driving splendor only found in a nice thunderstorm, the Impala is pretty successful at ignoring crosswinds, its 3.5 liter V6 purring along at only about 2,000 rpm at 70 miles per hour (or maybe less; I was distracted with more important things). For the size and relatively large displacement of its engine, the Impala is surprisingly fuel efficient with an EPA estimate of 19 mpg in the city and 29 mpg on the highway (23 mpg combined).
Piloting an Impala also means you will intimidate absolutely nobody in the stoplight grand prix races. Don’t attribute this to some misinterpretation about the 3.5 being a wheezing dog; rather, it revs up surprisingly well and is very well suited to the Impala. You definitely won’t pucker when merging with traffic and the 3.5 allows you to surprise yourself with speed if you aren’t paying attention.
I was not alone on this soggy sojourn; of my two passengers, the younger and larger framed gentleman of 6’4″ in height had to pour himself into the backseat. My trying to smooth his abrasions was only partially salved when I told him I had been assigned a Ford Focus and changed cars specifically for him. He politely revealed his observation about the only differences he had ever noticed between the two is width.
He’s right; other than my throwing the lawn chair on the seat, this is exactly how the seats were situated for our trip. At 5’11”, I actively avoid opportunities to sit in the rear of an Impala; I can only imagine his level of joy.
Things for the front seat passengers can be compromising. No, I’m not going to rail about the console – yet. What I will rail about is more unusual (and admittedly isolated), in that there is no other place to install a two-way radio other than sticking it to the side of, well, that idiotic console. Having ridden in the shotgun seat of a different Impala with a radio installed identically, I wasn’t fond of having “Motorola” etched into the side of my leg.
Or maybe it’s a Kenwood. As if the brand really matters.
Maybe I shouldn’t find such annoyances to be so annoying; maybe I should have driven my assigned pickup.
Speaking of consoles, in the big scheme of things this one is pretty benign and a great example for other manufacturers. Taking this picture, I was on the verge of having muscle cramps near my hip as I was swinging my leg so wide. The upshot with my incessant harpooning of consoles is the rationale for my deep-seated detestation of them has finally been excavated.
Consoles are fine in muscle cars or cars with sporting aspirations – I had one in both my 1989 Ford Mustang and my 1996 Ford Thunderbird. This is a base trim, fleet grade Impala, a car in which using adjectives involving any variation of the words “muscle” or “sporting” is oxymoronic. With sedans and other vehicles intended for mom, pop, and the brood, having these negates any realization of smart space utilization in the front seat. The bulk of the time consoles make about as much sense as giving dentures to a shark.
The ’09 I was assigned had a gear selector on the column – a $250 option that was worth every penny as it played well to the perception of Impala as family sedan. Even better, there was ample space to mount a two-way radio without it looking as tacky as that plasti-wood on the dashboard.
Will I ever bitch about consoles again? Probably, as so few make sense. Yet I keep reminding myself cars are like real estate – you have to pay for extra usable space.
At the epicenter of that space hogging chunk of molded plastic sits the gear selector. There are no indications (they are on the instrument cluster), prompting me to think one of two things: this same gear selector and its surround are in use in some right-hand drive Holden or Vauxhall to save on GM’s tooling costs; or, some ergonomic specialist figures you should be looking at the instrument cluster instead of the floor when attempting to drive. Or maybe it’s something else.
The W-body has been around since 1988, with the Lumina being the first Chevrolet on the structure.
The Impala nameplate returned on a non-specialty vehicle in 2000 with this guise of Impala emerging in 2006. It’s currently only sold as a fleet vehicle, which is where the entirety of my experience with them rests. Having driven a vast number of fleet vehicles in my twenty-year career, I would love to say the Impala is to fleet cars as Tchaikovsky is to classical music. But it isn’t. Despite its obvious and arguably subjective thorns, the Impala does what it was meant to do – get people to their destination with nothing ever breaking.
But how reliable is this anecdotal experience? The only problems I’ve ever encountered with them, even during my brief stint as a fleet manager where these were as plentiful as wet after a storm, was the Impala has an annoying frequency of needing four-wheel alignments that prompt premature tire wear. That’s it. Buy them, align them, drive them, align them, sell them. Even with 200,000 miles on the odometer, these Impalas simply keep going.
Even the seats, a bucket that feels like a bench, wear like iron. With all the people who will drive any given unit, with all shapes and sizes in the vast butt spectrum being represented, these will go out the door with nearly new looking seats.
But how does the Impala stack up against competitors? Perhaps this is a loaded question.
Taking a look at all similar sized sedans that were in the top ten best sellers for 2011, I meandered over to www.safercar.gov to look up recall histories. I looked at the time period from when this version of Impala was introduced in 2006 to when our subject car was produced in 2011. Here’s what I found:
The Impala recalls dealt with GM’s well-known ignition switch issue, a seat belt anchor, and a suspension piece on the police specification Impala.
Others of note are Ford having a floor mat that could get jammed under the accelerator while Toyota and Honda both have the Takata airbag issues. Additionally, Toyota has power window switches that have caused flammability concerns.
Is looking at recalls a wormhole leading into the depths of Pandora’s Box? Regardless, looking at these numbers create some divergent and curiosity fueled questions:
- Has the Impala been generally underestimated?
- Does this Impala reflect GM’s treating cars like tomatos – pick it green and let it ripen?
- Are these numbers a reflection of the manufacturer’s level of concern and responsiveness?
- Might cultivating a perception of infallibility have a dark underbelly?
Or, again, it may be something else entirely. I’ll dive down the recall wormhole at a later date.
Since I’ve likely incensed a few with talking about dark underbellies, the Impala does have one of its own. Or maybe the dark underbelly is a nasty blemish.
The radio and HVAC controls are identical to that in the 2007 Chevrolet Silverado pickup I am assigned at work. Ditto for the headlight switch and (slightly too large) steering wheel. Buyers should receive some degree of unique despite buying a high volume car like the Impala. It isn’t as if the Impala and Silverado are low volume vehicles in which parts sharing is to be expected.
GM raided the parts bin to save on amortization and realize lower unit costs – in a way, it’s like my using this picture twice. GM has earned a black eye for parts bin diving in the past; while 2011 is long gone, this Impala is still being made for all sorts of fleets.
And this Impala is currently being made for the retail market. It’s as related to the W-body as much as beer is related to orange juice. Confusing, is it not?
Despite its flaws, I see more privately owned Impalas on a daily basis than I do Camrys or Accords. That is no joke. Automotive tastes are quite regional, but I can’t sling a dead cat without hitting an Impala.
Even if many of these Impalas originated in a fleet, that simply emphasizes the versatility and stamina of the W-body. But isn’t it sad these are nearly synonymous with being a fleet vehicle?
Very nice article Jason. Perhaps it’s a regional thing, but it my travels back to the states these are much rarer than Fusions, Camrys and Altimas. Certainly agree – these are the Queen’s of the rental fleet. I usually preferred a Panther to one of these if I had an option at the counter.
The new Impala is pretty darn impressive – it, Malibu, new Cruze – all are well styled – kudos to outgoing GM Design VP Ed Welburn.
Post 2000 W-Cars make great beaters, although I prefer the Buick Century for its more conventionally staid old-person looks. This gen Impala seems deliberately appliance-like in its details.
And I completely agree with the author on the pointless proliferation of consoles/floor shifts. With cars like this, the classic split bench/column shift is the way to go, with maybe a folding armrest for storage (a configuration I think the Century had). And floor shifts in pickup trucks with automatics are just wrong.
Overall though, I prefer the H-Body for its slightly bigger interior – GM would have been better served, all those years back, simply upgrading the H instead of developing the W. Amazing, come to think of it, that a vehicle developed in the Roger Smith/Robert Stemple days is still in production…
I’ve come to the conclusion that these consoles are like vinyl roofs were in the 1970s and 1980s – way too many think a car should be so equipped yet their inclusion seriously compromises the basic goodness of the car itself.
Give it ten or fifteen years and people will be laughing at how people now were so accepting of such a vulgar trait in a car – much like vinyl roofs are now.
Centre consoles have been around since the 60s as somewhere to mount the gear shift, I mean what else are you gunna put there? Another passenger would be illegal with no shoulder harness and who the hell wants the front seats cluttered up with extra bodies the centre console divides the front in half quite effectively and is the perfect spot for the gearshift.
But consoles don’t have to be half the area of Nebraska, stealing space that would make front seat occupants more comfortable. On too many cars they make occupants feel like they are sitting in a tunnel.
LOLOL G. Poon!
Well let’s see.. Have front buckets gotten narrower,
or have consoles, and our rear-ends(!) gotten wider
over 40-ought years?
The specs for a ’64 Impala bucket seat show a
24.5″ width. The buckets in my Kia are less than
20″ wide, but are much firmer and you can’t sink
down into them as one could in those ’60s era
GM seats. I describe the modern seats as bucket
“pews”. 😀
As far as consoles go, consumers need a surface
big enough to plant the laptop or tablet on top of
– for use hopefully when fully parked – not in
traffic! 😮 Not to mention all the other gadgets
and crap people “must” bring when travelling.
Priorities these days…
Some of the latest pickups are especially bad in this respect, the consoles seemingly a foot wide with a storage bin that can hold a large laptop bag.
I think a lot of this is driven by women making more of the purchasing decisions, especially in the pickup market.
Actually, if you’d like to do a little research, you might find that pickup consoles are a foot wide because the middle seat has always been a foot wide. They can all fit a laptop because Ram was the first to advertise such a feature on the ’94 Ram. Women had nothing to do with it.
But with a bench seat you can store all that junk in the centre position when it isn’t in use, and it’s easy to grab when you want it. Dad was a travelling salesman, and he used to keep his clipboard, tape measure, order book and a handful of brochures next to him on the front seat. Samples were in the trunk if they were needed.
Of course, nobody ever sat in the centre front position, he’d rather fill up the back seat first – safer, y’know.
The lack of a restraint is a good point. The fold-down armrest is a nice compromise, allowing access to the passenger side when needed or space for the driver to stretch out on a long trip.
The cushion area of the seating surface could even be used as storage, a hinged padded cover giving access.
Bench seats are useful for more than just sitting three abreast, there are plenty of other comfort and space utilization reasons to go that route as well.
There’s no reason there can’t be a restraint. F-150’s have had a headrest and shoulder belts in the fold-down center console/seat since 2011, making them a true 6 seater…although the transmission hump still means it’s not necessarily for 6 full size adults. It’s still a much better use of that space than a console shifter.
Below you can see the headrest on the console. There’s a shoulder belt too.
…and as a seat. Notice the headrest for the center back seat too, something GM still refuses to do and which takes them off my shopping list.
We need more vehicles like this.
Pic from a seat cover seller.
Bench seats only make sense when the vehicle itself is wide enough to fit three abreast comfortably–full-size pickups and SUVs. And in those vehicles, only a bench seat makes sense. But in narrower vehicles like the W-body Impala (73″ outside width, IIRC), a bench seat is useless for actually carrying three passengers in comfort.
@Phil: I had thought that Ford’s adding a headrest to the middle front seat in 2011 or whenever was the result of some legislation, only to find out that GM and Ram weren’t doing it.
@Drzhivago138: I hear what you are saying about width, however I’d argue that if it’s wide enough for 3 in back it’s wide enough for 3 in front. It may not be quite “adult” sized, but then again neither are the 3rd rows you find in CUVs.
There’s actually a lot of third rows in CUVs that are two-passenger seating.
With the overwhelming preponderance of automatics these days, the shifter doesn’t need to be directly above the transmission. It could be anywhere, as it’s only a switch used now and then – even as buttons on the dash.
But then there’s often a lot of other controls located on the console to bring them within closer reach of the driver, along with who knows what crammed in underneath it.
Yes, my mother now drives my deceased Father’s 2006 Impala (and I also drive it occasionally. It fortunately has the column shift and split bench seat (I don’t think they charged extra for it but I may be wrong). Since it also has a foot operated parking brake I think the column shifter makes more sense…it also helped a LOT when my Father was ill, he could sit on a towel and I could get to him and pull him into the car (he had mobility problems) without the console getting in the way. Frankly, I appreciate a bench seat and as the population ages, it makes a lot more sense to me than the console shifter.
I’ve gotten 39 MPG on the highway with his car (but then I’m a granny driver, every one passes me)..The car has been pretty good, but had problems with fan module (which caused AC not to come on) and also the bend door solenoid that strips out requiring replacement (could fix it but the part isn’t too expensive). Has had 3-4 batteries in 10 years but these tend to go regularly where we live in the South on other cars.
It is a boring car, but that’s ideal for my parents who have enough drama (health issues) and just want something that can take them where they need to go with no hassle.
One of the best things about the old Impala was the availability of a bench seat. AFAIK, it was the last hold-out in that department, as the new Impala has finally fallen prey to ‘bucket-seats only’ of every other car sold today. Like the corded telephone, there will soon be a generation that’s never known what it’s like to drive/ride in a bench-seat equipped car.
It was just another of the nice (if uninspiring) things about these Impalas. No, they won’t make your heart race any faster with lots of old tech (no in-dash GPS or push-button start here), but they’re mostly decent performers (especially with the later 3.6L engine), solid, comfortable, and relatively reliable, sort of like a domestic version of the Camry. Or maybe the ultimate rental car.
In a way, the old Impala harkens back to the pre-1970 ‘good’ GM, back before they built big cars to a price point to be just barely adequate. The Impala seems like they went for a bit more than just good enough.
One potential reason for the continued popularity of consoles is that it’s a darned good place to put a cup holder. I know this will get the “put down the drink and drive” and the “no food/drinks in the car, period” crowds riled up. But, personally, I like to have a cold tea/water/soda at hand on a trip, plus I bring a travel mug of coffee to work with me in the morning. My Crown Vic, being bench-seat equipped, has a cupholder tray that slides out from the dash underneath the radio. It’s shallow, meaning my coffee mug sometimes takes an alarming list. It’s narrow, so larger bottles don’t fit. And if you use it, you completely block the HVAC controls. Considering I’ve had a middle passenger in the front seat approximately zero times, I’d rather have a console. It would also be nice to have a storage cubby, even a small one, at my side rather than having to reach across to the glove box to stow anything.
I do share a disdain for needlessly wide consoles though. My Marauder (and the identically configured Crown Vic LX Sport) got it right–wide buckets and a narrow but usable console. I rode in a current-generation Ford Fusion for the first time recently and the wide, tall console seems to divide the front seating area into twin bunkers. Rather claustrophobic.
I have never even been inside of one of these. But I see them around. It is true that these are dull, but it’s hard to dislike a competent car. I would like it more if not for my fear that it is so much like a certain Buick Lacrosse of my experience.
Regarding pics #8 and #9:
I’m an automotive “conservative”. I prefer
crank windows over electrics, manual door
locks over power ones, and conventional
power steering to electric/other – if a car
*must* have it. I actually prefer NO power
steering. The only “automatic” concession
I make is the tranny – I’m simply incapable
of learning manuals.
This conservatism extends also to floor
shifters: LABEL THEM, GM, Ford, et al!! And
keep our instrument clusters simple instead
of turning into video game screens.
At least this subject Impala has a straight
shifter automatic. Easier for me to select
the right gear by feel than the current
serpentine automatics. I’d like to take
the person who designed those annoying
things on a “permanent lunch”. LOL!
I’m always shifting the automatic on my
’08 Kia into Neutral instead of drive…
GRRRR!! Well, in 15-20 years when
this very reliable Optima finally calls
it quits, I’ll finally get the ’64 Skylark I’ve
always dreamed of – just like grandpas,
with bucket seats, rollup windows, and
a column shifter.
You and I are the same my friend.
With these Impalas nearing their end, what do you think will replace them in the fleets. Will the fleets move on to CUV-four door pickups or do you think cars like the Charger and the Epsilon Impala will take over the volume. I am not sure the Fusion was the recipient of all the old Taurus’s volume. The buy American imperative and the ecological desires might even lead to Chevy Volts.
Given that the W body over time was ever more aimed at fleets, I am surprised the four cylinder version was allowed to fall away. The slight economy gain and slightly lower transaction price in theory should have fueled demand The four, ecotech would have replaced the iron duke, was gaining horsepower and torque much faster than the W gained weight.
Thanks Jason for your informative article.
Depends on the use. As a general fleet thing, compact really is the new midsize – as mentioned, width apart there’s not much difference for fewer than five passengers and the widening availability of hatchbacks make light cargo carrying easier – all the beer and soda distributor reps seem to have gotten Priuses as company cars the last few years. The state (VT) has a lot of Ford Focuses, almost a plurality of the post-facelift sedans I see although the hatch sells well to private buyers, and some C-Max hybrids.
More broadly:
11 years ago, I drove a first-gen Impala
(of the front-wheel drive era that is), an
’03 with the 3.4L V6, column shifter, and
split-bench. Metallic, with black door and
bumper guards of that rubber-plastic that
is dang near impossible to keep black
over time, no matter what one uses, or
how often. lol!
Loved it, I was into Nascar big time
back then and needed a machine
appropriate enough to hang my Dale
Earnhardt “3” vanity plate on the front
of. 😉
After a year or two, my wife got a ’05
Corolla, and – compared to the handling
of my Impala, this little thing was like
a 3-Series!! The steering on the low-
mileage dealer certified used Toyota
was actually tight compared to the
Chevy’s, and centered itself quickly
from turns. And I loved the “refrigerator
door” pull handles on it, that nearly
every car mfg worldwide puts on their
doors nowadays.
After that experience, handling, plus
a steering wheel that stayed in the
groove when going straight, and not
brand loyalty, became my mantra.
I must ask, Jason: How was the
handling/steering in this 2011 Impala?
When was the last time Consumer Reports saw that 42-recall history of the vaunted Toyota Camry?
I’d like that question answered as well. Everyone harps about the GM ignition switch recall, yet if you look at it overall, Toyota is the king of recalls. My sister just got two more recall notices in two weeks on her RAV4, bringing her total now to 16. That’s a pretty absurd amount of recalls for one vehicle, and far surpasses the number of recalls on every new car I’ve ever owned put together!
I thought that the maroon Impala pictured above
was no longer a derivative of the old dubya-
platform.
Or am I thinking of the Chevy SS – a Holden-
based sedan?
Video,
The current retail Impala pictured above is based on the Epsilon II architecture.
The same dinky platform as Malibus of
the last 12 years? I hope they don’t
inherit the awful electric steering.
Nice article, Jason.
Most here know I’m the proud (yes, seriously!) owner of an Ashen Gray 2012 Impala LTZ (with sunroof) bought new in July, 2012. 3.6L – the fastest, most powerful car I have ever owned!
I love this car and on my ridiculously long commute, it eats up the miles like no other, and is a nice place to spend two hours of my life five days a week.
I owned a 2004 Impala bought new and I drove it for 8 years until I decided I wanted something newer, and my local Chevy dealer made me an offer I could hardly refuse on my 2012.
I have never had an alignment issue and at just about 90,000 miles, still riding on the original Goodyears – but then, I only use it for commuting, rarely driving around town. That’s what Wifey’s car is for.
I have had two issues with the car:
December 2015: Front engine cover leaking. GM took care of that, I just decided to pay for a timing chain assy. I got to drive a new Impala for a weekend – very, very nice!
Last week, April 2016: Purge valve replaced. That was on me, but less than $200. Replaced front rotors. The upside was I got to drive a brand new 2016 Malibu for two days – a nice ride in itself, though a low LS trim model. At least it was dark red…
Also, I have driven many of these since this style came out in the 2006 MY as rentals and have never been disappointed, most recently in SoCal in 2011.
My mileage is dead-on the EPA sticker, too. However, on trips back-and-forth from Cincinnati to STL, I better that with 32-33 mpg average, with A/C on.
These cars get a bad rap by many, but I actually really like mine and plan on keeping it ’til the wheels fall off, especially since I retire in 11 months.
The plastic wood trim on the dash adds a nice touch, I just wish the overall interior had a bit more character – a bit plain for my taste.
The stereo is great, and plays any type CD you jam into the slot, unlike Wifey’s 2002 Honda CR-V, which doesn’t play anything! Worst stereo ever dumped in a car.
Everything on this car works as you would expect and you take it for granted. As far as the ignition recall, I just needed the plastic key cover replaced from a slot to just a hole.
Anyway, I’ve said enough. It’s a good car.
You know, I’ve owned 54 cars since 1983 and have never had any alignment done on any of ’em. Except one, when I bought my 71 4Dr Maverick in 88 ( which I still own) the Chevy dealer alighned it as part of the deal ( which he should have considering they gouged $1200 out of me for said car!). I joke now that most of the front ends on my oldies are so wore out it allows the tires to self align themselves with the road surface.
Interesting comment, as I have owned quite a few cars since 1975, and have put 90-100K on several of them, plus had a few bought used with service records and driven up to nearly 200K, with no alignments except my ’65 Volvo after I de-cambered it with homemade shims, and my ’86 Ranger TTB.
Same here. None of the cars in the fleet now (1996 Civic, 2001 Odyssey, 2001 Lesabre, 1996 Passat, 1990 F350) have ever been aligned in my ownership, other than eyeballing down the sidewalls on the F350 to set the toe-in (amazingly accurate; no abnormal tire wear) right after I bought it (was toed-in at least 1/4″ when I got it). And tire wear on all vehicles is perfect, and I do my own tire rotations based not upon mileage, but on tread depth measurements taken every year or so.
Fleet or generic, these are great reliable, affordable used cars for thousands of folks seeking basic transportation. Through dozens from auto auctions, to a car, they’ve proven to be the best car many can afford, there is much to be appreciated in that. To the surprise (and dismay) of sports auto enthusiasts, these are all the car the majority need and can live with.
I also drive Impalas occasionally from my workplace fleet, though far less frequently that you have. And I’ve got to admit that I like driving them – particularly on longer trips. They’re good, comfortable, inoffensive and reliable cars.
Admitting to liking a fleet Impala is akin to disclosing your appreciation for unflavored oatmeal – it’s not a fondness that many people would understand. But the Impala is almost completely devoid of annoying quirks, trendy aggravations, or tiresome idiosyncrasies. It’s simply a decent car for what it sets out to do, and like oatmeal, I appreciate that. If more things in this world functioned as smoothly as an Impala, I wouldn’t complain.
Your analogy about oatmeal is quite appropriate and very descriptive.
CC Effect for the day – a W body Impala of this generation that was as close to anti-oatmeal as they came, painted BRIGHT red with shiny alloy wheels.
I don’t get it ~ a true Auto Enthusiast should _love_ these as they’re stellar at what they’re made to do .
-Nate
Hey, Nate – I am an enthusiast – I love mine as I stated above!
I’ve only driven these as a rental, perhaps unsurprisingly, and they’ve always seemed like a pretty good, honest car. Except for one thing: a very stiff accelerator pedal. Try to start gently from a light and you putter off at about 2 MPH; the only other option is a stomp & spin that looks like you’re beginning a high-speed pursuit. It’s built that way for mileage concerns, I suppose, but an odd feature in an otherwise okay vehicle.
First let me say I totally agree about consoles. I don’t love them, I like to move my legs around on long drives (Hi, I am John, and I am a cruise control addict).
But my mom, back in 2001, had narrowed her search to two cars- the Audi A6 2.8 Quattro, and the Cadillac DeVille. Strange bedfellows, eh? Admittiedly the reason she liked the DeVille was pretty shallow- she had dreamed for years of owning a convertible, and my practically minded father didn’t want one, and this model had a Broughamtastic roof. But at the end of the day, the decision came down to:
The base Deville, with huge incentives, was a few grand more than the A6. But lacking a console reminded her of the 1959 Rambler Ambassador her father had foisted upon her (she wanted a Beetle) and getting one with a shifter required the DTS and several thousand more dollars. Thus the console mounted shifter actually cost GM the sale.
For whatever reason, intelligent and sensible or not, the buying public prefers, or seems to prefer, center mounted gear shifts with consoles. And that’s why column shifters have been on the out.
That being said, if you want a sedan with a column shifter, Mercedes has them almost exclusively. Oddly enough, most of their vehicles still have extremely intrusive consoles (wtf?) although my Benz Minivan doesn’t have a console- it does, however have huge honking intrusive cup holders specifically for the US market (euro models don’t have them) and while they are big enough for a SuperCalliFragilistic Quadruple ByPass Gulp, they are still useless in the Great German Cupholder Tradition, because they lack fingers and any cup smaller (including the complimentary logo vacuum flask I got in the key ceremony *facepalm*) rocks around mightily and sometimes even spills.
I’m a maniac for cruise control myself and appreciate the added room a split bench provides. Especially on the longer trips, it’s nice to be able to shift about behind the wheel, less fatiguing.
It’s definitely appealing for more reasons than simple three-abreast seating.
These are the two GM cars I’ve spent the most time behind the wheel in over the last couple years-both 2004ish. The Deville pretty much fit me like a glove and the Impala was pretty comfy for what it was. I don’t consider six person seating the big draw for benches, although I appreciated having the option the couple times it came in handy. It’s more the comfort factor-my leg doesn’t feel penned in by a largely superfluous console.
I’ve also driven the two first generations of the LX Chrysler 300, and even though they all have consoles, it sits lower than most of the other ones so they’re ok, if still pretty pointless in my opinion.
Some perspective on short windshield wipers. Living in snow country, I use short wipers on my cars because the ends on the long wipers get gunked up with ice and then they don’t wipe. Going from a 24 inch wiper to a 16, you lose 4 inches from the top and 4 from the bottom but you really don’t use that part of the windshield most of the time anyway. Less stress on the wiper motor too.
That’s a good point, having wiper blades longer than the space covered by the defroster vents can cause problems. My Jeep is like that but unfortunately its blades are already pretty short.
I have a deep and abiding respect for the old Impala and what it stands for. I’ve driven lots of them as rentals and had one as a company vehicle for 8 months. As a daily commuter and a long-distance cruiser, nothing works better than an Impala. It’s an honest and trustworthy servant – not much to look at, won’t inspire you to take that on-ramp at 2X the posted speed, and won’t dazzle you with the latest technology, but there’s a lot of goodness in a roomy, quiet, reliable sedan with virtually no annoying quirks. More cars should be like the Impala.
Well done, Jason.
After hearing how the 2012s were hot rods with the 3.6 engine, I had opportunity to drive one.
Whoa! I took it to the 4 lane and nailed it…only to find myself doing a buck-twenty-five in NO time.
But what bothered me was that cheap-GM-FWD-feeling, a feeling that the front end was going to fall off the car, for lack of a better description, no matter whether you were driving 35 or 125. Almost EVERY. SINGLE. FWD GM vehicle I ever drove felt this way…even the new Cadillac DTSs I’d drive on business travel a decade ago.
And that, respectfully, was the turnoff. The thing just felt cheap. I SO wanted to like it, and couldn’t.
But that’s me.
I must qualify that the GM’s I’ve driven on newer architecture, like my wife’s ’11 Equinox, are a delight. For that reason I’m almost afraid to drive a new Impala, I’d most certainly want one and can’t really justify it right now. The older Tahoe I’m driving (2002) is a better fit for my needs anyway.
I’ll say this. When my oldest son’s ’93 Accord finally bites the dust…yes, it’s 23 years old but these were the unbreakable years for Honda…I only hope he’d be willing to take one of these latter-day W-bodies for a spin. He’s at a point in his life where appliance-reliability trumps everything else.
Your lead-in about driving at night in a thunderstorm led me to recall a 4500 mile drive I made in the identical car in 2008, from Boston to Chicago to Florida to Boston. The car was perfectly competent, although it tracked down the road a bit more, ah, vaguely than my Jetta. I didn’t particularly mind, until I passed a semi on I-75 between Cincinnati and Knoxville on a rainy night. I’m pretty sure my grip imprints were still on the steering wheel when the next customer rented it.
I don’t think this Impala is the only car with an unmarked gearshift gate, I’m pretty sure most domestic cars are done the same way. Think about it, isn’t it better to train folks to keep their eyes upward rather than looking at the floor? On top of which there is less likelihood of hitting the wrong gear when you are looking straight ahead instead of down and to an angle.
As far as the “useless” console, the older Tauruses and Sables gave you a choice of floor or column shift. I’m sure there are advocates for both. My feeling is that a console is useless if there is significant storage space in the console.
As far as some controls being shared with a truck….I guess you could say old habits die hard.
This one just screams “rental car”. Not really my thing.
I think long running platforms are a virtue, not objects for derision. It used to be a selling point, no change for the sake of change or planned obsolescence. Volvo, VW and AMC turned this to their advantage both in amortized costs and in advertising.
The benefits to the consumer are great: parts availability for many years, bugs were worked out long ago, proven mechanicals, consistent build quality and commonality of many parts across a manufacturer’s lines.
I have no problem with the steering wheel and the radio and surround being used on another, unrelated product. In fact I think it’s very clever.
It’s still a valid idea, but in this era of “gut jobs” for perfectly usable kitchens and bathrooms to replace them with the trendiest surfaces and appliances, the newest bling is the best bling and tech for tech’s sake, there seems no incentive for manufacturers to keep a product in production for more than a few years.
The current Impala I have found to be wonderfully clean as a design. Another virtue as it will wear well for many years, unlike the new Impala. Or the last generation Sonata.
My brother recently purchased a 14 ex-fleet Impala. It was quiet, rode well, was hitting 90 before he was aware of it on a trip to Logan UT to visit my niece. It was well assembled and nicely trimmed. A twin of Zackman’s 12, pictured above.
I did have to sort of step down into it, though and the seats were lower than I would have imagined, but it wasn’t bad. Ahh, the things one becomes aware of when dealing with arthritis.
And recently, when the ONION was in for the power steering recall, I rode in an Impala taxi to go pick it up. I have no idea how many miles were on it, but it was tight as a drum and quiet and smooth.
Thumbs up for the many who posted about their contempt for consoles. It’s become a thing with me, like fixed rear windows and frameless door glass. It’s a definite deal killer. Even though the console in the ONION is modest, my right knee still hits the center stack. I hate it.
Ironic that FWD is said to maximize space, yet these consoles take up more space with every generation of make and model, both in height and width.
I’d PAY for a console delete option.
Yet another virtue that was widely advertised way back when: the minimal driveline hump and the flat floor.
But with unibody designs, there seems to be a hump in the center of the floor anyway with FWD.
From what I’ve read it’s used for running electrical and for platform stiffness. But the Eldorado/Toronado had perfectly flat floors. Probably all in the packages, I imagine. Still it’s nice to dream !
I remember that the Toronado and Eldorado floors were flat. I was somewhat surprised to find a hump in my 86 Electra T-type. My 2014 CTS, which is rear wheel drive has a big hump making the center position in the rear only good for a smaller person (like an 8 year old).
The Eldo and Toro bodies sat on a full frame, so the exhaust and such had room to run to the back without a tunnel. It’s pretty much impossible to to a unibody with a flat floor, in terms of structural strength and a place to run the exhaust and such to the back.
The CTS’s dual exhausts run down the center with the drive shaft on top of them. So there would not be much room between the front seats for anything but a console.
ONION? 🙂
Saturn [ON] ION. It’s just so appropriate, it stuck as a nickname. It’s white as well. Some would say the styling makes their eyes water.
And upon close contact, sometimes you weep…
Rented one of these a few years ago and found it surprisingly pleasant to drive. Roomy enough, too – although I’m only 5’8″” and my passengers were about the same.
The design is dull, but definitely an improvement over the 2000 model’s attempt to resurrect the ’62’s tail treatment. That just didn’t work on a much narrower car.
These really are the A-body Cutlass Ciera/Century of our time – the car that simply wouldn’t die. Although I wonder just how much fleet business is left – NYPD, for example used to field a ton of these as neighborhood patrol cars; now they’ve moved on to Fusion hybrids, with Chargers for the highway patrol units.
Oakland County police is the only major police agencies having a majority of W-Body Impala as the regular marked vehicle.
Actually, there are still a lot of these Impalas in use by the NYPD. I see them all of the time marked and unmarked. You can always tell an unmarked Impala is NYPD because they always seem to have one of the daytime running lights out.
Many police Impalas also have the key slot in the trunk lid, something not available even to the Impala LS.
Robert Swartz wrote: “The design is dull, but definitely an improvement over the 2000 model’s attempt to resurrect the ’62’s tail treatment. That just didn’t work on a much narrower car.”
Oh the ’06 is dull alright. Shares more in common
with a resurrected Lumina than with any
Impala. I’ll take the 2000-2005 model over
the 2006-12? for looks any day. And those
round tail lights were a very thoughtful ode
to the early ’60s Impalas, narrow W-platform
or not.
That rounded taillight display always made me think Batman due to the way the overall housing was shaped.
I didn’t like the 2000’s when they came out, but they’ve grown on me. They weren’t bad looking and they were distinctive.
In some areas, it’s the only vehicle you can see 5 at one time when you look at the street.
From the article to the comments, it seems GM may have finally built its Camry.
I believe the current retail model – much more handsome, also resolves some of the backseat legroom issues of the current fleet only version.
Count me as a fan of the Impala since its debut as a FWD car. The current fleet car has always been a bit too bland, but otherwise the modern Impala has had few vices and many merits.
A new (retail) Impala is on my short list when we are in the market again.
Following an incident involving a patch of black ice and the front of my Jeep kissing a concrete barrier at 50 mph (amazingly, it cranked right up and got me home even with a bent tie rod, both airbags blown and a sheered transmission mount…another story for another time though), I had one of these Impalas as a rental for about 3 weeks. It was pretty much identical except it was the typical dark charcoal grey.
I cant say I disagree with any of the raw facts presented here, but its amazing how different perspectives can be. Sure, this car got me from point A to point B with absolutely zero fuss. However that meant zero fun, excitement or even a laugh at its expense. I straight up HATED that car with a pure passion and for no other than the fact that it was purely devoid of any personality whatsoever. If I had to characterize this car as a person, it would come off like some nameless, faceless government beauracrat. Just something youd barely notice. Even being seen in this car was an embarrassment although I cant imagine itd be any worse than another midsize bread and butter sedan.
I guess appliance-like practicality and sensibility are qualities completely lost on me because I was ECSTATIC to get back my noisy, rough riding, gas swilling rowdy Jeep.
I’ve never hated the idea of a center console, per se, but I’m surprised to learn that there are no domestic sedan offerings available with a split bench, column shift and fold-down armrest. I guess I haven’t shopped new cars in earnest for a good many years now. That “Old School” configuration has its place, and its charms. The last vehicle I drove with a column shift was my ’03 Durango, which had a center console, albeit not a monstrous one. That Durango was the first car I ever owned with a column mounted automatic, and I must admit that I learned to really like it better than a console lever. I’m a bit stodgy when it comes to new technology, but as someone else posted recently, I’m all for the gear selector knob. I can’t figure out why we need a big center console to house an 8″X6″ (minimum) gear selector lever when it’s not really a functional lever anyway.
With paddle shifters there is no need for a console mounted shift lever. A set of push buttons would work just as well mounted on the dash somewhere. Pushing the drive button could change the mode from drive to manual or back, so only 4 buttons are really needed or a rotary switch.
Strange how a fleet car comes with “wood” and floor shifter with console. And column shift is a $250.00 option? When I bought my base ’04 Titan, column shifter is standard and wood trim and floor shifter/console are both only on uplevel trims. I do like the column shifter and fold down console/armrest arrangement better, the split bench also has a (lap belt only) 6th person position seating with the console folded up as well.
Family member just bought an ’07 Cobalt, and the radio and AC controls are also similar to the Impala as well. Looks like a rental car special. The 2.2 4 cylinder 4 speed auto really scoots this little car quite quickly. It has a clunk from the right front, probably a strut bar or control arm bushing. Just took it in for the ignition cylinder, ignition lock, and steering motor recall, they had not been done yet. Older gent owned it, had to give up driving due to poor vision. But no dents and the car looks almost new in and out. It looks to have been well taken care of. 125k miles and paid $2000.00. Low resale value on these cars, hopefully it won’t have a lot of problems. Time will tell.
The “wood” photo’s nicely, and does not look bad. But it does surround the vents, making it look overdone. My CTS has no wood, real or otherwise. They used carbon fiber instead.
The fake wood treatment in my ’04 was done in a more convincing manner than having it surround vents.
Regardless, to me its practically a must to have some sort of wood trim in my cars even if it is fake. It just makes it look warmer.
Having a console came in handy for me recently when my 15 year old cars’ BCM gave up the ghost. It was quite simple to pry up the trim panel surrounding the shift lever to disengage the lock on the shifter. I could, at least, get the car into drive to get it to my mechanic. I would not have known where to start if the car had a column shift.
I remember when the ’06 refresh arrived, and I thought to myself how much better looking it was than the 2000 – ’05 models. It’s weird to think these were once somewhat novel, as they are positively everywhere today. That said, I’ve never driven one – but I’d like to think some used, former fleet Impalas of this generation will provide some family with inexpensive, reliable transportation in the secondhand market.
And very nicely done article, Shafer.
I own a 2005 Impala, bought it new….and I prefer the looks of mine compared to the 2006 to 2012 version….The 2006+ model looks more bland….They took away some of the character lines in the fenders and rear quarter panels and took away the round taillights…..The 2014 refresh makes the Impala look better than the 2006 version…until you look at the back end…..weird shaped taillights and if it were not for the bow tie logo on the trunk, I would think I was following one of the lookalike foreign cars out there….
My Impala is black with the rear spoiler and the apperance package…It also has round taillights….although not 6 tailights like my Dad’s 65 Impala had.
The only Impala of this generation that I’ve driven is a 2006 SS with the 5.3-liter V8 (at GM’s Auto Show in Motion, sadly a thing of the past). That car’s high trim level probably elevated my expectations a bit. Still, I definitely walked away disappointed. The V8 made good noises, but the throttle pedal was unnecessarily light and jumpy, and the front end lifted and weaved just like the supercharged 2005 Impala SS I’d driven before – hunting around, as if sniffing for a clear path ahead. The low-effort, low-feel steering had a weak return-to-center motion, and the leather seats seemed coated in Crisco, such was my sloshing between the door panel and the console between the cones. Finally, as is well documented above, the materials and switchgear had a depressingly institutional feel, despite this being the ‘special’ model.
Overall, that 2006 SS gave me the impression that it would have made an exceptional new-for-2001 car. As GM was then wont to do, it seemed the company had spent half a decade working on what should have been its first draft. GM had also made the W-body indestructably reliable by then, but my personal feelings were colored by a 1994 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme that grenaded its 3.1-liter V6 at just over 60,000 carefully-driven miles.
Okay, so I probably got too amped up about the SS performance promises. But if you’d have been happy with a base Impala all along, my point is this. If all you really want is mechanically conservative, roomy, comfortable, predictable, reliable transportation, the terminally boring Toyota Camry gets this stuff right on day one. It’s hopelessly soulless, but no less so than an Impala LS. And at least the Camry is assembled in the US, whereas all Impalas of this vintage were built in Canada. (No offense to my neighbors in the North!)
I’ve had lots of experience with this version of the Impala and I must say, it’s one of the more comfortable domestics around. The military command where I work had several as fleet vehicles, including the car for the CO and XO. They’d let me drive it to run command related errands and I enjoyed driving them – good acceleration, comfortable and smooth-riding. Despite some low-rent plastics here and there (and really, what car doesn’t have those nowadays), the car felt solid and were pretty much rattle-free, which is more than I can say for the Fusion Hybrids they got replaced by. I know a guy who got an SS version of this and he loves it. Would love to ride in that.
Since buying a few cars from the local buy here pay here lot, I have become friends with a lot of the folks that work there and those who frequent them. I have been asked if I would go down the street to help them pick up a car from the local auction a few times. Each time I have assisted it was to pick up a 9th gen Impala(06-16). The dealerships love these as they make great used cars that you can pick up from a dealer only auction and turn around and make a good amount of money on them quickly. Folks love these things. I think 20 years from now, these will be considered a cockroach on the road much like the 82-96 A Body.