2004 Chevy Impala LS

Discussions about other vehicles other than the Vibe & Matrix.
Post Reply
lannvouivre
Posts: 1601
Joined: Thu Jun 09, 2011 1:00 pm
Location: Texas yay

2004 Chevy Impala LS

Post by lannvouivre »

My granddad is having to move to a retirement home and is no longer allowed (able) to drive. I pounced and asked to buy it from Dad so that my BF has something to drive.

It's got 93,000 miles on it, which is way lower than what I thought got put on it during its days as a company car. Overall, the interior isn't in bad shape, and the engine *sounds* alright. I don't know if it's got ABS and traction control yet, but I do know it has the 3.8L V6. The power steering ran low for a long time and the pump still whines over some turns, but otherwise feels perfectly normal. The engine is just covered in the slow-seepage dirty oil film, but experiences from the past say this is pretty normal for GMs...or at least for the ones we worked on. Overall, I'd rate the maintenance as "just enough to keep it from keeling over," since I know my dad's company kept up with it even after gdad bought it.

Oh, and it feels like it's got a little miss at idle. I still need to go check for codes, but it sure feels like the cars I've sat in and watched the computer-reader that had misses. There's no check-engine light on, but I think the bulb is burnt-out. I have to see if it lights up on startup tomorrow.

The highlights:
The car is scraped everywhere. Not a surprise; cars were more "work" objects than companions to my granddad.
It was in at least one wreck, and the body shop did a terrible job. Like, "just paint it after we assemble it" bad.
The interior of the car is the second filthiest I have ever been in. I'll be ok with cleaning it, but I was very impressed even with my experience in others' vehicles.
The suspension is disturbingly squishy. I feel like I'm driving a boat with all its body sway, and it fish-flops over speedbumps. Is this normal for impalas and other vehicles in its class? It does not feel safe at all.

Pictures to come later. Hopefully Dad won't change his mind about it. He enthusiastically agreed to $500, then an hour later realized it might actually be worth more than that. :P

The only thing I'm really complaining about here is that the suspension doesn't feel right at all. I'm very worried that the springs are worn down and that the shocks may also be bad. I will conduct tests at a later time. I'm very worried about it because we desperately need another car, but we are recovering from a bad financial shock. Obviously, I'll be driving his car every couple of days long enough to make sure it's not just sitting and accumulating more maintenance expenses, but I just really hope the suspension is still sound. Everything else is just kinda funny and not a big deal.
Last edited by lannvouivre on Thu Jan 16, 2014 9:28 pm, edited 1 time in total.
"If you don't love me at my diddliest, you don't deserve me at my doodliest." - User ktluvscricket of reddit
User avatar
Chiadog
Posts: 971
Joined: Thu Aug 09, 2012 9:41 am
Location: Abrams, wisconsin

Re: 2002 Chevy Impala LS

Post by Chiadog »

lannvouivre wrote:The suspension is disturbingly squishy. I feel like I'm driving a boat with all its body sway, and it fish-flops over speedbumps. Is this normal for impalas and other vehicles in its class? It does not feel safe at all.
Check your front strut springs ASAP. Had to replace a broken strut (spring) on a friends 2002 Impala last year. Car had the same loose feeling as you describe. Replaced with a used unit - no problems. This car has a soft suspension, but not as "soft" as you describe.
Good luck
jake75
Posts: 4792
Joined: Sun Feb 09, 2003 1:33 pm
Location: Columbus, OH

Re: 2002 Chevy Impala LS

Post by jake75 »

Maybe you should offer a little more. Scrap value for a car is probably arouned $350. Take it to CarMax for a free no obligation quote. That should reassure your granddad. If it is more than $500, pay him that. It would still be a bargain as CarMax steals used cars from people every day.
2009 Vibe 1.8L Carbon Gray AT Power Pkg 1/12/092003 Vibe 1.8L Neptune AT Mono Power Pkg 1/27/03 [sold 2/2/09]2007 T&C SWB 7/31/07 "Broke people stay broke by living like they're rich. Rich people stay rich by living like they're broke."
lannvouivre
Posts: 1601
Joined: Thu Jun 09, 2011 1:00 pm
Location: Texas yay

Re: 2002 Chevy Impala LS

Post by lannvouivre »

Thanks chiadog, although I'm unhappy to hear that. We just can't afford springs right now.
jake75 wrote:Maybe you should offer a little more. Scrap value for a car is probably arouned $350. Take it to CarMax for a free no obligation quote. That should reassure your granddad. If it is more than $500, pay him that. It would still be a bargain as CarMax steals used cars from people every day.
My dad's the one selling it; he and my aunt both said they'll be happy to sell it to me at that price as a favor to me anyway. Dad's mostly just a little embarrassed. Driving my BF everywhere kinda makes me feel like I have no freedom and made the past four or five years slowly eat at my patience. Having the car right in front of his nose has got him motivated to get a license.

Another thing is that my gdad actually did want to leave me something before his Alzheimer's started getting really bad. Of course, he had Alzheimer's at the time he said that, so I don't know if that was during a lucid moment or not.
"If you don't love me at my diddliest, you don't deserve me at my doodliest." - User ktluvscricket of reddit
lannvouivre
Posts: 1601
Joined: Thu Jun 09, 2011 1:00 pm
Location: Texas yay

Re: 2004 Chevy Impala LS

Post by lannvouivre »

Here are some pictures:
Image
Image
^ Door gap
Image
^ This is how it SHOULD look.
Image
Image
Image
"If you don't love me at my diddliest, you don't deserve me at my doodliest." - User ktluvscricket of reddit
User avatar
ColonelPanic
Posts: 8419
Joined: Sun Jan 05, 2003 8:48 am
Location: South Central Indiana

Re: 2004 Chevy Impala LS

Post by ColonelPanic »

Holy crap, that's filthy! :shock:
03 Vibe base. Born 10/14/2002 06:07 AM
Auto, Moon & Tunes, power package. 143k
Neptune/dying clearcoat/primer grey. :lol:

Image

'21 Elantra Limited - 2.0L/IVT
'15 Escape SE - 1.6L EcoBoost (hers)
Image Image
lannvouivre
Posts: 1601
Joined: Thu Jun 09, 2011 1:00 pm
Location: Texas yay

Re: 2004 Chevy Impala LS

Post by lannvouivre »

ColonelPanic wrote:Holy (removed), that's filthy! :shock:
I warned you! The steering wheel was pretty much black before I cleaned it. I swear, he and my dad do not love their cars at all.

Today Zach and I took Imba Impala for a drive, and while pulling to a stop at an intersection, the TRACTION ON light came on briefly, the pedal did "weird stuff", and some hydraulic-sounding motor groaned like a miserable zombie. Zach declined to let me drive it home and put it through its paces (which would have really helped me figure out what's up). Tomorrow, perhaps. Probably not.
"If you don't love me at my diddliest, you don't deserve me at my doodliest." - User ktluvscricket of reddit
Post Reply