Other steering problem on the 2002 Chevrolet Impala
When other steering problem gets reported
Owners of the 2002 Chevrolet Impala report other steering problem at a median of 50,000 miles. A quarter of the reports come in before 35,000 miles and a quarter after 105,000 miles, from 14 reports that carried an odometer reading.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 95,000 miles. It is the 16th most-reported problem on this model year.
The mileage distribution
The reported range runs from 15,000 miles at the tenth percentile to 125,000 miles at the ninetieth, a spread of 110,595 miles across the middle 80% of reports.
A spread this wide points at use rather than design. Towing, climate, service history and city mileage all move a failure like this, so the median is a weak guide to any individual car.
29% of the dated reports were filed under 36,000 miles.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 15,400 miles | 35,991 miles | 51,993 miles | 106,000 miles | 125,995 miles |
Read the 10th percentile as “one report in ten arrived this early”. Exact figures are shown in this table because it is the table of record; everywhere else on the site they are rounded to the precision the sample can carry.
What a percentile can and cannot tell you here
These five numbers describe the readings owners gave, in order. The median is the middle one: half the reports arrived below it. The 10th and 90th are the edges of the bulk of the distribution, and the distance between them is the part worth reading. A tight spread — say 70,000 to 95,000 miles — points at something that wears out on a schedule, and the schedule is knowable. A wide one, 20,000 to 190,000, points at a fault that hits some cars and never troubles others, which means the mileage on the listing in front of you tells you very little about your odds.
What these figures are not is a survival curve. Every reading here comes from a car whose owner filed a complaint, so the sample contains only failures: it cannot say what share of the fleet made it past 150,000 miles untouched, because those owners had nothing to report. Nor is the mileage the moment of failure — it is the odometer reading as recalled at the time of filing, which may be weeks later and is sometimes rounded to the nearest ten thousand by the person typing it.
Percentiles are shown at all only once 8 readings exist for the vehicle and mode. Below that the middle of a handful of numbers is noise wearing a decimal point, so the figures are withheld rather than dressed up.
What happens, and what it costs
Putting it right typically runs $350–$2,400 at an independent US shop. That range is an editorial estimate held in this site's failure-mode catalogue, not a figure from NHTSA, and it is a repair cost rather than a diagnosis cost.
The same failure on other years
The same failure is reported on 20 model years of this car. It shows up earliest on the 2017, at a median of 30,000 miles, and latest on the 2000 at 110,000 miles.
By volume the 2014 carries the most reports, with 90; the 2002 has 21. A mode that appears across most years of a model is usually a design choice rather than a bad batch.
If one year stands out to the left, that is the year to avoid; if the whole line sits at a similar mileage, this is wear rather than a defect in one production run.
Tick median reported mileage Solid middle half of reports Faint 10th to 90th percentile Colour how bad the failure is when it happens
What owners wrote
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint narratives, trimmed for length. The mileage is the one the owner gave.
The steering on my 2002 chevrolet impala ls has been giving me problems since I first purchased it in november of 2002 with 5,000 miles on it. It feels like something is loose in the front end and the steering is terrible. I have had the vehicle at the dealer at least three times in the past year for the problem and it has yet to be resolved. I am very concerned that whatever is loose or defective in the front end is going to cause me to lose control of the vehicle on the freeway at some point. My vehicle only has 29,000 miles and it should not be having these problems. *la
Clicking or clunking sound in the front end when you turn to go around a corner. It sounds like something is loose. I have called the dealer about the problem. They were very much aware of it. They have had to replace the faulty parts quite often. My problem is that I am over my warranty in miles. This is also not just a problem on the 2002 models. It has been a problem before. Because this has been and on going problem I feel all vehicles with this problem should be recalled. Thank you for your time. *jb
I noticed that my transmission shifts very hard when it warms up. I took to chevrolet dealer, they changed my transmission mounts, and dog bones. I paid quite a few dollars and my vehicle still has this same problem. The vehicle has 85,000 miles, but I,ve maintained the vehicle very well. I,ve also had problems with my steering play.the dealer changed some parts in the assembly which is better. I'm a mechanic and I don't beleive that there was anything wrong with my drivetrain mounts, but it's in the transmission. I paid alot of money and still have the same problem. Since owning the car I had problems with the drivers window. The motor was changed once under warranty now it's doing the same thing again. The problem is it will go down but won't go up sometimes. *ak
Also reported on the 2002 Chevrolet Impala
No-start or intermittent start failure
Other electrical problem
Other engine problem
Other lighting problem
Control module (ECM/PCM/BCM) failure
Headlight failure or clouding
How far this goes
Complaints are voluntary, so 21 is a floor and not a count of affected cars. Mileages are typed in by owners and cluster on round numbers. And the mode itself is assigned by software reading the complaint text, which is reliable in bulk and fallible one report at a time.
Questions this page answers
At what mileage does other steering problem happen on the 2002 Chevrolet Impala?
Across 14 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 50,000 miles. A quarter were filed before 35,000 miles and a quarter after 105,000 miles. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.
How common is other steering problem on the 2002 Chevrolet Impala?
21 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 0.2 per 1,000 vehicles. Complaints are voluntary, so this is a floor rather than a count of affected cars.
What this is and is not. These are the mileages at which owners chose to complain to a federal agency, which is not the same as the mileage at which the part fails on every car. It skews toward failures that happened outside warranty, cost real money, or frightened someone. It is still the only public dataset that carries failure mileage at all, and the shape of a few hundred readings is informative even when a single one is not. Methodology · JSON · this failure on other cars
Source Owner complaints and recall records published by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, model years 1996–2027 Figures rebuilt Published by AtWhatMileage How every figure is computed