No-start or intermittent start failure on the 2005 Chevrolet Impala
2 fires 2 of the 36 reports for this failure mention a crash, a fire, an injury or a death. Those are the owner's words on the complaint form, not a verified finding, and one report can mention more than one.
When no-start or intermittent start failure gets reported
Owners of the 2005 Chevrolet Impala report no-start or intermittent start failure at a median of 120,000 miles. A quarter of the reports come in before 75,000 miles and a quarter after 150,000 miles, from 22 reports that carried an odometer reading.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 88,000 miles. It is the 4th most-reported problem on this model year.
The mileage distribution
The reported range runs from 60,000 miles at the tenth percentile to 160,000 miles at the ninetieth, a spread of 100,079 miles across the middle 80% of reports.
When the reports scatter this far, the mileage is telling you about how these cars were driven more than about the part itself.
5% of the dated reports were filed under 36,000 miles.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 59,921 miles | 77,000 miles | 121,000 miles | 150,000 miles | 160,000 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
Of these reports, 2 a fire is mentioned. Owners write their own complaints and the agency does not verify them, so read this as what the reports say happened rather than as a confirmed count.
Putting it right typically runs $200–$1,800 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 15 model years of this car. It shows up earliest on the 2014, at a median of 65,000 miles, and latest on the 2011 at 130,000 miles.
By volume the 2002 carries the most reports, with 122; the 2005 has 36. 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.
I have a 2005 chevy impala. About 2-3 times weekly, my car will not start properly. I turn the key to crank the vehicle, and it turns over without firing up. Sometimes it may do this one time, at others it may do it 4-5 times. It is very irritating, and sounds horrible. I am not sure if this is damaging to my vehicle in any way or not. I have taken it to the dealership about 3-4 times since I purchased it. They have told me that there is nothing wrong with it. They say that gm has installed a chip in the ignition that will cause this to happen. I do not believe that is true, and cannot get a response from gm. I have sent them emails, and have gotten replies but nothing that helps. I would appreciate it if you could give me some help of any kind. Perhaps you have heard of this problem already and know of a solution. Thanks so much. *jb
Tl*the contact owns a 2005 chevrolet impala. The contact noticed that a security warning indicator would sporadically illuminate on the instrument panel and the vehicle failed to start. She took the vehicle to the dealer, but a diagnostic test was not performed. The technician stated that it would cost approximately $600 to have the security system re-wired. The vehicle has not yet been repaired. The failure mileage was 83,000 and current mileage was 86,776.
2005 chevy impala often times the vehicle will not start. When this happens the security light on the dash blinks, and, after I wait about 10 minutes, it will start. Upon searching the internet for a solution it is obvious that gm knows there are problems with their "pass-lock" anti theft system but will not acknowledge it or repair it for anyone. My mechanic replaced the battery and found no other problems. Suggests I take it to gm dealer. *tr
Also reported on the 2005 Chevrolet Impala
Other electrical problem
Instrument cluster or gauge failure
Other powertrain problem
Other engine problem
Other fuel system problem
Other lighting problem
How far this goes
Complaints are voluntary, so 36 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 no-start or intermittent start failure happen on the 2005 Chevrolet Impala?
Across 22 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 120,000 miles. A quarter were filed before 75,000 miles and a quarter after 150,000 miles. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.
How common is no-start or intermittent start failure on the 2005 Chevrolet Impala?
36 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 0.4 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