Cruise control failure on the 2007 Chevrolet Impala
3 crashes 3 injuries 6 of the 16 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 cruise control failure gets reported
Owners of the 2007 Chevrolet Impala report cruise control failure at a median of 75,000 miles. A quarter of the reports come in before 5,000 miles and a quarter after 105,000 miles, from 16 reports that carried an odometer reading.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 72,000 miles. It is the 14th most-reported problem on this model year.
The mileage distribution
The reported range runs from 5,000 miles at the tenth percentile to 130,000 miles at the ninetieth, a spread of 127,000 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.
31% of the dated reports were filed under 36,000 miles.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3,000 miles | 4,275 miles | 77,350 miles | 103,750 miles | 130,000 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, 3 a crash and 3 an injury are 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–$1,400 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 16 model years of this car. It shows up earliest on the 2018, at a median of 200 miles, and latest on the 2008 at 160,000 miles.
By volume the 2011 carries the most reports, with 18; the 2007 has 16. 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.
Tl*the contact owns a 2007 chevrolet impala. While driving 65 MPH downhill with the cruise control activated, the vehicle automatically accelerated to 85 MPH. The dealer was unable to diagnose the cause of failure. The manufacturer advised the contact to read the owner's manual. The current mileage is 5,300 and failure mileage was 4,700. Updated 08/07/07. *jb
Shortly after purchasing the vehicle, electrical system and on-board computer issues started occurring: tire monitor system (TPMS) in-op. Warnings randomly appearing in dash: check tire monitor system. Check left/right rear tire pressure. Tpms did not warn of a flat tire even though a significant amount of air was lost. Increasing no. Of issues with electrical system: keyless entry fails. Check airbag warning appears. Check A/C warning in dash. Ambient temperature gauge erratic. Compass showing n (or ne/nw but always incorrect heading). Cruise control will not resume at times or set incorrect speed (a few m/h higher or lower). Speed has increased on its own. Once, I noticed the speed at over 80m/h when I had set the cruise control at 70. Dash displaying warnings quickly and yellow warning lights flash briefly, which is extremely distracting and warnings cannot be read. Tpms light comes on routinely after driving for 1-3 hours. Warnings may flash at any time. Took the vehicle in six times at the request of gm. Some parts were replaced but electrical issues keep increasing and original issues cannot be fixed. Keyless entry working…
Shortly after purchasing the vehicle, electrical system and on-board computer issues started occurring: tire monitor system (TPMS) in-op. Warnings randomly appearing in dash: check tire monitor system. Check left/right rear tire pressure. Tpms did not warn of a flat tire even though a significant amount of air was lost. Increasing no. Of issues with electrical system: keyless entry fails. Check airbag warning appears. Check A/C warning in dash. Ambient temperature gauge erratic. Compass showing n (or ne/nw but always incorrect heading). Cruise control will not resume at times or set incorrect speed (a few m/h higher or lower). Speed has increased on its own. Once, I noticed the speed at over 80m/h when I had set the cruise control at 70. Dash displaying warnings quickly and yellow warning lights flash briefly, which is extremely distracting and warnings cannot be read. Tpms light comes on routinely after driving for 1-3 hours. Warnings may flash at any time. Took the vehicle in six times at the request of gm. Some parts were replaced but electrical issues keep increasing and original issues cannot be fixed. Keyless entry working…
Also reported on the 2007 Chevrolet Impala
Other electrical problem
Other engine problem
Other suspension problem
Other wheel or tire problem
Other powertrain problem
Other steering problem
How far this goes
Complaints are voluntary, so 16 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 cruise control failure happen on the 2007 Chevrolet Impala?
Across 16 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 75,000 miles. A quarter were filed before 5,000 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 cruise control failure on the 2007 Chevrolet Impala?
16 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