Other visibility problem on the 2008 Chevrolet Impala
1 injury 1 of the 12 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 other visibility problem gets reported
Owners of the 2008 Chevrolet Impala report other visibility problem at a median of 80,000 miles. A quarter of the reports come in before 65,000 miles and a quarter after 95,000 miles, from 8 reports that carried an odometer reading.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 75,000 miles. It is the 21st most-reported problem on this model year.
The mileage distribution
The reported range runs from 40,000 miles at the tenth percentile to 125,000 miles at the ninetieth, a spread of 82,200 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.
13% of the dated reports were filed under 36,000 miles.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 41,500 miles | 64,375 miles | 79,500 miles | 93,175 miles | 123,700 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, 1 an injury 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 $150–$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 2011, at a median of 500 miles, and latest on the 2001 at 105,000 miles.
By volume the 2011 carries the most reports, with 26; the 2008 has 12. 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 drove to work at 8 am, sat in my car at lunch around noon, and when I left work at 5 pm, saw an 8-12 inch crack on the bottom driver side of my windshield. Once returning home and getting a better look at the crack, there is no sign of impact or chip from any rock. The crack is smooth and seems to stem from the edge of my windshield and there is another mark within the glass that looks like another crack may be coming. When I spoke with the dealership, one of the people tried to pass it off as a chip from a rock that spread, but there is no mark from a rock in the area and it's also very low down on the windshield-hard to believe a rock could hit at the base of my windshield and not leave a mark. I am currently in talks with chevy and the dealership to have this matter taken care of. This is not something that I caused, but rather something with my windshield I believe as do others who have looked at the window. I have heard that there was a bulletin on the 2008 impala's windshield indicating that stress cracks may occur. *tr
Tl* the contact owns a 2008 chevrolet impala. While the vehicle was parked the contact closed the front passenger side window and did not notice the passengers finger was in the window while it closed. The passenger was transported to the hospital and lost the pinky finger on the right hand. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and stated they would return the contacts call. The vehicle was not repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 49,000. Updated 09/21/11 *bf
While driving I noticed rear window was still covered with ice,the rear defroster was not working although the switch was on and light was illuminated,after that I searched internet sites and found that a connector on the passenger side has commonly burnt up so I checked mine and sure enough it is,another guy at work has the same thing on his impala,currently car is at dealer being insp but they have said so far they won't cover repair,this is a fire hazard inside the passenger compartment of the car. *tr
Also reported on the 2008 Chevrolet Impala
Other electrical problem
Other engine problem
Other suspension problem
Other powertrain problem
Other body or interior problem
Other speed control problem
How far this goes
Complaints are voluntary, so 12 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 visibility problem happen on the 2008 Chevrolet Impala?
Across 8 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 80,000 miles. A quarter were filed before 65,000 miles and a quarter after 95,000 miles. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.
How common is other visibility problem on the 2008 Chevrolet Impala?
12 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