No-start or intermittent start failure on the 2010 Chevrolet Impala
When no-start or intermittent start failure gets reported
Owners of the 2010 Chevrolet Impala report no-start or intermittent start failure at a median of 80,000 miles. A quarter of the reports come in before 65,000 miles and a quarter after 130,000 miles, from 17 reports that carried an odometer reading.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 88,000 miles. It is the 9th most-reported problem on this model year.
The mileage distribution
The reported range runs from 45,000 miles at the tenth percentile to 130,000 miles at the ninetieth, a spread of 85,000 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.
0% of the dated reports were filed under 36,000 miles.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 45,000 miles | 65,000 miles | 80,000 miles | 128,083 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
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 2010 has 20. 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.
While traveling away from home I parked my car and the key is stuck in the ignition. This is a safety hazard due to I had to leave the keys in the car. The next morning the car would not start due to the battery being drained because the key was not in the off position. Therefore I had to be troubled with finding jumper cables while away from home or be towed to the nearest chevrolet dealer (whom I might add did not have a technician that could fix it on a saturday morning). I called another chevrolet dealer in another county close by and their service department is closed on saturday. So therefore I have had to either leave my vehicle running, loosen the battery cables or be close by to another vehicle that can give me a jump. (more inconvenience and safety hazards for a female) I notice while researching the problem online that this problem has occurred on the impala since the year 2000. It is now 2013 and the problem has not been recalled or improved over the years. I feel this not only is an inconvenience to me (your customer) but also is a safety feature that has failed to exceed my expectations of driving a chevrolet…
Good morning I just would like to say this is my second vehicle from chevy but this vehicle has really placed me in a bad bind. First the airbag light comes on and off for the passed month, next the key becomes stuck in the ignition then it went out had to replace that. Traction control light comes on comes over board with message saying," engine power is reduced then message states car shutting down " in the middle of driving . This last time I had my new born grandbaby in the car driving on expressway going 60speed limit car just shut offcars flying pass me I was really terrified for my safety and my grand child. This has occurred off and on since last year. Last year I had taken it back to all star chevy in miss.they stated they couldn't find anything cost me a good penny when they stated that the warranty was out. Now the car will not start. I have been replacing alot of electrical issues with this car for the last year but this time is the last time my grand baby and myself could have lost our life" now no car to get back and forth to work I have been really patient with chevy with this car I still have all my receipts from…
Good morning I just would like to say this is my second vehicle from chevy but this vehicle has really placed me in a bad bind. First the airbag light comes on and off for the passed month, next the key becomes stuck in the ignition then it went out had to replace that. Traction control light comes on comes over board with message saying," engine power is reduced then message states car shutting down " in the middle of driving . This last time I had my new born grandbaby in the car driving on expressway going 60speed limit car just shut offcars flying pass me I was really terrified for my safety and my grand child. This has occurred off and on since last year. Last year I had taken it back to all star chevy in miss.they stated they couldn't find anything cost me a good penny when they stated that the warranty was out. Now the car will not start. I have been replacing alot of electrical issues with this car for the last year but this time is the last time my grand baby and myself could have lost our life" now no car to get back and forth to work I have been really patient with chevy with this car I still have all my receipts from…
Also reported on the 2010 Chevrolet Impala
Other electrical problem
Other engine problem
Other driver assistance problem
Other powertrain problem
Other speed control problem
Airbag warning light or occupant sensor fault
How far this goes
Complaints are voluntary, so 20 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 2010 Chevrolet Impala?
Across 17 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 130,000 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 2010 Chevrolet Impala?
20 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 0.3 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