Other visibility problem on the 2010 Chevrolet Impala
1 fire 1 of the 7 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.
Only 6 reports for this mode came with an odometer reading, which is too few for percentiles to mean anything. The page is here because someone linked to it; treat the figures as anecdotes, and see the full report for this year instead.
When other visibility problem gets reported
There are 7 reports of other visibility problem on the 2010 Chevrolet Impala, 6 with a mileage attached. That is too few to place the failure on the odometer with any confidence.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 75,000 miles. It is the 23rd most-reported problem on this model year.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | — | 60,750 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 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 $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 2010 has 7. 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.
My key is stuck in the ignition and will not turn back to the off position so I can get the key out. I have to disconnect my battery to keep the battery from draining completely when not in use and reconnect my battery when I need to drive my car, and I cannot lock my car because of this. I feel this is a safety issue because I could get injured while connecting or disconnecting my battery and I cannot secure my car. The passenger air bag indicator is on. It was not on when I purchased this used car but it came on at approximately 70,000 miles. My rear defroster barely works. The speedometer sticks at zero then starts working for a few tenths of a mile then goes back to zero again. I have to guess what speed I am going. The speedometer started malfunctioning at about 68,000 miles. Chevrolet refuses to repair any of the above at their expense. Stating there is no recall on this vehicle. I have seen numerous complaints about the key getting stuck in the ignition on many models of chevrolet vehicles on the internet. Why isn't there a recall on these issues? *tr
The rear defroster stopped working. After investigating the issue I discover the electrical harness connectors holding the wiring for the rear defroster(and all other wires) is burnt., the electrical connectors are harnesses for wiring leading form the engine area, to the rear of the vehicle for all electrical components, including the rear defroster. Visibly you can see the area that is burnt for the rear defroster. The wiring for the rear defroster is not fused, and in my opinion is a fire hazard. While doing research on this issue I discover that other owners have had these issues, and is very prominent in impala's between 2006 and up. With out a fuse for the rear defroster there is no safety mechanism preventing a short, or burn out of the components, thus creating the potential for a fire inside the compartment of the vehicle, and the rear defrost not to work. *tr
When there is any movement to the car before starting there is a knocking that sounds like it is coming from the air vent on the passenger side; possible actuator door ?? Also, when switching between fresh and recirculated air the knocking starts and lasts 1 - 2 minutes. The noise is getting louder and I have noticed that when the temperature drops below 36 degrees the windows fog completely and running the defroster at it's maximum speed will not clear the windows. I have to wipe the excess condensation with a towel to maintain visibility. May have to do with the actuator door being stuck and interferes with the defroster?? I have tried using rain-x anti-fog wipes to no avail. Need some help gm. *tr
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
This page is kept out of search results because 7 reports is not enough to publish percentiles from. It stays reachable because somebody looking at this exact car would rather see the reports than be told there are none.
Complaints are voluntary, so 7 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 2010 Chevrolet Impala?
Across 6 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 60,000 miles. A quarter were filed before — and a quarter after —. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.
How common is other visibility problem on the 2010 Chevrolet Impala?
7 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 0.1 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