Other steering problem on the 2011 Chevrolet Impala
2 crashes 3 injuries 5 of the 21 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 steering problem gets reported
Owners of the 2011 Chevrolet Impala report other steering problem at a median of 55,000 miles. A quarter of the reports come in before 45,000 miles and a quarter after 95,000 miles, from 18 reports that carried an odometer reading.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 95,000 miles. It is the 9th most-reported problem on this model year.
The mileage distribution
The reported range runs from 5,000 miles at the tenth percentile to 110,000 miles at the ninetieth, a spread of 107,353 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.
22% of the dated reports were filed under 36,000 miles.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4,055 miles | 42,500 miles | 56,725 miles | 94,215 miles | 111,408 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 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 $350–$2,400 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 20 model years of this car. It shows up earliest on the 2017, at a median of 30,000 miles, and latest on the 2000 at 110,000 miles.
By volume the 2014 carries the most reports, with 90; the 2011 has 21. 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 driving on thruway my 2011 chevy impala lost power steering went due to a belt broke within the engine compartment. Nearly lost control of car. After getting off the thruway,we noticed that a pulley had come apart. Which caused the belt to disintegrate. *tr
While going to work approx. 6 months ago a deer crossed the road in front of me. I attempted to steer away from the deer only to notice that the steering wheel felt as if it had no power steering. I was lucky that the deer changed its course or I would of ran into it head on due to the steering being so hard. The 2012 impala has the same issue? Gm is not addressing this issue. I have a pi document from gm which is not available to the general public. It confirms this steering issue with the 2011 chevy impala (all models). This pi states to the mechanics to take consumers for a ride in a parking lot and perform parking lot maneuvers at slow speeds.then tell the consumer it is a normal condition if the steering issue is duplicated. My attorney still has possession of my independent technical expert report which states that the steering is extremely hard at low speeds. My case was lost in arbitration and the decision was made in a few hours. I do have the document no. [xxx]. Document id [xxx]. I want all consumers to know what to expect if they purchase a 2011 impala and have this problem. I did note that the NHTSA has this steering…
Tl* the contact owns a 2011 chevrolet impala. The contact stated the steering wheel would squeal when turning. The contact took the vehicle to the dealer, who stated that fluid was leaking for the steering system and needed to be replaced. The contact did not replace the power steering unit. The failure mileage was 47,626.
Also reported on the 2011 Chevrolet Impala
Other engine problem
Other driver assistance problem
Other electrical problem
Other body or interior problem
Other speed control problem
Other powertrain problem
How far this goes
Complaints are voluntary, so 21 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 steering problem happen on the 2011 Chevrolet Impala?
Across 18 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 55,000 miles. A quarter were filed before 45,000 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 steering problem on the 2011 Chevrolet Impala?
21 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