Other visibility problem on the 2011 Chevrolet Impala
1 fire 1 of the 26 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 2011 Chevrolet Impala report other visibility problem at a median of 500 miles. A quarter of the reports come in before 100 miles and a quarter after 40,000 miles, from 19 reports that carried an odometer reading.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 75,000 miles. It is the 8th most-reported problem on this model year.
The mileage distribution
The reported range runs from 26 miles at the tenth percentile to 90,000 miles at the ninetieth, a spread of 90,174 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.
74% of the dated reports were filed under 36,000 miles.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 26 miles | 97 miles | 500 miles | 39,000 miles | 90,200 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 is the worst of them, which makes this a problem of this specific year rather than of the model as a whole.
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 own a 2011 chevrolet impala which has a serious traffic hazard involving the three rear head rests affixed/sewn - which makes them non-adjustable. The problem is aggravated by the fact that the head rests are higher than most vehicles. The fixed position of these head rests block the driver's vision out of about one third of the rear window. The middle head rest is especially troublesome. I wrote general motors about this approximately 2 weeks ago and they have not responded. The sales and the service departments at the dealership are well aware of my concerns. Nhtsa complaint 10358310 was also filed concerning this identical problem, I have 61 years of driving experience - all sizes/types of autos. In my considered opinion this is a design flaw. I have raised the driver's seat to the highest setting and have tried all possible adjustments to the inside and side mirrors in an attempt to solve this to no avail. *tr
Tl*the contact owns a 2011 chevrolet impala. The contact stated the three of the headrest located in the rear of the vehicle blocked 75% of her view. The failure made it difficult to see the vehicle behind her and to change lanes. The dealer stated that they could not adjust the rear headrest, because it would make them liable. The contact had not spoken with the manufacturer. The VIN was not available. The failure and current mileages were 200. Updated 03/11/11*lj updated 12/30/11 *cn
Tl* the contact owns a 2011 chevrolet impala. The contact stated that the seat headrests were too high and obstructing visibility thru the rear view mirror. In addition, he stated that the side view mirrors were abnormally small. The dealer was contacted but offered no assistance, stating that they could not alter the design of the vehicle. The dealer advised the contact that an independent mechanic could possibly lower the seat or cut down the headrest. The manufacturer was not contacted. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure and current mileage was 500.
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 26 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 2011 Chevrolet Impala?
Across 19 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 500 miles. A quarter were filed before 100 miles and a quarter after 40,000 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 2011 Chevrolet Impala?
26 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 0.4 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