Engine sensor failure on the 2011 Chevrolet Impala
When engine sensor failure gets reported
Owners of the 2011 Chevrolet Impala report engine sensor failure at a median of 80,000 miles. A quarter of the reports come in before 65,000 miles and a quarter after 85,000 miles, from 15 reports that carried an odometer reading.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 95,000 miles. It is the 12th most-reported problem on this model year.
The mileage distribution
The reported range runs from 50,000 miles at the tenth percentile to 85,000 miles at the ninetieth, a spread of 37,938 miles across the middle 80% of reports.
Reports bunched into a band this tight usually mean the component has a life of its own: it goes at roughly the same mileage regardless of who owns it.
7% of the dated reports were filed under 36,000 miles.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 48,862 miles | 63,307 miles | 79,000 miles | 85,000 miles | 86,800 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 $180–$900 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 10 model years of this car. It shows up earliest on the 2002, at a median of 35,000 miles, and latest on the 2003 at 140,000 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.
Backing out of my garage when check engine, stabilitrak problem, reduced engine power light came on message portion of dash.drove under reduced power, max 30 MPH, to dealer, approximately 15 miles. Left car with dealer for approximately 2 days. Invoice from dealer said, diagnose code p2135, trace to throttle position sensor-bulletin replaced sensor assembly, gm 19300180 sensor kit, no charge to me under power train warranty. Today, april 30, 2014, same warning light came on, stabilitrak problem, reduced power, when backing out of same garage. Parked car back in garage and called dealer, have appointment tomorrow. Hope they can permanently fix problem as driving under reduced power is dangerous and can occur anywhere. *js
Cranked up the car to go home. Stability light and "engine" light was on. While on the interstate passing a truck the engine died. Display center indicated service stability track and reduced engine power. Coasted over to rt. Shoulder. Car would not restart for about 30 sec. Cranked it up and made it home. Trouble code is p2138 which seems to indicate the throttle position sensor d/e voltage. Will take to dealer in am. *tr
Cranked up the car to go home. Stability light and "engine" light was on. While on the interstate passing a truck the engine died. Display center indicated service stability track and reduced engine power. Coasted over to rt. Shoulder. Car would not restart for about 30 sec. Cranked it up and made it home. Trouble code is p2138 which seems to indicate the throttle position sensor d/e voltage. Will take to dealer in am. *tr
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 15 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 engine sensor failure happen on the 2011 Chevrolet Impala?
Across 15 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 85,000 miles. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.
How common is engine sensor failure on the 2011 Chevrolet Impala?
15 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