Potentially Fatal Safety Defect: 2011 Chevy Impala Front Sub-frame Broke From Recalled Parts, GM Declined To Cover Under Warranty.
I have a 2011 Chevy Impala and during an inspection found out that the clunk I started hearing 2 weeks ago was due a front aluminum sub-frame control arm mount that broke. The car had a safety recall on it (recall 12v377) for front control arms, which were replaced, but the new control arms are defective also, causing them to become misaligned inside the sub-frame control arm mounts, which subsequently rubbed and wore the aluminum sub-frame control arm mounts to the point where it broke.
The front bushing is a vertical bushing design from GM that has been noted for a very high and repeated failure rate, not just on the w-body cars but also on many delta platform cars such as Chevy Cobalt and HHR, Pontiac G5, Saturn Ion. I contacted Chevy and they refuse to listen to it, even tho this car only has 78k miles on it, and is only 4 years and 1 month old. IT IS VERY DANGEROUS AS THE ENTIRE WHEEL CONTROL ARM MOUNTS BROKE AWAY FROM THE REST OF THE FRAME. And it is due to the second set of defective controls arms in just 78K miles.
Any Impala owner should go check this immediately as it can be a deadly defect that GM is declining to know about. It also affects other GM 2006 and newer W-body cars such as Pontiac Grand Prix, Buick Lacrosse, Chevy Impala and Monte Carlo. The issue is, this type of bushing used by GM for many years on many models is known to have very high failure, and with steel control arm mounts, it didn't damage the mounts/sub-frame unless left for a very long time, but now with the aluminum sub-frame, when the bushing goes bad, the outer steel part of the bushing wears away into the soft aluminum control arm mount on the sub-frame very quickly, and may go unnoticed by the driver until it breaks, which can cause loss of control of the vehicle, which may lead to a crash, causing bodily harm or even a fatality.
What is more concerning is that the Chevy Impala is used as a high speed police pursuit vehicle. These vehicle are often traveling at very high speeds and under heavy loads and if this mount where to break during those conditions, the destruction caused by a high speed collision may be catastrophic, causing lots of property damage, bodily injury, or death. We need to make sure no one gets hurt with another massive secret safety defect from GM. GM needs to stand up and do the right thing, and put its customers safety first !!!
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
click to see larger images
Potentially Fatal Safety Defect: 2011 Chevy Impala Front Sub-frame Broke From Recalled Parts, GM Declined To Cover Under Warranty.
I have a 2011 Chevy Impala and during an inspection found out that the clunk I started hearing 2 weeks ago was due a front aluminum sub-frame control arm mount that broke. The car had a safety recall on it (recall 12v377) for front control arms, which were replaced, but the new control arms are defective also, causing them to become misaligned inside the sub-frame control arm mounts, which subsequently rubbed and wore the aluminum sub-frame control arm mounts to the point where it broke.
The front bushing is a vertical bushing design from GM that has been noted for a very high and repeated failure rate, not just on the w-body cars but also on many delta platform cars such as Chevy Cobalt and HHR, Pontiac G5, Saturn Ion. I contacted Chevy and they refuse to listen to it, even tho this car only has 78k miles on it, and is only 4 years and 1 month old. IT IS VERY DANGEROUS AS THE ENTIRE WHEEL CONTROL ARM MOUNTS BROKE AWAY FROM THE REST OF THE FRAME. And it is due to the second set of defective controls arms in just 78K miles.
Any Impala owner should go check this immediately as it can be a deadly defect that GM is declining to know about. It also affects other GM 2006 and newer W-body cars such as Pontiac Grand Prix, Buick Lacrosse, Chevy Impala and Monte Carlo. The issue is, this type of bushing used by GM for many years on many models is known to have very high failure, and with steel control arm mounts, it didn't damage the mounts/sub-frame unless left for a very long time, but now with the aluminum sub-frame, when the bushing goes bad, the outer steel part of the bushing wears away into the soft aluminum control arm mount on the sub-frame very quickly, and may go unnoticed by the driver until it breaks, which can cause loss of control of the vehicle, which may lead to a crash, causing bodily harm or even a fatality.
What is more concerning is that the Chevy Impala is used as a high speed police pursuit vehicle. These vehicle are often traveling at very high speeds and under heavy loads and if this mount where to break during those conditions, the destruction caused by a high speed collision may be catastrophic, causing lots of property damage, bodily injury, or death. We need to make sure no one gets hurt with another massive secret safety defect from GM. GM needs to stand up and do the right thing, and put its customers safety first !!!
- Kurt B., Bourbonnais, IL, US