Buyer Research

2013 Chevrolet Impala — Should You Buy One?

Typical asking price: $4,500–$8,500. There are 3 high-severity known issues you need to know before handing over a check.

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Kestrel Take

The last retail year of the W-body Impala, and the record is unusually clear about what to check: 46% of 272 complaints are one symptom — Service StabiliTrak, ABS and traction lights with a grind on left turns — and the brake and electrical clusters below it are mostly the same fault filed under a different heading. The fix is a wheel-speed sensor harness or a hub, cheap, but left alone it makes the ABS grab on its own at speed. Add the GM ignition-key recall and a six-speed that can drop reverse, and you have a short, specific inspection list. Past it, this is a comfortable, thirty-mpg-highway sedan that sells for very little; the record does not show an engine or body fault that should scare you off.

What we checked

Reconciled against public records, 2026-09-25

NHTSA holds 272 owner complaints for the 2013 Chevrolet Impala, and 1 recall campaign.

A big number here usually means a lot of these were sold, not that it is a bad vehicle — popular models collect more complaints for the same rate of trouble. So the total on its own says little. What is worth reading is the shape of it. 46% of them are about one thing — stability control. That much concentration is a genuine pattern rather than background noise, and it is the first thing to check on any example you look at.

One recall campaign covers this model year. Recalls are repaired free, for any owner, with no time limit on most safety campaigns — but only if someone books it in. Ask the seller to show it was done, or have any dealer check the VIN; it takes them a couple of minutes and costs nothing.

Counts come from the NHTSA complaint and recall database — free, public, and worth checking yourself.

Known Issues for the 2013 Chevrolet Impala

Ranked by wallet impact. These are documented, recurring problems — not freak accidents. How we decide that.

Left-front wheel-speed circuit fails — StabiliTrak and ABS lights, grinding on left turns, ABS grabbing on its ownHigh — wallet impact

The defining complaint of this year. From a stop, or turning left, the front-left wheel-speed signal drops out; the car reads it as a skid, the ABS pump grinds and pulses, power is cut for a second, and Service StabiliTrak, Service Traction Control and Service Brake Assist all appear. 178 complaints across the stability-control and brake clusters describe exactly this, and a few describe it happening at 60 mph — one driver spun into a ditch. The cause is usually the wheel-speed sensor wiring harness chafing at the left front (GM issued a bulletin for it) or a worn hub bearing, whose sensor is built in. Owners who replaced hubs without fixing the harness had it come back. On the test drive, make three slow left turns from a stop with the traction control on; a grind or a chime is the fault.

Repair cost (estimate): $150–$600 for the harness or a hub bearing

Source: NHTSA complaints filed under stability control (125), the brakes (53).

Ignition key can rotate out of Run with a heavy key ring (recall 14V355)High — wallet impact

Recall 14V355 is the 2013 Impala's part of GM's ignition-switch recalls: weight on the key ring, or a knee, can turn the key toward Accessory while driving, cutting the engine and disabling the airbags. The remedy is two new key rings and an insert or cover for the key, free at any Chevrolet dealer. The electrical cluster (52 complaints, 4 crashes) is a mix of the recall, the reduced-power episodes described below, the ABS harness again, and one car whose brake lights stayed on until the battery was pulled. Check the VIN on NHTSA's recall lookup; until it shows closed, drive with nothing on the ring but the key.

Repair cost: $0 with the recall — verify it was performed

Source: NHTSA complaints filed under electrics and electronics (52); 1 NHTSA recall campaign on this model year.

Reduced Engine Power at highway speed — throttle body and pedal sensorMedium

Separate from the wheel-speed fault: the car shows Engine Power Reduced, refuses to go over 20–30 mph and stays that way until restarted. Twenty complaints landed in the speed-control cluster and more in electrical, some on the interstate in traffic. On this V6 the throttle body's internal position sensor and its connector are the usual suspects, with the accelerator pedal sensor second. A stored P2135 or P0121 code is the tell. It is a few hundred dollars to fix and a real hazard to leave.

Repair cost (estimate): $250–$650

Source: NHTSA complaints filed under throttle and cruise control (20).

Six-speed automatic loses reverse, 3rd and 5th at onceHigh — wallet impact

The 6T70 behind the 3.6L V6 has a wave plate in its 3-5-reverse clutch that cracks; the moment it does you have a car that will not back up and skips two forward gears, often with a clunk and a warning to service the transmission. Thirty-three power train complaints on this year, three of them crashes. It is a full teardown or a replacement unit — there is no software fix and no cheap one. Before you buy, reverse up a slope, then drive a highway on-ramp and confirm the car settles into a low cruising rpm; a transmission that hunts and revs high at 50 mph is missing a gear.

Repair cost (estimate): $2,500–$4,500 — around 69% of what this car is typically worth

Source: NHTSA complaints filed under the transmission and drivetrain (33).

3.6L V6 timing chains and the cam-phaser rattle on cold startMedium

GM's 3.6L stretches its timing chains when oil is left in too long; the first sign is a chain rattle for a few seconds after a cold start and a P0008 or P0017 code, and the fix is a set of chains, guides and tensioners — a day's labour. Thirty-two engine complaints this year, none a fire. Ask for oil-change history and pull the dipstick: dark, low oil on a V6 that has clearly gone 10,000 miles between changes is the car to walk from. Water pumps also seep on these; look for a pink crust below the front pulley.

Repair cost (estimate): $400–$2,500 — about 38% of what this car is typically worth

Source: NHTSA complaints filed under the engine (32).

Walk-Away Red Flags

✗A grind or chime from the left front when pulling away or turning left
✗Any Service StabiliTrak, Service Brake Assist or ABS message during the drive
✗Reverse that takes more than a second to engage, or a clunk going into it
✗Chain rattle for the first seconds after a cold start
✗Seller says the traction control is just switched off to stop the light

Good Signs

✓Recall 14V355 shown complete on the NHTSA VIN lookup
✓Left-front wheel-speed harness or both hubs replaced, with receipts
✓Throttle body replaced with an invoice
✓Smooth engagement of reverse and a clean pull through all six gears
✓Oil changes at 5,000-mile intervals with dated receipts