2015 Chevrolet Impala — Should You Buy One?
Typical asking price: $8,000–$13,000. There are 2 high-severity known issues you need to know before handing over a check.
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Kestrel Take
Second year of the tenth-generation Impala, with half the complaints of the 2014 and three recalls instead of twelve — the launch-year electrical fixes clearly landed. What did not get fixed is the blind-spot hardware: 138 of 300 complaints are the Side Detection System modules flooding behind the rear bumper and taking the gauges down with them, and there is no recall for it. The other thing to take seriously is the electric power steering, which 44 owners describe dropping out at speed on a car that has no steering recall this year, so a failed rack is on the buyer. Eleven complaints report a fire, spread across engine, electrical and brakes; the parking-brake recall is the one with a fire in its own wording. Verify that, budget for the blind-spot modules if the message is showing, and this is a quiet, roomy sedan at a good price.
What we checked
Reconciled against public records, 2026-09-25
NHTSA holds 300 owner complaints for the 2015 Chevrolet Impala, and 3 recall campaigns.
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. 32% of them are about one thing — electrics and electronics. 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.
3 recall campaigns cover 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 2015 Chevrolet Impala
Ranked by wallet impact. These are documented, recurring problems — not freak accidents. How we decide that.
The single story of this year's record: 96 electrical and 42 lane-departure complaints, nearly all the same part. The Side Blind Zone Alert radar modules live inside the rear bumper corners, water gets in, the modules swell and their connectors corrode. The first sign is a Service Side Detection System message; the bad sign is what follows, because owners describe the whole cluster going dark — speedometer at zero, airbag and tyre-pressure warnings, heater off — while driving. Dealers replace the modules with a revised part at roughly $600–$1,400 a side, and some owners have paid for it twice. A taillight gasket that leaks into the trunk and shorts the audio amplifier is a related wet-trunk fault. Ask a Chevrolet dealer whether this VIN carries any special coverage for the modules, lift the trunk carpet and feel for damp, and confirm the mirror blind-spot icons light at start-up.
Repair cost (estimate): $600–$1,400 per side for a module
Source: NHTSA complaints filed under electrics and electronics (96), lane departure (42).
Forty-four steering complaints and they are blunt: the assist goes at 70 mph, the message says Drive With Care, and a two-ton car becomes a manual-steering car. Unlike the 2014, there is no ground-connection recall for the 2015, so these are the electric rack or its control module failing on their own, and that is a $1,200–$2,500 repair with no help from GM once the warranty is gone. One owner had it happen a week after buying at 90,000 miles. With the car stopped, turn the wheel lock to lock and listen for a whine or a click; then drive and feel for the weight changing. Pull codes — a stored C0545 or similar steering-module fault is a rack on its way out.
Repair cost (estimate): $1,200–$2,500
Source: NHTSA complaints filed under steering (44).
Recall 14V541 covers 2015 Impalas built through September 2, 2014: the parking-brake actuator arm can fail to retract, leaving the rear pads in contact with the rotors, and GM's own consequence line says the heat can cause a fire. The remedy is a free software update. Among the 24 brake complaints on this year, one reports a fire and three a crash. Check the recall on the VIN, then after a drive hold a hand near each rear wheel; a hot one is a pad still on. Rear pads worn well ahead of the fronts point to the same thing.
Repair cost: $0 with the recall — verify it was performed; $300–$600 for cooked rear pads and rotors
Source: NHTSA complaints filed under the brakes (24); 3 NHTSA recall campaigns on this model year.
Recall 15V465 covers cars with vented and heated front passenger seats built April 15, 2013 to June 19, 2015: the occupant-sensing system can learn the wrong empty-seat value and leave the passenger airbag armed with a child seat in place. The fix is a recalibration, free. Recall 14V489, for cars built May 7 to July 28, 2014, is the centre console lid that may not stay latched in a crash. Of the 29 airbag complaints here, two are crashes; the rest are warning lights and the cascade from the blind-spot modules above. Both recalls take a dealer a few minutes and both show on the NHTSA VIN lookup.
Repair cost: $0 with the recall — verify it was performed
Source: NHTSA complaints filed under airbags (29); 3 NHTSA recall campaigns on this model year.
Walk-Away Red Flags
- ✗Service Side Detection System on the driver display, or mirror blind-spot icons that never light
- ✗Damp trunk carpet or a musty smell in the trunk
- ✗Service Power Steering message, or a whine when turning at a standstill
- ✗One rear wheel noticeably hotter than the other after the drive
- ✗Gauges that flicker or drop to zero at start-up
Good Signs
- ✓Both blind-spot modules replaced with the revised part, with receipts
- ✓Recalls 14V541 and 15V465 shown closed on the NHTSA VIN lookup
- ✓Steering rack replaced with an invoice
- ✓Dry trunk floor with the taillight gaskets already resealed
- ✓Blind-spot icons in both mirrors lighting on start-up
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Known issues on this page are based on documented owner reports, NHTSA complaints, class-action records, and manufacturer technical service bulletins. Individual vehicles vary. A pre-purchase inspection by a trusted mechanic is always worth doing.
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