kman

Hello everyone,

I have a found nice clean 06 Impala LT3/3.9L with 40,000 miles on it. It runs great and is GM certified. The in-service date was 01-23-2006 so I guess I have 60,000 miles or until 2011 in the powertrain warranty. Before I make an offer, is there anything else I should look for in the '06 for potential problems. I will have the 3-month/3000 mile bumper to bumper warranty on it to get anything that needs to fixed, fixed. But, I would love to hear from an Impala owner first hand.

Thanks and looking forward to enjoying our Impala!
Cheers!

rbarrios

you mention 60K (+40K)... did they offer you 100K warranty on powertrain?

I think the 07's are the ones that started with 100K warranty.
We have an 07 with the 3.9L engine. the difference is that the 07's come with AFM.... or Active fuel management.
So far weve had it for a yr and a few months, and 17,000 miles........no problems yet.
There was some issues with late06 early 07's. where the remote had to be very close to the car to work. There was a service bulleting on the Remote keyless entry system. I think the normal value is about 300 feet for the remote. so check and see that you get a nice distance from your remote.

kman

rbarrios.. sorry I left that out. Yes, the GM certified vehicle has a 100,000 mile powertrain warranty. I will keep that in mind if I go back to see the car or find another one that I like. Mind if I asked you the mileage you get with your 3.9L? I have a hard time making up my mind if I should go with a 3.5L with the better mileage or the 3.9L that is supposedly a better engine!

Of course, I guess the 3.5L doesn't come with leather (with the rear flip down seats). Atleast, thats what the dealer is telling me and I have a hard time finding/confirming that claim.

At the moment, the dealer is being very stiff with the sticker price, so just playing the waiting game.

rbarrios

when we went to checkout the impalas, we wanted the 3.9L engine- because it also came with some nicer options. Active fuel management, larger rims, spoiler, dual exhaust, folding rear seats with the storage compartment.
The dealer had some 3.9L cars- but too expensive
for 07 it was LS, 1LT, 2LT, 3LT, LTZ,SS
so the 3LT's on the lot had extras added that we didnt want to pay for (leather, sunroof, bose, garage door openers)... stuff we did not need. And these little items increased the price by about $3-5000...... no thanks.
So we ordered a standard 3LT and chose the silver exterior with a ebony interior, and cloth..... No leather. so an upper trim model- with no extras. this got the price to where we wanted, and we got the things we wanted.
Now for gas......
We are easy drivers.....I more than my gf. she uses it as a daily driver. But I have taught her to try to judge traffic signals etc.
I also reset the Driver info center parameters at every fill up.
on average- we get about 22MPG. it will fall in the 19-22 range- and this depends on how much city/highway driving she does as she meets clients.
Now- when Ive driven long highway trips- were we gas up and immidiatelyhit the highway- I stay to the right, engage cruise control, and usually no AC, Ill stay at 55-65 depending on highway conditions... and Ive achieved 32 MPG-
I once achieved 34MPG (DIC)- and then hit some hills and the mileage dropped to 32.But being easy on it will get the mileage up there.
the last long trip we took, was a2.5 hr drive to, and2 hr drive back....... we hit a little traffic going, but on the way back it was close to midnight and no traffic so we did a comy 55 most of the way back. Heres what I got for the round trip- note that after about 230 miles of driving- the tank had not reached the halfway mark!

kman

Thanks for the detailed reply. It has really helped me to set my expectations right with the gas mileage. Living in Michigan, it's hard to stay under the speed limit (70 mph) in the highways without getting run over. Although, it's great to know that it's capable of 30mpg if driven right at the optimal speeds.

We are trying to use the depreciation to our benefit and pricing out a 06 LT 3.9L with all the extras (leather, fold down seats, bose, spoiler) for $15,000. It just doesn't feel right to pay the sticker price for an used car especially with the big incentives being offered on the new cars.

Will soon find out I guess. We are looking at few other cars on Friday in a 100 mile radius in the same price range but the local dealer doesn't seem to want our business.

rbarrios

yeah, my gf- she really likes the rear seat storage bins. not only do we place stuff there and fold seats down-
but she places her big purse there.....
with the seat behind her- in the up position, she can place her big bag there and it wont fall over-
its almost cradled..... she LOVES this feature. I guess she got tired of picking up her purse in the other car from tipping over.
Many times what I do- if the traffic flow is too fast- yet want to maintain a 55-60 speed- is I get behind a SEMI.
Theyre normally doing 55 in the slow lane around here.
get behind them and join the caravan.