NHTSA Complaint #10265218 — 2001 CHEVROLET IMPALA

THE BCM (BODY CONTROL MODULE) CAUSED MY 01 IMPALA TO DO SOME CRAZY THINGS. IT STARTED WITH TURN SIGNALS INTERMITTENTLY WORKING. MY WIFE AND I WERE IN SEVERAL NEAR ACCIDENTS BECAUSE OTHER DRIVERS COULD NOT TELL WHAT WE WERE DOING. THEN IT PROGRESSED TO EACH TIME THAT I APPLIED THE BREAKS THE HEADLIGHTS WOULD FLASH FROM HIGH BEAM TO LOW BEAM AT LEAST A DOZEN TIMES. IT DISTRACTED THE DRIVERS IN FRONT OF ME WHEN DRIVING AT NIGHT. ON MANY OCCASIONS IT CAUSED THE ENTIRE DASH INSTRUMENTATION TO FAIL WITH THE EXCEPTION OF THE SPEEDOMETER. THE MESSAGE CENTER WOULD GIVE ME FALSE INDICATIONS OF REQUIRED MAINTENANCE AND LOW TIRE PRESSURE. TWICE IT LOCKED THE CAR OUT ON "SECURITY" THE VEHICLE WOULD ALSO INTERMITTENTLY START. AFTER ABOUT 10MINUTES THE VEHICLE TYPICALLY STARTED BACKUP AGAIN. ONCE, THE VEHICLE LEFT THE HEADLIGHTS ON AFTER VEHICLE WAS TURNED OFF. I HAD TO DISCONNECT THE BATTERY TO KEEP IT FROMDRAINING THE BATTERY. AGAIN, AFTER ABOUT 10 MINUTES IT WOULD ALLOW SOMETHING TO RESET AND ALL WOULD BE FINE. AFTER SEARCHING ON THE INTERNET FOR SIMILAR PROBLEMS ON THE MAKE AND MODEL I TOOK IT TOA GM DEALER LEADING THEM TOWARDS THE BCM. I DIDN'T WANT TO PAY AN EXUBERANT AMOUNT OF MONEY FORTHEM TO CHASE AN "ELECTRICAL GHOST". AFTER $500 THEY REPLACED THE BCM AND THE VEHICLE RAN PERFECT FOR ABOUT 2 1/2 MONTHS AND NOW THE TURN SIGNALS ARE INTERMITTENT ONCE AGAIN. *TR