NHTSA Complaint #10679389 — 2006 CHEVROLET IMPALA

I'VE BEEN EXPERIENCING THE SAME PROBLEM WITH MY 2006 IMPALA OFF AND ON FOR THE LAST YEAR, MAYBE MORE. THE CAR WILL RANDOMLY GIVE ME AN ERROR OF "ENGINE POWER REDUCED." THE CAR SLOWS TO A CRAWL, HAS NO ACCELERATION, THE ENGINE SHAKES AND IT SPUTTERS UNTIL THE ENGINE IS TURNED OFF. I TOOK IT TO A MECHANIC WHO SAID IT WAS THE TPS SENSOR. HE REPLACED THE THROTTLE BODY. THE CAR RAN FINE FOR A FEW MONTHS AND THEN IT STARTED AGAIN. SINCE I WAS GETTING THE SAME CODES, I TOOK IT BACK TO THE MECHANIC WHO INFORMED ME THAT IT COULD BE AN ELECTRICAL PROBLEM OR IT COULD HAVE BEEN CAUSED BY MY BATTERY, BUT THERE'S NO WAY TO TELL FOR SURE WITHOUT TROUBLESHOOTING. I HAVE SINCE BEEN TO SEVERAL MECHANICS, ALL WHO SAY THE CODES POINT TO THE THROTTLE BODY, BUT THEY ALSO AGREE THAT I SHOULDN'T BE GETTING THESE CODES SO QUICKLY AFTER REPLACING THE UNIT - WHICH COST OVER $300. I'M A SINGLE MOTHER WHO WORKS AND GOES TO GRADUATE SCHOOL FULL TIME. I DON'T HAVE THE RESOURCES TO CARELESSLY DUMP MONEY INTO A CAR. I'VE PUT UP WITH IT BECAUSE I CAN USUALLY PULL OVER, TURN THE ENGINE OFF, WAIT A MINUTE AND IT WILL CRANK BACK UP; HOWEVER, IT HAS GOTTEN PROGRESSIVELY WORSE. LAST NIGHT, I WAS DRIVING DOWN THE INTERSTATE WHEN THE CONSOLE READ "STARTING DISABLED SERVICE THROTTLE." THE ENGINE THEN SHUT OFF WHILE I WAS DRIVING AT HIGHWAY SPEEDS AND LEFT ME STRANDED ON THE SIDE OF A DARK HIGHWAY, ALONE, WITH A CAR FULL OF GROCERIES AND A SON WHO WAS WAITING ON HIS MOM TO GET HOME TO PUT HIM TO BED. FORTUNATELY, I WAS ON A ROAD WITHOUT A LOT OF OTHER CARS AROUND OR IT COULD HAVE BEEN MUCH MORE DANGEROUS. I'VE DONE A LOT OF RESEARCH AND THIS SEEMS TO BE A VERY COMMON PROBLEM WITH GM CARS. AN INTERNET SEARCH WILL REVEAL THE SAME SYMPTOMS AND THE SAME RESULTS FROM DEALERS, ALL WITHOUT A PERMANENT FIX. GM NEEDS TO INVESTIGATE THIS ISSUE WHICH CLEARLY AFFECTS A LARGE NUMBER OF CARS ACROSS THE GM BRAND! *TR