NHTSA Complaint #10726639 — 2001 CHEVROLET IMPALA

AS ANY SERIOUS CAR OWNER, I TRIED TO ADDRESS THE CHEAPER ITEMS SUCH AS BATTERY REPLACEMENT AND SPARK PLUGS, ALL HAVE BEEN REPLACED TWICE. SLOWLY ALL THE ELECTRICAL APPLICATIONS IN MY CAR BEGAN TO STOP WORKING FROM THE BLINKERS, RADIO, HAZARDS, CRUISE CONTROL, CAR WINDOWS, AND FINALLY THE CAR STOPPED STARTING. I WAS TOO BROKE TO ADDRESS IT THEN, SO EVERY EARLY MORNING MY CAR WOULD REQUIRE A NICE JUMP START TO BEGIN THE DAY. THIS IMPALA WOULD NOT START SO OFTEN THAT I PURCHASED A PORTABLE BATTERY TO JUMP IT EVERYWHERE, EVEN AS SIMPLE AS THE GAS STATION. AT FIRST I THOUGHT THE PARASITIC DRAIN (DRAIN ON THE CAR BATTERY) WAS COMING FROM THE DASH CLUSTER/INSTRUMENT PANEL WHICH WAS IN LINE WITH THE COMPLAINTS I HAVE DISCOVERED ON GOOGLE THAT THE BCM WAS CAUSING NON-STARTER ISSUES FOR OTHER IMPALAS. HOWEVER, ONCE THE INSTRUMENT PANEL WAS REPLACED MY RADIO WAS STILL NOT WORKING AND EVENTUALLY THE CAR BECAME A NON-STARTER AGAIN; THEREFORE, I SUSPECTED THE ROOT OF THE ISSUE STILL HAND NOT BEEN DISCOVERED. I EXPLAINED THIS TO MR. MCGHEE, THE OWNER OF MCGHEES AUTO SHOP, HE DID A THOROUGH JOB OF COMBING ALL THE INTRICATE WIRES TO DETERMINE FINALLY AN INTERMITTENT DRAW OCCURRING FROM THE AMPLIFIER IN THE TRUNK OF THE CAR. THE SOLUTION TO THE PROBLEM, FIXING THE AMPLIFIER, COST A GRAND TOTAL OF 220$ TO HAVE THE ACTUAL PART FIXED; I DID NOT WANT TO RISK PLACING A NON-STOCK AMPLIFIER, MY SPECIFIC AMPLIFIER IS NO LONGER AVAILABLE, IN THE CAR. HOWEVER, I LIKE OTHER CONSUMERS CONTINUALLY PAID TO REPLACE PARTS THAT FAILED AS IT WAS NOT OBVIOUS THERE WAS AN UNDERLYING MALFUNCTIONING IN A PARTICULAR APPLICATION THAT MADE THE ESSENTIAL PRODUCT USELESS.