Which parts fail
Components named in complaints (door latches, locks, hood and tailgate latches).
Mileage when the problem started
Owner reports
Selected complaints filed with NHTSA by 2008 Chevrolet Impala owners, lightly cleaned up (personal details are redacted by NHTSA).
All door locks have stopped working. The doors will not lock or unlock with the remote or with the inside lock buttons on the interior door. Each door has to be manually locked and unlocked. When I purchased the car, when the transmission was placed in gear, the doors would automatically lock. The doors each have to be manually locked and unlocked. The only keyhole on the car is on the drivers door to unlock the car. There are numerous reports of this issue on the internet for the year models 2008 and 2009. The parts alone are $450 to $1,000. This is a major safety issue and should be a recall because: 1. The doors no longer automatically lock when the car is placed in gear. Automatic locks were most likely listed on the window sticker. 2. If a child is locked in the car, the door will not unlock with remote and can only be accessed from the drivers side door. 3. …
Tl* the contact owns a 2008 Chevrolet Impala. The contact stated that the door locks malfunctioned. The contact stated that in order to open and close the vehicle they had to manually open the locks through the windows or adjust the seat to manually open the door. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic. The technician confirmed that the locks were defective and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The failure mileage was 105,000. Ma 09/25 the consumer stated she was locked inside of the vehicle. Updated 01/28/16
Tl* the contact owns a 2008 Chevrolet Impala. The contact stated that all four door locks malfunctioned and prevented the doors from locking. Also, the contact mentioned that the rear doors failed to unlock intermittently. The vehicle was taken to the dealer. The technician diagnosed that all four door actuators were defective and needed to be replaced. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 103,358.
Tl* the contact owns a 2008 Chevrolet Impala. The contact stated that the rear passenger side door could not be unlocked from outside of the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic who diagnosed that the door lock actuator was faulty and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. Approximately four months later, the driver side door failed. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 46,000. Updated 04/08/16
Tl* the contact owns a 2008 Chevrolet Impala. The contact stated that when the temperature exceeded 85 degrees, the doors would not lock or unlock automatically. The vehicle was taken to a dealer (chuck fairbanks Chevrolet, desoto, texas) who stated that the failure was a known issue, but there was no recall. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure was not repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 60,000.
Both rear and the passenger door locks have stopped functioning with either fob key control or driver/passenger door controls. Totaling three door lock failures in two years. This is a large safety hazard to small children in the back of the car as there is no fast or easy way to open the rear doors once locked to get the child out in an emergency. I request this be looked into further for a recall as it creates a safety hazard especially for children in car seat on the back seat, which there is no quick way to unlock the doors to remove them in an emergency. Mechanic states: this is a known issue with 2008 and 2009 Chevy Impala vehicles. These model years were produced with a type of grease that bleeds into the latch actuator. After time the carbon from the motor brushes builds up around the actuator motor and shorts the communicator. Resulting in no power lock or unlock function. …
Failure of power door locks. This is a safety issue. In order to keep the vehicle secure, the doors must be locked. If a child, infant or disabled person would be in the back seat and needed to get out in an emergency, the door cannot be opened from the outside without someone first climbing through the seats from the front and reaching way back to the back of the door to unlock it manually or breaking the window. This takes time and could result in serious injury or death to a passenger. This problem is known by GM as they have made modification to the part for the rear driver side door but have not yet modified the part for the rear passenger door. Some drivers are now reporting that the front doors are also affected by this defect. Each part is approximately $175.00 or $700 for all doors affected and probably that much again in labor costs. …
The electric door locks lock / unlock intermittently. When the car is started all the door locks should automatically lock, but they do not always lock. In addition, when you park the car and hit the door lock key all the door locks will not lock. When you start the car you have to manually check the door locks to make sure they have all locked. This is a serious safety issue if you have children in the car. In addition,when you park the car, you have to manually maker sure all the door locks actually lock.when I contacted my local dealer about the issue they stated that they had repaired a few vehicles for the door lock failures, but there was no recall. They indicated that the grease used for the locks melted and leaked into the lock solenoid causing the failures. …
3 of the 4 door locks won't operate with a key fob or the door panel and there's no key access anywhere outside except the drivers side which is the only lock that currently works...with children or adults in the back seat or the passenger side this creates a serious hazard in the event of an accident or the need to enter the car urgently if being pursued by an abductor. Small children wouldn't be able to manually unlock doors to exit the vehicle in case of an emergency and the driver would have to climb over the back seat to access the lock manually or lose precious time rolling windows down and getting out of the car to open the door locks from outside the car....this vehicle is low mileage and these locks are defective. Many have been blogging about these defective door locks and GM needs to recall these and replace their defective door lock actuators stat at no cost to the consumer!
Power door locks stopped working. I can open the drivers door with the key, but the other power locks do not open. It started with the rear locks and now includes all locks. This is dangerous because we carry our small grandchildren in their car seats in the back. The only way to unlock the doors is to roll down the power window and reach in to unlock. I have discussed this with Chevrolet but they say they have no reports of others having this problem. This is hard to believe since there are so many reports of this on the internet forums. I believe this is a very serious safety issue. In an accident, the rear windows May not function and we would have to break out the rear windows to free our grandchildren.
Door Lock & Latch complaints in other Impala years
Frequently asked questions
How common are door lock & latch problems on the 2008 Chevrolet Impala?
NHTSA has 48 complaints about the locks & latches of the 2008 Chevrolet Impala, 6% of the model year's 810 complaints. The component named most often is doors › latch (5 mentions).
Is there a recall for 2008 Chevrolet Impala door lock & latch problems?
No. NHTSA lists no locks & latches recall for the 2008 Chevrolet Impala, though it has 2 recalls for other components. If the problem is widespread, a repair may still be covered by an extended warranty or a manufacturer service bulletin — ask a dealer.
At what mileage do 2008 Chevrolet Impala door lock & latch problems start?
Half of the complaints with a recorded mileage happened before about 58,000 miles, and 5% before 25,000 miles.
Source: U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) — owner complaints through October 20, 2026, recalls and defect investigations; fuel economy from the EPA. Complaints are unverified reports and are not proof of a defect. How we rate model years.