James Fabin’s Opinion of the 2006 Chevrolet Impala’s Quality:
Chevrolet did some things very well in the quality department, but some areas still need more attention. The 2006 Impala’s dash buttons and controls all worked well and had a nice tactile feel – some of the buttons and controls felt like they came from a European luxury car. There was only one control that stood out as odd and had me question whether it was broken – the air flow selection switch. The selector knob turned with the same tactile feeling as the others, but stopped in between the unevenly spaced selections. It also had a very small, nearly invisible green LED imbedded in a chrome ring to indicate which item was selected. With so much done right, I am confused as to how this one knob was allowed through the system with its obvious flaws.

Overall build quality isn’t up to Honda, Nissan, or Toyota standards, but Chevrolet is making progress at catching up. The Impala’s interior is no longer a puzzle of random cheesy hard plastic pieces – it is now clean and has an overall quality feel to it. Many of the plastics used inside the Impala look and feel great, with the exception of the large hard plastic dash, which is so hard and hollow sounding that it appears out of place. Fit and finish inside and outside the cabin was good, with panels and body lines aligned properly on the exterior and even gaps all around the car. However, Chevrolet still needs to focus on reducing squeaks and rattles – our vehicle had two rattles in the dash, one on each side.

Thom Blackett’s Opinion of the 2006 Chevrolet Impala’s Quality:
There’s a reason GM has seen market share tank over the years, and it’s not because shoppers can’t find the thousands of dealers in nearly every town across the nation. The main culprit has been quality, something clearly addressed by the 2006 Chevrolet Impala’s designers.

A walk around our LTZ test car demonstrated a new focus on tighter and consistent gap tolerances, with headlights and taillights fitting flush and properly aligned hood and trunk panels. This may seem like basic Car Building 101 stuff, but these points have been largely absent on Chevy models of the past, and the loose grille insert indicates there’s still some work to be done. Inside, the quality is up, though not to the same degree as the exterior. While good overall, I noticed some loose plastic on the rocker panels and A-pillars, faux wood dash trim that wasn’t completely secure, and flimsy plastic used to construct the lower center console and power seat control panels. Get really picky and you’ll notice that the vertical side pieces of the dash don’t fit 100 percent with the contoured dash cap, and the plastic wood and chrome shift plate has too much flex. In time, these issues may add to the few rattles already emanating from the Impala’s interior.

Christian Wardlaw’s Opinion of the 2006 Chevrolet Impala’s Quality:
Though tremendously improved over the old Impala, there’s still evidence of an old-fashioned Detroit cost-cutting mentality when it comes to the new Impala’s quality. The top of the dashboard, the part nobody ever touches, is constructed of a nice soft-touch material that matches the stuff covering the upper door panels. Overhead, a lovely woven mesh headliner with matching plastic pillar trim says “Audi” more than it does “Chevy.” Even the plastic surrounding the stereo and climate controls is upscale. But that’s where the accolades end. The lower part of the dashboard, the part people actually touch and bump legs into from time to time, is hard, thin, glossy plastic. The leather in our Impala LTZ test car felt cheap, the seat upholstery grain didn’t match, and the plastic door panel control bezels were low rent.

Likewise, the build quality, though closing the gap with the imports, still displayed evidence of the UAW’s “minimum effort, maximum benefits” work ethic. Inside, our Impala’s dash top was loose, there were inconsistent gaps between steering column and the gauge surround, the glove box door was obviously misaligned, the bezel surrounding the center stack didn’t fit tightly, and the driver airbag cover assembly was off. Outside, the front fascia didn’t fit well, the center and right-side grille inserts were loose, the rear fascia fit poorly at the wheel wells, and the taillights fit inconsistently with the trunk.

Though Chevrolet has improved the Impala’s overall fit and finish, effort and expenditure levels need to be bumped before traditional import buyers might be swayed. As it stands, the new Impala’s quality only thrills previous Impala owners. Honestly, the fleet buyer at Avis or the local school district could care less, and die-hard Chevy fans would buy a new Impala anyway. Chevy needs to court those who might buy a Honda or Toyota, and this car still isn’t up to snuff.