How many miles will a 2012 Chevrolet Impala last?
NHTSA holds 28 owner complaints on the 2012 Chevrolet Impala that list a mileage past 100,000 miles: 7 past 150,000 and 1 past 200,000. NHTSA's complaints file of November 11, 2026 holds 258 complaints on this model year, 204 of them with a mileage, and half of those mileages are at or under 48,000 miles; each mileage is the odometer when an owner reported a safety problem, not how long the vehicle lasted.
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See what the paid report includes →Of the 204 complaints on the 2012 Chevrolet Impala that list mileage, the middle half came between 28,000 and 86,000 miles; 28 (14%) came after 100,000 miles, 7 (3%) after 150,000 and 1 (under 1%) after 200,000.
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How many miles will a 2012 Impala last?
The 204 mileages owners gave run from 10 to 201,000 miles. A quarter are at or under 28,200 miles, half at or under 48,000, three quarters at or under 85,500 and nine in ten at or under 111,051; 28 (14%) came after 100,000 miles, 7 (3%) after 150,000 and 1 (under 1%) after 200,000.
These mileages say when owners reported a problem, not when a 2012 Impala wears out. NHTSA's file holds only vehicles whose owners complained; one that ran without a problem never appears in it, so it gives no lifespan and no cutoff, and how a vehicle was maintained matters more than any one odometer reading.
Most of these reports came early in the vehicle's life: 176 of the 204 came at or under 100,000 miles. The 28 past that mark show the 2012 Impala still being driven at those mileages, not how many reach them: NHTSA's file counts complaints, not the vehicles on the road.
| Measure | Value |
|---|---|
| Lowest mileage listed | 10 miles |
| 25th percentile | 28,200 miles |
| Median (50th percentile) | 48,000 miles |
| 75th percentile | 85,500 miles |
| 90th percentile | 111,051 miles |
| Highest mileage listed | 201,000 miles |
| Complaints after 100,000 miles | 28 (14%) |
| Complaints after 150,000 miles | 7 (3%) |
| Complaints after 200,000 miles | 1 (under 1%) |
Every model year together: Half of the 7,573 NHTSA owner complaints on the 2000–2020 Chevrolet Impala that list mileage came after 69,000 miles (NHTSA complaints file of November 11, 2026). How many miles will a Chevrolet Impala last? →
Common problems with the 2012 Impala
NHTSA's file holds 258 owner complaints on the 2012 Chevrolet Impala. Owners named the electrical system most often: 58 complaints, and half of the 39 that list a mileage came after 54,000 miles. A complaint can name more than one component.
| Component (NHTSA category) | Complaints | Listing mileage | Median mileage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Electrical System | 58 | 39 | 55,000 |
| Electronic Stability Control (ESC) | 54 | 49 | 72,000 |
| Steering | 49 | 44 | 57,000 |
| Engine | 40 | 35 | 40,000 |
| Service Brakes | 32 | 27 | 51,564 |
Of the 258 complaints, 20 report a crash, 5 report a fire and 12 report an injury (16 people reported injured). These are owners' reports to NHTSA, not findings.
Is the 2012 Impala a good year?
Complaint counts cannot say whether the 2012 is a good or a bad Impala: they rise with how many were sold and how long they have been on the road. They show how the 2012 compares with the other model years in NHTSA's file.
With 258 complaints, the 2012 ranks 16th of the 21 Chevrolet Impala model years from 2000 to 2020 with 10 or more complaints, counting from the most. The most: the 2004 (1,074). The fewest: the 2020 (15).
NHTSA files the Chevrolet Impala name for 1994–1996 and 2000–2020. A gap of three or more model years means the name covers different vehicles, so the 2012 is compared only with the 2000–2020 model years.
Recent model years have had less time to collect complaints, so their counts are still growing. No year is ranked by mileage here, because a year's median mileage mostly follows its age.
| Model year | Owner complaints | Listing mileage | Median mileage |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 Impala | 818 | 417 | 86,000 |
| 2001 Impala | 741 | 475 | 80,000 |
| 2002 Impala | 795 | 570 | 78,000 |
| 2003 Impala | 695 | 510 | 82,000 |
| 2004 Impala | 1,074 | 858 | 70,000 |
| 2005 Impala | 609 | 497 | 77,000 |
| 2006 Impala | 524 | 404 | 74,799 |
| 2007 Impala | 627 | 486 | 60,000 |
| 2008 Impala | 810 | 662 | 70,000 |
| 2009 Impala | 824 | 662 | 75,030 |
| 2010 Impala | 442 | 349 | 72,558 |
| 2011 Impala | 505 | 409 | 60,400 |
| 2012 (this page) | 258 | 204 | 48,000 |
| 2013 Impala | 272 | 220 | 54,000 |
| 2014 Impala | 638 | 461 | 60,000 |
| 2015 Impala | 301 | 195 | 59,523 |
| 2016 Impala | 111 | 74 | 54,922 |
| 2017 Impala | 117 | 72 | 45,000 |
| 2018 Impala | 59 | 31 | 40,400 |
| 2019 Impala | 28 | 14 | 35,700 |
| 2020 Impala | 15 | 3 | Under 10 mileages |
The linked 2015–2022 pages show NHTSA's September 15, 2026 collection, so their counts can differ from this table's.
Every Impala year compared on NHTSA’s complaints and recalls: Chevrolet Impala years to avoid →
2012 Chevrolet Impala recalls
NHTSA's recall files of November 11, 2026 list 3 recall campaigns that name the 2012 Chevrolet Impala. A campaign covers a production range, not every vehicle of the model year: check the VIN with NHTSA's free recall lookup.
| Campaign | Report received | Component |
|---|---|---|
| 14V355000 | Jun 23, 2014 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM:IGNITION |
| 12V377000 | Aug 3, 2012 | SUSPENSION:FRONT:CONTROL ARM:LOWER ARM |
| 11V398000 | Aug 5, 2011 | STEERING:HYDRAULIC POWER ASSIST:HOSE, PIPING, AND CONNECTIONS |
What these figures can and cannot tell you
- Complaints are owners’ reports to NHTSA. NHTSA publishes them without verifying them: a complaint is an allegation, not a defect finding.
- The mileage is what the owner wrote on the complaint; NHTSA does not check it against the odometer.
- The make, model and model year are the ones on the complaint. NHTSA records them as filed, so a few complaints sit under a model year the name was not sold in.
- They are not a lifespan study. The file holds only vehicles whose owners reported a problem, so these figures do not say how long a typical 2012 Impala lasts.
- A complaint count rises with how many vehicles were sold and how long they have been on the road, so it is not a rating of the 2012 Impala.
- Nothing here describes one vehicle: its title brands, odometer readings, accidents and open recalls are in the records for its own VIN.
- 54 of the 258 complaints on the 2012 Chevrolet Impala give no usable mileage (blank, zero, a filler such as 999999, or over 500,000) and are left out of every mileage figure.
- NHTSA name counted: IMPALA. NHTSA files some vehicles under several names (a series name and a trim name, for example); this page counts only this one.
- Recall-file name matched: IMPALA.
Primary sources behind this page
Open the underlying public source and verify that its scope matches the question you are asking.
- NHTSA complaints flat file (FLAT_CMPL.zip), downloaded November 11, 2026National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
- Complaints file field layout (CMPL.txt)National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
- NHTSA recalls flat file (FLAT_RCL_PRE_2010.zip), downloaded November 11, 2026National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
- NHTSA recalls flat file (FLAT_RCL_POST_2010.zip), downloaded November 11, 2026National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
- Recalls file field layout (RCL.txt)National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
- NHTSA recall and complaint datasets: scope and documentationNational Highway Traffic Safety Administration
- Recalls Lookup by VINNational Highway Traffic Safety Administration
NHTSA’s complaints file was downloaded on November 11, 2026 (FLAT_CMPL.txt, dated 2026-11-11 10:15, 2,265,416 rows), with its recall files (FLAT_RCL_PRE_2010.txt and FLAT_RCL_POST_2010.txt, dated 2026-11-11 08:02). Each complaint is counted once, by its NHTSA number, with the model year and mileage of its first row; a model year has a page only with 10 or more complaints. The collection script and its rules are in scripts/collect-nhtsa-model-year-longtail.mjs.
2012 Chevrolet Impala questions
How many miles will a 2012 Chevrolet Impala last?
NHTSA holds 28 owner complaints on the 2012 Chevrolet Impala that list a mileage past 100,000 miles: 7 past 150,000 and 1 past 200,000. Of the 204 complaints on the 2012 Chevrolet Impala that list mileage, the middle half came between 28,000 and 86,000 miles; 28 (14%) came after 100,000 miles, 7 (3%) after 150,000 and 1 (under 1%) after 200,000. These are mileages at a reported problem, not a lifespan: the file holds no 2012 Impala that never had one.
What are the most common 2012 Chevrolet Impala problems?
NHTSA's file holds 258 owner complaints on the 2012 Chevrolet Impala. Owners named the electrical system most often: 58 complaints, and half of the 39 that list a mileage came after 54,000 miles. A complaint can name more than one component. Of the 258 complaints, 20 report a crash, 5 report a fire and 12 report an injury (16 people reported injured). These are owners' reports to NHTSA, not findings.
Is the 2012 Chevrolet Impala a good year?
Complaint counts cannot say whether the 2012 is a good or a bad Impala: they rise with how many were sold and how long they have been on the road. They show how the 2012 compares with the other model years in NHTSA's file. With 258 complaints, the 2012 ranks 16th of the 21 Chevrolet Impala model years from 2000 to 2020 with 10 or more complaints, counting from the most. The most: the 2004 (1,074). The fewest: the 2020 (15).
How many recalls does the 2012 Chevrolet Impala have?
NHTSA's recall files of November 11, 2026 list 3 recall campaigns that name the 2012 Chevrolet Impala. A campaign covers a production range, not every vehicle of the model year: check the VIN with NHTSA's free recall lookup.
How do I check a used 2012 Chevrolet Impala before buying?
Take the 17-character VIN from the vehicle and compare the odometer with the readings on file for it: title transfers, inspections and auction sales record the mileage on the day. VIN Lookup (free-vin-lookup.com) sells the original ClearVIN PDF for $14.99 (3 reports for $29.99, 5 for $44.99): odometer readings, title brands and auction records on file for the VIN. Check the VIN before buying a used 2012 Chevrolet Impala.