My Mom in her search for a new car has found a 2000 Impala LS w/50k miles. They want 5500 for it. She wanted to know if they have alot of trans problems? She read somewhere that they have trans problems and doesnt want a car with a bad trans. So if anybody knows and would like to help thanks. I dont know how they would have problems? My friend had one and it didnt have problems, but that is just one.

My parents have a 2003 Impala LS with 75k on it and have not had a single issue with the trans. We've also sold a 2000 and a 2001 imapala LS (68k and 57k respectively) and neither of those had any issues.

There was one member here who did have an issue, but I do not know the mileage of his or the possible causes.

If the car was taken care of properly, then it should stand a better chance of not giving you any issue. The motors and trans have been known to go a long time with the proper maintenance.

Hate to tell you this...

2000 Impala LS
tranny was on its last leg as of october
replaced in early December for 1100 bucks (used 2003 tranny)
83k miles...

There are certain steps you can take to prevent it, one of which is (since it'* at 50k miles) flush the tranny fluid. Emphasis on the word flush. Another, a more costly one, but it will happen eventually, is to replace the shift solenoids. When these go bad, your clutches will wear out VERY quickly. For example, I guesstimate that my solenoid died around August. Late August, my torque converter started failing, and then in September it started shuddering. October it started slipping...

I replaced my tranny with a 2003 tranny instead of rebuilding it because in 2003 they updated the solenoids and the valve body to be MUCH more reliable. I have heard one of our "former" members made modifications to his tranny to update it with the 2003 changes. Not sure on the specifics.

Overall, I love my Impy. It'* very comfortable, and very easy to drive. It'* a little bit harder to work on than my old Bonnie, due to the space, but it'* still the all-familiar 3800. The sound system is surprisingly good, the technology in it, although not easy to spot, is almost state of the art (IMO), and I get 35 mpg on the highway easily

I would suggest a shift kit in addition to the things that petraman mentioned. Mommy might not like that idea....but what Momma dont know wont hurt her. It will help extend the life of those clutches.

Its still a 4T65-E so it has the same failure rate as all the other cars with that setup. I dont like the 4T65-E as much as I liked the 4T60-E, but thats not really relevant.

Ive been in an Impala before, and they are good cars, I agree the W platform is a little harder to work on than on Bonneville.

That Impy should also have factory 12 inch brakes which is a nice upgrade.

How expensive is the Solenoid replacement. Also what could I look for when we would go look at it?