This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.
So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.
On multiple occasions, when the car was stationary, it would not shift out of park after starting the car and releasing emergency brake. I would just hear this clicking noise near the key ignition when I tried to move it out of park. I've had the car in and out of service about 6 times from July - Dec 2015 because of this. First few times, the mechanics could not get the problem to duplicate. One of those times, they thought the battery caused it and said it needed to be replaced anyway bc it was weak - I did that. Another time, they said it was bc some stuff had spilled down in there where the shifter cables were, so they cleaned and rewired it. Still another time they said a computer part was sending weak signals, so they replaced that. The shifter assembly was replaced once, then again bc one of the parts was deemed defective. This last visit (Dec 2015), they said it was bad wiring from the ECM that caused it. Some of these service/diagnostic fees & the cost of towing have been waived or reimbursed, others have no. None of the issues specifically "related" to the shifter assembly were covered under warranty or recall. So as you can imagine, I have been out at least $500-700 over these last several months. Huge inconveniences - being stuck at work at the end of the day or at home as I'm ready to leave for work. I am planning to trade this car in within the next month or two. If it hadn't been for all of this, I would've loved the car. I was satisfied with everything else about it.
Engine started a fire. Destroyed our attached garage, the car and our daughters car. Heavy smoke damage in our house. Fire marshal and insurance inspected stated the fire started in the engine of the Equinox. We drove the car during day and then at 8:00pm came home from dinner. Around 12:15am heard noises in garage opened the door and front of engine was engulfed in flames. Called 911 and told family to get out of house.
Unable to take key out of ignition when turning engine off when stationary. Have to repeatedly restart engine and put in and out of gear to get the key to be released. Keeps happening intermittently. Need to carry extra key if unable to remove key from ignition in order to lock the doors.
We were driving to the airport, came out of construction onto uphill part of highway. I was accelerating and heard a "pop".thought a tire blew, saw white smoke on the sides of the car and pulled over. My boyfriend got out immediately to look for a blown tire. I put the car in park, shut off the ignition and black smoke began pouring into the car. I knew there was not a blown tire and yelled for boyfriend to help get our two young children out of the car. Opened the back door and couldn't see the kids due to all of the black smoke and entire front end was on fire within seconds. I got the kids to safety and the car proceeded to blow up three separate times in well under 10 minutes. The man driving behind us helped and stated to me that fuel was leaking from the car while he drove behind us prior to the "pop" we heard. It was a total loss, no police report despite highway being shut down for a hour and detectives showing up later. Insurance company wasn't going to investigate, I got GM involved and now they might. Was given a case # by GM, called twice, no response back for 6 days. I want to know the cause of this. 5 year old perfectly maintained cars with no warning should not catch fire and blow up. I saw an article about a man in Connecticut with a similar incident and his was related to a regional recall that did not include that state. I live in western Pennsylvania and question if this could be associated. The car could have killed our children and harmed innocent people on a busy highway. We were fortunate to have good people help us and react so quickly. The state police officer had us leave immediately to catch our flight and told us there was nothing we could do and they had the car towed. We were unable to get the names of two men that helped due to shock and belief that there would be a police report.
Incident occurred: June 30, 2015 a tractor trailer was passing another vehicle and proceeded to come into the left lane. I had cruise control engaged. The truck came over admittedly at a speed that was going slower than the rate of speed I had on my cruise control. When I went to apply the brake, I felt as though my car was not decelerating enough based on the pressure I was applying to the brake. I quick checked my side mirror- I was unable to go around the driver because a car was next to me and I checked my rearview mirror to ensure I was not going to be rear-ended as well- knowing I was too close and going to collide with the truck driver at this point. I applied as much pressure as I could to the brakes to decelerate but unfortunately still collided with the driver. My air bags did not deploy- despite this, it allowed me to see my mirrors immediately following the incident so that I could safely coast to the shoulder of the pa turnpike without disrupting traffic. My 2 concerns: Was braking faulty when cruise control is engaged? also- my air bags did not deploy.
- Forks Township, PA, USA
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Several months ago we took our car in for a $300 check up & complained that when we started it up it sounded like there was no oil. Didn't find anything wrong. Just about 10days ago another noise was heard. It got worse. Took it in & there was no oil on the dip stick. We just had the oil changed about a month or so ago. Oh yes at that time it kept leaking oil when parked. Took it back 3 times to have it corrected. Now they have sealed everything off & they will check the oil in 500 miles. May need pistons & rings. They tell me this is happening to the 2010 Equinox cars. Look up our record. We have been a number of times for other things. 1 part 3 times in 9 mths. Not happy at all.
I am losing a lot of oil within the 3000 miles before I change it. My car is losing power it stalls it runs very loudly and it knocks a little. I put at least 12 quarts of oil every 3000 miles and it's not leaking because I checked the top and the bottom of the motor and there is no sign of oil anywhere not even out of my tail pipe.
This Chevy vehicle is an accident waiting to happen. I have had oil consumption problems, rough idling, and loss of gas mileage. It is obvious Chevy/GM know about these problems. They have issued a puzzling letter on July 13 alerting owners that there may be a problem with "the chrome layer on the balance chain pins, allowing the chain to stretch. This would cause an engine noise and if left untreated, could cause the chain to break, leading to engine damage. In addition, the fuel pump plunger shaft seal may wear and allow fuel to leak into the crankcase..." also on July 19, 2013 Chevy issued #13-06-01-003B, : excessive oil consumption....." these two problems are closely related but Chevy refuses to issue a recall. If you are driving your family at 65 mph on the highway and the chain breaks because it lacks lubrication, engine power will be lost and probably many lives. Chevy is aware that these significant problems exist and instead of being proactive they stall the owner by requesting a 2,000 mile oil consumption test. That test is designed to put the burden of proof upon the owner and not where it truly belongs, Chevy. I hope someone takes these issues seriously before someone gets hurt. One cannot dismiss loss of engine power at high speeds due to their negligence. According to Chevy, in addition to the chain problem, the pistons, valves, valve stems, cylinder, oil pump, cam shaft or rod bearings might need replacement due to oil loss. In my opinion, this vehicle needs to be recalled for the issues cited above.
The Equinox was being towed (all wheels down) behind a motorhome. Chevrolet certifies it as towable in this manner. The towing baseplate, produced by demco specifically for this vehicle) was attached to the car's front rail ends of the frame. While underway, the front rail ends tore loose from the frame. The baseplate, thus detached, tore the front grill and bumper from the vehicle. The car glided to a stop on the road. Had we been on a busy highway or on a hill, other vehicles may have been involved and serious injury or death may have occurred. We feel that the front rail ends are not sufficiently sturdy to support towing and Chevrolet should not certify the Equinox as towable.
The problem is with the steering. After the vehicle has been driven for more than and 1/2 hour, it becomes sticky on each side of the center. I have had no serious problems as of yet, but the longer it is driven, the worse it gets. When this occurs, the natural response is to correct and sometimes this canbe quite scary or nerve racking. I have taken the vehicle to the dealership twice and they claimed there was nothing wrong.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Royse City, TX, USA