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10.0

really awful
Crashes / Fires:
2 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
1 / 0
Average Mileage:
13,023 miles

About These NHTSA Complaints:

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.

2018 Chevrolet Equinox drivetrain problems

drivetrain problem

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2018 Chevrolet Equinox Owner Comments (Page 1 of 3)

problem #43

Sep 162023

Equinox

  • 67,400 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

The contact owns a 2018 Chevrolet Equinox. The contact stated that the vehicle was taken to the dealer for a service appointment and while being serviced, the mechanic informed the contact that the DTC code for an open solenoid was retrieved. The vehicle was diagnosed with transmission failure. The contact was informed that the transmission needed to be replaced. The vehicle was then towed to a transmission specialist where it was pending the repair. The contact stated that the dealer referred her to contact the NHTSA Hotline for assistance. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 67,400.

- Harvest, AL, USA

problem #42

Jul 262023

Equinox

  • miles
SUV started making weird sounds like winding up on acceleration and winding down slowing down underneath in June 2023. Got it on video. Intermittent. Had appointment for service in August. July 26 driving for vacation driveshaft fell from the front down on the highway. 54000 miles approximately on Equinox. GM said I hit something but nothing in road and no other damage underneath. Since new driveshaft installed, no more noises underneath. I have video of the noises underneath but can't upload them.

- Torrington , CT, USA

problem #41

Jul 292023

Equinox

  • miles
The vacuum pump that controls the power brakes broke/went tight, causing the brake pedal to get extremely hard and almost caused us to crash on the interstate. It turns out that this vacuum pump is attached to the camshaft on the 2018 Equinox and it doesn't have a shear pin, so when it goes tight, it destroys the camshaft and timining chain as well. It will cost over $4k to repair. This is a huge safety concern, not to mention the unexcpected costs to the consumer. GM is well aware of this issue, and has issued recalls on the same vacuum pump on different models of Chevrolets/GMCs

- Brillion, WI, USA

problem #40

Jul 302023

Equinox

  • miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

While accelerating on an onramp, the rear driveshaft, where it connects to the transmission, just disconnected. I had been traveling on an interstate just prior to the event and was getting back on the interstate. This is very concerning since the interstate speed is 75, and with the driveshaft dropping down at that speed it could have been catastrophic. There was no vibration prior to the issue.

- Pueblo, CO, USA

problem #39

Jul 132023

Equinox

  • miles
Auto stop caused Service Brake Assist warning to pop up on dash. Resolved on its own. A week later, steering assist disabled message pops up while driving and car didn't start after coming to a stop. Service ESC, Traction off, service brake assist messages, all pop up. Car did not restart. Vehicle is currently at Cooley Chevrolet in Irving, TX awaiting results of tests. Obviously, this is a common issue judging from the number of complaints on the Internet about it.

- Irving, TX, USA

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problem #38

Feb 012023

Equinox

  • miles
Check Engine Light on Diagnosis (1-2) 1. P171A-00 - transmission surge solenoid valve circuit open 2 - P171B-00 - Transmission surge solenoid valve circuit low

- Lauderhill, FL, USA

problem #37

Feb 012023

Equinox

  • miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

My Equinox loses power, it feels slow and drives sluggishly. If I am driving at 35 mph it suddenly starts reducing speed and whining noises ensue. The hazard lights turn on and off, then the doors lock and unlock. If I reduce speeds below 20mph, then I suddenly have full power again as if nothing ever happened. The check engine light comes and goes after you drive for a while. Highways and offramps are questionable. I can not increase speed to merge properly on the freeway as this would put me at significant risk, I am not willing to gamble to see if I can make 65mph with oncoming traffic. I have ordered and paid for a new transmission from Chevrolet. Back ordered with an unknown delivery date.

- Salinas, CA, USA

problem #36

Feb 262023

Equinox

  • miles
Shift to park service bulletin 19-NA-206 Currently equinox is not listed under affected models but it has the same components as similar models. Looking around this is a common issue

- Chico, CA, USA

problem #35

Dec 262022

Equinox

  • miles
On December 26th, unexpectedly, my driveshaft snapped in two. My car was in "all wheel drive" mode as I pulled out of a parking lot onto the road. Fortunately, there was no other cars behind me so I could safely pull to the side of the road. The Driveshaft/prop shaft was replaced. I do have the snapped driveshaft in two pieces in my garage.

- Richfield, OH, USA

problem #34

Dec 132022

Equinox

  • miles
I purchased my 2018 Chevrolet equinox on July3rd, 2018 with 2 miles on it. Current mileage 67,900 Stop/start system design defect. I have had to have my vehicle battery replaced 4 times in 4 years of ownership. The battery has failed again at 67,900 miles on 12/13/2022 which will be the 5th battery in its lifetime. My dealership said that due to the climate and road conditions where I live my stop/start system has been killing my battery cell every 16,975 miles causing my battery to fail. Chevrolet originally extended my warranty for 6months/ or 60k miles. They said they can no longer extend my warranty and that I-€™d be responsible for the next battery and future battery-€™s.

- Wheat Ridge, CO, USA

problem #33

Oct 182022

Equinox

  • miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

I have a 2018 chevy equinox that I bought brand new back in December of 2018. The vacuum pump failed therefore breaking the camshaft which in turn caused failure to my brakes. I went to stop at a light and my brake pedal was hard and my car skidded to a stop through the light. No warning that anything was wrong nothing. My brakes worked fine up until I went to stop at the next light. Then out of the blue my brake pedal was hard and I had no brakes. I almost got into a severe accident due to the brake failure. Evidently there have been other people this has happened to. Extremely dangerous and unsafe. There have been lawsuits filed against GM for faulty vacuum pump part although they were for the year of 2020. GM needs to take a look at this issue and also install some kind of warning. I get warnings for a tire being a little low you would think they could put a warning in for the brake system!! The warranty is still good on my car do I do not have to pay for the repair. In addition when the camshaft broke it threw pieces of metal into the top part of the engine!!

- Owensboro , KY, USA

problem #32

Jul 272022

Equinox

  • miles
We were driving home and the car was losing acceleration power. My husband would press on the pedal and there was no acceleration. the all of a sudden the car would seem to get a connection and lurch forward. Thankfully we were were close to home and there wasn't a lot of traffic as it was scary. It ended up being the O2 sensor and I did see recalls on this part for earlier model years of the same car but not for 2018. It appears the issue has not been resolved in the newer models.

- Westerville, OH, USA

problem #31

Apr 292022

Equinox

  • miles
While driving to Tennessee my brakes went out on the car. The vacuum pump broke into pieces and made braking nearly impossible. Had it repaired and less than a week later the same thing happened coming off the interstate no brakes again on the off ramp. We had to glide to a stop for the brakes to kick in a little past the hard brake pedal. Checked the vacuum pump and again no suction so it-€™s bad again, not only that it appears that the rear main could be leaking but could be something else all together.

- Paint Lick , KY, USA

problem #30

Mar 212022

Equinox

  • miles
I see that this isn't a recall but is affecting many models of chevy from year models 2016-2019 with the gear selector assembly. The issue is the harness, solenoid, or sensor in the gear selector assembly is faulty and when trying to put the vehicle in park, the vehicle thinks it is NOT in park when it IS. Then, when you leave the vehicle, the interior beeps at you and electricals stay on as well as headlights/tail lights and will drain the battery unless you disconnect the battery. I don't see why this hasn't been recalled? I see SOOOO many people with the same issue and I've read that some dealerships are reluctant to fix because they can't "duplicate the problem" The problem is, you can't just buy the gear selector harness assembly wiring harness since it only comes with the whole assembly itself. So this should indeed be a recall because the average person isn't going to be able to figure this out and they shouldn't have to pay since it is happening in what looks like thousands if not tens of thousands or more vehicles.

- Plymouth, MI, USA

problem #29

Apr 202022

Equinox

  • miles
The -€œCheck Engine-€ light is still on regardless of the maintenance done on the vehicle. The oil pump is possibly damaged after pieces from broken vacuum pump may have entered into engine.

- Upper Marlboro , MD, USA

problem #28

Nov 212021

Equinox

  • 42,000 miles
The contact owns a 2018 Chevrolet Equinox. The contact stated that after parking in the driveway and switching the shifter to the park position the driver exited and moments later the vehicle erroneously rolled backward down the driveway. The driver attempted to get back into the moving vehicle and fell causing the vehicle to roll over the driver's body and crash into a tree. During the incident, the contact experienced an injured hip which required medical treatment. The vehicle was towed to a local body shop for repair. The manufacturer was notified of the incident and a manufacturer's engineer examined the vehicle but no problem was found. The cause of the failure was not determined. The contact was informed that the vehicle was not included in the NHTSA Campaign Number: 17v516000(Power train). The contact indicated that the vehicle had experienced the same failure listed in the recalls. The failure mileage was 42,000.

- Three Rivers, MI, USA

problem #27

Jan 022022

Equinox

  • miles
Winter 2020/2021 I had to replace my exhaust manifold and now winter 2021/2022 I am having issues with my turbo/super charger but same code of P0299 for both incidents. Wondering what is going on with my vehicle. I bought it at 42,000 miles and now has 88,000 on

- Chisholm, MN, USA

problem #26

Oct 242021

Equinox

  • miles
While driving the traction and stability lights came on along with the ESC service light. Also my Lane assist stopped working. It stayed on for at Least 30 mins until I turned off the car and restarted. Stopped at the closest garage and they checked the battery and used a scan tool to identify that it had a fault code U0121 Lost Communication with Anti-lock Brake System Module.

- Endwell, NY, USA

problem #25

Nov 292019

Equinox

  • miles
Was heading to run some errands and when I parked my car I try to release my seat belt buckle and it was not releasing. So I had a knife and I tried wiggling it so the buckle would release and it did not so I was frustrated and broke the seatbelt for driver as well as my rear seat belt. My transmission has been acting weird since 2019 and it happen every morning when it starts running my car shakes for a little then it would run fine. And for brakes my brakes would hesitate and shake as is braking.

- New London, CT, USA

problem #24

Jul 092021

Equinox 4-cyl

  • Automatic transmission
  • miles
62 k Miles car completely shut down and power steering became useless making it extremely hard to even move out of traffic. There were no warning lights Car has always been fully serviced at dealership. Vac pump failed causing camshaft to break, bending pistons New engine required. Car at dealership going into 3 weeks now

- Carlsbad, CA, USA

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