10.0

really awful
Crashes / Fires:
3 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
0 / 0
Average Mileage:
61,451 miles

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« Read the previous 20 complaints

problem #35

Dec 152017

Equinox

  • 118 miles
The vehicle has suffered several engine failure since I purchased it. Several sensors and module have gone out, costs of over $1500 to date. Faulty electrical panel failed to indicate the vehicle was low on oil, and overheating. The oil was changed and within a month, the oil had depleted for unknown reasons. None of the indicator lights signaled and the engine stopped while driving, the mechanic said the engine froze up and it is a total loss. The mechanic said the vehicle only had two quarts of oil but was not signaling any oil problems and it should have. The sensors and electric panel were malfunctioning. The dealer never disclosed any recalls to me when I bought the vehicle used. The mechanic is getting the history together of work performed. I will upload as I get them.

- Albuquerque, NM, USA

problem #34

Jun 012016

Equinox

  • 85,000 miles
I have had this vehicle since 2016 and have had issues with it since the 7th day of owning it. On day 7, I had the catalytic converter replaced (after they tried to tell me I didn't tighten the gas cap). Then after only owning the vehicle for 4 months, I had to have a whole new engine built (so they say it was) this was after my vehicle turned completely off in the middle of an intersection while driving with my 2 year old daughter. Up until that point everything had been fine. There was no check engine light, warning or anything. The dealership had my vehicle for almost 2 months before I finally got it back. The day I got it back, my vehicle started overheating and making a horrible noise. This time the dealership told me it was my radiator and that they replaced it. Everything was ok after that for a good 3 weeks and then after that the engine light has been on and my vehicle will randomly turn off. I have taken it to a different location where they have fixed the sensor a couple of times, but they said it was my engine and that the dealership never fixed it properly. I can believe that too because none of my service info is on the Chevy site and the same codes show up that did originally, this vehichle is a safety hazord and a money pit! when will Chevy be held responsible for all of the same complaints on the Equinox?

- Burleson, TX, USA

problem #33

Sep 042017

Equinox

  • miles
Reduced engine power /stabili trak light comes on when my vehicle is idle or stopped at a light. It sometimes shuts off but cranks back up while im sitting at a light. Usually when on driving on 95 the light doesnt come on except for this morning the light came on while I was on 95 when I was under 60 miles I had to pull over for a few minutes so the indication light goes off, my car will eventually loose power if the light is on and I try to try it.. if the light is off I can drive so I have to turn car off and sit for awhile before I can resume driving.

- Sicklerville, NJ, USA

problem #32

May 302017

Equinox

  • 95,000 miles
I keep having issues with the wheel speed sensor. Continues to say stability tract, traction control, ABS off. Issues with wheel speed sensor.

- Oxford, NY, USA

problem #31

Aug 112016

Equinox

  • miles
Intake camshaft actuator not functioning, need to replace. Car stalls, loud at start up and hesitates, wants to stall at a stop sign

- Atwater, CA, USA

problem #30

Feb 102016

Equinox

  • 130,000 miles
Had my car fixed for the oil consumption issue and a week later I lost power and the car shut off while driving almost causing an accident with my children in the car. Dealership denied any thing wrong with the car.... after having it towed back to them, they found the throttle body connectors were no good and need a new wiring kit to fix. There needs to be a recall on this because this could cause a serious accident, almost happened to me! please recall the 2011 Equinox as a whole, you obviously didn't build this car correctly.

- Saranac, MI, USA

problem #29

Feb 092016

Equinox

  • 55,426 miles
Upon driving my car to work with my two kids in the car, my car suddenly lost power without warning, the dashboard lit up "engine power reduced" as well as stabilitrac and traction control. The car would not accelerate to more than 20mph and then died on me. I contacted GM, received a claim number and they never called me back as promised. I was able to restart the car and continue on my way in fear for the safety of myself and my children. As a result of this, I told my husband I was not comfortable driving this unsafe vehicle with our kids in the car and we would trade cars until the problem was resolved. The following morning my husband was driving the Equinox to work and it happened to him, "engine power reduced" loss of stabilitrac/ traction control. Unfortunately, he wasn't as lucky as me and was on a turn when this suddenly happened without warning, causing him to lose traction, steering control and crashing into a ditch. Now we have an insurance claim to deal with and only one car. GM is well aware of the problem as they had a recall on the previous year model. Not until 13 people die will they do something about it as proven in the past. Bad customer service, faulty deadly vehicles! by the way, nearly 48 hours later and I have still not heard back from GM after a promise of a call back within 2 hours!

- Brentwood, CA, USA

problem #28

Jan 132016

Equinox

  • miles
I was driving to get my 3 small kids from after school and my 2011 Chevy Equinox started losing power. Could not go over 35 mph.check engine light turned on, then the stabilitrak light followed by reduce engine and it had vibration. The car was in motion. I got to the stop sign and it vibrated. I pulled over and was scared to cut it off. Then after about 2 mins I was able to pull of slowly by the car stalled. And I still couldn't go over 35mph. Slowly made it to my kids school and I could here clunky noises. I cut off, after 5 mins I was able to crank, the only light that was on was the check engine light and its stil on. I was able to drive regular but still had a little vibration. I do not have warranty and im a single mother of 3 small kids from age 18months - 9years old. I dont know what to do. I cant afford any repairs. I just got this vehicle January 30, 2015

- Lloyd, FL, USA

problem #27

Jan 042016

Equinox

  • 98,600 miles
I was in city streets going 30 mph at most, 19 degrees in Minnesota and it shows reduced engine power and stabiltrack off as traction control light comes on and check engine light is on. The engine starts shaking violently and I pull over, restart it and it goes for a few blocks and then the same warnings come on (engine light has gone off and on intermittently for a few months with no issues.) as mentioned, speed reduction was stated on screen and I drive slowly and was only able to accelerate slowly. I just went through a Chevrolet forum and see that I'm not the only one who's had these same issues and lights and warnings pop up on the screen. Luckily I was not on a highway or under any other scarier conditions and was close to home. Many others have spent hundreds of dollars to try and remedy this issue and, per the forum, have only been able to do that after at least having the warranty to pay for it. Here's the link to the extensive forum: chevroletforum.com/forum/Malibu-15/very-dangerous-reduced-engine-power-issue-62499/page27/ I don't want to be A/the casualty that makes this issue more immediate. Furthermore, I don't want to be the cause of injury to any others because of this.

- Minneapolis, MN, USA

problem #26

Nov 142014

Equinox

  • 70,000 miles
I was driving and all of a sudden, the check engine light came on and "reduced engine power" message appeared. You are at highway speed and suddenly you can only go 30 miles an hour no matter how much accelerator is depressed. After pulling over at the first available safe area, turning off the car and restarting seemed to reset the car so it was able to proceed. This continued to happen until I attempted to clean the throttle body. The throttle body wasn't operating correctly. Cleaning it did stop the "reduced engine power" message. This car also burns oil, no leaks, but you need a quart or two of dexos oil a month. GM seems to think this is normal. Also the car stalls as you reduce speed, like coming to a traffic light. It works fine for awhile, but on certain days, it stalls every time you slow down. The check engine light points to a gas pedal switch.

- Pittsburgh, PA, USA

problem #25

Apr 102015

Equinox

  • 45,000 miles
While driving my 2011 Equinox the car seems to intermittently misfire, causing the whole car to shake. Some days the car seems to run fine, some days it runs badly. Sometimes the engine light comes on, sometimes the check stabilitrac light comes on. Sometimes the car runs fine and no light comes on. The problem seems to be getting worse and happens more frequently. In the last week the car has started to run for 3-5 seconds after shutting off the ignition. It also has begun to run very rough and almost stall, but not every time I drive it.

- Mineral Wells, WV, USA

problem #24

May 022015

Equinox

  • 49,250 miles
When I was out running errands on 5/2/15 with my (xxx) year old, as I was arriving closer to my destination my car started shaking the check engine light came on, the stabilitrak light came one and I started to accelerate the car and the pedal was all the way to the floor and the car hesitated for a min or so then it started to rev up and I was able to pull off. Then when I got to where I was going I turned the car off and according to the manual the stabilitrak should go off and it usually activates due to check engine light coming on. I can honestly say that when you are in traffic at a stop and trying to pull off this is a very dangerous situation. After being in the store for at least 30mins or more when I come back out the check engine light is still on but the stabilitrak light is off. I am no more than 20 mins away from my home but on the way back home it took at least 45 mins because three times while in traffic waiting for the light to turn green the card started having the soldered acceleration problems again. I am just relieved that the drivers behind me in each occurrence which would be a total of 4 was very patient. I did do a diagnostic report with onstar after the second incident and I was informed that there were 3 codes on my car now and the loss of power can be an issue for these code and to get the car to the dealer within 7 days. This seems to be an issue that has been listed on this site more than once. I am no longer under the warranty for this vehicle and from what I have read is a very expensive repair. I am not sure why Chevy/GM is not acknowledging this issue from what I have seen on this site and edmunds.com, car complaints.com and you tube this a very real and serious issue. This issue needs to be addressed soon than later. I don't understand why there hasn't been anything done about this. I am scared to drive my car now. *trparts of this document have been redacted to protect personally identifiable information pursuant to the Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).

- Calumet City, IL, USA

problem #23

Apr 022015

Equinox 4-cyl

  • 162,000 miles
I was driving and came to a smooth stop at a red light and as the vehicle came to a stop, the RPM gauge needle fell below 1 and then kept lowering and the engine shook and jostled and the car engine died. All interior electronics were still working. I had to put the car into park in order to get it to start up again. It did this later while reversing. And now it just seems to do this anytime I come to a stop at a light, stop sign, anytime really. Something I found perplexing was that if I put it into park, it idles smooth. Take it out of park, it idles rough again and will stall. The information panel between the gauges says to service stabili trak. Last night, the engine overheated and coolant exploded from the engine. I have no clue what to do with this car. I have it financed and if it isn't repairable, ill be stuck with no car and no ride to work, but still have to find a way to make a car payment. I've been reading all over on different car forums and apparently this is a very common problem with other Chevy Equinox owners. First it starts idling rough, then it starts stalling out, some people have even had it stall out while on the highway, and then one guy even had the engine catch on fire. He luckily jumped out of his vehicle just in time to avoid his own death. All of them describing the same issues my Equinox is having. The mileage seems to be irrelevant as far as this goes. Some of them had 30,000 miles, some had less than 5,000 miles. Some had 100,000 miles. Some of them took it to the dealer, and the dealership replaced cam shaft stuff. That sometimes fixed the issue, sometimes not. It just seems like there is definitely something wrong with this vehicle. Like something was wrong in production. Please help!!! I have children. What should I do?

- Toledo, OH, USA

problem #22

Feb 172015

Equinox 4-cyl

  • 97,200 miles
I was pulling into a parking lot at a convenient store, coming to a complete stop, the "check engine" light came on, and the information station flashed the warning "stabilitrac / power reduced". a strange sound and vibration was coming from the car. I turned it off because I thought the traction control created the problem because it had started to snow. Once I returned to the car, it drove okay for a few minutes and then boom that strange sound and the strong idling vibration came back. I was still able to drive the SUV but would not accelerate past the first transmission gear. So a couple days later I was going to try and make it to the store because another snow storm was coming our town's way. Again, started out okay and then boom that strange sound and the strong idling vibration came back. So, instead of turning around to go home, I took it to the car dealership were I bought it from. After running tests or whatever they did, I don't know because I wasn't back there; they told me it's the throttle body. They even told me they just finished pricing one and told me the crazy high amount to fix it. I don't know about anyone else but I don't have this kind of money to put into fixing this. So yeah, I was without a vehicle but yet with a vehicle payment. According to the massive amount of complaints about this part, it has a very high failure rate in this vehicle. However, Chevy refuses to cover this part as part of their power-train warranty or at least do a recall on it. The "power reduced" condition caused by this part failure is a very dangerous thing to have happen to you if you are turning in a busy intersection or on an interstate highway, and if something is not done, there will be injuries or fatalities because of it.

- Appomattox, VA, USA

problem #21

Mar 262014

Equinox 4-cyl

  • 80,585 miles
Upon leaving the home driveway, as the car began to accelerate, the "check engine" light came on, and the information station flashed the warning "stabilitrac / power reduced". the car was still drive-able, but would not accelerate past the first transmission gear. After getting the vehicle back home, I restarted it, and the same warning was displayed in the information station. The vehicle also began to idle very roughly and emit thick black smoke. All indications from internet sources point to a bad throttle body, which was later confirmed by the car dealership. According to the massive amount of complaints about this part, it has a very high failure rate in this vehicle. However, Chevy refuses to cover this part as part of their power-train warranty. The "power reduced" condition caused by this part failure is a very dangerous thing to have happen to you if you are turning in a busy intersection or on an interstate highway, and if something is not done, there will be injuries or fatalities because of it.

- Calhoun, GA, USA

problem #20

Feb 222015

Equinox

  • 104,000 miles
Was driving on interstate 70 on the Pennsylvania West Virginia border when the vehicle suddenly lost engine power. I was in the passing lane and there were large trucks behind me and beside me. The check engine light cam on and display was flashing "engine power limited" and "service stabilitrak". there was no power from the engine. I quickly began to reduce speed and had to put my emergency flashers on and coast to a safe stop. I was able to start the car and it functioned normally until I got home (30 miles). The next day it did the same thing and I took it to the Chevy dealership for repairs I am not comfortable that this will not happen again. Dealer said it was a bad throttle body

- Mcmurray, PA, USA

problem #19

Feb 242015

Equinox

  • 70,000 miles
I was driving in the snow at approximately 40 mph when the car decelerated to approx 20 mph, the check engine light came on, the traction control light came on, the SUV started shaking and the reduced engine performance pop up was displayed. The dealer is replacing the throttle sensor due to a short. Luckily I was not on the highway at the time as going from 65 to 20 would have been very dangerous. This limp home/fallback mode seems sort of ill conceived especially on roads above 30 mph.

- Chapel Hill, NC, USA

problem #18

Feb 122015

Equinox 4-cyl

  • 154 miles
I was driving with my 7 year old son and 15 year old nephew on a 35 mph busy street when all of a sudden my vehicle started shaking and the steering wheel and brake pedal lock on me I couldn't move the luckily there was no car coming at the moment, and I was able to turn off the vehicle and turn it back up. After that I it started up again and nothing seem to be wrong until the engine light turn on and I continued on my way, all of a sudden my on the dash board it said stability check/lost engine power and all of a sudden the engine shut off on me. I couldn't move to from lanes to avoid causing an accident luckily the vehicles on back of me notice my vehicle slowing down and they where able to miss hitting my vehicle. I really do want something done to fix this issue because I could of cause an accident with that sudden stop and all because of the engine powering off. I believe something needs to be done a.S.a.P. before on of all these other people putting their complains end up dead or causing a deadly accident. I sure don't want my family to be in danger in any type of way, especially not in a vehicle that I know is malfunctioning and feeling helpless because nothing is being done. I hope my complain helps even more to get this issue fix a.S.a.P.

- Brooklyn Center , MN, USA

problem #17

Feb 092015

Equinox 6-cyl

  • 92,000 miles
While driving 65mph on the highway the check engine light illuminated and digital display was flashing "engine power limited" and "service stabilitrak". engine began shuddering and the quickly car slowed to 35mph on its own and would not exceed that speed. I pulled to the side of the road, turned car off for 2 minutes and restarted. Pulled away and in less than 2 miles the same occurred. I disabled the stabilitrak and proceeded to drive another 10 miles to my destination. Car sat for 8 hours. Started the car and in less than a quarter mile I experienced the same engine shuddering and "engine power limited" and "service stabilitrak".

- Freehold, NJ, USA

problem #16

Jan 312015

Equinox

  • 59,410 miles
I was driving my 2011 Chevrolet Equinox and the message "engine power is reduced" displayed. The car slowed down to about 30 mph. Then the message "service stabilitrack" displayed. I was able to pull into a parking lot and shut the vehicle down. I waited a minute and restarted and drove the vehicle 20 minutes and the problem re-occurred. It was sat afternoon, so the dealer was closed. I nursed the vehicle the rest of the weekend and took it to the dealer Monday morning. The dealer says it is a bad throttle body before they even looked at the car, which tells me this is a common problem. The vehicle is unsafe to drive without the repair, so I had them do the service for $603 doing some research and speaking with some mechanic friends, this is a known problem that occurs between 50,000 - 60,000 miles and I feel should be covered under the powertrain warranty. If this had occurred at interstate highway speeds, it could have led to an accident.

- Kettering, OH, USA

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