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.
This complaint is in regards to the 2005 Chevrolet Equinox. This vehicle was purchased used in August 2009 with roughly 42000 miles from carmax in dulles, va. Since the purchase of this vehicle, I have spent nearly 3000 dollars in repairs as it seems that parts are wearing out or malfunctioning far earlier than typical. At about the 60000 mile mark, all four rotors and brakes needed to be replaced due to the rotors being warped. I was told by the mechanic that this is not common and should not have happened at this type of mileage. Cost for this repair was about $500. Tires have needed to be replaced twice since the purchase of this vehicle; once around 60000 miles due to "uneven wear" which was likely a result of the bad rotors, and again around the 100000 mark also for "uneven wear". this cost $400 on each occasion. At the 80000 mile mark a loud knocking noise was heard coming from the front end, and proceeded to get worse up to the 100000 mile mark. Between those mileage marks, the front end began to feel very loose. The problem was that the struts prematurely failed and created a very dangerous driving condition. The cost for this repair was over $1300 and was repaired on June 27, 2011. After doing a bit of research, I discovered that this is a very prominent and common problem for this year, make, and model. On top of these issues, there is also apparently a problem with the rear end as well that is also creating a knocking. Also, the daytime running lights have begun to flash repeatedly and very quickly at random times as well as turning themselves on and off. The cd player also broke. I feel that this is a very unsafe and unreliable vehicle that should be investigated to determine whether this is truly due to "wear and tear", or if this is a factory fault.
I have a 2005 Chevy Equinox ls. I purchased the vehicle January 2009 seemed to be driving pretty good. I took it out of town and as I began to stop at the stop light the steering felt loose and the wheels moved side to side on its own. I thought it strange but kept on driving. Started up the on ramp and the steering wheel had a loose like play in it. Didn't think anything of it. Started to excel onto the highway and as I began to reach 60 miles per hr the front end started moving loosely left to right. Then I started reaching 65 miles per hr and the front bounced and wobbled as if it were going to drop. I had to go 75 miles per hr before the jiggling of the front end of the van stopped. The van drove great at 60 or less. Whenever putting on the brakes there would be a crunching noise as if a pole was in the way keeping the foot brake from pushing down to the floor. I would have to lightly lift my foot then push it down quickly to stop the van safely. This is very dangerous and should have been taken care of before selling the vehicle.
At aprox 140K miles, the sway bar links failed. Loud creaking noise when turning, and going over bumps. Unable to grease and therefore needed to be replaced. Cost to repair $200.
I have a leaking head gasket, I bought this Equinox 6 months ago and its $1,200 to fix it at the dealer ship. I just paid $306 to replace the motor in the driver's side window. Front end makes lots of noises.
We have a 2005 Chevy Equinox, as my mechanic would say, is a problem child. We have experienced what most have with the odor coming from the cooling system. Our biggest complaint in with the suspension, and now the ABS system. It took several visits to figure out why our vehicle was making loud noises in the front end. It all started while I was driving it around a sharp corner. From that day on, which was about six months ago, till present time the car has been load. We have an excellent mechanic. The noise in the front turned out to be the strut plates. This cost us $300 per side. We thought we had solved the issues except for about a week ago a louder noise stared. It felt and sounded like the car was going to break in two. We brought it back to our mechanic. This time it was the suspension system again. I do not know what it is called. There is a rod that is from the top of the strut that goes down to the wheel. These both needs to be replaced. The vehicle is at the shop now. Thank fully theses rods only cost $30 a piece. The vehicle only has 46000 on it. Then we can talk about the ABS system. Not every time but quite frequently we would back the car up and they ABS would engage. Only way to fix this was through replacing the sensors on the wheels. In not knowing which sensor is bad we would have to replace all of them which would amout to at least $1200. The good news or not such good news, however you want to look at it, the ABS system is engaging going forward now, on dry pavement while braking. At least the mechanics should be able to find the falty sensor now that it is happening all of the time. Shame on us for not doing our research before we bought the vehicle.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Front Royal, VA, USA