This vehicle been a pain and its costing me a lot. When the dealer won't take it back and they wnn't let me trade it in for anything, and I have been making monthly payments on time. Even when I had the warranty, they wouldn't take it back. First the signal light started smoking they wouldn't fix it, after I went the next day. Month later transmission went out they stated its not. They have not tried to help fix the car and now the motor went out while I was driving down the highway with my daughter and they said they can't take the car back I'll have to purchase a new car.

Driving down the highway in the rain in the middle of no where the car shut off. When I was safely on the side of the highway, I noticed smoke coming from under the hood. Once I had the hood up it was clear to see the smoke coming from the fuse box. I went to my car to get some tools and disconnect the battery. When I got back the fuse box had flames coming out from under it. Put the fire out and smoke was still coming out so I disconnected the battery and it finally stopped smoking.

I have had this car for a year and have been stuck on the side of the road twice now. Plus I had to have the wheel bearings changed. The noises the car makes, the oil that mysteriously disappears, I hate it.

Update from May 18, 2015: Car totalled by the insurance company.

faulty ignition switch

First I noticed that you could just pull the key out of the ignition while it was running. Had a new key made and still the same. It will randomly shut off while just sitting there. When it shuts off, the dash is completely blank as if I physically turned the car off. It is not electrical because the lights will still work, etc. sometimes it will not start right away until the key is wiggled around in the ignition. Now it is randomly shutting off while driving causing loss in all power functions (steering /brakes). Have to stop, put in park and restart. Luckily I was in a subdivision at the time and not on a busy highway. My kids used this vehicle to take trips to their athletic camps long distances and can/will not longer let that happen due to the possible serious consequences of a less experienced driver on an interstate with loss of power steering/brake at that rate of speed. I have an appointment with the dealer for diagnosis and have called into GM to report. Will update. Not sure if this should be misc. or electrical. I had the PCM replaced about a year ago for other issues so I do not believe that should be the cause. I believe this vehicle should have been involved in the recent ignition switch recall!!

While driving my vehicle, I lost acceleration. The vehicle went to about 45 mph, then it made a choking noise, an engine light came on, and when I would push my gas pedal, there was no power at all. I shut my vehicle off, and then it would not start back up again. Had multiple people look at the car, replaced a head gasket, my PCM, some valves, and all of my o2 sensors. did not fix the problem. I have no engine lights on when the vehicle decides it does want to run, and diagnostics picks up no codes.

Update from Aug 15, 2014: While driving my vehicle, I completely lost acceleration. I was driving about 45 miles and all of a sudden I noticed the car begin to slow. When i pushed the gas pedal nothing happened. Took the vehicle to a mechanic shop where they were not able to diagnose any problem. They hooked up my car to a diagnostics, the only reading was for a catalytic converter, but they told me that was not the problem and I did not need it at that time. Car continued to do this afterwards Will drive fine for a few days, then shuts down while driving

i complain before an am tired that everyone cant help me. i leased a 2006 chev equinox that have been giving me problem since day 10 of the lease. brought the vehicle in for serv an ofcourse noone finds anything wrong with it. my oil change are up to dates but i am still having an issues with the car stoppin intermitten before an while driving. THIS IS DANGEROUS! I have a 4yr old that was standed with me in the middle of no where after 23min a gentelman stop an assist me. the suv decided to turn on an i drove it asap to the dealer serv an they treated me like CRAP!!!!. not understanding that from the sec or third issue i had with this vehicle , i call the general manager an request a change of vehicle, he continue to try to figure out what was the problem, an never was able to duplicate it. This all happen within the warranty an within the milage, the problem continued, i ask many times to the serv dept if this is an outgoin problem, will it be covered? i was told that it will. around christmas it stop on me again an i decided to bring it back to the serv dept, suv start with no problem an computer stays that everything is good. NEVER happen to them an its anoying to me that after givin me the suv back two wks later , i had the same issue. now the noise i complain from day 10 of lease became louder. told the serv tech an ofcourse the noise stopped, i told him to go for a ride with me after 15 min drive, he heard the noise an never expirience the suv stop, told me that the engine is gone an had no oil. I was told that now this become my responsibility, no true. how can it be possible that after two wks of having my suv back from he dealer this problem was never found from day one. NOT DRIVABLE! am stuck with a 5 yr paym without a vehicle for my job an fam. PLEASE I need HELP. this is not right, after I research that I was not the only one with the same vehicle, an problem. This company should be responsible for this. or this vehicle should have a recall du that i am not the only one with this problem

i trade in a 2001 honda accord for a 2006 chev equiv, for the space. two weeks after i got the vehivle engine light comes up, when i start the car it will turn off durying an while i drive. brought it to the chev serv dept many times for the same issue an never able to duplicate the problem. 4 to 5 month later a horrific noise comes from the front of the car, but once again the chev tech find nothing. exact 6 month, the dealer shop determents that is a blown engine , now my warranty is up, an milage are over the dealer claims that is not ttheir responsibility. that i need to purchase a new engine!!! pissed off , i need help against this dealer for lying to me.

The car began to have rough starting, the fan (one of them) failed and the other had to work overtime to cool the engine. the engine began overheating, warning lights flashed, engine stopped and restarted. Was towed 30 miles back home. Rather than bore everyone with details, I will say only that it now appears that either the heads are cracked or the block might be cracked. I'll know more sometime next week. I may have to pop for a new engine. This seems to be a major problem with the Equinox. The last mechanic who worked on it told me to get rid of this dog as soon as possible.(his words....mine might be stronger)

Apparently Chevrolet knows about the problems with this engine, but refuses to admit to any responsibility. I will admit, though, that I have not contact any dealer about this. I bought the car used (it is a 2006, which I bought in 2009), so I can't blame a dealer. I can blame GM for not admitting this is a bad engine. Since a new engine is cheaper than a new car, it looks like a new engine is in the future for this car.

Our 2006 Equinox keeps shutting down completely while driving and also several times on start up for the last month. This is very dangerous and has happened in the middle lane of a busy highway during the rush hour. This has gone on for the last month and the vehicle has been into the dealership four times (it's currently there now). The dealer has replaced the battery (it was probably due), replaced the ignition (also didn't fix the problem) and disconnected the remote starter - I didn't even make it home yesterday. It is obvious that none of these "fixes" were the problem. When the truck shuts down, two engine lights come on, one with a "down arrow" and one without. The hazard signal, radio, clock etc. still work but the engine will not even try to turn over. After about 10-15 minutes the truck will start. There was another '06 Equinox at the dealership with the same problem and I understand they replaced the ignition on that one - I don't know if that rectified their problem or not. Anyone else with this problem???

Update from Oct 17, 2012: My truck was finally fixed after reviewing other complaints on this site - the computer had to be completely replaced... thank God we were not involved in an accident - especially when on the highway and it konked out.

Just out of the blue I would be driving along and the car would shut off, took it in dealership put on computer, checked everything could not find a reason.I told them I had read on the internet of others having this same problem and it was the PCM(computer).

They said they could not replace it unless they could get the computer to be on the car when it quit so I rented a car for two days and left it with them to drive it finally quit more than one time and they got the reading they needed to replace the PCM. It was very hard to drive around in a vehicle for several weeks with my grandkids in the back with it shutting off whenever, mostly in the AM on my way to work and their school. I am so happy they found the problem and it was covered on the warranty if you have the same problem push for the dealership to hook the computer up and drive it with it on it. I kept a diary of the times it stopped and how many miles I drove before it would stop. The only good part was if I waited a couple of minutes it would start up so I could get where I was going.

I have a 2006 equinox 46000mi. while driving it all my gauges will shut down and various dash lights will come on along with the dinger tone, the power steering also quits working and the transmission feels a little off as well. the vehicle keeps running but if you shut it off in this condition it will not start again unless you sit there and repeatedly try to start it over and over. i just bought the vehicle and the dealer is fixing it no charge as the problem started a few days after taking possession. they have replaced the ignition switch, power control module and body control unit. after each repair it lasts for about a day and a half and happens again. dealer has been stumped and seems to just be replacing stuff in hopes of it being the problem...any ideas??? originally they thought it was a ground or a bad wire but then they do these other repairs instead...

We have owned this vehicle for almost 2 years. Bought it used and never had a problem with it until about a week ago. I was driving home from work, stopped at a stop sign and the engine just shut down. Waited several minutes, tried to start, wouldn't start. Turned everything off, tried to start again and it started. About 3 days later my husband was driving it and it just shut off while he was going down the street. It never gives any warning with a light or anything. Just shuts off. The check engine light has been on for about a year now. They don't know why it's on. They were just guessing and told me maybe it was the gas cap, so I got a new gas cap. It is still on. I won't drive the car until it's determined that this problem can be fixed. So far nobody knows why it does this. Anybody have any ideas? Taken your vehicle in for the same problem? Info on this problem is welcomed. Thanks.

Update from Jan 29, 2011: The dealership first tried a new ignition switch, which didn't help because it kept having the same problem, shutting down while driving. So the next day they replaced the PCM and it hasn't shut down since. So far, so good. It's been about 5 days since they put the new one in and it hasn't died once since.