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.
2011 Chevrolet Equinox. Consumer writes in regards to vehicle suddenly stopped dead while driving and would not restart. The consumer stated it took him 20 minutes, to get the vehicle started again.
Vehicle has had inordinate transmission noise since around 10K mileage. While vehicle was idling, went into incredibly rough idle, vehicle shaking with warning message about stabilitrack error and vehicle shut down. While this initially happened while idling, it also happened numerous times at speeds from 20-50 mph as reported by spouse. After multiple trips to the dealer for unacceptable engine noise, engine shutting off and cel illumination (separate issue that has also never been remedied), an issue with the timing chain and fuel pump was alluded to and that a "fix" for this would be available in late spring of 2013. Fuel pump and timing chain replaced at no charge that summer, but similar symptoms continued. Loud, rough idle, intermittent vehicle shutdowns. Eventually took to another dealer who stated it was a throttle body issue and that this somehow was not covered by powertrain warranty even though this "used" to be part of the transmission, it somehow no longer is on newer models. After a $500+ repair, issue hasn't recurred in last 3 months (so far), but cel still illuminates during wet conditions (which both dealers cannot seem to fix). I feel this vehicle has been a lemon since about 10K miles and continues to be so. We only own Chevy's but between this vehicle and our apparently dangerous '05 cobalt, we can no longer afford to put our trust in Chevy and will need to seek out other vehicle manufacturers. It is apparent Chevy only cares about the money we can funnel to them for buying american. That will stop with the next vehicle purchase this summer when we turn in the cobalt (for probably next to nothing due to its new safety reputation). I mention this info as we really want to put our faith, trust and money into an american car corportation like Chevy and have been overly patient with them. No longer...others need to know about these issues.
On numerous occasions this winter, the vehicle displayed the message "engine powering down" & "service stabilitrak" while I was driving 65 mph at night on a very busy highway during rush hour commutes. When this happens, engine slows and the vehicle comes to a crawl within minutes - barely enough time to find a place to pull off the highway. When I shut off the engine, all electrical ceased, and emergency flashers would not work. Allowing the vehicle a 5 minute break then restarting (resetting the computer) fixes the problem. I researched this on the internet, and there are many Equinox owners complaining about this very thing.
The contact owns a 2011 Chevrolet Equinox. The contact stated that while driving approximately 30 mph, the vehicle began shaking violently as the entire instrument panel illuminated followed by the vehicle stalling. The failure was recurring however, the contact was able to restart the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where unknown repairs were performed. The manufacturer was notified of the problem. The approximate failure mileage was 30,000. Updated 05/27/14 updated 7/29/17 updated 08/22/2017
This vehicle has never gotten anywhere near the advertised epa estimated gas mileage. I have over 20000 miles on it now and have only averaged around 23 mpg on the highway in eco mode. This really should be considered false advertising. I bought the vehicle mainly because of the estimated 30 mpg. Really disappointed in GM at this point.
- Azle, TX, USA
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Engine loss of power, with service engine light illumination and reduced engine power message while driving on interstate highway when under 5 deg. F at night.. onstar advised to stop driving the vehicle due to engine damage concern and potential fire. Drove vehicle in "limp mode" direct to servicing dealership, dealer advised of engine code P2135 and stated vehicle required a "throttle body" replacement (same as onstar), at a full parts & labor cost of almost $500 dollars. Dealer stated that this repair is no longer covered under GM's powertrain warranty (yet is a P-code and is obviously powertrain related as it is the throttle body) or the emissions warranty. Not only is the failure mode dangerous, so is the vehicle response to the condition (reduced power). Not having the issue covered by warranty of some type makes it even worse.
Engine loss of power, with service engine light illumination and service traction control message. Drove vehicle home in "limp mode" before taking to servicing dealership, the following Tuesday. Dealer performed balance chain repair under manufacturer special warranty letter. Afterwards, dealer advised of engine code P2135 and stated vehicle required a "throttle body" replacement, at a full parts & labor cost of $583. Dealer stated that this repair is no longer covered under GM's powertrain warranty. Multiple online posts indicate that this same loss of engine power issue has occurred with vehicles traveling at freeway speeds, which will be mush more dangerous.
The contact owns a 2011 Chevrolet Equinox. The contact stated that the engine stalled while driving 70 mph. The dealer replaced the camshaft position sensor and the electronic control module; however, the contact was concerned that the failure might recur. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure and current mileage was not available.
Bought the Equinox new in April 11 for my daughter. Had it about 6 +/- months and started having problems with it. It would loose power all of a sudden and engine light would come on and steering would become extremely hard to do. Have taken it to the dealership many many times since then all for the same reasons. The vehicle stalls while driving and looses power. I have been lucky so far with no accidents. I am having to take it to the dealer again for the same reasons. Now there is a problem with the vehicle using a lot of oil. The dealership has replaced the transmission once, replaced alot of fuses and worked on the engine several times. There are still problems. I think, GM needs to do something about fixing this vehicle and all the others that are having the same problems. From what I have read on the internet, there are a lot of owners out there having the same problems. NHTSA, how many complaints does it take to have a recall done...?
I have had problems with my 2011 Chevrolet Equinox since the day I got it but yesterday was the worst. The engine all of a sudden stalled on the highway and I had to pull off the road. I just had it in the shop last week and had the fuel pump and timing chain replaced. I was able to get my car home only able to drive 40 mph. This morning I was going to try to get it to work to be closer to someone who could check the code out on it but as I was going down the road it completely stalled out and I barely got off the road before the engine cut out all together. I have read numerous forums of customer with the same vehicle having the same problem. This is a safety issue and GM needs to address it. The shop is saying that if it's the fuel throttle body which is what I suspect they will not cover it under warranty. From what I understand there was a bulletin put out on this issue and it was covered for awhile on the powertrain warranty but they pulled the bulletin and no longer cover it. I need help. GM knows they have issues with this vehicle but they will not do anything about it.
First off, sometimes my vehicle when in park acts like it may turn off, but doesn't. can hear/feel the vibrations like its about to. Secondly, the main reason I'm on this page, the A/C. it just stopped working out of the blue and making a noise. I take it in and told the condenser has a leak and needs replaced as well as the condenser which is making the noise. Wow, quoted from one place $1,084 the other place I only got a quote on the condenser of $424.. no telling what the compressor will be. After looking online and seeing so many Equinox vehicles having ac issues I hoped there was a recall on the parts, unfortunately not the case. 2011 and need a new condenser and compressor for A/C wow!! car shaking like its gonna die... wow!! this vehicle was purchased about a year and half ago.. and having to sink in over $1000 for these replacements! no telling what the engine vibration during idle is from, going to have that checked out soon. Oh and one other thing, when a tire is low, it appears to shows up backwards on the screen.
Cruising along at 65 mph on highway when service stabilitrak light along with reduce engine power came up on the dash. I lost engine power and went from 65 mph to 15 mph. I was able to pull onto an exit ramp. I quickly pulled over & parked the car. Shut the car off & waited about 1 min & turned the car back on. The stabilitrak & the reduce engine power cleared off my dash but the check engine light stayed on. Then was able to merge back into traffic & pick up the 65 mph speed. I was worried that it would happen again when I had to cross oncoming traffic. When I got in my car later, the service engine light had even turned off, but on the way home it happened again. Took it to the shop and was told it was a throttle body/solenoid issue & that it needs replaced. They told me it isn't covered under the pt warranty. As others have also said, I'm seeing a number of people with this same issue & wondering why this isn't a recall? it's very unsafe especially cause you don't know when its going to happen. If your doing 65-70 mph on a highway & there are cars close to you & the vehicle decides to do this, you and your family are going to get killed.
I was driving on a residential street going 30 mph. All of a sudden there was a engine clunk ( 4 cyl) and then rapid deceleration with the engine running very rough. Of course the warning lights came on. The next day I drove to the dealership several miles away and was lucky to get there as the vehicle was running so badly. The dealership will make the throttle body repair, change some sensors and fool with the timing belt, but the bottom line is the safety issue. Reviewing the prior complaints, it was scary hearing about those having problems on the interstates. Yes, something needs to be done by General Motors. Recalled these vehicles for inspection. Someone is going to get killed. The lady at the dealership had the gaul to say, "didn't you have the throttle body cleaned when you got your oil changed".I said lady, I have no idea what a throttle body is and if it is so important, then the dealer should do it automatically. Good luck, it will cost me $400, they said today. Who knows what tomorrow will bring.
Started accelerating & when I got to 55 mph the vehicle started losing power rapidly & service stabilitrak light along with reduce engine power came up on the dash. I went from 55 mph to 20 mph within seconds. I was able to pull onto the side of the road. I tried to merge back onto the highway but was unable to go faster then 16 mph. I quickly pulled back over & parked the car. Shut the car off & waited about 1 min & turned the car back on. The stabilitrak & the reduce engine power cleared off my dash but the check engine light stayed on. I then was able to merge back into traffic & pick up the 65 mph speed. I continued to work & had no other issues until I pulled into my work parking lot. That's when the stabilitrak & reduce engine power came back on & I lost power again. I parked the car & called the dealership. They told me to bring the vehicle in. It didn't duplicate the issue the whole way to dealership. The next day they called me to let me know they replaced a sensor & updated the computer with software. I drove the vehicle & it seemed fine. Week later had the same issue. Got about 5 mins into my trip & was on the interstate going 60 & all of a sudden the service stabilitrak & the reduce engine power light came back on & the vehicle dropped my speed of 60 to around 17 mph quickly. Thankful that no one was close behind me when this happened. I got off an exit & pulled into a parking lot. Called the dealership. This time they sent a flat bed out to get vehicle. They called & said it was a throttle body issue & that it needs replaced. They told me it isn't covered under the pt warranty. I'm seeing a number of people with this same issue & wondering why this isn't a recall? it's very unsafe especially cause you don't know when its going to happen. If your doing 65-70 mph on a highway & there are cars close to you & the vehicle decides to do this, you are in big trouble.
I came to a stop and car began to shake, reduced engine power and service stabilitrak light came on. I pressed gas to go and car would not go out of 1st gear, stayed at about 15 mph. Less than 1 mile from home so made it home and parked it. Started again the next day, no problems and drove most of the week with no issues. Same thing happened yesterday again and I pulled over 3 different times to restart to make it to my destination. Took car to dealership, they called today and said the throttle body needed to be replaced, it was not covered on power train and would be $500 to repair. From what I have gathered looking online, this appears to be a very common problem and sounds like a recall needs to be done. I am currently trying to get assistance to cover repair cost. This is a very dangerous situation as I was on the expressway when it happened once and it was terrifying to go from 60 to about 30 in 30 seconds when cars all around me are going 60 and 70 mph.
I was stopped at stoplight at 8pm the car shook as I started to turn left and the stability control light came on then low power engine light came on in my 2011 Equinox. The car powered down to 2 mph, it would not accelerate so I turned into a parking lot, shut the car off and turned it back on same thing happened again. I called onstar and had the car towed to phillips Chevrolet (great service) in frankfort, il. The service manager called and told me that the throttle body had to be replaced. I had the extended warranty so the cost was $100 to me, without the warranty it would have been $600 to fix. I asked if he has replaced many throttle bodies in this model car he said quite a few. The car was fixed. I emailed Chevrolet and asked how many throttle bodies have been replaced in all cars, they said no recalls on this car. I was unsatisfied with their answer, that was not my question. Chevrolet called me back and said that a person would call me about my concern. They called and told me the same story, no recalls and the dealer could have been lying to me, which made me upset. I asked to speak with a supervisor and he told there were no records kept of how many throttle bodies have been replaced, which I do not believe. He also told me about a fuel pump problem that Chevy would fix only if my car had a problem and a chain belt problem that could a cause serious problem to the engine if the car showed symptoms. I was not happy with that answer either. I will take my car in for a chain belt and fuel pump check now that I am aware of the potential problem. The supervisor told me that I would have to contact your Agency about my concern. I would like an answer to my original question, how many throttle bodies have been replaced in Chevrolet cars" why did this happen and will a recall be issued" thank you.
The contact owns a 2011 Chevrolet Equinox. The contact stated that the engine stalled without warning while driving at various speeds. The contact was able coast onto the shoulder and restart the engine. The engine exhibited a loud, abnormal noise at start-up. The vehicle was taken to the dealer for diagnostic testing. The contact was advised that the fuel pump, timing chain, actuator and engine oil was contaminated. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 38,400.
Check engine light came on, had autozone run on computer, came back code P0011, found recall on code in 2011(11195A), car is doing same thing as recall stated, I called GM and they said it was not part of recall, I explained problem and they would not tell if part was under warranty, all they said was take to dealer. GM told me so ES vins were recalled, but not all, couldn't tell me why this one was not recalled even though it is doing same thing.
I received a letter from Chevrolet (July 2013) explaining that there are issues with numerous engine parts, particularly the fuel pump and balance chain. Chevrolet stated that they are extending my power train warranty to 10 years or 120,000 miles, whichever occurs first. I have had the balance chain replace twice already. I am concerned that the condition with the fuel pump could cause a fire or serious engine damage. The letter from Chevrolet states: "in addition, the fuel pump plunger shaft seal may wear and allow fuel to leak into the crankcase, which would illuminate the malfunction indicator light. This can cause run-on and/or the engine to run rough". I would assume that the engine and oil in the Equinox would reach very high temperatures when they have been operated for a period of time. The introduction of fuel into the crankcase and engine could possibly ignite. Also the failure of the balance chain could cause engine failure under some driving conditions that could leave the car inoperable, causing an accident. I believe Chevy should be held accountable for the defective parts and potential danger their failure could cause. Chevrolet should be directed to issue a recall to replace these defective parts..
I have had many problems with my 2011 Chevy Equinox that started occurring about a year after I purchased it. The main concerns are the engine noise and how rough it runs, feeling as though I am being rear-ended in traffic (when moving forward from a complete stop it lurches forward, giving the feeling of being hit), rough start up (sounds like an old car at times) and the car stutters when accelerating (almost feels like it wants to stall out). I do not feel safe in this car now and have read that many others are experiencing the same issues. I have taken it four times giving them the same description each time at which they state that they cannot replicate these issues. They keep my car for hours and do nothing to it. I am a single mom so I can't leave my car without it causing major issues for me as I have to take my son to and from school. I received a letter from GM stating that there is an issue with the fuel pump and engine balance chain and describes what my vehicle is doing now-I believe I have engine damage and I am worried that I will end up breaking down on the side of the road at some point or worse stall out and end up in an accident! in addition to the engine problems there is a problem with the defroster, it just doesn't clear the windows fast enough, on going problems with the stereo (makes a static, distorted sound with the usb port) and the drivers side squeaks because it rubs up against the middle console. It is very frustrating because the problems are intermittent. I am hoping that enough people complain about this safety issues with regard to the engine and cause GM to deal with it appropriately! we should not feel afraid that our new car will break down on us, especially with our children in the vehicles!
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Georgetown, IL, USA