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.
I purchased my 2013 Equinox used with 51,000 miles on it. 2 weeks after purchase, during my first rain storm with it, I used my windshield wipers on my way to work. About 5 minutes after turning the wipers on, going about 50 miles per hour, they started jerking as they moved then just stopped in the middle of my wind shield. It was 6 in the morning during a thunderstorm. The only thing I could see was the tail lights in front of me and when lightening flashed. I was on a country road for half of the trip so there was little light to help me see through the rain; the second half of my drive was city streets with lots of other traffic which also had me quite nervous as it was pouring and I could barely see. I had to drive 30 minutes to work this way. Very scary! after work I took it to hardy Chevrolet where they diagnosed it as a broken wiper transmission. They had to order the part so I had to leave my SUV there and rent a car for a couple of days. As it was a used car, this was not covered so it was all out of pocket. The cost of repair, not counting the enterprise car rental, was $403.73. If this is now a recall issue...I would like to be reimburssed for having to already pay for the replacement of the faulty item. I have the receipt from the repair. I can not find the car rental receipt or I would say that I should be reimbursed for that as well.
The contact owns a 2013 Chevrolet Equinox. The contact received a recall notification for the visibility/wiper; however, the part needed to repair the vehicle was unavailable. The contact stated that the manufacturer exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was notified of the issue. The NHTSA campaign number was unknown. The contact had not experienced a failure. VIN tool confirms parts not available.
I was driving down the expressway at 60mph in pouring rain. I heard a loud bam under my hood and the windshield wipers almost flew off the car. They were hanging off on the driver's side. I was not far from an overpass so drove on the side of the road to it to wait for it slow down but ended up having to drive to the nearest advance auto in hopes of repair. This was so dangerous. I was on a 70mph expressway during evening rush hour in pouring rain. I had my son with me. We could have been killed. Windshield wipers serve a very important purpose and should never be installed with plastic. Something should be done before someone is killed. This seems to be an epidemic with the year, make & model of the vehicle happening on many of them at the same time. Please do something about this.
The contact owns a 2013 Chevrolet Equinox. While driving at an unknown speed, a loud abnormal ticking sound emitted from the vehicle without warning. The vehicle was taken to a dealer where it was diagnosed that there was no oil in the vehicle. The technician performed an oil change and compression test every 1,000 miles. The contact was informed that the piston in the engine failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired, but the failure recurred. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where the technician stated that the vehicle was burning oil rapidly. The vehicle was not repaired. On another occasion, the vehicle failed to shift gears properly. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed that the transmission needed to be replaced. The transmission was repaired with unknown parts. The contact also stated that the windshield wipers failed to operate intermittently. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 33,000.
The contact owns a 2013 Chevrolet Equinox. While driving at 50 mph in the rain, the front windshield wipers seized. The technician stated that there was a fractured linkage associated with the front windshield wipers that needed to be repaired. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 42,000.
- Indianapolis, IN, USA
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I was driving on an interstate highway in a hard rain at approximately 70 miles per hour when my wipers stuck to the left. I had a very difficult time seeing where to go. I was next to a semi truck and was being followed by another semi truck. I eventually slowed down and got off on the berm. When the rain let up I went to the dealers and had the wiper transmission assembly repaired for about $300. This is a very hazardous malfunction, and I can see that it has happened to others as well. It also happened to my 2010 Equinox which was repaired under warranty in 2012. My mileage was 51861. I am afraid someone is going to get severely hurt, or killed because of this fault.
I was driving on I-495 in MA on a rainy Sunday afternoon. When my front windshield wipers stopped to my left on the windshield. I could hear the motor trying to move the wipers to no avail. I pulled over to the shoulder, shut off the engine and moved the wipers into the down position. When I re-entered my vehicle, I turned on the engine and then turned on the wipers. No good. In between rain storms I drove to a rest stop on I-90 (Massachusetts turnpike) in MA where I remained for 2 hours during heavy downpours. I called aaa but they referred me to state troopers since aaa is not allowed on the turnpike. Instead of bothering the troopers, I drove as far as I could in between rain storms which got me to ct, where I stayed overnight at a hotel. My home is in another state. When I finally got to the Chevy dealership, they had to keep the vehicle overnight. It turned out to be the wiper transmission conked out. It was covered by my extended warranty, however, I wonder why there has been no bulletins or recalls for this issue. During internet searches including on this website, I found multiple incidences of this type. Safety is at stake and this should be addressed accordingly by the vehicle maker/wiper transmission manufacturer. I am blessed to be safe but someday someone won't be... please address the situation before someday arrives. Thank you.
Traveling on interstate 80. Downpour started - wipers were on and suddenly stopped in up position. Back wipers were fine. Tried to turn off, turn up speed and turn down speed - no luck. Blinding rain surrounded by tractor trailers is not the place I want to ever be again when this happens. The wiper motor continues to run - I've never heard of this happening to anyone before!
The incident occurred while driving on the fl turnpike at midnight in a torrential down pour. The wipers were on & then they just stopped in the middle of the windshield! very scary nearly drove off the overpass. When you turn the windshield wipers off and on you can hear the motor running but the wipers just fall flat. Turns out it's a plastic piece in the linkage that fails. Dealership wants $350 to repair. When I called Chevrolet they said this was not covered under warranty. I bought the vehicle year and a half ago 2013 Chevrolet Equinox GM certified used vehicle. The vehicle has 57,000 miles on it.
I have a newly purchased 2013 Equinox which my wife drives and the wipers broke on it while driving on the NJ parkway in the middle of a rainstorm and was lucky she did not get into a serious accident with our daughter. Apparently this problem exists on many other Equinox's around the same age with a simple google search. I see this as a serious safety issue being it happened while driving on the highway when my wife put her wipers on high since it was raining so hard and scared to death when it happened.
In the normal course of street driving, "service airbag" with screwdriver icon appears and dissapears. Mechanics cannot identify problem. While driving in the rain, wipers stopped. Motor continued running. Windshield wipers transmission broken. Dashboard lights randomly dim and brighten.
The contact owns a 2013 Chevrolet Equinox. While driving during inclement weather, the wipers failed to work. The contact had to pull the vehicle over to the side of the road due to the failure. The vehicle owner was able to replace the bushings associated with the wiper transmission that connected to the motor. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 43,000.
I went out to start my car Monday morning March 21,2016. I turned on the wipers to because my windows was foggy..as I waited for the windows to clear..I noticed that my wipers would not come on. I tryed all setting from low-high and even mist setting. They still would not work. I got out of my car and heard a whining noise like the motor was running in wiper blade.I then tried the wipers again and they wouldn't move...I got a estimate from the dealership where I got my car from...they told me it would cost $202 to fix.. they told me it was the wiper transmission linkage that needs to be replaced.this wiper issue definitely needs to be a recall..is a safety hazard...I'm glad I was at home and my car was sitting still and it wasn't raining..but if it had been raining that would have a been a major safety hazard..a recall definitely needs to be called immediately..
The contact owns a 2013 Chevrolet Equinox. The contact stated that the vehicle's wiper transmission failed. The contact took the vehicle to dealer where it was diagnosed that the wiper transmission needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The VIN was unknown. The approximate failure mileage was 68,000.
While driving in the rain on us highway route 11 last evening, Jan. 8, 2016, the front wipers on my Equinox suddenly stopped working. The motor sounds to be functioning but the wipers will not move. This was a very dangerous situation being it was raining and dark.
The contact owns a 2013 Chevrolet Equinox. While driving 30 mph on a rainy day, the windshield wipers failed. The contact was able to pull the vehicle over and waited until it stopped raining to continue driving. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed that the wiper linkage bushing assortment needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The VIN was invalid. The failure mileage was 58,000.
Driving in left lane on I75 at 70 mph in moderate traffic. Started to rain and within seconds turned to a downpour. I switched my wipers from regular to high speed, they made 2 or 3 strokes and then quit. I couldn't see a thing. Most scared I've ever been in a vehicle. Luckily, no one in front of me braked suddenly, so I flipped on my flashers and gradually slowed and edged across the right lane onto the shoulder. Turns out the wiper transmission has several plastic ball/socket pieces, and one failed, separating the motor from the linkage. This could have caused a terrible multicar wreck. I work in the automotive industry, and am an ase master tech. I know a little about cars. In a safety-critical system like wipers, why, other than a small cost, why couldn't the linkage be designed not to separate when the ball/socket fails? a secondary connection or improved design that would allow the wipers to operate, even poorly, until a vehicle can get off the road. I could have been injured (along with others) by the failure of a small piece of plastic that is never inspected when an auto is serviced.
It was raining at about 3:00 pm and the wipers were working and all of a sudden they stopped and I can't see and almost run into the other cars because the wipers stopped working and I couldn't see anything. I am scared to drive this vehicle now and my daughter is afraid of it because it was pouring down rain.
The car does not have a back up camera to make up for the bad blind spots on the vehicle. The double vision mirrors on side mirrors do not help when backing up. Even if you look all the way out the rear window, your vision is blocked by the rear window wiper. I have had near accidents several times. I complained to the sales person and dealership I bought it from with no help. They said that Chevy does not install cameras to vehicles after it is leased so I would have to do it at my own expense. When I initially complained, the sales person said I had to get used to driving it. After a year, I still had the same problem. I complained to Chevrolet usa and they said it was a problem with the design and not a part so they could not do anything. I did explain that the when I back up, I do so blindly because I can't see. They said there was nothing they could do. Unfortunately, I have 18 months left on my lease. Fortunately, I will eventually get out of the lease. I do not recommend this car unless it has a back up camera already installed.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Flowery Branch, GA, USA