How Much do I hate My Equinox

[Jensen]

Ok I've had this pig of a vehicle for 17 mths now and I can honestly say that i have never hated any vehicle more. I have the top of the line Equinox LT with AWD and have had a myriad of problems with it since new:

1) From time to time for no reason the key will not turn in the ignition unless i play with the steering column for sometimes upwards of 10 mins to get the ignition lock to release.

2) Cheap plastic interior rattles like a ten year old Cavalier

3) AWD system has had a number of issues and repairs under warranty to replace a variety of grinding noises and vibrations.

4) Craptacular transmission that routinely shifts hard or sometimes refuses to shift out of park at all- a couple of times i have started the vehicle and put in drive or reverse to no avail-the engine revs but no forward or backward progress. Hve to start the vehicle again to re-boot the computer.

5) Engine needs a fuel-injector flush after only 35000km to solve lugging/hesitation on acceleration-very annoying

6) Did I mention it rattles like a ten year old cavalier

7) The steering sucks and is proving problematic and noisy-very inconsistent feel.

Overall I am extremely dissapointed with this vehicle and Chevrolet in general-don't think that I will ever by another after this experience. I will be trading this POS in this spring/summer and can't wait for it to be gone.

[bobo]

Sorry about your experience. You had such praise earlier. Sounds like a lot of first-year bugs.

And yes, I think the electric power steering on the Equinox is horrible.

[Croc]

Hmmm I've had the transmission issue and the ignition issue both with my Mercedes. The ignition issue...just forcibly move the steering wheel back and forth as far as the ignition lockup allows you to. The ignition lock is what is sticking. No big problem. I highly doubt it takes 10 minutes because that is just ridiculous. One or two motions with the method I described above always does it.

As for the transmission, meh. It happens.

[Cory Wolfe]

Damn, you got a lemon. My 10 year old Grand Am isn't even that big of a POS. Buy hey, it basically replaced the Blazer... so I guess it was only natural for it to keep it's crappy reliability.

[fordrules]

Buy a escape and ya wont be let down

[ocnblu]

yah, right, fordrules.

Sorry to hear that your Equinox is a POS, but honestly this could have happened with any brand of vehicle. It's a bitch when it happens to you though. What do you have your eye on?

Edited October 29, 2005 by ocnblu

[91z4me]

I will trade you my 97 Monte for your Nox. PM with details on trade if interested.

[mightymouse]

I am truly sorry for you. I would like to buy it and cut it all up.

I would put that thing on a 87 K-5 Blazer chassis with 40"s and a

572 cu in with open headers. yeah....

[Guest Josh]

Buy a escape and ya wont be let down

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Continue to post your drivel and you won't be allowed to post here.

Deal?

[daves87rs]

Buy a escape and ya wont be let down

Yeah, there's a problem-free car...

[daves87rs]

That's quite the issues you have there.

A co-worker has a Nox, (she got it not too long after it came out), and had one problem with the steering, which thet fixed at the dealership. and she beats on

her Nox pretty hard too... Though hers is only a LT...

[The O.C.]

yah, right, fordrules.     

Sorry to hear that your Equinox is a POS, but honestly this could have happened with any brand of vehicle.  It's a bitch when it happens to you though.  What do you have your eye on?

Yeah....but it's Chevy/GM that decided to use that awfully-tuned electric steering in the vehicle....and it's Chevy/GM that decided to use the hard, brittle plastics inside the Equinox...

I do think, however, that the reliability issues are probably not that common. GM cars hold up pretty well overall these days.

[corvette_dude729]

You should call 1-800-MYLEMON, you could be entitiled to a new car.

[Mule Bakersdozen LS]

Good to see you again Jensen! Sorry about your Equinox, I remember you were into those types of products too. So I guess I can't recommend the Equinox to my friends anymore...

[Cremazie]

Buy a escape and ya wont be let down

Even better, buy a Rav...... lol

[Jensen]

I could almost live with the electical/tranny/AWD issues and wright them off as as first year teething problems(though still very annoying). But its the freaking cacophony of rattles that make me mental. No 1 yr old car with only 30K Km on it should have any rattles-let alone the # that I have. It's my # 1 pet peeve in a car(rattles/noises) and this is where i feel the most let down by the Equinox. I hope that newer ones are better than mine in this regard-but still i wouldn't recommend this vehicle at this point. I do notice that the rear headrests are smaller for 2006 and these are actually a source of one of the rattles in mine. They are grossly oversized and mounted very poorly and shake and buzz over most any type of bump. I think next summer i will be dumping this vehicle and looking at a Saturn Aura-however i doubt that I will make the mistake of buying a brand new model right off the bat again-let em work out the bugs. Other than that I can't think of any GM vehicle that I really want to replace this with. So I could be making my first non-GM purhcase ever. And it is all because of cheap interior plastics and cost-cutting.

[Croc]

One thing you don't mention is if you've taken it in to have these problems looked at. Especially the rattles. If it is as frequent and obnoxious as you claim, the dealer service guy (or your neighborhood mechanic) shouldn't have any trouble in finding and isolating them. I KNOW they have a TSB for the electric steering.

[I hope GMRULES again]

You mean that Japanese Ainsin transmission is causing you problems? I'm calling Consumer Reports.

[deftonesfan867]

Too have problems with just ONE GM vehicle like these and saying your giving up on GM altogether puts you in the same mentality as most of america. Not trying to hate on you, but if you didnt have problems like this with your other GM vehicles then why consider ditching them based of ONE bad vehicle? No car company is perfect and things happen with vehicles that are sometimes unforseen. It's like you said "first year problems", so that might just be the issue, because it doesnt seem like very many people are having alot of the problems that your having.

[sciguy_0504]

Continue to post your drivel and you won't be allowed to post here.

Deal?

???

[Guest Josh]

One thing you don't mention is if you've taken it in to have these problems looked at.  Especially the rattles. 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Excellent point Croc. Here it is the 2nd (ok 1st to some people) of November. Hopefully you've taken it in to have these issues looked at and serviced.

[Croc]

Exactly...see here's my thing: I can understand a vehicle having problems. It happens. But the company needs to be given the chance to make it right. With my M-Class, it's in the shop pretty frequently for stupid dumb little things. The only time I have had issues is when the problem is recurrent (wipers wear out very quickly, and the wipers are made so only special Mercedes wipers can be used...DIC resets upon every start of the car...radio volume turns up to full blast randomly for no reason...etc)

But if it's just a few little things that are serviceable i.e. not related to a gross design flaw or electrical gremlin...then give them the chance to make it right! Especially since yours is a first year!

[Jensen]

It has been parked at the dealership an average of once a month since i have owned it for various problems including the rattles which just won't seem to go away. I sell Real Estate in Toronto and quite frankly don't have time for an unreliable vehicle-i use my car every day for work and need something that is dependable, roomy and doesn't suck gas like a pig. I don't want to be visiting the delership more than once every three months for an oil change and its a pain in the ass and time consuming to have to arrange for rental cars every time it has to stay at the dealer for an extednded period for some new problem. I can't really think of anything else to replace it with right now from GM that I find appealing.

[Newbiewar]

to be quite honest... the equinox is my least favorite to go on a test drive with at the dealership... its kind of sluggish, bumpy ride, and not very comfortable...

the trailblazer owns it hands down...

[CARBIZ]

The Equinox has been a great seller. Of the dozen or so I saw out the door, only one customer complained about a dead battery.

As discussed, the electric steering is different, but I like it. It all depends on whether you enjoy fighting the wheel or steering with one hand (even a palm!). In fact, once used to the electric steering, other conventional steering vehicles feel very heavy. There are a lot of safety advantages to electric steering (no loss of power steering in the event of engine stall, for example) and (in theory) long term maintence on the system will be less.

Jensen, I am sorry to hear about your issues, but perhaps you should try another dealer. Maybe they just aren't treating your concerns seriously, or their team is less experienced.

It is bizarre how one vehicle can have so many problems. I have seen it before and it is almost like the vehicle is possessed.

[Imaj]

this what happens when GM put a chinese engine and a japanese transmission in a Chevy..

I'm really sorry to hear that.. I had high hopes on this Chevy..

You mean that Japanese Ainsin transmission is causing you problems? I'm calling Consumer Reports.

CR will find a way to blame it on GM..

[Newbiewar]

The Equinox has been a great seller.  Of the dozen or so I saw out the door, only one customer complained about a dead battery. 

  As discussed, the electric steering is different, but I like it.  It all depends on whether you enjoy fighting the wheel or steering with one hand (even a palm!).  In fact, once used to the electric steering, other conventional steering vehicles feel very heavy.  There are a lot of safety advantages to electric steering (no loss of power steering in the event of engine stall, for example) and (in theory) long term maintence on the system will be less.

Jensen, I am sorry to hear about your issues, but perhaps you should try another dealer.  Maybe they just aren't treating your concerns seriously, or their team is less experienced.

  It is bizarre how one vehicle can have so many problems.  I have seen it before and it is almost like the vehicle is possessed.

is that why on one demo i did, the driver spun the back end out on a front wheel drive car? lol rather scary encounter... didnt realize the steering was anything but convetional except for his coments and his unhappiness with the perfromance... to say the least the equinox didnt have the tow rating he desired, and got a trailblazer, due to the better handling and stronger stance...

[steamer]

Good thing you didn't buy a Trailblazer!

[turbo200]

good luck with the problems jensen, i hope you find a positive gm dealer to deal with and service those problems. i also hope this doesn't sour you completely; you got the runt of the litter...

[Newbiewar]

good luck with the problems jensen, i hope you find a positive gm dealer to deal with and service those problems. i also hope this doesn't sour you completely; you got the runt of the litter...

if you're local to Southern Cali, I'd be more than happy to make sure you got excellent service from our service department. (not my department, but I'd do my best to make sure you recieved top notch attention)

[fordrules]

Even better, buy a Rav...... lol

No thats a toyota,

[CARBIZ]

Must've been some test drive, sliding the back end of a FWD vehicle! Has more to do with the tires/road conditions, I'd say. We get a lot of snow around here and the Equinox is fine for our roads.

The Trailblazer is so not competition for the Equinox. Let's see: unibody FWD/AWD, body on frame RWD/4WD - yep, same vehicle.

What GM has been late to the party on is that MOST people do not use their vehicles for offroading, towing or going to the beach. MOST SUVs are nothing more than bloated station wagons.

Now, for those who ACTUALLY need to off-road or tow, clearly the Trailblazer is the better choice. But for the other 80% of the people (especially the urban warriors), the superior gas mileage and ride of the Equinox is the better choice. This is why all the car-based SUVs sell like crazy: CR-V, Rav4, etc. As the debate rages about how ugly/impractical the Ridgeline is (on another current thread here on C&G), it will be interesting to see how Honda starts to encroach on this market.

The days of the gas guzzling SUV are over. If GM is having problems with the Equinox, they had better fix them quick. We need a successful, reliable vehicle in this market segment. We also need another Tracker-sized, car based SUV for those who want even better gas mileage.

[I hope GMRULES again]

  The days of the gas guzzling SUV are over.  If GM is having problems with the Equinox, they had better fix them quick.  We need a successful, reliable vehicle in this market segment.  We also need another Tracker-sized, car based SUV for those who want even better gas mileage.

I agree. For 80% of buyers the car based CUV's are the better choice. I was dissappointed to see the Equinox did poorly in CR latest ratings, Seems a lot of people are complaining about fit and finsh problems among other things. Hopefully they will work hard to address these 1st year problems.

[2005 EquinoxLS]

I only have had the coolant issue with mine and a shock that loosened. Both were fixed and all is well. I love my Equinox. My parents like theirs too but they too had the coolant issue.

[Innotech]

well the Escape IS a very good vehicle now. I mean, most bugs have been worked out and the hybrid version gets accolades. In any case its still AMerican and Id much rather see people moving from GM to Ford than GM to any import brand. the way Fordrules phrased it was stupid though. But the escape is definitely a better vehicle than Equinox, of that there is no question. SOrry to hear about your lemon though. It definitely does happen in any brand, even Toyota, and unfortunately, you got the bad apple.

I hope your next purchase is less troublesome.

[The O.C.]

well the Escape IS a very good vehicle now.  I mean, most bugs have been worked out and the hybrid version gets accolades.  In any case its still AMerican and Id much rather see people moving from GM to Ford than GM to any import brand. the way Fordrules phrased it was stupid though.  But the escape is definitely a better vehicle than Equinox, of that there is no question. SOrry to hear about your lemon though.  It definitely does happen in any brand, even Toyota, and unfortunately, you got the bad apple.

I hope your next purchase is less troublesome.

In my opinion, the Escape's styling is getting a bit dated, but damn everytime I have one as a rental, I'm impressed with how fun-to-drive the Escape is.....tight suspension, good (non-electric I might add) steering, a strong DOHC V6, and an interior that still feels cheap in areas, but more solidly-built than Equinox.

[ponchoman49]

The Equinox's interior is one of the cheapest feeling i have ever seen. The gear shift indicator is placed from left to right instead of the normal way, the seat material is the same garbage that the Malibu uses, the pushrod 3400 feels very dated next to the Escapes 3.0 Duratec and the steering and handling will never win any enthusiast friends for there sloppy feel. The styling is the main attraction here but you can only seat 5 people in it. The rear loading tray design takes up too much space too. Also why did the 06 lose 2 mpg on the highway? This is one of those vehicles that looks much better on paper than it performs in real life. Suggestions to Chevy for 2007 would be to replace the 3400 with the 3500 and 3900 VVT, rear disk brakes, all new interior and dash with no ugly black plastic everywhere, a conventional looking shifter, regular power steering and the electric version as an option or at the very least a retuned electric steering, better rear shelving design and a more refined 5 speed automatic or GM's new 6 speed automatic. This would go a long way to improving a rather mediocre vehicle.

[HarleyEarl]

Buy a escape and ya wont be let down

..interesting...just was talking to someone yesterday who bought a 2006 Escape and has had it only about 2 months and hates it and is looking to get rid of it and buy a 2006 Vue...which she likes a lot.

[The O.C.]

..interesting...just was talking to someone yesterday who bought a 2006 Escape and has had it only about 2 months and hates it  and is looking to get rid of it and buy a 2006 Vue...which she likes a lot.

At least the VUE has a great engine......(albeit a Honda engine).....their 250hp V6.

[Guest Dissapointed]

I own a 2012 Equinox LT (new) and I have similar issues that my dealer can't fix. A six speed trans that constantly downshifts when ever it wants. and a jerky acceleration that makes me want to drive this piece of crap into a wall!

[hyperv6]

Owned a Terrain over a year now and not one single issue.

As a whole most Nox and Terrains are problem free on their forum. There are some nit pickers and a few people who did get the bum one but the majority sing praise.

Out of 30 plus new GM cars in our family since the 60's it and the HHR are the only two with zero defects from the factory.

[2QuickZ's]

My parents have a 2010 Terrain. They got an early build of a new vehicle so generally that can be trouble. I think it has around 50K miles on it. Overall they like it but it has not been completely trouble free. It started almost immediately with two minor issues: The chrome on the trim piece above the license plate started bubbling within a couple months after they bought it plus the first time my Dad set his bowling ball in the back it punched a hole through the carpeted spare tire cover. My Dad is 73 yo so it's not like he was slamming the bag in there. Both were replaced under warranty.

He now seems to be having charging system issues as for the last week or so it keeps going into a power saving mode that will not allow them to use the A/C and other power features such as the windows. He is taking it in next week to get that one sorted out. Overall it has been trouble free enough and they like the ride and drive enough they may replace it with an Equinox, though.

[hyperv6]

The strip was an issue on the first ones. GM addressed it the next year and offered a TSB on the early ones. They needed a shield to protect the chrome from rubbing the paint.

As for the rear cover I an not sure what happened there. mine is tough enough to take a lot of crap we have tossed in over the last year. Including tool bag much heavier than a bowling ball. His may have has a thin spot.

[riviera74]

Given the OP, the Equinox has come a VERY LONG way from its (rather lame) 2005 origins. I personally would avoid any of the 2010-12 ones with that pitiful 3L V6; they seem like the lame 3400 version in the previous generation Equinox.

A question: would you buy/recommend an Equinox or a Terrain?

Edited May 4, 2013 by riviera74

[FAPTurbo]

How much does he hate his Equinox?

This much:

[regfootball]

when i was selling, those first gen equinox'es were a tough used sell. They never felt real together after being used. You could never get much for them. Torrents, even less so.

That said, they had great interior space utilization.

I think GM is in a bind. People like the size of the current Nox and Terrain, but the market demands that they shed some weight. IMO they either have to stay the same size or get bigger and open up a new segment for a smaller CUV to join the market and sell at cheaper prices.

[2QuickZ's]

Well, my Dad figured out the charging system issue on his Terrain today. My parents travel a lot and back when they weren't disconnecting the battery, they were having to replace it a lot because something was sucking the juice out of it fairly quickly. They went through two or three batteries in the first two years they had it. Lately they have been disconnecting the negative terminal on it before they leave. No battery problems since he started doing that, BTW. Anyway, he disconnected it and I reconnected it for them the day before they got back. Apparently there is a second wire that comes up to the battery terminal (not the main battery cable) and neither he or I had noticed that it had come loose. He was scheduled to take it into the dealership tomorrow but thought he'd give it a once over before he took it in. A quick inspection and a couple turns of a wrench and problem solved! I'm sure that saved him a few bucks!

[riviera74]

when i was selling, those first gen equinox'es were a tough used sell. They never felt real together after being used. You could never get much for them. Torrents, even less so.

That said, they had great interior space utilization.

I think GM is in a bind. People like the size of the current Nox and Terrain, but the market demands that they shed some weight. IMO they either have to stay the same size or get bigger and open up a new segment for a smaller CUV to join the market and sell at cheaper prices.

GM is in a bind. They cannot get bigger because of the Traverse and Acadia. If the Equinox and Terrain dropped about 500-1000 pounds, that would solve most of their issues. Now, the real question is whether the Equinox and Terrain will drop weight by getting smaller instead of finding actual weight savings by other means.

[GMTruckGuy74]

Oldsmoboi has stated many times that the next generation Terrain/Equinox will get smaller, so not only will there be considerable weight loss the size will be smaller too. I'm sure the sliding seat feature will go away with the next model.

[regfootball]

GM will lose sales if they make the Equinox smaller. The current size is actually fine, but I would carve out a little more trunk, maybe add some cabin width. Big problem is, lose 500 pounds and add more real world mpg. GM prices these things like they are bigger anyways.

If GM chooses to make them smaller, they had better not be deficient to the RAV4 and CRv. Then they would get blasted for that.

In most cases from what I have seen, the Edge and Equinox are pretty close on most pricing. I would so get an Edge instead of the Equinox. It also works in reverse. An Escape S FWD is way cheaper than an Equinox LS.

Edited May 6, 2013 by regfootball