Chevy Equinox owners, can you share the pros and cons??

[Dee77]

We are in the market for a new car and are interested in a crossover or small SUV. My DH thinks the Equinox is a good value and now I am looking for additional opinions good and bad, Thanks so much!

 

[JoiseyMom]

I love love love love.... mine! Feb will be 2 years! It has plenty of leg room in the back seat. I did have to get used to less "trunk" room then my minivan..but that was to be expected. The only thing I wish (but this is an issue in like every car) is for a place to put my purse!!

I am very happy with my Equinox!

 

[disneymom2evie]

Another one who LOVES my Equinox. I have an 09 and it has 61K miles on it. I don't know the specific kind I have, but I can tell you it has the leather steering wheel and the steering mounted audio controls. LOVE that I can play with the radio and not have to lean forward and be all awkward. I bought it used, so I've only had it for a little over a year...but I haven't had any major problems. Just changed a head lamp because the bulb died. I have a rattle in my driver side front door (no idea wth that can be....praying the window isn't about to come off the track), and some punks in the neighborhood stole the caps to the air valve on the tires (seriously.... they're 4 bucks a piece.... why not steal something worth the time?? whatever) so now my little warning tells me to check my tire pressure. No big thing. Ohhhhhh. If you live up north (or it gets below freezing) it tells you to be careful of frozen roads or soemthing!!!! It's cute!!! Penelope (car's name) watches out for me =) I like that I can have a full size car seat in teh back seat and we still can have the front seat back and not in the dashboard. Lots of space. I kind of wish I had a sun/moon roof, but oh well.
I LOVE Penelope!!!!!!!!

 

[Coconut36]

I have an '07 and I do have some issues with it. At less than 4 years old the entire transmission had to be replaced. I also had to have a very expensive sensor replaced in the gas tank (caused the check engine light to go on). We had some issues with something related to the steering requiring replacement...all under 4 years of use and pretty serious issues. Then there are the issues with the headlights. I live in super duper dry Phoenix but end up with terrible condensation in my lights that then causes them to short out and require replacement. I can't tell you how many time we have been pulled over due to one of the front headlights being out of how many times my DH has had to replace them (along with the running lamps and some of the rear lights as well).

I may have a lemon..I know someone else who had a lemon Equinox as well and actually ended up in mediation with GM/Chevy to replace it under the lemon laws.

I do think it is really roomy for a vehicle that size and I like how it handles..but I felt the need to disclose my issues. Everything but the lights and sensor were replaced by GM under power train so not out of my pocket but I don't think a vehicle that "young" should have problems that serious and I wish I had read reviews like that before I bought it. My first 2-3 years were lovely..but as we approached the 4th it started to basically fall apart.

ETA-Oh we also had to have the serpentine belt replaced? (not sure that was what it was called..whatever the major belt is in it) and that was out of our own pocket..again under 4 years old.

 

[meliss8599]

My parents and aunt and uncle bought Equinoxes and LOOOOOOVE them. My dad's a mechanic and super picky about any vehicle he buys so for him to vouch for the Equinox was a big deal.

 

[Pat329]

We got ours last Dec and left 3 days later in it for our Disney trip (from PA). It replaced our 2005 Tracker so it's bigger without feeling like you're driving a van or truck. It was soooo comfortable on that long trip. DH is 6'6" so his seat is moved back pretty far but it doesn't cramp anyone seated behind him. I did just think of one problem that I have and DH doesn't have. I think it's because I'm short but who knows (5'4). The panels between the front and back doors seem to be thick to me and causes a big blind spot for me so I can't see anyone passing me when I'm driving. My work-around is to just stay in the right lane. Simple fix! BTW, we got an average of 32 mpg on our trip.

 

[Pat329]

We got ours last Dec and left 3 days later in it for our Disney trip (from PA). It replaced our 2005 Tracker so it's bigger without feeling like you're driving a van or truck. It was soooo comfortable on that long trip. DH is 6'6" so his seat is moved back pretty far but it doesn't cramp anyone seated behind him. I did just think of one problem that I have and DH doesn't have. I think it's because I'm short but who knows (5'4). The panels between the front and back doors seem to be thick to me and causes a big blind spot for me so I can't see anyone passing me when I'm driving. My work-around is to just stay in the right lane. Simple fix! BTW, we got an average of 32 mpg on our trip.

 

[Jedana]

I had a 2005, bought new. I traded it in in 2009.

The first 5 months, I lost the battery, the alternator, the cruise control and the brakes. got those fixed


It was fine for awhile. Had the brakes done in 2007 before we moved down to FL.

In 2009, I was driving back from St. Petersburg and got caught in a massive storm. The car shut off while I was on the highway. Got it started and pulled off the road, sat for a few minutes, and got back on. About a mile down, it died again. Pulled off, waited 2 hours, the storm passed (tow truck couldn't get there until 4 hours after I called, so once the storm was done, I cancelled the truck), and drove home.

Took it in to get checked--nothing wrong.

The next 2 weeks were serious rain. I drove it 5 times on the highway during the storms, and each time it would shut off. I figured out that if I was doing between 65-75, with the cruise control on, in the rain, the car would shut off. The mechanics (and Chevy) kept saying I was wrong, it wasn't shutting off, but I did some internet research, and it was a common problem, something to do with the air intake shutting down the engine due to the rain.

About a week later, I get up and the floor is soaked. It had been parked for 2 days, in the rain, so it didn't go through puddles or anything. Take it in to get checked/dried out. Nothing wrong, they use giant fans to air dry it and I toodle off. Couple days later (only having driven it to get back from the mechanic), I get up, the car is again soaked. I raised holy heck with them. The mechanic claimed the back seal was leaking around the window. *the back end was dry the first time, just for the record*

They replaced the seal, and I made them pull the carpeting and padding and replace them--it was starting to mold. They pulled out the giant fans, dried it out, but my a/c and heat vents had a musty smell coming out of them, and again, internet research showed that supposedly there was a small design flaw where the front and body connect.

I traded it off, wrote up what happened with it, and made sure the dealer knew. Left the letter in the car book in the car, so hopefully whoever was looking at buying it would know what problems we had.

Never again. Chevy didn't back their product.

 

[disneymom2evie]

Oh wow. I pray that none of the bad things happen to Penelope. I have a bumper to bumper 100,000 mile extended warranty, so it's all pretty much covered....but holy wow. I'm stressin because of the dang rattles in the door and how I can't get it fixed until I can borrow someone else's car for a day. I hope my car has better luck than what y'all have had.
On a side note.... my husband used to have a Chevy something with a C, I think?? Not a vette. COBALT! We had a little baby storm pass through the area (years and years ago) and a tree branch fell on his wind shield. Chevy fixed it and then every time it rained, it leaked. He took it to get fixed numerous times and every single time, it leaked. The floors were turning a dark color (we guessed from mold). I found out a little while after the 4th or 5th leak that I was pregnant so we decided to trade that in for a Pontiac G5 (yea.... you're going to be a daddy so you buy a sports coupe....genius..). I wasn't going to breathe in nasty moldy air while pregnant. It was a great car. Just wish they could have fixed the dang leak. It was an 03 or 04 model.

 

[Coconut36]

I had a 2005, bought new. I traded it in in 2009.

The first 5 months, I lost the battery, the alternator, the cruise control and the brakes. got those fixed


It was fine for awhile. Had the brakes done in 2007 before we moved down to FL.

In 2009, I was driving back from St. Petersburg and got caught in a massive storm. The car shut off while I was on the highway. Got it started and pulled off the road, sat for a few minutes, and got back on. About a mile down, it died again. Pulled off, waited 2 hours, the storm passed (tow truck couldn't get there until 4 hours after I called, so once the storm was done, I cancelled the truck), and drove home.

Took it in to get checked--nothing wrong.

The next 2 weeks were serious rain. I drove it 5 times on the highway during the storms, and each time it would shut off. I figured out that if I was doing between 65-75, with the cruise control on, in the rain, the car would shut off. The mechanics (and Chevy) kept saying I was wrong, it wasn't shutting off, but I did some internet research, and it was a common problem, something to do with the air intake shutting down the engine due to the rain.

About a week later, I get up and the floor is soaked. It had been parked for 2 days, in the rain, so it didn't go through puddles or anything. Take it in to get checked/dried out. Nothing wrong, they use giant fans to air dry it and I toodle off. Couple days later (only having driven it to get back from the mechanic), I get up, the car is again soaked. I raised holy heck with them. The mechanic claimed the back seal was leaking around the window. *the back end was dry the first time, just for the record*

They replaced the seal, and I made them pull the carpeting and padding and replace them--it was starting to mold. They pulled out the giant fans, dried it out, but my a/c and heat vents had a musty smell coming out of them, and again, internet research showed that supposedly there was a small design flaw where the front and body connect.

I traded it off, wrote up what happened with it, and made sure the dealer knew. Left the letter in the car book in the car, so hopefully whoever was looking at buying it would know what problems we had.

Never again. Chevy didn't back their product.

Ugh..your post reminded me of one of the other major issues we had..when we took it in for the transmission issue they were very condescending. I told them "look I am not mechanic but I am the primary driver..something seems off with the transmission" and went on to explain the situation (vehicle would "jump" like it hadn't properly changed gears when you were at/around 25mph or less and were slowing or accelerating). They basically patted me on the head, looked at it and told me I had a cracked engine block. Unless they were lying there is yet another major issue in a less than 4 year old car. Gave it back to me and we noticed right away it was still doing it..were kind of "poo poo'd" by the dealer until I got a customer service "how did we do call" and I was very upfront about my dissatisfaction with my treatment and that my problem was not resolved (this was the same appointment where they told me my check engine light was on because I needed a new gas cap..that fixed the light for 1 day). She told me to bring it back and they would assign someone else to it. He did do a good job and basically took the transmission apart piece by piece and get GM to cover a complete replacement but the initial pain of getting it done (and them finding another major flaw) was a big issue..and to be down 1 vehicle for quite a time was a big issue..when we took it back in to be fixed properly it was gone for almost 3 weeks.