Although the 2011 Chevy Equinox’s problems aren’t the worst we’ve ever seen, the lack of adequate manufacturer support for a vehicle that’s now out of warranty makes it a difficult SUV to recommend.
Key Points
- The 2011 Chevrolet Equinox currently has three recalls, three investigations, and 697 complaints on file with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).
- Leading the list of problems: the majority of the car’s 343 engine complaints have to do with excessive oil consumption.
- Power steering has been reported to randomly fail in a number of units. GM has released a technical service bulletin on the matter but has not issued a recall.
- A faulty adjuster bolt may cause the seats to fall out of position at inopportune moments.
Hundreds of Drivers Report Excessive Oil Consumption in the 2011 Equinox
Out of 697 registered complaints, 343 are classified under “engine.” The most common complaint among these: excessive oil consumption.
One driver reports that at 75,000 miles, they pulled their dipstick shortly after an oil change to find that it barely had a speck of oil on it. Another driver reports the same issue at 120,000 miles. There are hundreds of complaints along these lines, most of them stating that the problem first started at well under 200,000 miles.
The issue has been said to stem from faulty oil rings in the engine, but with no definitive investigation or recall on record, this might not be the final say on the matter. In any event, GM has settled with a number of drivers to cover the cost of engine replacement.
The settlements are great news for people who already owned an Equinox, but with the car being out of warranty and Chevrolet having yet to issue an official fix for the problem itself, this could wind up being the sort of thing that comes out of your own pocket if you’re buying a new-to-you 2011 Equinox.
The rate of incidence is thankfully low. Chevrolet sold nearly 200,000 Equinoxes in 2011, and the oil complaints don’t even make up the entirety of the 343 engine complaints on file with the NHTSA, so your odds of being affected are less than one in five hundred. Even so, being left to your own devices to fix the problem, should it arise, you may feel like you’re rolling the dice buying a 2011 Equinox with no CPO coverage.
A Number of 2011 Equinox Drivers Report Power Steering Going out at Random
In June of 2020, the NHTSA launched an investigation into the 2011 Equinox for “momentary increased steering effort.” This investigation follows up a service bulletin that GM issued in 2014, extending warranties for up to 10 years or 150,000 miles on select vehicles over concerns that increased friction throughout the steering system could result in the driver having to expend extra effort to turn the wheel.
The NHTSA received a petition in late 2016, stating that GM’s fix for the issue might not have been adequate and that the problem could recur and even get worse with time. The petition demanded that the steering gear and module “must be replaced as a pair,” where GM had been mixing replacement parts with existing parts, allegedly resulting in the incomplete fix.
This investigation is still ongoing and could swing either way. Maybe GM will be held responsible for a full recall, or maybe the NHTSA will determine that the issue isn’t severe or common enough to warrant such.
This brings us to what is perhaps the central problem with buying a used 2011 Chevrolet Equinox: many of the car’s problems are in that “wait and see” phase. Buying a 2011 Equinox, you might or might not have to deal with excessive oil consumption or rough steering. And if you do, the NHTSA has yet to decide whether you’ll be covering the repairs out of pocket. This uncertainty is the kind of thing that can sink a car’s value on the used market, even if it’s not exactly a lemon.
2011 Chevy Equinox Seats may Fall out of Position Due to Faulty Bolt
The car’s biggest recall thus far was issued in July 2014 for a seat height adjuster bolt that was prone to falling out, dropping the seat into the lowest vertical position. Though seemingly not the scariest issue for a car to have recalled, this could easily increase the risk of an accident if it were to happen with the SUV in motion.
The issue affected the front seats on both the passenger and driver sides. A recall was issued for 414,333 GM units with this issue, between model years 2010 to 2012.
There are only eight complaints on record for the seating in the 2011 Equinox. Of these, three-point to the adjuster bolt, with one reporting that their Vehicle Identification Number was not included in the recall, and the other two that they are waiting on replacement parts for the recall.
Though not Quite a Lemon, a Used 2011 Equinox Shouldn’t be Your First Choice
The 2011 Equinox isn’t the only year that’s been known to burn oil like it’s going out of style. The issue has plagued the 2.4L Ecotec engines used in the second-generation models.
Add to this the rough steering, a Kelley Blue Book price starting out at close to $10,000 for a decade-old car, and no recalls for the SUV’s biggest problems, and the 2011 Chevrolet Equinox is neither reliable enough to be your daily driver, nor cheap enough to be your project car.
There are far worse SUVs on the road, and you might drive your 2011 Equinox for 200,000 miles without incident. But if something does happen, you’ll probably be paying for it out of your own pocket. With no CPO warranty available, you may find yourself crossing your fingers every time you get behind the wheel, just hoping that today’s not the day. Given the complaints on file, it’s a difficult car to drive with confidence, so it’s a difficult car for us to recommend with confidence.
Photos: Chevrolet
