Owner complaints
392NHTSA recordsUSED VEHICLE RESEARCH
2016 Chevrolet Equinox
Is This A Good Car? organizes available NHTSA-derived research for the 2016 Chevrolet Equinox. This page includes owner complaint records, safety recall campaigns, manufacturer communications, defect investigations, and information about the completeness of the available evidence.
DATA CONFIDENCE: ModerateIs This A Good Car?
Chevrolet Equinox2016 · VERIFIED IMAGE PENDING
Recall campaigns
1Year, make and model lookupManufacturer communications
0Matched NHTSA recordsInvestigations
0Matched NHTSA recordsEVIDENCE AVAILABILITY — NOT VEHICLE RELIABILITY
DATA CONFIDENCE
ModerateData Confidence measures how much usable evidence CarIQ has for this vehicle. It does not measure how reliable the vehicle is.
Why this rating?
- Owner complaint data
- Available
- Manufacturer communications
- Available
- Recall data
- Available
- Investigation data
- Available
- Production denominator
- Unavailable
- Complaint component completeness
- 100%
- Mileage completeness
- 0%
- Incident-date completeness
- 100%
DESCRIPTIVE ANALYTICS
DATA INSIGHTS
Derived from official NHTSA source records. These statistics are descriptive and are not a reliability score.
- Complaint records analyzed
- 392 NHTSA complaints
- Most reported component
- Engine 51% of categorized complaint records
- Top-three component concentration
- 83% Records mentioning at least one top-three component
- Median reported incident mileage
- Not available from current source 0 valid mileage observations
- Recall campaigns
- 1 NHTSA recalls
- Most recent recall report
- June 21, 2016 NHTSA recalls
- Manufacturer communications
- 0 NHTSA manufacturer communications
- Most documented component
- Not available NHTSA manufacturer communications
- Top-three communication concentration
- Not available Share of categorized manufacturer communications
SOURCE COMPLETENESS
DATA QUALITY
- Complaint records analyzed
- 392
- Component classification available
- 100%
- Incident date available
- 100%
- Mileage available
- 0%
- Structured outcome fields available
- 100%
Completeness describes fields present in the retrieved complaint records. It is not a data-quality grade or a vehicle assessment.
Learn about CarIQ methodologyPRODUCTION-ADJUSTED DESCRIPTIVE METRIC
NORMALIZED COMPLAINT CONTEXT
Production-normalized complaint data is not currently available for this vehicle.
This metric compares the number of NHTSA owner complaint records retrieved by CarIQ with NHTSA-reported production volume for the corresponding vehicle population.
It is not a vehicle failure rate. Complaint reporting behavior, vehicle age, time on the road, production definitions, and other factors can affect the result.
Source: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Early Warning Reporting, Light Vehicle Production Data. Read the methodology.
OFFICIAL NHTSA OWNER COMPLAINT DATA
OWNER-REPORTED COMPLAINTS
TOTAL COMPLAINTS392
COMPONENT CATEGORIES
Engine200 complaints
51%of categorized complaint records
Visibility/wiper111 complaints
28%of categorized complaint records
Unknown or Other32 complaints
8%of categorized complaint records
Power Train26 complaints
7%of categorized complaint records
Electrical System24 complaints
6%of categorized complaint records
Fuel/propulsion System19 complaints
5%of categorized complaint records
Air Bags12 complaints
3%of categorized complaint records
Engine and Engine Cooling9 complaints
2%of categorized complaint records
Vehicle Speed Control9 complaints
2%of categorized complaint records
Steering7 complaints
2%of categorized complaint records
Electronic Stability Control (ESC)6 complaints
2%of categorized complaint records
Service Brakes6 complaints
2%of categorized complaint records
Structure6 complaints
2%of categorized complaint records
Visibility6 complaints
2%of categorized complaint records
Wheels5 complaints
1%of categorized complaint records
Suspension3 complaints
1%of categorized complaint records
Exterior Lighting2 complaints
1%of categorized complaint records
Fuel System2 complaints
1%of categorized complaint records
Gasoline2 complaints
1%of categorized complaint records
Forward Collision Avoidance1 complaint
0%of categorized complaint records
Hydraulic1 complaint
0%of categorized complaint records
Lane Departure1 complaint
0%of categorized complaint records
Seat Belts1 complaint
0%of categorized complaint records
Seats1 complaint
0%of categorized complaint records
Tires1 complaint
0%of categorized complaint records
A complaint may list more than one component and therefore contribute to multiple categories. Percentages show the share of categorized complaint records that mention each component—not the percentage of vehicles affected. Category percentages may overlap.
INCIDENT REPORTS BY YEAR
1969
2
2010
1
2015
1
2016
16
2017
16
2018
16
2019
43
2020
42
2021
29
2022
71
2023
61
2024
52
2025
38
2026
4
Grouped from complaint records with a valid incident date.
RECENT OWNER COMPLAINTS
Unknown or Other · Engine
Owner-submitted NHTSA complaint · ODI 11750405Read complaint narrative
: "I live in my car. The 2016 Equinox 2.4L burned all its oil in 2 weeks with no leaks, failed to give a dashboard warning, and the engine is now knocking, threatening to leave me unsheltered." This ties my vehicle's specific failure to the federal database for future legal payouts.
Wheels
Owner-submitted NHTSA complaint · ODI 11748145Read complaint narrative
right front wheel assembly is bad.
Engine
Owner-submitted NHTSA complaint · ODI 11738059Read complaint narrative
I started up my car on a cold winter morning and I heard a loud popping noise. I backed up my car minutes later and discovered puddles of oil in front of me in my driveway. I asked my husband to come out and look. He got under the car and said my oil blew out of the rear seal. I was unable to drive my car as the seal was blown. After some investigating I discovered it was the PCV valve that froze and blew out the rear seal. I discovered that Basil Ford was sent this Bulletin and told to clean the PCV valve when people brought their car in. They never reached out and told me to bring the car in to have this done. It could have been an easy fix. I also discovered by researching that people had this happen to them when they were driving on the highway and it caused them accidents. I called GMC and they are telling me my 2016 isn't in the class action suit. Basil wanted way too much money so I took it to Pep Boys and it cost me $3,000 to have the PCV valve replaced with the kit that prevents it from freezing up again and I had to replace my manifold and my rear seal
Engine
Owner-submitted NHTSA complaint · ODI 11735031Read complaint narrative
Around 100,000 miles car started burning through oil. Have to check oil weekly. No warning lights come up when the oil is low. Patiently waiting for them to put a recall on it.
Engine
Owner-submitted NHTSA complaint · ODI 11729651Read complaint narrative
Excessive oil consumption with no warning light, loss of power, and stalling. Also caused the master seal to leak and plugged the PCV valve. I have records for the repairs. It continues to excessively use oil and is not a reliable vehicle. When it stalls, power steering is lost as well as the stabilitrack.
Engine
Owner-submitted NHTSA complaint · ODI 11723180Read complaint narrative
engine constantly eats oil, no oil leak
Engine
Owner-submitted NHTSA complaint · ODI 11719424Read complaint narrative
Engine failure. There is a class action that has been filed for this exact make, model, and engine size. There were no lights indicating an issue and the car had recently been serviced with an oil change and oil filter change and was being regularly maintained on oil changes. When it was brought to a mechanic, they told me the entire engine had failed and there was no power to one of the spark plugs anymore. I reached out to GM regarding this and they acknowledged the failure
Wheels · Unknown or Other · Engine
Owner-submitted NHTSA complaint · ODI 11716209Read complaint narrative
Transfer case and front differential failure. No warning lights came on beforehand
NHTSA complaints are reports submitted by vehicle owners and other consumers. Complaint counts do not represent the percentage of vehicles affected and do not by themselves establish that a safety defect exists.
A higher complaint count can partly reflect how many vehicles were sold, vehicle age, and other factors. CarIQ does not yet normalize complaint counts by vehicles sold.
Data provided by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). This site is not endorsed by NHTSA.
OFFICIAL NHTSA MANUFACTURER COMMUNICATION DATA
MANUFACTURER COMMUNICATIONS
TOTAL COMMUNICATIONS0
No NHTSA manufacturer communication records were returned for this year, make, and model.
Manufacturer communications include service bulletins and other technical information submitted by manufacturers to NHTSA. The existence or number of communications does not establish how often a condition occurs or whether an individual vehicle will experience it.
Some manufacturers may issue more detailed service documentation than others, so communication counts should not be used alone to compare vehicle reliability.
Source: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration manufacturer communicationsNATIONAL HIGHWAY TRAFFIC SAFETY ADMINISTRATION
NHTSA DEFECT INVESTIGATIONS
TOTAL INVESTIGATION RECORDS0
No applicable NHTSA defect investigation records were returned for this year, make, and model.
NHTSA investigations evaluate potential motor-vehicle safety defects. The existence of an investigation does not by itself establish that a safety defect exists, and the absence of an investigation does not establish that a vehicle is problem-free.
Open and closed describe NHTSA's process status, not a CarIQ reliability judgment.
View official NHTSA investigation data ↗DESCRIPTIVE SOURCE OVERLAP
CROSS-SOURCE VEHICLE DATA
CarIQ compares categories appearing across independent NHTSA datasets. Overlap can help identify areas with more available documentation, but it does not establish defect frequency or prove that an individual vehicle will experience a problem.
| Component | Owner complaints | Manufacturer communications | Recall campaigns | NHTSA investigations | Official sources containing records |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Engine | 200 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 of 4 |
| Visibility/wiper | 111 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 of 4 |
| Unknown or Other | 32 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 of 4 |
| Power Train | 26 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 of 4 |
| Electrical System | 24 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 of 4 |
| Fuel/propulsion System | 19 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 of 4 |
| Air Bags | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 of 4 |
| Engine and Engine Cooling | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 of 4 |
| Vehicle Speed Control | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 of 4 |
| Steering | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 of 4 |
Displayed first by the number of source categories containing the component, then by owner complaint count, then alphabetically. This is a presentation rule, not a vehicle ranking. Complaint reports, manufacturer communications, recalls, and investigations describe different events and are never added into a combined total.
- complaint
- Available
- communication
- Available
- recall
- Available
- investigation
- Available
- production
- Unavailable
OFFICIAL NHTSA SAFETY RECALL DATA
SAFETY RECALLS
1 recall campaign found
01EQUIPMENT:OTHER:LABELSCampaign 16V449000June 21, 2016
Summary
General Motors LLC (GM) is recalling certain model year 2016 Chevrolet Equinox and GMC Terrain vehicles manufactured October 16, 2015. The certification labels may have incorrect tire/rim size and cold tire pressure information. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) number 110, "Tire Selection and Rims."
Safety Consequence
If the information on the certification labels is incorrect, the operator may install incorrectly sized tires or rims or may improperly inflate the tires, increasing the risk of a crash.
Remedy
GM will notify owners, and dealers will inspect and replace the certification label, free of charge. The recall began on July 14, 2016. Owners may contact Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1050, or GMC customer service at 1-800-462-8782. GM's number for this recall is 46600.
Additional Notes
Owners may also contact the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Vehicle Safety Hotline at 1-888-327-4236 (TTY 1-800-424-9153), or go to www.safercar.gov.
Recall results shown here are based on year, make, and model. A specific vehicle may or may not be affected. Check the vehicle's VIN with NHTSA to confirm open recalls before purchasing. Data provided by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).
CONSIDERING BUYING ONE?
RESEARCH YOUR CANDIDATE
Enter the candidate's mileage and asking price to organize Is This A Good Car?'s available evidence. No buy/no-buy or pricing judgment is produced. Open the full research tool.