2009 Chevrolet Equinox
This year drew an ordinary 94 complaints for a Chevrolet Equinox — the model's median is 392. What they were about is the unusual part: 13.8% of them mention body, against 4.6% across the other years of this generation.
Last year of its generation. This Chevrolet Equinox ran from 2005 to 2009, so it had the whole run for its faults to be found and fixed. Last years are usually the most sorted of a generation.
NHTSA opened a defect investigation into this model year.
| Complaints filed | 94 |
|---|---|
| Median for this model | 392 |
| Involving a crash | 5 |
| Involving a fire | 1 |
| Recalls | 0 |
| EPA combined | 19.5 mpg |
What the complaints were about
- body — 13.8% of this year's complaints, against 4.6% across the other years of this generation (3×). Owners wrote it as: body, left turn, anywhere, 2nd.
- similar — 13.8% of this year's complaints, against 4.9% across the other years of this generation (2.9×). Owners wrote it as: similar, taking, brake light, stabilitrak light.
Words owners used for the same problem are counted together, so a fault written four different ways is measured once. Grouped by which complaints they appear in, not by a list anyone wrote in advance.
What owners wrote
THE TIRE PRESSURE MONITORING LIGHT ILLUMINATED CONTINUOUSLY WHILE THE VEHICLE WAS ON. THE CONTACT ALSO STATED THAT WHILE DRIVING 25 MPH, ACCELERATION POWER REDUCED DRAMATICALLY AND THE VEHICLE [VIN] TO 3 MPH. THE CONTACT ALSO STATED THAT BOTH HEADLIGHTS FAILED…
WHEN YOU DRIVE IT THE TRANSMISSON WON'T SHIFT OUT OF SECOND GEAR. IT MAKES IT HARD TO GET ANYWHERE. IT ONLY HAW 110,000 MILES ON IT AND JUST HAD THE TIMING CHAIN DONE ON IT AND THE DAY WENT TO GET IT WAS ON MY WAY HOME AND WON'T COME OUT OF 2ND GEAR.
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint filings, with identifying details removed.
How this was worked out
Every year of the Chevrolet Equinox was compared against its own history rather than against other cars, which removes popularity and age from the answer — a common car draws more complaints at equal reliability, and an older one has had longer to accumulate them. A year is flagged when it drew at least 2.5× this model's median and at least 50 complaints.
This is a fault record, not a review. Nobody files a federal complaint to say the car was fine, so it shows what tends to go wrong — not whether owners liked it, and not whether it is a good car.
Source: NHTSA complaints, recalls and investigations, retrieved . Look this vehicle up directly on NHTSA's site to check anything here.
Own a 2009 Chevrolet Equinox? What happened to yours?
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