2017 Chevrolet Equinox
This year drew an ordinary 271 complaints for a Chevrolet Equinox — the model's median is 392. What they were about is the unusual part: 31.7% of them mention seal, against 7% across the other years of this generation.
Last year of its generation. This Chevrolet Equinox ran from 2010 to 2017, 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 | 271 |
|---|---|
| Median for this model | 392 |
| Involving a crash | 18 |
| Involving a fire | 4 |
| Recalls | 0 |
| NHTSA crash rating | 4/5 |
| EPA combined | 23 mpg |
What the complaints were about
- seal — 31.7% of this year's complaints, against 7% across the other years of this generation (4.5×). Owners wrote it as: seal, main seal, caused rear, rear seal.
- caused — 18.8% of this year's complaints, against 6.3% across the other years of this generation (3×).
- confirmed — 12.9% of this year's complaints, against 3.1% across the other years of this generation (4.2×). Owners wrote it as: confirmed, safety risk, available inspection, engine failed.
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
Rear main seal blew out due to known (and recalled in previous years) fault with the PCV valve. The check engine light never came on and neither did the oil light when there was no oil left due to the seal blowing out. This incident caused damage to crucial en…
114k miles and the PCV valve was collecting condensation which froze. This caused a build up of pressure and blew the rear main oil seal and timing chain. No warning, no dash lights, nothing. Oil life at 35% and over 1,000 miles before due for next oil change.…
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 2017 Chevrolet Equinox? What happened to yours?
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