The second of two oil consumption checks has documented that my 2012 Chevy Equinox (4 cylinder-65000 miles) is using oil in excess of Chevrolet guidelines. To repair the car at a local GM dealer will cost me out-of- pocket costs of $ 1900.00. My question is should I have the engine repaired or continue to add oil as needed or are there addition engine problems that can/will occur as I continue to drive the car? If additional problems are possible, should I trade in the car? Thanks…Jack in Ohio
Jack , I can’t see your vehicle so I have no idea what condition it is in . You did not say how much oil it uses . 1900.00 is your share and it is easy to spend that kind of money on a repair of any kind . Why not have it fixed then make a decision as it will not bring much of a trade in the way it is now. Besides the repair will have a warranty of some kind.
My Equinox used 1.5 qts of oil during the last oil check of 1000 miles. Also, a family member had a 2011 Equinox 4 cylinder repaired twice (the repair apparently consists of new rings and piston cylinders) and he is again adding oil on a regular basis…thanks for your response…Jack
I have a 2013 Equinox, the pistons, rings, and timing chain were replaced at 42k in March 2016. Currently has 93k miles and using less than 1 qt/5k miles. Other than replacing VVT intake and exhaust solenoids a few weeks ago I’ve had no issues since then. Note, the oil was changed every 5k and the oil level was checked and maintained. Those owners who let the oil level go too low between changes would probably have done more internal damage to the engine that would not be affected by the piston and ring replacement. I don’t know if the timing chain would be covered under the oil consumption repair as mine was replaced using the 5yr/100k factory powertrain warranty
I received a letter from GM today extending the coverage to 7.5 yrs/120k miles after the class action settlement. Your 2012 would be out of coverage at this point. GM provided the following number for questions. 1 888 970 0698.
Just curious, what is the dealer replacing for $1900? The price seems low for the amount of work involved. Is there any goodwill in this estimate?
Ed B.
Ed. Thanks for your response. I will continue to keep proper oil level maintenance. The car started consuming oil 8 months before the extended time warranty expired…I’ve been trying to convince GM to cover full cost of repair but so far no luck. I don’t yet know the details of repair but a family member has same problem with his 2011 Equinox (100000 miles) and it has been repaired twice with new pistons & rings and it CONTINUES to excessively use oil. Thanks again. Jack
Just a thought, before the piston/ring replacement was done at 42k miles (oil consumption 1qt/1500 miles) I always drove my Equinox in ECO mode. Often it felt like I was “lugging” the engine at low rpms. After the repair I decided to turn off ECO mode for a while. I lost about 0.5-0.7 mpg but the driveability and shifting was greatly improved. This is probably bogus but I wonder if the apparent “lugging” of the engine in ECO mode contributed to increased oil consumption. Regardless, the improvement in the driving experience was well worth a slight decrease in mpg.
As for the repair, 1900 is about 5 to 6 months of car payments. Do you think it will last 6 more months? You know the overall condition of the vehicle better than anyone.
Good luck,
Ed B.