My 2010 Equinox I bought new had to have a whole new engine after 5 years and a couple months old. GM did pay for this. In 2019 the muffler went out. Cost me $1200.00 for a new one. I just had to replace my transmission for $5100.00. I have only 59,700 miles on a 9 year old SUV. I’d say it’s a lemon. I won’t buy another one.
It appears as though, with less than 60,000 miles, you do a lot of in town short hop driving. If this is the case, the motor doesn’t get fully warmed up. That would explain the muffler issue, although I can’t believe a new muffler would cost $1200. Could it have been the catalytic converter that had to be replaced?
With a new engine and transmission, the expensive components have been replaced. Take your Equinox out for long drives every so often. Change the oil and other fluids on a time basis rather than a miles driven schedule. Short distance around town driving is much harder on a vehicle than long open road trips.
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The type of driving you do is very tough on a car. Your’e only putting about 6500 miles a year on it.
You have no stated how often (miles/time/etc) the oil has been changed but considering your driving habits it should be changed very frequently.
It’s a bit early for a transmission failure but it should have been serviced at 30k miles. The fluid is also 9 years old., Was this done?
Unfortunately, no one likes to hear that they may have been responsible in some way for the demise of an engine or transmission. It is not a Lemon. A Lemon is a new car that is plagued with many or a continuing problem from the get-go.
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my in-laws have a 2014 Equinox and also won’t purchase another one, although they haven’t had the big scale issues you have.
According to Consumer Reports, the Equinox has a history of major engine problems, as well as exhaust problems, paint problems, and problems with the Climate Control System. My advice to the OP is to do a LOT of research prior to buying the next vehicle, and to make sure that it is maintained on the basis of elapsed time, rather than on the basis of odometer mileage, in order to make engine and transmission problems less likely.
Sorry for your troubles, I have a 2013 Equinox with 87k miles. The pistons, rings, and a timing chain were replaced at 42k miles under warranty. No other problems so far. I’m hoping to keep it for a few more years until the kids are out of the house and off my insurance (one can dream).
A few suggestions:
- Check the oil level on a regular basis. I change my oil every 5k and use full synthetic oil. I believe Direct Injection engines are much harder on oil and I would not go 7500 miles between changes (based on the OLM).
- After the engine was rebuilt I decided to stop using ECO mode. As a result my mpg dropped about 0.7 mpg but the car shifted and drove much better. Just my opinion (take it with a grain of salt) in ECO mode the trans was shifting too soon and too much and I could feel the engine lugging since the trans would not downshift under light acceleration.
Ed B.
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