Complaint volume
385 consumer-submitted complaints are matched to this model year. Treat the count as a research signal, then read the actual summaries for repeated symptoms.
Complaint records
2018 Chevrolet Equinox Complaints
385 consumer-submitted complaints on record for the 2018 Chevrolet Equinox, grouped by component category.
385 Total complaints
22 Crash reports
4 Fire reports
16 Injury reports
Complaint data reflects consumer-submitted reports. A complaint is not proof
of a defect, recall, or manufacturer fault. Enriched severity fields come
from official bulk records when the complaint can be matched by ODI number.
Buyer interpretation
How to use these complaints before buying
Complaint records are most useful when they turn into inspection points, seller questions, and comparison checks against nearby model years.
Pattern to inspect
The most common categories are service brakes, power train, unknown or other. Use those categories as a test-drive checklist instead of judging the vehicle from the total count alone.
Severity flags
Enriched records include 22 crash reports, 4 fire reports, 16 injury reports, and 0 fatality reports. These fields come from complaint records and should be read in context.
Mileage clue
Mileage is available on 184 complaints, with an average reported failure mileage of 42,366 miles. Compare that with the mileage on the listing.
Questions to ask the seller
- Have you had any problems related to service brakes, power train, unknown or other?
- Can I see recent maintenance and repair records?
- Has the vehicle ever been towed, involved in a crash, or repaired for the same issue twice?
- Can we also check the recall record for this 2018 Chevrolet Equinox?
Used-car checklist
Use these complaints before the test drive.
Build a buyer checklist to turn these issues into questions and inspection points.
2018 Chevrolet Equinox
Build buyer checklist Compare with other years Sends year, make, and model to pre-fill your checklist.
How severe are the 2018 Chevrolet Equinox complaints?
22 Crash
4 Fire
16 Injury
0 Fatality
30 Towed
10 Medical attention
What are the most common 2018 Chevrolet Equinox complaint categories?
SERVICE BRAKES 60
POWER TRAIN 29
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 26
ENGINE 24
FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 16
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 14
SERVICE BRAKES,ENGINE 14
WHEELS 11
AIR BAGS 8
POWER TRAIN,ENGINE 8
385 total complaints on record
Latest complaints
| Date | Component | Summary | Severity | Mileage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 2023 | POWER TRAIN | Check Engine Light on Diagnosis (1-2) 1. P171A-00 - transmission surge solenoid valve circuit open 2 - P171B-00 - Transmission surge solenoid valve circuit low | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Apr 2023 | POWER TRAIN | My Equinox loses power, it feels slow and drives sluggishly. If I am driving at 35 mph it suddenly starts reducing speed and whining noises ensue. The hazard lights turn on and off, then the doors lock and unlock. If I reduce speeds below 20mph, then I suddenly have full power again as if nothing ever happened. The check engine light comes and goes after you drive for a while. Highways and offramps are questionable. I can not increase speed to merge properly on the freeway as this would put me at significant risk, I am not willing to gamble to see if I can make 65mph with oncoming traffic. I have ordered and paid for a new transmission from Chevrolet. Back ordered with an unknown delivery date. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Mar 2023 | AIR BAGS | The air bag system failed. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Mar 2023 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,SERVICE BRAKES,ENGINE | Service brake assist | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Mar 2023 | SERVICE BRAKES,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | My own words, That my vehicle didn't stop, the car driver in front stop short my vehicle just ran behind the car. My 2018 Chevy equniox I have purchase last year for it safety reason pay extra now and days, those safety is not there very disappointed with GM What component or system failed or malfunctioned, and is it available for inspection upon request? Automatic Emergency Braking - Together - Forward Collision Warning | Crash: Yes Fire: No | Unknown |
| Mar 2023 | POWER TRAIN,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | Shift to park service bulletin 19-NA-206 Currently equinox is not listed under affected models but it has the same components as similar models. Looking around this is a common issue | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2023 | SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC | The contact's husband owns a 2018 Chevrolet Equinox. The contact stated that on five separate occasions, the brakes failed to operate upon the depression of the brake pedal. The parking brake warning light was displayed. The vehicle was taken to the dealer on several occasions and the contact was informed that the vacuum pump booster needed to be repaired. The contact stated that the brake booster vacuum pump was replaced; however, the failure persisted. The manufacturer was notified of the failure but offered no assistance. The vehicle remained in the possession of the dealer but was not yet repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 20,000. | Crash: No Fire: No | 20,000 |
| Jan 2023 | POWER TRAIN | On December 26th, unexpectedly, my driveshaft snapped in two. My car was in "all wheel drive" mode as I pulled out of a parking lot onto the road. Fortunately, there was no other cars behind me so I could safely pull to the side of the road. The Driveshaft/prop shaft was replaced. I do have the snapped driveshaft in two pieces in my garage. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jan 2023 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | Was driving down the road and had just hit about 50mph at 4k rpms when suddenly the car started shaking and the check engine light started flashing, i knew immediately it was just a misfire, HOWEVER then the car immediately locked up brakes on full blast and engine cut off. Almost caused a mass accident let alone launching all my stuff. Then i turned the car back on and it drove fine for 20 miles. Just before i got home i am starting to try and stop at a stop sign. Hit the brake and the brake went all the way in with no pressure. A car is coming my car wont stop and im laying on my horn. Car finally got brakes again and boom the car stopped. Got home and ran the codes and it was Abs, t/c, stability lignts all on, airbag system, stability trac, anti lock + braking system, engine and tranny on my chevy app all said “service immediately” rear differential clutch control, electronic brake control module all showed up when i ran the code reader. Was extremely terrifying!! Im going into the dealership tomorrow to get it looked at | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jan 2023 | SERVICE BRAKES | Vaccum pump brake failure while coming to a red-light. Lucky to avoid serious injury. Definitely put my children at risk! No warning lights or dash notices until after the incident. Vehicle was inspected two days prior. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Dec 2022 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER,SERVICE BRAKES,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | I constantly get error messages When the ambient (outside) temperature exceeds 100 degrees. The lane keeping assist, the forward collision sensors, etc. When it gets below freezing, the forward collision sensors, the brake assist and the service indicators go bonkers. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Dec 2022 | POWER TRAIN,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,STRUCTURE | I purchased my 2018 Chevrolet equinox on July3rd, 2018 with 2 miles on it. Current mileage 67,900 Stop/start system design defect. I have had to have my vehicle battery replaced 4 times in 4 years of ownership. The battery has failed again at 67,900 miles on 12/13/2022 which will be the 5th battery in its lifetime. My dealership said that due to the climate and road conditions where I live my stop/start system has been killing my battery cell every 16,975 miles causing my battery to fail. Chevrolet originally extended my warranty for 6months/ or 60k miles. They said they can no longer extend my warranty and that I’d be responsible for the next battery and future battery’s. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Dec 2022 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER | Transmission is leaking fluid, I saw a recall for loose screws causing the leak of fluid | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Dec 2022 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,ENGINE | The contact owns a 2018 Chevrolet Equinox. The contact stated that while at a stop light and releasing the brake pedal, the vehicle shutdown before the accelerator pedal was depressed. The contact turned off the vehicle and the vehicle failed to restart. The electrical systems in the vehicle turned on and off and the doors were locking and unlocking independently. Additionally, the instrument cluster warning lights were turning on and off. The contact also stated that the parking brake and traction control functions were engaged. The contact released the brake pedal and the vehicle jolted and turned on and restarted. While driving at an undisclosed speed, the check engine warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer but was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was contacted and referred her to the NHTSA hotline, but no additional assistance was provided. The failure mileage was approximately 99,400. | Crash: No Fire: No | 99,400 |
| Dec 2022 | SERVICE BRAKES | I have never experienced an issue prior to today, no warning lights on, no symptoms. While driving down the highway I had to slow for traffic and my brake pedal would not push down, a terrible noise was heard and it took everything in my body to stop my vehicle. I thought I was going to kill everyone in front of me. Had to swerve to the right to prevent this. I then see the words, “service brake assist”. Then the check engine light came on. In researching I see there is a history of brake issues. I haven’t taken it to a repair shop because it literally just occurred and I can’t stop shaking to take it or tow it | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Dec 2022 | STRUCTURE | The clip at the bottom of the piston for the lift gate broke which caused the lift gate to fall. The strut got wedged between the body of the car and the rear reverse light so the lift gate didn’t end up falling on me but causing damage. Upon further inspection, the other strut’s clip is also cracked. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Nov 2022 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | ABS or assistant brake system has been checked and fixed however the light continues to come on and does not want to Drive it has a delay and then there's a sensor on the battery that is good but it keeps saying that is not getting enough voltage when the sensor has changed these are the issues that I have fixed and because of this I can't drive my car through emissions in the state of Arizona because it's saying I need to get these things fixed when they are fixed so my problem or concern is is this a defect do I have bad sensors am I getting back parts I'm not for sure what the issue is but I cannot continue to spend money to continue to fix these sensors and they're new and they're hard to find where the shops that are fixing to my vehicle | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Nov 2022 | SEATS | While driving, my driver's side power seat will automatically go to the "exit position". Because of my short stature, this causes me to not be able to reach the gas and brake pedals until I move the seat back up. It first occurred when I was in 5 lanes if traffic during rush hour traffic. There was no warning or indication of a problem before it happened. Scary, as momentarily I couldn't brake. I took it to the dealership for repair. They we able to reproduce the issue and diagnosed it as the power seat memory switch in the door panel. They replaced the part but it did not fix the problem. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Oct 2022 | FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM | The braking system failed as the engine compartment filled with smoke and flames. At first the doors remained locked but eventually unlocked so that the occupants were able to exit the vehicle unharmed. The vehicle was consumed by the fire before the fire department could extinguish the fire(5-10 minutes). | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Oct 2022 | POWER TRAIN,SERVICE BRAKES | I have a 2018 chevy equinox that I bought brand new back in December of 2018. The vacuum pump failed therefore breaking the camshaft which in turn caused failure to my brakes. I went to stop at a light and my brake pedal was hard and my car skidded to a stop through the light. No warning that anything was wrong nothing. My brakes worked fine up until I went to stop at the next light. Then out of the blue my brake pedal was hard and I had no brakes. I almost got into a severe accident due to the brake failure. Evidently there have been other people this has happened to. Extremely dangerous and unsafe. There have been lawsuits filed against GM for faulty vacuum pump part although they were for the year of 2020. GM needs to take a look at this issue and also install some kind of warning. I get warnings for a tire being a little low you would think they could put a warning in for the brake system!! The warranty is still good on my car do I do not have to pay for the repair. In addition when the camshaft broke it threw pieces of metal into the top part of the engine!! | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Oct 2022 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,LANE DEPARTURE | I have purchased a 2018 Chevy equinox. It was damaged on the back bumper (rebuilt title). The backup camera works fine but there is a side detection error that comes on everytime I start the vehicle. The shop replaced the entire harness however that did not fix the issue. I have read 1000's of complaints on this. My vehicle has 45000 miles. This is effecting my gas mileage as well as other safety features. I see this has been an issue in MANY GM models and it has been taken care ( special warranty) but not on a 2018 equinox as of yet. I want to report this problem and see if someone can look into all the other forums etc to see how widespread this really is. The light has came on a few times lately but only when I am parked and not going anywhere??? Thanks in advance. | Crash: Yes Fire: No | Unknown |
| Sep 2022 | SERVICE BRAKES,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | When I applied brakes, the pedal was hard to push down and the service brake assist light came on. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Sep 2022 | ENGINE,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM | Has had 2 codes come up for bad fuel injectors maybe more before it hit 50,000 miles dealer can't recreate cases a bad miss fire really surprised it runs | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Aug 2022 | SEAT BELTS | When buckled, the part of the seat belt buckle where the LAP belt slides through the actual buckle part becomes binding and has to be manual pushed through the buckle in order to move your hips when seated. This issue has absolutely nothing to do with the shoulder part of the belt or the belt not retracting. It is solely an issue with the plastic buckle and the belt not sliding through it when seated. This is a safety issue because the lap belt becomes binding while seated. If the driver needs to shift in the seat, he must pull the shoulder belt out to create give in the belt and then use both hands to manually feed the belt through the buckle. This is unsafe when driving for obvious reasons if the driver is unable to use any hands on the steering wheel. If the driver doesn't continuously adjust the belt in this way, it becomes so tight across the hips that it causes discomfort and redness on the skin and abrasions if the vehicle turns wide or breaks quickly. This intense discomfort makes me avoid wearing my seatbelt which causes obvious risk or poses a risk to myself and other drivers if I need to take both hands off the wheel to adjust it while driving. The front passenger seat belt has the same issue. I began to notice this issue about 6 months ago and have taken the vehicle to a dealer/service center 3 times without any recourse other than being offered the opportunity to replace the entire seat belt system for $700 each. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Aug 2022 | POWER TRAIN | We were driving home and the car was losing acceleration power. My husband would press on the pedal and there was no acceleration. the all of a sudden the car would seem to get a connection and lurch forward. Thankfully we were were close to home and there wasn't a lot of traffic as it was scary. It ended up being the O2 sensor and I did see recalls on this part for earlier model years of the same car but not for 2018. It appears the issue has not been resolved in the newer models. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |