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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 2022 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM | Since I bought this car I have had to replace sensors like they’re going out of style. However I would like to report on 3 sensors that went out simultaneously on my vehicle in heavy traffic. I had the vacuum boost sensor for my master cylinder, my cam shaft sensor and my crank shaft sensor go out simultaneously. As a result my vehicle engine cut off completely (battery components still working) and I had zero control over my breaks. I had to use my full body weight on my break pedal to get the vehicle to stop. I was fortune to have been able to pull off into a parking lot. I have had to replace several o2 sensors on this vehicle. I didn’t think anything of having any electrical issues until this happened. My check engine light has stayed on for over a year despite clearing codes and replacing o2 sensors. We check periodically and the only code is usually for the o2 sensor. We can save the sensors we have replaced for inspection if necessary. I had a low engine power signal flash across the infotainment system just before this happened. I was in heavy traffic and I’m just fortunate I was able to get out of the way quickly enough before I hurt myself or someone else. The break issue and loss of power was actually terrifying | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jun 2022 | SERVICE BRAKES | Vacuum pump, check valve failure led to loss of function while exiting interstate. Less than two weeks later, “service brake assist” notification followed by degraded brake performance in busy city traffic. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| May 2022 | ENGINE | When backing into my drive way moving the gear from d to r the car will jump. This has made it to where I fear to park where I have to reverse. As well as when I started driving down the road the auto stop start kicked on while doing 30 when the car powered back on in the busy intersection the car was clunking I pulled over asap and took a look under the car to make sure nothing was leaking when started back up it went away. It’s very unsafe to have a car that you can’t disable the auto stop feature from coming on as if the intersection was not a safe place for this to happen | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| May 2022 | PARKING BRAKE,SERVICE BRAKES | The contact owns a 2018 Chevrolet Equinox. The contact stated while driving approximately 45 MPH, the brake pedal was depressed; however, the vehicle failed to stop as needed. The contact was able to steer the vehicle safely to the side of the road. The parking brake warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was driven to the residence. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 66,000. | Crash: No Fire: No | 66,000 |
| May 2022 | SERVICE BRAKES | The car brakes were working fine went to Clarksburg wv and back to pennsboro Wv The brakes acted little hard to push but when I was turning off at pennsboro I didn't think I was going to get slowed down enough to make the turn off . I did get it to the house and the brakes are hard as a rock there is no pedal at all | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| May 2022 | POWER TRAIN,SERVICE BRAKES | While driving to Tennessee my brakes went out on the car. The vacuum pump broke into pieces and made braking nearly impossible. Had it repaired and less than a week later the same thing happened coming off the interstate no brakes again on the off ramp. We had to glide to a stop for the brakes to kick in a little past the hard brake pedal. Checked the vacuum pump and again no suction so it’s bad again, not only that it appears that the rear main could be leaking but could be something else all together. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| May 2022 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER | 2018 CHEVROLET EQUINOX. THE CONSUMER STATED THE UPPER "A" ARM FAILED ON MULTIPLE VEHICLES. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| May 2022 | POWER TRAIN,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | I see that this isn't a recall but is affecting many models of chevy from year models 2016-2019 with the gear selector assembly. The issue is the harness, solenoid, or sensor in the gear selector assembly is faulty and when trying to put the vehicle in park, the vehicle thinks it is NOT in park when it IS. Then, when you leave the vehicle, the interior beeps at you and electricals stay on as well as headlights/tail lights and will drain the battery unless you disconnect the battery. I don't see why this hasn't been recalled? I see SOOOO many people with the same issue and I've read that some dealerships are reluctant to fix because they can't "duplicate the problem" The problem is, you can't just buy the gear selector harness assembly wiring harness since it only comes with the whole assembly itself. So this should indeed be a recall because the average person isn't going to be able to figure this out and they shouldn't have to pay since it is happening in what looks like thousands if not tens of thousands or more vehicles. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| May 2022 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,SERVICE BRAKES,ENGINE | When my cats gets turned on my radio doesn’t turn on so I have to reset it until it turns on meaning I have to press and hold for 20sec to get the volume knob lite but my radio doesn’t work and on top of it the auto stop is tripping when I do auto stop the car turns off and restarts on its own and shows light on dash saying traction control on or off and then it will say brake release and than brake check my steering wheel controls don’t work meaning my auto control isn’t working to set and one day out of nowhere it will all work like nothing happen radio will turn on but I can’t turn volume on or change station and it’s a frozen screen and sometimes it goes all blank black but I can hear music with no screen | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| May 2022 | SERVICE BRAKES | The check engine light comes on for a few days and when on the brakes are stiff and hard to push. When this is also going on the brake assist light will come on while driving and not pushing on brakes. It came on while on highway going 65mph | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Apr 2022 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,STRUCTURE | rear liftgate will only open most of the time it will not close when using the buttons on vehicle or on key fob, ongoing issue since | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Apr 2022 | STEERING,SERVICE BRAKES | at stop signs, when autostop/start re engages the vehicle jerks and shows several warnings on the dash saying service brake assist, parking break released, forward collision reduced. the steering wheel locks up for under 3 seconds before it releases and can be steered again | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Apr 2022 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | emergency forward breaking alert will randomly go off | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Apr 2022 | POWER TRAIN,ENGINE | The “Check Engine” light is still on regardless of the maintenance done on the vehicle. The oil pump is possibly damaged after pieces from broken vacuum pump may have entered into engine. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Apr 2022 | SERVICE BRAKES,ENGINE | The vacuum pump in my 2018 Chevrolet Equinox no longer works. I have a “hard brake” and when I attempt to stop At low speeds there is a grinding sound with my vehicle. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Apr 2022 | SERVICE BRAKES | The contact owns a 2018 Chevrolet Equinox. The contact stated that while attempting to stop the vehicle, the brake pedal became very firm and difficult to depress and the braking distances was extended. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic who diagnosed that the brake vacuum pump was faulty and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not yet repaired. The manufacturer and local dealer were not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 75,000. | Crash: No Fire: No | 75,000 |
| Apr 2022 | SERVICE BRAKES,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | While driving brakes suddenly became very hard to press. We could not stop our car. We luckily were in a toll plaza and not moving at high speed. This problem was scary , no warning and my family could have been harmed. We had a mechanic come and fix the problem, but this needs to be fixed. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Apr 2022 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,STRUCTURE | The vehicle first started having a cigarette residual smoke smell in it during the summer of 2019. It was right after a good rainfall, but we didn't know what to attribute it to. We called the local Chevrolet dealership and they weren't sure what it might be either. The odor would come and go over the last couple of years, but we couldn't figure out what it was from as none of my family members smoke. Then my husband went to run errands in my vehicle during a heavy downpour and heard water running inside of the car. He found water coming out of the fuse panel on the driver's side in the rear hatch (video available). He started removing the wet stuff in the rear hatch & when he got down to the spare tire compartment, he found it was filled with water. He also smelled the cigarette smoke-like odor like 10 times stronger than before & realized that it was due to the felt-like pad in the spare tire compartment being soaked in water. We again called the local dealership & they weren't sure what the problem might have been. My husband & stepfather did research and found out a lot of Equinox owners were experiencing the same issue & it had been determined that it was due to the sunroof water drainage system being clogged. The provided solution was to run air through the water drainage pipes, which my husband did. However, the vehicle still had some water appearing behind the driver's side seat during the lighter rainfalls afterwards. As well, the odor that smelled like cigarette smoke had now been replaced with a strong mildew/mold smell. This poses two major safety issues - water going into fuse boxes (water & electrical don't mix), as well as the mold/mildew being inhaled - especially of concern since we have two toddlers sitting in the backseat of this family vehicle. One dealership was unable to duplicate water inside the vehicle, but found the water drain pipes partially clogged. Other dealership noted mold/mildew smell and did an ozone detailing. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Mar 2022 | STEERING,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,SERVICE BRAKES | After auto stop/ start system engages messages on dash appear “ service brake assist”, “service steering assist”, “service parking brake”, “service stibilitrac”, Failure at 55,400 miles Dealership found a loss communication error to the muddles due to low battery voltage. Fix: replaced battery at 55,436 miles Battery has been replaced 3 times in 4 years starting at 18, 500 miles, then at 32,562 miles, now at 55,436 miles due to the same issue with the auto stop start operation. Car is out of warranty as of 58,300 miles or October 2022 | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Mar 2022 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER | I have a 2018 Chevrolet Equinox LT AWD that has trouble shifting gears when going uphill and the car sounds like it's struggling. Lately I've had a similar issue going downhill where the RPM meter shoots up and (I'm guessing) won't shift gear. Makes a horrible sound and feels like I'm breaking the car!! Any advice? Could it be a transmission fluid issue? Also, my driver's seat moves about, side to side, over bumps, etc. Any input on how to proceed to get this fixed? I have also had the following service lights pop up on my center display screen from time to time recently: service side detection system and service park assist system. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2022 | POWER TRAIN | The contact owns a 2018 Chevrolet Equinox. The contact stated that after parking in the driveway and switching the shifter to the park position the driver exited and moments later the vehicle erroneously rolled backward down the driveway. The driver attempted to get back into the moving vehicle and fell causing the vehicle to roll over the driver's body and crash into a tree. During the incident, the contact experienced an injured hip which required medical treatment. The vehicle was towed to a local body shop for repair. The manufacturer was notified of the incident and a manufacturer's engineer examined the vehicle but no problem was found. The cause of the failure was not determined. The contact was informed that the vehicle was not included in the NHTSA Campaign Number: 17v516000(Power train). The contact indicated that the vehicle had experienced the same failure listed in the recalls. The failure mileage was 42,000. | Crash: Yes Fire: No Injuries: 1 Towed Medical attention | 42,000 |
| Feb 2022 | SERVICE BRAKES | Service Brake Assist warning. Same issue as NHTSA campaign number 20V603 and GM recall N202300860 but no active recalls on this VIN. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2022 | FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM | The issue was the leak from the fuel filter. There was no any errors/messages on the dashboard. I am not sure when this leak has started. I assume it started in the end of January. I had a long trip to Canada. The car was parked at snow covered driveway near my house. And I have discovered strange stains on the snow under the car. I have made the pictures of the stains. This stained snow smelled as a fuel. The fuel leak was pretty bad. When I looked under the car it was dripping about 1-2 drops per second. Also the leak was very close to the exhaust pipe (maybe 1-2 inches) that could be very hot and theoretically could ignite a fire. As soon as I discovered the leak, the car was taken to the nearest CHEVY dealer Highland GM in Aurora, ON, Canada. They diagnosed the issue and fixed it on February 1st. In order to fix the leak the fuel filter was replaced. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2022 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,SEATS,UNKNOWN OR OTHER | We were driving at night I had turned on the overhead cabin light and when I turned on the overhead cabin light so my wife could hand food to our are sun and behind us the At the same time that I push the button the sunshade started to go and so I let it go but then it got jammed and it started to crank so I pushed the button in it started to go and reverse and then it like Jim in it aint like you know the motor growing sound and like there's a big shatter we thought that it was the glass from the moon roof shuttering turned out it was just like the plastic piece it was like holding the shade in place and so And so then to get that repaired they had to take the roof off take the rails out to get to the little plastic piece to call that plastic piece an external trim fastener so if it was an internal fastener it would be covered if it was because it was a fascinary if it was because it was a fascinator if it was because it's trim I don't know what trim you have to pull a roof off and pull rails out to it to find but that is why they didn't call it cover it | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jan 2022 | SERVICE BRAKES | I own a 2018 Chevy Equinox. The brakes have now failed 3 times. Dealership confirmed each time it was an issue with the brake vacuum pump. The Equinox has not been included in a recall, yet there are clearly safety issues. GM had numerous cars recalled for this exact same reason. There is a serious safety issue here. I am now without a car again because of a third brake vacuum pump failure. I have not been able to get any assistance from GM or my local Chevy dealership. I now am faced with a bill for repair for almost $2000. It is ridiculous to think that such a serious safety issue would exist and the industry will not acknowledge that it goes far beyond the vehicles they have already recalled. I wonder how many more accidents will happen before this is corrected. To be honest, when I do get my vehicle back I’m not sure I will drive it. When you lose your breaks 3 times it’s very difficult to trust. I would like to see this corrected and the Equinox needs to be added. My car has 128,000 miles on it at the time of the third failure. The other two failures were at approximately 60,000 miles and 92,000 miles. Thank you. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |