2016 Chevrolet Equinox: Common Problems, Recalls and Vehicle Data

What the public data shows

Engine-related reports are the largest single complaint category in the public record for the 2016 Equinox, accounting for 176 of 395 complaints, or 45 percent. Visibility and lighting complaints follow at 114, or 29 percent, with the remaining categories, including other, drivetrain, and electrical, each in single digits by share. CarTold has separately examined this pattern in "2016–2017 Chevrolet Equinox: Engine Oil Complaints," which readers can consult for more detail. Beyond the complaint mix, two investigations appear in the record, EA19005 and RQ18002, both concerning visibility and both now closed. A closed investigation means NHTSA looked into the matter and the inquiry has concluded; it does not by itself indicate whether a defect was found. The only recall on file, 16V449000, is filed under equipment and concerns incorrect certification-label information that could lead an operator to install improperly sized tires or wheels, or to inflate tires incorrectly. There is one recall campaign in this year's record, so no broader pattern of concentration or breadth across recall systems can be drawn from it. Service bulletins, which are manufacturer guidance to dealers rather than recalls, show a notable share tied to equipment, including a large cluster referencing owner and service manual content, alongside sizable clusters for the electrical system and engine. These indicate topics dealers were given repair guidance on, not confirmed defects. Complaint counts reflect how often owners reported an issue to NHTSA, not a rate of occurrence across the vehicle population, and should be read with that limitation in mind.

395 complaints on file with NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation, grouped into CarTold's broad component categories.

Most frequently reported, by the specific component NHTSA logged each complaint under (not CarTold's category groupings above):

• ENGINE — 137 complaints (35%)
• VISIBILITY/WIPER — 104 complaints (26%)
• UNKNOWN OR OTHER — 20 complaints (5%)
• POWER TRAIN,ENGINE — 11 complaints (3%)
• ENGINE,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM — 9 complaints (2%)
• AIR BAGS — 9 complaints (2%)

EQUIPMENT:OTHER:LABELS

General Motors LLC (GM) is recalling certain model year 2016 Chevrolet Equinox and GMC Terrain vehicles manufactured October 16, 2015. The certification labels may have incorrect tire/rim size and cold tire pressure information. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) number 110, "Tire Selection and Rims."

Consequence: If the information on the certification labels is incorrect, the operator may install incorrectly sized tires or rims or may improperly inflate the tires, increasing the risk of a crash.

Remedy: GM will notify owners, and dealers will inspect and replace the certification label, free of charge. The recall began on July 14, 2016. Owners may contact Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1050, or GMC customer service at 1-800-462-8782. GM's number for this recall is 46600.

VISIBILITY, VISIBILITY:WINDSHIELD WIPER/WASHER:LINKAGES, VISIBILITY/WIPER

Opened 2019-12-13 · Closed 2022-11-28

On December 13, 2019, the Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) upgraded RQ18-002 to an Engineering Analysis (EA19-005) to further assess the MY2010-2016 Chevrolet Equinox and GMC Terrain windshield wiper failures. Due to a prior recall, 16V-582, addressing this issue in the MY2013 subject vehicles, MY2013 was not included in the analysis. To date, ODI had received 998 complaints with allegations of the front windshield wiper failing in adverse whether conditions, while the vehicle was in motion.General Motors (GM) initiated Safety Recall 16V-582 on August 3, 2016 to address windshield wiper …

VISIBILITY, VISIBILITY:WINDSHIELD WIPER/WASHER, VISIBILITY:WINDSHIELD WIPER/WASHER:LINKAGES, VISIBILITY:WINDSHIELD WIPER

Opened 2018-11-02 · Closed 2019-12-19

On November 2, 2018, the Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened a Recall Query (RQ18-002) to assess the scope of Recall 16V-582.General Motors (GM) initiated Safety Recall 16V-582 on August 3, 2016 to address windshield wiper failure in the Model Year (MY) 2013 Chevrolet Equinox and GMC Terrain. Failures were attributed to water and debris intrusion into the windshield wiper assembly ball joints, leading to excessive wear and eventual detachment of the affected ball joint with an attendant loss of windshield wiper function. The recall remedy addressed these conditions with the installat…

NHTSA crash-tests each body-style/drivetrain configuration separately, so ratings can differ by variant — shown as tested, not averaged. See how the 5-star ratings work, including why an overall score isn't the average of the three category scores.