2018 Chevrolet Equinox
Problems, recalls and owner-reported issues
Service brakes is the leading concern among 408 owner complaints filed for this model year. This is the 10th highest complaint count among 21 Equinox model years with reports.
Of the 2018 reports, 23 involved a crash and 4 involved a fire. 30 people were injured and 1 person died.
What owners report most often
Recalls and investigations
Power train, automatic transmissionOct 29, 2020
General Motors LLC (GM) is recalling certain 2018-2019 Chevrolet Cruze and Buick LaCrosse, 2018-2020 Chevrolet Equinox, Chevrolet Traverse and GMC Terrain, 2018 Chevrolet Malibu, 2019-2020 Buick Encore, Buick Enclave, Cadillac XT4, Chevrolet Blazer and GMC Acadia, and 2020 Cadillac XT6 vehicles. The start/stop accumulator endcap may have missing bolts.
Missing bolts on the start-stop accumulator endcap could result in a transmission oil leak and may progress to a loss of propulsion, increasing the risk of a crash. A transmission fluid leak in the presence of an ignition source may increase the risk of fire.
GM will notify owners, and dealers will inspect the start-stop transmission accumulator and replace it if any bolts are missing, free of charge. The recall began December 15, 2020. Owners may contact GMC customer service at 1-888-988-7267, Buick Customer service at 1-866-608-8080, Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020 or Cadillac customer service at 1-800-458-8006. GM's number for this recall is N202313440.
Campaign 20V668000 on NHTSA.gov
Service brakes, hydraulic, foundation components, disc, caliperAug 30, 2018
General Motors LLC (GM) is recalling certain 2018-2019 Chevrolet Equinox, Impala, Cruze, Volt and Bolt EV vehicles, GMC Terrain vehicles, Buick Lacrosse and Regal vehicles, Cadillac XTS and XTS Professional vehicles and 2018 Chevrolet Malibu vehicles. The rear brake caliper pistons may have an insufficient coating causing gas pockets to form, potentially reducing rear brake performance.
A reduction of braking performance can increase the risk of a crash.
GM will notify owners, and dealers will bleed the vehicle's brake system, free of charge. The recall began October 11, 2018. Owners may contact Buick customer service at 1-800-521-7300, Cadillac customer service at 1-800-458-8006, Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020, or GMC customer service at 1-800-462-8782. GM's number for this recall is 18279.
Campaign 18V576000 on NHTSA.gov
Fuel system, gasoline, delivery, fuel pumpMay 31, 2018
General Motors LLC (GM) is recalling certain 2015-2018 GMC Canyon, 2016-2017 Buick Envision, 2016-2018 Chevrolet Colorado and Malibu, 2017-2018 GMC Acadia, 2018 Buick LaCrosse, Cadillac ATS, Chevrolet Equinox, and GMC Terrain vehicles. The high pressure fuel pump may detach from its mounting flange, possibly resulting in the pump damaging the high pressure fuel line.
A damaged fuel line can create a fuel leak, increasing the risk of a fire.
GM will notify owners, and dealers will replace the high pressure fuel pump, and high pressure fuel pipe, free of charge. The recall began July 2, 2018. Owners may contact Buick customer service at 1-800-521-7300, Cadillac customer service at 1-800-458-8006, Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020, or GMC customer service at 1-800-462-8782. GM's number for this recall is 18188.
Campaign 18V358000 on NHTSA.gov
VisibilityApr 19, 2018
General Motors LLC (GM) is recalling certain 2018 Chevrolet Equinox vehicles. The driver and front passenger door window glass may not be properly tempered. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) number 205, "Glazing Materials."
If the glass is not tempered properly, and the window is broken, the glass can break into large pieces, increasing the risk of injury.
GM will notify owners, and dealers will replace the glass in the front doors, free of charge. The recall began May 15, 2018. Owners may contact Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020. GM's number for this recall is 18136.
Campaign 18V252000 on NHTSA.gov
Power train, driveline, driveshaftAug 22, 2017
General Motors LLC (GM) is recalling certain 2018 Chevrolet Equinox and GMC Terrain vehicles and 2017-2018 GMC Acadia vehicles. The right front intermediate driveshaft may fracture and separate while driving.
If the front right intermediate drive shaft assembly separates while driving, the vehicle will lose propulsion, increasing the risk of a crash. If the assembly separates while parked on a grade, without the park brake engaged, the vehicle may move unintentionally, increasing the risk of a vehicle roll-away.
GM will notify owners, and dealers will replace the right front intermediate drive shaft assembly, free of charge. The recall began August 25, 2017. Owners may contact GMC customer service at 1-800-462-8782 or Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020. GM's number for this recall is 17329.
Campaign 17V516000 on NHTSA.gov
Representative owner complaints
408 reports, newest first.
Engine, May 30, 2022
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
Parking brake, Service brakes, May 20, 2022
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.
Service brakes, May 19, 2022
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
Power train, Service brakes, May 18, 2022
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.
Other or unspecified, May 13, 2022
2018 CHEVROLET EQUINOX. THE CONSUMER STATED THE UPPER "A" ARM FAILED ON MULTIPLE VEHICLES.
Power train, Electrical system, May 6, 2022
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.
Service brakes, May 1, 2022
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
Electrical system, Service brakes, Engine, May 1, 2022
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
Electrical system, Structure, Apr 28, 2022
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
Forward collision avoidance, Apr 28, 2022
emergency forward breaking alert will randomly go off
Steering, Service brakes, Apr 28, 2022
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
Power train, Engine, Apr 21, 2022
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.
Service brakes, Engine, Apr 18, 2022
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.
Service brakes, Apr 15, 2022
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.
Service brakes, Forward collision avoidance, Apr 8, 2022
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.
Electrical system, Structure, Apr 6, 2022
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.
Steering, Electrical system, Service brakes, Mar 28, 2022
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
Other or unspecified, Mar 27, 2022
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.
Power train, Feb 23, 2022, crash
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.
Fuel/propulsion system, Feb 9, 2022
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.
Service brakes, Feb 9, 2022
Service Brake Assist warning. Same issue as NHTSA campaign number 20V603 and GM recall N202300860 but no active recalls on this VIN.
Electrical system, Seats, Other or unspecified, Feb 5, 2022
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
Service brakes, Jan 20, 2022
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.
Steering, Electrical system, Service brakes, Jan 14, 2022
When I lift my foot off brake the car Stop/Start feature engage causing lurching jerks forward or roll backwardson hill I fear the roll back on inclines praying vehicles are to close behind and rolling backwards into another vehicle, censors lights take turns coming on each time I lift my foot off the brake pedal. All of the following, service brake assist, service stabilittrak, park brake released, service hill start assist action not working, car locks unlock and relock by themselves. I have had these issues since. These issues have been occurring since around 16,000 miles and keep getting worst everyday. GM claim not to have a fix for these issues. They offered a few thousand to buy back the vehicle claiming drastic depreciation for milage and wear. At that time owed over $25,000 balance for the vehicle. No one stood to benefit but the lemon law attorneys.They did not consider the milage when these issues started and this is my only source of transportation to use which I told the lemon law attorneys. The lemon law attorneys were going to charge their fee from me if GM refused to pay their fees. I told them I felt in my best interest I should wait for GM's recall for this vehicle as I'm sure I wasn't the only consumer that was having these same issues. My problem is my vehicle is becoming dangerous to drive due to the rolling back and, jerking of the steering wheel, engine cutting off, locks unlocking and relocking and unstable steering. These issues were hit and miss now happens every time I drive which is daily. These issues started 2020. Last correspondence with GM they still claim they did not know how to fix these issues. I question why they are making vehicles and are not able to fix these issues. I have given my family a list of these issues because they create a safety hazard and in case I, a passenger or someone in another vehicle is injured or killed due to GM's negligence, lack of concern and greed.
Power train, Engine, Fuel/propulsion system, Jan 9, 2022
Winter 2020/2021 I had to replace my exhaust manifold and now winter 2021/2022 I am having issues with my turbo/super charger but same code of P0299 for both incidents. Wondering what is going on with my vehicle. I bought it at 42,000 miles and now has 88,000 on it