YearTell editorial · 2026-09-07
Chevrolet Equinox Complaints and Recalls by Year
In plain English
People filed 9,296 problem reports on the Chevrolet Equinox across 22 years (2005–2026). Owners named Engine more often than any other system.
2011 has the most reports (779). That is often age, not a ranking. Open the year you are buying.
Engine. Have a shop check for oil consumption, coolant leaks, rough idle and unusual engine noise. Then read that year-page for recalls and owner text.
Equinox is kept apart from the Traverse. Open the year in the listing and check the VIN for open recalls.
NHTSA complaint counts are self-selected reports. They are not normalised for sales volume and they are not a reliability score. YearTell does not publish stars, “best year” lists or advice to avoid a vehicle.
This guide reports NHTSA owner-complaint and recall counts for the Chevrolet Equinox from the 2026-09-07 snapshot. 9,296 owner reports are on file across 22 published model years (2005–2026). 2011 has the highest complaint count (779).
Older model years have had longer to accumulate reports, so a high lifetime total is not evidence that a year is worse to own. YearTell does not adjust these figures for how many vehicles were sold.
Where a system dominates the file, it is named below as a count, not as a diagnosis. Open the year-page for the component table, the recall list and a short set of owner narratives.
Years that appear most often in NHTSA complaints
| Model year | Owner complaints | Recall campaigns | System named most often |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 Chevrolet Equinox | 628 | 1 | Engine (ENGINE) |
| 2006 Chevrolet Equinox | 691 | 0 | Glass / wipers / cameras (VISIBILITY) |
| 2007 Chevrolet Equinox | 679 | 4 | Fuel system (FUEL SYSTEM) |
| 2008 Chevrolet Equinox | 364 | 0 | Airbags (AIR BAGS) |
| 2009 Chevrolet Equinox | 93 | 0 | Airbags (AIR BAGS) |
| 2010 Chevrolet Equinox | 777 | 3 | Engine (ENGINE) |
| 2011 Chevrolet Equinox | 779 | 3 | Engine (ENGINE) |
| 2012 Chevrolet Equinox | 682 | 3 | Engine (ENGINE) |
| 2013 Chevrolet Equinox | 744 | 2 | Engine (ENGINE) |
| 2014 Chevrolet Equinox | 544 | 1 | Glass / wipers / cameras (VISIBILITY) |
| 2015 Chevrolet Equinox | 676 | 2 | Glass / wipers / cameras (VISIBILITY) |
| 2016 Chevrolet Equinox | 391 | 1 | Engine (ENGINE) |
| 2017 Chevrolet Equinox | 269 | 0 | Engine (ENGINE) |
| 2018 Chevrolet Equinox | 400 | 5 | Brakes (SERVICE BRAKES) |
| 2019 Chevrolet Equinox | 297 | 4 | Engine (ENGINE) |
| 2020 Chevrolet Equinox | 301 | 4 | Brakes (SERVICE BRAKES) |
| 2021 Chevrolet Equinox | 88 | 4 | Transmission / driveline (POWER TRAIN) |
| 2022 Chevrolet Equinox | 165 | 5 | Fuel system (FUEL SYSTEM) |
| 2023 Chevrolet Equinox | 93 | 3 | Fuel system (FUEL SYSTEM) |
| 2024 Chevrolet Equinox | 179 | 2 | Glass / wipers / cameras (VISIBILITY) |
| 2025 Chevrolet Equinox | 380 | 6 | Glass / wipers / cameras (VISIBILITY) |
| 2026 Chevrolet Equinox | 76 | 3 | Automatic braking / collision warning (FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE) |
Recall campaigns are manufacturer safety actions filed with NHTSA. A year can have many complaints and few recalls, or the reverse. The two series answer different questions.
If you are comparing two adjacent years, use the equal-exposure comparison when one exists. That window holds age constant so the later year is not punished for having had less time on the road.
A practical read: open the year you are shopping, note the system named most often, read every recall campaign, then skim the owner filings for that system. Take that list to a mechanic. Do not turn the complaint total into a score.
Model-year records cited
- 2011 Chevrolet Equinox
- 2010 Chevrolet Equinox
- 2013 Chevrolet Equinox
- 2006 Chevrolet Equinox
- 2012 Chevrolet Equinox
- 2007 Chevrolet Equinox
- 2015 Chevrolet Equinox
- 2005 Chevrolet Equinox
- Chevrolet Equinox
How YearTell builds these numbers
Counts are not a reliability score.
Frequently asked questions
Which Chevrolet Equinox year has the most NHTSA complaints in this snapshot?
2011 has the highest owner-report count (779). That is a count, not advice to avoid the year.
Are these figures a reliability rating?
No. YearTell does not publish reliability scores. Read the methodology for what complaint counts cannot tell you.
Where does the data come from?
NHTSA owner complaints and safety recall campaigns, snapshot 2026-09-07. Each cited year-page links to the federal records.