NHTSA Complaint #10366368 — 2006 CHEVROLET EQUINOX

I TOOK MY 2006 CHEVROLET EQUINOX IN FOR REPAIR WHEN MY WINDSHIELD DEFROSTER DIDN'T WORK EFFECTIVELY AND I DISCOVERED MY HEAT WAS BLOWING COLD AIR. MY LOCAL CHEVROLET DEALERSHIP CHARGED OVER $1100 TO REPLACE THE TEMPERATURE VALVE ACTUATOR AND THE HVAC DOOR VALVE TO CORRECT THE PROBLEM. MY CAR HAD ONLY 44,495 MILES AT THE TIME OF THE MALFUNCTION, AND WHEN I WENT ONLINE, I FOUND THAT MANY OTHERS COMPLAINED OF THE IDENTICAL PROBLEM WITH THEIR 2006 EQUINOX. I WAS DISMAYED AT THE COST, BUT WAS MORE DISMAYED TO LEARN THEY REPLACED THE BROKEN PLASTIC PARTS WITH IDENTICAL PLASTIC PARTS ON WHICH THERE IS ONLY A 12-MONTH WARRANTY. I LEARNED THAT THERE HAS BEEN A RECALL ON THE 2010 CHEVY EQUINOX ON WHICH THEY REPLACED THE PLASTIC PARTS WITH METAL PARTS. THE 2006 EQUINOX SHOULD ALSO BE RECALLED, SINCE A DEFROSTER WILL NOT CLEAR A WINDSHIELD IN WINTER WITH COLD AIR, WHICH IS DEFINITELY A SAFETY HAZARD! GM SHOULD ACKNOWLEDGE THIS PROBLEM AS A SAFETY ISSUE ON THE 2006 CHEVY EQUINOX AND ISSUE A RECALL TO REPLACE THE BREAKABLE PLASTIC PARTS WITH METAL.