NHTSA Complaint #10446938 — 2011 CHEVROLET EQUINOX

THE 2011 CHEVROLET EQUINOX I PURCHASED ON OCTOBER 8TH 2011 BEGAN MALFUNCTIONING THE FIRST TIME I STARTED IT AFTER DRIVING IT HOME (500 MILES) FROM THE DEALERSHIP. ON STARTUP THERE WAS A LOUD 3-4 SECOND RATTLE COMING FROM THE ENGINE COMPARTMENT (ALMOST AS IF LOW ON OIL). THIS RATTLE WAS EVIDENT WHETHER THE ENGINE WAS HOT, WARM, OR COLD. I TOOK THE CAR INTO MY LOCAL CHEVROLET DEALERSHIP ON 10/11/2011. THEY REPROGRAMMED THE ECM AND GAVE ME BACK MY CHEVROLET EQUINOX. THE NEXT DAY THE RATTLE WAS STILL THERE. ON 10/31/2011 I RETURNED MY CHEVROLET EQUINOX TO THE DEALERSHIP FOR THE SAME PROBLEM. THIS TIME A SOUND INSULATOR WAS INSTALLED ON THE HIGH PRESSURE FUEL LINE/FUEL PUMP. THE NEXT DAY THE RATTLE WAS STILL THERE. ON APPROXIMATELY 1/20/2012 MY CHEVROLET EQUINOX BEGAN IDLING ROUGH, STALLING, AND THROWING CHECK ENGINE LIGHTS. I RETURNED MY CHEVROLET EQUINOX TO THE DEALERSHIP ON 1/27/2012. ON 2/3/2012 I WAS GIVEN BACK MY VEHICLE AND TOLD THAT IT WAS FIXED AND APPEARED TO BE RUNNING OK WITH NO RATTLE. I TOOK MY NEW CHEVROLET EQUINOX HOME AND PARKED IT IN MY DRIVEWAY TO FIND AN OIL PUDDLE UNDER IT THE NEXT MORNING. IN MY 53 YEARS I HAVE NEVER HAD A VEHICLE THAT LEAKED OIL, LET ALONE ONE THAT DOES WITH LESS THAN 3000 MILES ON IT. THE CAR IS SCHEDULED TO GO BACK TO THE DEALERSHIP IN TWO DAYS. THERE ARE OTHER SERVICE BULLETINS OUT ON THIS VEHICLE THAT PERTAIN TO THE PROBLEM THAT I AM HAVING BUT THE DEALERSHIP HAS NOT COMPLETED THEM AT THIS TIME. THERE ARE ALSO BULLETINS AND INFORMATION THAT MENTION DEBRIS AND MULTIPLE OIL CHANGES (THIS SPEAKS OF LONG TERM ENGINE DAMAGE TO ME). FOR $31,000 I WOULD HAVE HOPED FOR A LITTLE MORE THAN THIS IN A BRAND NEW VEHICLE. HOPEFULLY CHEVROLET "STEPS UP TO THE PLATE" AND MAKES THINGS RIGHT. *TR