NHTSA Complaint #10836562 — 2012 CHEVROLET EQUINOX

JULY 10, 2015: I TOOK MY 2012 CHEVY EQUINOX LT (2.4 L 4 CYL) TO A CHEVY DEALERSHIP IN KY. THE VEHICLE WAS AT 100,505 MILES AND I WANTED IT CHECKED BEFORE DRIVING ON VACATION DUE TO THE HIGH MILEAGE, A ROUGH IDLE AND BECAUSE IT HAD RECENTLY SHUT OFF WHILE BACKING OUT OF A PARKING LOT. A GM GOODWRENCH MULTI-POINT VEHICLE INSPECTION WAS PERFORMED. I WAS TOLD THE CAR SHOWED NO SIGN OF ANY ISSUES BUT I WOULD NEED TO PURCHASE NEW TIRES BEFORE WINTER. BY DEC 2015 THE ROUGH IDLE HAD GOTTEN MUCH WORSE, THE VEHICLE WAS LOUD (ALMOST SOUNDING LIKE A DIESEL), WOULD JERK AND FELT LIKE IT MAY SHUT OFF ANY TIME I HAD TO STOP OR DRIVE SLOWER SPEEDS. ADDITIONALLY, THE CAR WOULD "SLIP" AS IT WAS SHIFTING GEARS SO I TOOK IT BACK TO THE DEALERSHIP ON DEC 8, 2015. THE CAR WAS AT 115,720 MILES. THE TRANSMISSION, #2 CYLINDER, SPARK PLUG AND COIL WERE REPLACED AND A THROTTLE BODY CLEANING SERVICE WAS PERFORMED. SINCE THEN, THE CAR HAS IDLED HIGH REVVING TO 4,000+RPM AT TIMES BEFORE IT WILL SHIFT INTO HIGHER GEARS (PARTICULARLY WHEN DRIVING 70+MPH ON THE INTERSTATE). DOWNSHIFTING TO LOWER GEARS DOESN'T ALWAYS GO SMOOTH EITHER. THE ROUGH IDLE HAS RETURNED AND PROGRESSIVELY GOTTEN WORSE. THE CAR ALMOST SHUT OFF WHILE BACKING OUT OF A PARKING LOT ON FEB 13, 2016. YESTERDAY (FEB 15, 2016), THE CAR SHUT OFF WHILE I WAS DRIVING! THERE WERE NO LIGHTS ILLUMINATED PRIOR TO IT SHUTTING OFF. I COASTED TO THE SIDE OF THE ROAD, RE-STARTED THE CAR AND FINISHED THE FINAL (~3) MILES TO WORK. I HAD THE CAR TOWED FROM WORK BACK TO THE DEALERSHIP. THE DEALERSHIP SAID THERE WAS NO OIL ON THE DIPSTICK (THE OIL LIFE SENSOR SHOWED ~25% LIFE LEFT ON OIL) AND I WAS TOLD THE CAR WAS 2 QTS LOW ON OIL. THE CAR REMAINS AT THE DEALERSHIP AS OF TODAY, FEB 16, 2016. THERE ARE A LOT OF SIMILAR COMPLAINTS ABOUT THIS ON WWW.ARFC.ORG. THIS VEHICLE NEEDS TO BE RECALLED BEFORE SOMEONE GETS HURT OR DIES!