NHTSA Complaint #10872788 — 2010 CHEVROLET EQUINOX

WHILE DRIVING ON I80 IN RURAL PA ENGINE STARTED MISSING INTERMITTENTLY. WHEN I EXITED THE ROAD TO INVESTIGATE THE ENGINE IMMEDIATELY STARTED TO RUN VERY ROUGH AND THE INFORMATION CENTER WAS SHOWING A PROBLEM WITH STABILI-TRACK - WHICH MADE NO SENSE SINCE IT WAS SUMMER AND THE ROAD WAS DRY. AFTER VEHICLE WAS SHUT OFF FOR AWHILE AND RESTARTED IT SEEMED TO RUN MORE SMOOTHLY. HOWEVER, AS I ACCELERATED BACK UP TO HIGHWAY SPEED THE MISFIRING RETURNED. WE CONTINUED TO LIMP ALONG AT A SLOWER SPEED WITH EMERGENCY FLASHERS OPERATING WHILE WE SEARCHED BY PHONE FOR THE NEAREST GM DEALER. AFTER SEVERAL DIFFERENT ATTEMPTS GM ROADSIDE ASSISTANCE WAS ABLE TO IDENTIFY A DEALER ABOUT 20 MILES AWAY. WE SUCCESSFULLY CONTACTED THEM AND REACHED THEIR LOCATION WHERE THEY WERE ABLE TO DIAGNOSE THE PROBLEM AS A FAILED #3 CYLINDER COIL. A FIX WAS COMPLETED AND WE WERE ABLE TO RESUME OUR TRIP. I ESTIMATE WE DROVE ABOUT 60 MILES PRETTY MUCH IN THE MIDDLE OF NO WHEE ON 3 CYLINDERS BEFORE BEING ABLE TO FIND HELP. TWO DAYS LATER ON THE RETURN LEG OF THIS SAME TRIP THE WINDSHIELD WIPERS ALSO FAILED IN A SEVERE RAIN STORM WHILE IN A SEVERAL MILE CONSTRUCTION ZONE WITH NO BERM. ONLY A MIRACLE PREVENTED A MULTIPLE FATALITY MULTIPLE CAR ACCIDENT. THIS WAS A WELL MAINTAINED VEHICLE WITH ONLY 64,000 MILES THAT HAD NEVER PREVIOUSLY HAD ANY SIGNIFICANT PROBLEMS.