NHTSA Complaint #10968213 — 2012 CHEVROLET EQUINOX

AROUND THE TIME FRAME OF MAY, 2016 I BEGAN TO NOTICE THAT MY 2012 CHEVROLET EQUINOX WITH A 2.4L ECOTEC STARTED HAVING A KNOCKING NOISE FROM THE ENGINE WHILE IDLING. THE MILEAGE AT THIS POINT IN TIME WAS AROUND 99K MILES. AT THE SAME TIME THAT THE KNOCKING BEGAN, I NOTICED THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON. I WENT TO AN AUTO ZONE TO CHECK MY OIL LEVELS, AND REALIZED THAT THE DIP STICK SHOWED THE OIL WAS MUCH LOWER THAN IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN. I WENT INSIDE AND PURCHASED DEXOS 5W30 OIL PER THE OWNER'S MANUAL AND ADDED 1 QT TO IT. ADDITIONALLY, I NOTICED AFTER I TOOK THE OIL CAP OFF THAT THERE WAS SMOKE COMING FROM INSIDE. PER THE OWNER'S MANUAL, THE GM OIL LIFE MONITOR SYSTEM USES AN ALGORITHM THAT ANALYZES YOUR DRIVING ACTIVITY, TEMPERATURE OUTSIDE, AND SEVERAL OTHER FACTORS TO DETERMINE WHEN THE OIL NEEDS CHANGED. ACCORDING TO THIS SYSTEM I WAS AT ROUGHLY 70% OIL LIFE. THE SYSTEM STATES THAT THE OIL ONLY NEEDS TO BE CHANGED WITHIN 600 MILES OF THE LOW OIL LIFE ALERT COMING ON, THIS DOESN'T HAPPEN UNTIL YOU GET AROUND 15%. AT THIS POINT I BEGAN MONITORING MY OIL CONSUMPTION MUCH MORE CLOSELY AND CARRIED OIL ON ME AT ALL TIMES. AS TIME HAS GONE BY, I'VE NOTICED THE CAR IS BURNING OIL QUICKER, AND AS OF MY MOST RECENT OIL CHANGE IN FEBRUARY OF THIS YEAR, WE BEGAN DOING OIL CONSUMPTION TESTS PER GM TSB # 13-06-01-003H THAT EXPLAINS THIS ISSUE. THE TSB NOTES THAT IT COVERS MY MAKE AND MODEL, BUT MY VIN DOES NOT COME UP AS BEING COVERED UP TO 120K MILES FOR THIS REPAIR. I HAVE HAD A DEALER TELL ME THAT THE FIX LISTED IN THE TSB IS WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE, BUT THAT IT WILL COST $3.4K. MANY OTHER MODELS WITH THE SAME ENGINE ARE COVERED BUT MINE ISN'T. MY CAR HAS SINCE STARTED STALLING WHEN IT IS IDLING AT LOW RPM'S, SPECIFICALLY ON 3/22/17 IT STALLED TWICE WHILE IN A DRIVE-THROUGH.CURRENT MILEAGE TODAY IS 118.6K AND THE 2 OIL CONSUMPTION TESTS SHOW BURNING UP TO 1 QT PER 1K MILES.