NHTSA Complaint #11631926 — 2016 CHEVROLET EQUINOX

We purchased a 2016 Chevy equinox with a 2.4 eco-tech engine in September 2023 for approximately $14,000 and 95,000 miles. In September 2024, our vehicle seemed to malfunction at a gas station. When my husband attempted to turn the car on, it sputtered and several different lights lit up the dashboard. The car wouldnt start and we had to have it towed. The shop informed us the next day that there was zero oil in the car and our engine had blown. This was extremely shocking to us as we had zero issues prior to this and had our oil and tires changed within the last month. Upon their inspection, they stated no oil in the car. We told them we had recently had it changed at an oil shop. A shop employee then informed us there were known issues with this type of engine and we should look into it. Upon further research, we discovered this engine had indeed experienced issues over the past several years. A lawsuit was apparently settled regarding the 2010-2013 vehicles and 2014-2017 were now also experiencing issues. There is a class action lawsuit going on in a southern state as well. I contacted the MN OIG office and they advised we file a complaint here. We still owed approximately 9,000$ when this happened. I contacted GM support at 866-366-2273 on 10/7 and spoke with rep Jasmine and supervisor Rochelle. They advised they cannot open a case for me unless I pay to have the car towed to a GM approved dealer and pay for a diagnostic. They stated it’s possible but not likely that I would receive any assistance due to the power train warranty am expiring at 60,000 miles. I advised I cannot afford to pay to have it towed a 3rd time and diagnosed again just in the hope they would be able to help. Prior to this happening, we did not experience any issues with the vehicle and it wasn’t indicating there were any issues (there were no lights on to show something wasn’t functioning properly).