Overview & Reviews

For 2011, the Chevrolet Equinox's optional V6 now has E85 capability. Enhancements include heated cloth seats on 2LT models and a compass on LS models. A USB port, a leather-wrapped steering wheel and Bluetooth connectivity are now standard on 1LT models, and OnStar service has been upgraded to standard Directions and Connections (providing access to OnStar's navigation and information services) for a six-month trial period.

• Fuel-efficient four-cylinder.
• Quiet cabin with lots of storage bins
• Adjustable backseat
• Premium look inside and out

• Not quite as much cargo space as chief rivals
• Numb and uncommunicative steering.
• Some controls difficult to reach

User Reviews:

Showing 1 through 10 of 153.00

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  Seeking new car ... definitely not another Equinox - 2011 Chevrolet Equinox
  By Dee - November 7 - 10:42 am

  Nothing but repair issues from about 50,000 miles forward. Thank god I had purchased an extended warranty. Had a/c compressor and condensers replaced multiple times. Oil burning issues resulted in complete overhaul of engine. Now having catalytic converter issues .. presumably due to the oil that had been burning for 5,000 miles while engine consumption tests were being run. I would be broke if it werent for the extended warranty. Trying to limp to the end of my extended warranty but the engine light is back on again. On a first-name basis with everyone in service at the dealer. On the bright side, the interior was comfortable on all those trips to the dealer. Ive hauled a lot in the past 4 years and the interior has withstood. Mileage has always been disappointing. Unless I was coasting on a downhill, I never approached anywhere near 30 mpg. Acceleration sluggish. Huge blindspot due to pillars and side mirrors. Intermittent remote issues.

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  Do yourself a favor and RUN away from this car! - 2011 Chevrolet Equinox
  By Amy - September 16 - 8:29 am

  Purchased the car used, a little over 100K miles on the car when we purchased. A few hours after we left the dealership, the car began idling rough when stopped, hesitated when you try to accelerate, and an engine light came on (P0420). The car began rough idling anytime it wasnt in motion > 10mph. The engine shakes very hard. The car continues to run 3-6 seconds after you remove the key. When you accelerate from a stop or when coasting the car jerks forward like you stomped on the gas pedal. Sometimes when you try to accelerate the car just kinda sits there for a few seconds before it decides to move. It sounds like a big diesel truck when you crank the car - so embarrassing. These issues continued to happen the entire time we were taking it to the dealership, and still happen today. The car also only get about 22 mpg highway / city combined. We took the car back to the dealership not even a week after purchasing - they replaced spark plugs and sent us on our way. The engine light returned again (P0420 and P0303). Took the car back and the dealership replaced the 3rd coil pack. Engine light returned again - dealership said it was some kind of seal and it was "fixed". Engine light returned again - dealership "couldnt duplicate" the issue and insinuated that it was fine. Kept insisting that the car does not have any issues when they have it and they have tried sitting, slow driving, etc. I recorded the issues on my cell phone and text them to the dealership. Suddenly their story changed to "clearly there is something wrong with the car and we need to get it fixed asap." No kidding... We opened a case with GM customer care (dont even waste your time there). GM told us to take it to a certified dealership and have diagnostics run ($100). They told us if it was a manufacturer defect they would cover the cost of repairs and reimburse the $100 diagnostic fee. It turned out to be a known issue - also a manufacturer defect but suddenly GM decided they couldnt cover the cost of repair because the car had over 100K miles. They knew this BEFORE asking us to take it to the dealership to begin with. They told us the fix was to have the catalytic converter and O2 sensor replaced ($1500). We took the car back to the dealership we purchased it from, and they sent it to another repair shop because they couldnt fix the issues themselves. Not even a week after the catalytic converter and O2 sensor were replaced the issues returned. Ive given up hope and Ive had it with this car. We tried to trade it in, but nobody will give us anywhere near what we paid for it because it runs like crap and sounds awful. Just praying the car doesnt die before we can pay down the balance enough to be able to trade the car without losing thousands on it. Seriously, do yourself a favor and stay away from GM cars. Worst car buying experience ever. My 13 year old Honda with almost 200K miles ran better than this 4 year old car. Seriously regret spending money on this POS.

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  Run as far away from these vehicles as you can! - 2011 Chevrolet Equinox
  By Carlos - July 13 - 12:55 pm

  We purchased our vehicle, 2011 LTZ 4 cylinder with navigation and rear dvd player, brand new. Now 4 years later it is on its 3rd transmission and has been at the dealership more times than I can count. The navigation unit would reset to Washington DC as a starting point whenever we tried to located an address and the clock hardly ever worked. The dealer tried doing a software reset and ended up replacing the unit when it was 1 year old. When it happened the 2nd time they said the unit was out of warranty so we had to deal with it. The fuel efficiency is a joke. GM stated this vehicle at 32 mpg and we average 21 on mixed city driving. Our warranty is almost up and were already looking to trade this in.

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  This vehicle has no power - 2011 Chevrolet Equinox
  By angrychevy - November 30 - 8:57 pm

  Been in the shop 2 times and is not recommended. It has no power and now the worst part is that the dealer cannot fix my issue. Day 5 and Im still waiting. They are not even sure how to fix it. It is a 2011 so how can they not know how to fix and program a BCM???? WOW GM! GOOD JOB, I WILL NOT BE RECOMMENDING YOU TO OTHERS!

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  Equinox Lemon - 2011 Chevrolet Equinox
  By Rachel - February 14 - 2:07 pm

  I bought this vehicle used with 70,000 miles on it. I bought it from the original owner who said they had no issues. Usually two owner vehicles are a pretty safe bet because people take care of them when they have owned them for a while. I brought it home and about 2k miles later, noticed how loud the engine had become. I took it into the dealership and they said it needed a new timing chain. The vehicle was still covered under the factory warranty so that was a relief. After the repair, and after reading reviews, I decided to purchase the extended powertrain warranty costing me $1800. Few thousand miles later, its burning oil. Took it BACK in, dealership replaced pistons, rings, etc. Paid only my deductible for the warranty ($100). TWO MONTHS later, vehicle transmission starts hesitating/slipping. Back to the dealership we go. Get the phone call that it needs a whole new transmission and SURPRISE the warranty only covers up to $3k leaving me with a $1200 bill! This vehicle has been NOTHING BUT HEADACHES and is in the repair shop almost more than I drive it. At this point, it has a whole new engine and transmission so maybe I can get another 30k miles out of it...who knows. This is only the MAJOR repairs, too. I have replaced other things like the throttle body sensor which cause the vehicle to basically shut down and not go over 30 mph which is awesome on a busy 55 mph road. *eye roll* Rant over. DO NOT BUY THIS VEHICLE. Save yourself the money, headache, time, everything. I will be going back to Toyota when I chuck this POS

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  la peor compra de mi vida - 2011 Chevrolet Equinox
  By Pedro Martin - January 13 - 4:56 am

  compre un chevy equinox del 2011 y desde el comienso me ha dado problemas de todo tipo alineacion ,las gomas , LA TRANSMISION, el aire acondicionado , todo eso sin contar que en realidad no recorre las millas que dice el consecionario se queda a lo mas en 25 millas por galon no vuelvo a comprar un auto a GMC es lo peor que pude haber comprado . muchos problemas que solucionar y pocas respuestas del consecionario mi calificacion es cero no recomiendo este auto a nadie y menos a familias con niños

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  This SUV is full of trouble, potentially deadly - 2011 Chevrolet Equinox
  By Wasim Quddus - April 8 - 10:36 pm

  We got brand new chevy euinox in 2011. I had to take it to dealer twice with engine trouble. My wife drives it -very mildly. It has very low millage. She had it stall in the middle of the road two times. It would just loose power suddenly. She would start it and it would run a little before stalling again. Finally it would not even start. The enigne light would come on. This happened twice. Thankfully she was not in highway when this happened. She also had kids with her. Imagine if this happened in high way at high speed. By Gods grace, she and the kids have been spared from horrific accident due to this failure. The car dealership was another unfriendly experience. I took it to the same dealer who I bought the car from. They are so nonchalant about the whole event, as if it is the most expected thing on earth to happen. They were very late diagnosing the problem, leaving us without a car when my wife needed the car for going to work (dont know if that is a bad thing or not, given the nature of its serious trouble). All in all, it has been a very bad experience. I will not look forward to buying another chevy any time soon.

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  Worst Purchase Ever - 2011 Chevrolet Equinox
  By Unhappy Customer - March 19 - 5:18 am

  Ive only ever driven Hondas and made the leap of trying a 2011 Chevy Equinox. I bought a used Chevy with 67k miles on it, and 5k miles later, the A/C goes bad. The air condenser is leaking and Chevy charges over $800 for a repair. Of all my years driving a Honda, Ive never once had an A/C break and Ive driven them well over 175k miles. So much for buying an American car. It was a waste of money to buy something so un-reliable. I would not recommend this vehicle to anyone.

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  Biggest Mistake - 2011 Chevrolet Equinox
  By Nicole - August 8 - 3:44 am

  Before you get this car just do not. I wish someone would have told me or gave me a heads up or I would have done more investigative work on the issues with this car. Drove it initially off the lot with no issues except slow acceleration but it only has 4-cylinders so I get it. few months in the idle started acting up, then the reverse went out on the vehicle. Got the transmission changed under the CarMax warranty then the jerking started. The dealership insisted that I come in to get the recall done to my "high powered fuel pump" then the car just fell apart. The vehicle kills in main stream traffic. Seems as though the gas is not getting to where it needs to be. Then the heater went out and my auto start wont work now. The dealership that did the recall stated that the issue was not there fault and I would have to pay for diagnostic or parts and labor since there is no longer a warranty. Worse buy and I will never get another Chevy again.

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  TO AVOID - 2011 Chevrolet Equinox
  By Alex - April 26 - 11:55 am

  Very disappointed with the vehicle. And GM in general it is the second GM vehicle I had to get rid off during last 3 years.First was bought in 2010 with only 65 000 miles I traded in 2014.When I got rid of Equinox it only had 93 000 miles.Even when I test drove it the acceleration was somewhat sluggish , but since I LIVE IN A NOT VERY POPULATED AREA and all the entertainment options seemed attractive I bought it used qith 88 000 and drove it only 5000 miles before trading it in.Had to change some suspension parts , windshield washer had to be fixed , heater was Ok , but A/C was pretty lousy and you could smell gas .Handling was Ok , but it had a turn radius of a military tank,custom Pioneer speakers did not sound that great.Best MPG I ever reached was around 22.At about 93000 while on a freeway all gauges started dancing I started losing power , then it felt like if someone hit the brakes.I pulled over and gave engine some rest and drove home on a small country toad vehicle felt like if someone mad was dancing on accelerators pedal.I drive my family in this pos vehicle so I considered trading it in even though I lost $ , I gained experience and GM lost another customer for life.