Chevrolet · Equinox · 2016
2016 Chevrolet Equinox: problems & reliability
NHTSA has logged 399 owner complaints and 1 safety recall for the 2016 Chevrolet Equinox. The most-reported problem area is the engine (51% of complaints), followed by visibility & wipers and transmission & powertrain. Make sure every open recall has been fixed by a dealer before you buy.
Common 2016 Chevrolet Equinox problems
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Engine problems
203 owner complaints to NHTSA (51% of all complaints for this model year) involve the engine, including 2 crashes, 3 fires, 6 injuries. One owner reported: “This car used so much oil that I had to put it in constantly. Eventually the time belt broke, and the car stopped because it literally had no oil in it causing the engine to blow. This is a known problem I found out later on.”
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Visibility & wipers problems
120 owner complaints to NHTSA (30% of all complaints for this model year) involve the visibility & wipers. One owner reported: “Wipers just stopped working on the highway in a very bad rain storm, when I was taking my daughter to school. We could not see and had to put our hazards on and somehow carefully pull off to the side of the road. We could have easily been…”
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Transmission & powertrain problems
27 owner complaints to NHTSA (7% of all complaints for this model year) involve the transmission & powertrain, including 1 crash, 1 fire, 7 injuries. One owner reported: “On october 1, my mother (passenger) and I were involved in a roll back accident at my apartment complex. I put the vehicle in park and exited the vehicle. I remained outside of the vehicle for 1-2 minutes. I returned to the driver's side…”
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Electrical system problems
24 owner complaints to NHTSA (6% of all complaints for this model year) involve the electrical system, including 1 crash, 1 fire. One owner reported: “My 2016 Chevrolet Equinox caught on fire about 10 minutes after my accident. I rear ended a pickup truck going about 5-10 miles an hour. Although nobody was hurt, I don't think SUVs should catch on fire. I'm unaware if this problem is…”
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Fuel system problems
21 owner complaints to NHTSA (5% of all complaints for this model year) involve the fuel system, including 1 crash, 1 fire. One owner reported: “The contact owns a 2016 Chevrolet Equinox. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the contact heard a loud sound coming from the vehicle with a gasoline odor coming from the engine compartment. There was no warning…”
Owner complaints by area
| Area | Complaints | Share | Chart |
|---|---|---|---|
| Engine | 203 | 51% | |
| Visibility & wipers | 120 | 30% | |
| Transmission & powertrain | 27 | 7% | |
| Electrical system | 24 | 6% | |
| Fuel system | 21 | 5% | |
| Airbags | 12 | 3% | |
| Engine & cooling | 9 | 2% | |
| Speed control & acceleration | 9 | 2% |
399 complaints filed with NHTSA in total, reporting 14 crashes, 3 fires, 22 injuries. A complaint can involve more than one area.
2016 Chevrolet Equinox recalls
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Equipment › Other › Labels
Risk: If the information on the certification labels is incorrect, the operator may install incorrectly sized tires or rims or may improperly inflate the tires, increasing the risk of a crash.
Remedy: GM will notify owners, and dealers will inspect and replace the certification label, free of charge. The recall began on July 14, 2016. Owners may contact Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1050, or GMC customer service at 1-800-462-8782. GM's number for this recall is 46600.
Full recall summary
General Motors LLC (GM) is recalling certain model year 2016 Chevrolet Equinox and GMC Terrain vehicles manufactured October 16, 2015. The certification labels may have incorrect tire/rim size and cold tire pressure information. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) number 110, "Tire Selection and Rims."
Recall repairs are free at any franchised dealer. To check whether a specific car’s recalls have been repaired, enter its VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls.
2016 Chevrolet Equinox crash-test ratings
NHTSA 5-Star Safety Ratings for the 2016 Chevrolet Equinox SUV AWD. Ratings can differ between body styles and drivetrains (2 versions tested or listed).
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Specifications
- Drivetrains
- AWD, FWD
- Body styles
- SUV
Other Chevrolet Equinox years
About this data
Problems, complaint counts, recalls and crash-test ratings come from the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) public databases, last checked 2026-11-03. Complaints are reports from owners and have not all been verified by NHTSA.
How we score reliability: every model year starts at 100. Points come off for the number of owner complaints (on a log scale, up to 40 points), for each safety recall (2 points each, up to 15) and for complaints involving crashes, fires, injuries or deaths (up to 15). Popular vehicles get more complaints simply because more are on the road, so compare scores between similar vehicles. More about our method.
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