The 2010 to 2013 model year Chevy Equinox compact crossover is prone to experiencing engine issues that may cause it to burn oil, according to the automotive experts over at Consumer Reports.
The consumer research publication recently put together a list of the used cars that are known to burn engine oil at any mileage. CR suggests readers avoid the vehicles on this list entirely, as these “at-risk cars could require diligent monitoring of the engine oil level so that the engine isn’t damaged.”
CR says “reliability was never these models’ strong suit,” with regard to the 2010 to 2013 model year Chevy Equinox, as the 2.4L LEA Ecotec four-cylinder engine in these crossovers have a tendency to burn oil. GM extended the warranty for the 2010 model year Equinox to 10 years/120,000 miles and 7.5 years/120,000 miles for 2011-2013 models after receiving owner complaints, but even with the extension, all affected vehicles are now out of warranty. CR readers that owned a 2010 to 2013 model year Chevy Equinox have given the vehicle a 1 out of 5 for reliability and a 1 out of 5 for owner satisfaction.
GM has faced numerous lawsuits over the oil burn issues in the 2.4L Ecotec four-cylinder engines, including one that was just filed in June of this year. That lawsuit alleges the engine’s piston rings fail to maintain sufficient tension to keep oil in the crankcase, allowing the oil to sneak past the rings and into the combustion chamber. The oil burn issue can also apparently foul the spark plugs and lead to carbon buildup on the pistons and cylinder walls. Some owners have experienced total engine failures after the oil level became too low.
CR says the 2010 to 2015 model year Toyota RAV4 is a good alternative to the Chevy Equinox, as it offers similar capability, packaging and fuel economy, but features a more reliable four-cylinder engine.
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Comments
Didn’t you already cover this Sam?
Beating a dead horse Sam?
Appreciate your continued readership fastyle. This one hasn’t been covered but admittedly we’ve covered similar Consumer Reports-related articles in the past.
See here: https://gmauthority.com/blog/category/study/consumer-reports/
Sam
Fastyle – are you seriously trying to troll the GMA authors?
You must not have anything better to do.
You either want a kid or a job because you are riding the authors nuts hard
Is the author your boyfriend or something?
Yes you have, one of your biggest gravy boat articles yet right?
Gett’in ya some more Service Bulletin Sam?
I have a 2013 chevy equinox every time it gets real cold outside the pcv valve freezes up and the engine builds up grank case pressure. The rubber hose freezes up
Fastyle, My horse is still alive but burning oil at an excessive rate. I appreciate the author writing abou this subject again.
yeah but it has soul !!!!!
This should teach people a lesson,research vehicles before buying and do not get underwater in a vehicle so you are not able to dump it if has expensive issues.
This applies to me very well! haha I bought a Cadillac SRX 2011 a year and a half ago, but I needed a vehicle fast. Didn’t have time to research and needed something to transport me to work every day. I test drove an old cadillac with 80k miles. It was in very clean condition, had remote start, and a moon roof. I had always wanted a luxury vehicle but wasn’t willing to pay 50 thousand for brand new. I had to make a decision and chose to buy something 10 years old for 13 thousand dollars. Haven’t had any real mechanical issues, but after having the car for 6 months, I learned about several issues this vehicle has, and wish I would’ve bought something new.
The downgrade to a four cylinder engine for the second generation Equinox is GM’s biggest mistake. I have a 1st generaton 2009 Equinox with the 3.4 liter V6 and it has been perfect in 12 years. GM, bring back the V6 to the present Equinox or else you will continue to lose sales to the Asians!
Amber that’s the problem with those years Equinox the 4 cylinder engine and the transmission buyer beware you should have done your research GM had tons of issues with 2.4 liter four cylinder in the 2010 Equinox which is why I made sure my 2010 has the V6 and the better transmission… I swear some on this blog where just haggled by the used car salesman. Ronald Buck it sounds to me like you don’t start the car enough in the cold I have never ever had this problem with my 2010 Chevy Equinox LTZ V6 or any car I have ever owned for that matter try starting it up when it’s cold and let it run if you don’t use it in the cold to much… The only way a hose should freeze and a pcv Valve stuck and oil probably very thick from the car sitting. Don’t blame GM or Toyota for a problem you caused
If you really knew anything about cars You would know that the 2.4 engine has a lot of problems and I’m not the only person with this problem and also you have a 6 not a 4 cylinder I live in Maine and it’s very cold you have to let your engine run for 15 minutes or longer before you even get any cabin heat.
I live in northern NJ and gets very cold here in the winter maybe not Maine cold but you still need to warm up your car for at least 10 minutes. And YES Ronald Buck I do know about cars which is why I avoided buying the 4 cylinder equinox at all costs and bought the V6… Shame on you for not being in the know as to what engine is better… Like I said I have owned 10 vehicles so far and none of them had done to me what you described… Can you even check your own oil? Or transmission fluid?How about checking your power steering fluid? I have done all of these… WISE ASS RONALD!
They “lost” me to KIA….if they couldn’t notify me of the Equinox oil problem..I bought it new ..so they couldn’t lose my contact info…sad…I really did like my Equinox..but ..now ..I think this little Kia and I will get along just fine…🙂
More reliable toyota,should have said anything is more reliable.
Although you mention the 4 cylinder twice in the article, you downplay the Equinox constantly, but the engine is what you should be titling and highlighting. Very misleading. You may have a future in politics.
I thought the same thing.
A poorly written article with a misleading title.
I have become continually disappointed with many of these “GM Authority” articles.
Clickbait
Hopefully the 1.5 engine in the newer equinox doesn’t have the same oil burning issue but I’m sure GM has learned from that experience I hope time will tell !!!!
I have a 2010 4 cylinder Equinox LT. It’s had an oil leak fixed and transmission rebuilt by Chevy. Plus an additional $4,000 in repairs. The $4,000 has been within the last year. I use full synthetic oil in it every 6,000 miles. It doesn’t burn oil. I am at 153,000 miles. The repairs are quite annoying but other than that I don’t mind it.
I have always assumed if owners had used synthetic oil from day 1, this issue with worn rings and oil consumption would never have happened. Your anecdotal data point supports this assumption was correct. My wife insisted on taking advantage of the free oil changes from our dealer so our 2012 Equinox did not get synthetic until it had about 40k on it, and apparently the damage was done so we had the rings replaced under the TSB/extended engine warranty. Direct injection engines appear to be very hard on motor oil, I can not believe how dark the Equinox engine oil is when it is time to change it vs. the port injected engine oil I have changed.
Toyota and Honda have very good CR reliability ratings. I assume it’s because they actually care about reliability and they don’t blame poor reliability on their customers.
No kidding?! It’s a Chevy, they always mark their spot. I’ve owned many.
Are YOU kidding?!
You are failing miserably at ripping Chevy by saying “ they always mark their spot”, implying that they leak oil, when the (very poorly crafted) article was about burning oil.
Then you make yourself look like a complete fool by saying you’ve “owned many” of the makes that you are attempting to insult.
👍
Dave how many months pregnant are you now? You are all over that mans nuts
There was a TSB to fix this issue for free, they replaced the rings (Bulletin No.: 13-06-01-003F). If owners had oil consumption and didn’t get it fixed, I don’t know what to say. If you buy a used car over 7 years old and 120k miles and don’t check if it consumes oil or if this has been fixed, that is your problem. We had our 2012 Equinox fixed under the TSB and it hasn’t used oil since. It still sounds like a blender full of ball bearings on cold starts, but it has always sounded like that and it has almost 150k miles on it.
I have a 2015 2.4 Looks exactly like the picture and it consumes the oil too. Side effect is the catalytic system gets coated and fails! Chevy is not good at admitting fault. Never again chevy lifelong before this.. way too much money for the Equinox to have it fail.
Hmmm…maybe why my light came on for catalytic converter..
Btw my 2015 bought new and always synthetic oil on time. Did have the main seal blow out due to pcv valve freeze issue. Supposedly fixed, but is oil burner ever since.
My 2012 Equinox has 255,000 on it and it keeps going. You just have to check the oil each week and top it off. It is so bad that I buy Walmart Oil as it really makes no difference. It all burns the same. My 21 year old daughter drives it daily and I think she may be the biggest expert in oil for a 21 year old. She understands if it runs low the car is history. If you trust the oil life monitor and never go under the hood and check, that will kill the timing belt tensioner and chain and the motor all at one time. To bad I missed all of the warranty help by being responsible and always checking and topping off oil.
CR says “reliability was never these models’ strong suit,” or any GM vehicle. But not to worry, no one at GM is accountable or responsible for CR ratings or vehicles out of warranty, so no one will lose their head for this.
Where’s my MONEY y’all denied my claim i have all the receipts from Chevy dealerships ,etc!!!! the 2013 has a defect its BURNING OIL before its time for another oil change ive spent over $4000 trying to get this fixed rental cars etc!!!! yall had us wait 2yrs because of covid to deny my claim & I’ve just received another lawsuit claim letter this is going. on yr 3 IM PISSED!!!!!!!!!
Oh yeah Patrick here’s how reliable Honda is… The 1.5L Earth Dreams engine is allowing fuel to leak into the crankcase where it mixes with engine oil.
The diluted mixture raises the level of oil in the oil pan and can lead to serious engine damage.
The problem has caused a wide range of responses from different countries, including stop sales and service campaigns depending on where you live. Yupp keep drinking the Japanese Kool aid because they are not much better then American cars my friend bought a 2011 Toyota RAV 4 fully loaded with V6 and low miles the transmission need to be replaced. I can find more on a Google searches and so how the Consumer Reports, and other media Auto outlets keep the Japanese car problems on the hush hush and praise them… Be sipping to that Kool aid Patrick.
Excuse me… But as the owner of a 2010 Chevy Equinox LTZ with 3.0 V6 I am very happy with this vehicle. I did my research before buying it and found that the 2.4 liter four cylinder is junk V6 is a much better engine. My friend has a 2011 Rav 4 the transmission needed to be replaced, the new Honda CR-V has issues with the oil mixing with gas inside the engine, Hyundai and Kia’s leak break fluid on important electrical wires… So yeah Consumer Reports is FULL OF BS! They give every American vehicle bad reviews no matter who makes it or how good it is!
My 2013 began to smoke from the engine then caught fire while driving several months ago. This was despite many visits directly to GM’s service. $5500+ later in the major repairs that would supposedly resolve the problem later, it did not resolve the original issue.
Hi disappointed I wanted to go ahead and say how terribly sad that is because this company is unable to get it right. We need better American companies and there is no reason for it to be politicized. Have you gotten a lawyer?
Make sure to get a lawyer for that.
I bought a 2013 Equinox with 8k miles back in 2013. It now has 182k miles on it. I missed out on free fix due to being over 150k miles at the time. Still, I check my oil at least a couple of times between oil changes to top off. It’s been a good car for me with minor repairs. It does rattle upon start up but that seems normal as no problem can be detected. I feel I got my money’s worth out of this car and it still looks good and drives well. I’ll keep it until it goes ka-put. 😊
I just got rid of my 2019 equinox. Burning oil and damaged spark plugs. Piece of junk !! 2019 are having same issues. People beware !!
All these evil equinoxes need to be scrapped and put into the dustbin of history.
My friend has a 2018! Equinox very reliable vehicle… For once the four cylinder engine is a good choice.
BS, I have a 2010 Equinox for 11years. Will start 12th year in February. Runs fantastic with one mechanical repair. Replaced the catalytic converter. Never ever had to replace oil before changes at 5000 miles. Consumer Reports does not like GM and GM does not put any support behind the magazine.
@ Michael Flanders finally someone who agrees with me… I own a 2010 Chevy Equinox LTZ 3.0 V6 and I love it it’s a great car. I also never had engine oil problems… I’m fact I just had a tune-up done and runs like it’s new with 95,000 miles on it! CS is full of BS they never ever give an American car top honor’s… They are imprt biased.. . maybe they hate Union workers!
2.4 liter engines on the 2010, 2012 and 2013 Equinox. Oil burners. I never included the 6 cylinders. Never read or heard of anyone with the 6 cylinder equinox that had oil burning issues. I have nothing to gain by these comments. Just a better night sleep by getting it off my mind.
Thanks for beating that dead horse Sam. Some of us that bought new 2010-13, 2.4L appreciate it. Money lost.
I have a 2011 Equinox and was just recently made aware of the oil burning problem..it started “rattling” 2200 miles before my oil was due to be changed according to my window sticker…When I had it changed I was told to bring it back after 1,000 miles..I was gone..took it in at 2000..and it was down a quart ..now I’ve been told to bring it in every 500 miles…my Nephew said just carry a qt. And pop the hood and put it in…not going to..I’ll use the dealers oil..their just down the road…was thinking about getting another one when the prices go down, but now…no notifications about this problem..irritates me..
My 2010 is burning oil too. I was told to drop a new engine in it or make sure it has oil in it.
Well I am up to 259,100 on original 2012 2.4 engine. I change oil every 3,500 miles. Walmart Synthetic 5w-30 and Walmart filter. Since it burns it, the brand does not really matter, I buy an extra 5 quarts and my daughter adds it over the 3,500 miles. She checks it every week. If you want an engine where you trust the oil light and mileage sticker this is not the car to have. Purchase a set of ramps and a filter tool and do it yourself. It takes ten minutes to change.
Our 2010 has 72,000 miles on it now. It now burns a quart between 400 and 450 miles. You taught your daughter well. Good job. That’s the only way to get the car to last that long. To bad it’s come to that.
Any suggestions on a decent car…what happened…there was a time we trusted cars…now we should carry cans of oil with us…maybe GM should get out of the car business and leave it to ones that can make a car that we can trust..I hate to think where I would have been if I would have ignored the sound and not changed oil until the date on the sticker…😢
My 2011 Chevy equinox tlz died at 97,000 miles after paying it over 13,000.00 and owning it only 16 months! Imagine? No help from general motors! I should get my money back from general motors. This happened because of the oil consumption. I used to change oil every month it was disappearing! All this made a mess out of engine. How can I be reimbursed my money?? I’m 68 years old! I had to go buy a heap to drive around in.
Your description is hard to understand. It sounds like you bought a high mile old used vehicle. If that is the case, why should the manufacturer owe you anything?
I did not buy a high mileage car!! It had only 97,ooo miles on it!! Due to oil consumption it cause frickson on to the engine cylinder killing it!!! I never said it was high mileage. Geesh.. I paid it 13,000.00 ! I only had it for 18 months you think that’s ok!???? It’s a manufacturer error.. All equinox burn tons of oil!! Yes I’m owed by General Motors there is definitely a problem that causes the engine to seize at such low mileage!! The car was fully loaded too!! Would you be mad????? That was my savings money!!!
The days of not checking oil levels are over not that you did not check. Once a week of you drive a lot or once a month. These gas direct injection motors consume oil. Change the 2.4 oil at 4,000 max regardless of oil monitor. Trust me I have 300,000 on 2012 equinox 2.4. It consumes 5 quarts in 3 months but I keep adding and it keeps running. I been using the Walmart 5w30 synthetic since it burns just like mobile 1.
You people don’t understand anything! So don’t comment and say stupid thing like high mileage when it didn’t have high mileage! The oil problem caused the problem the the engine cylinders. Ok
13 years old with 100,000 miles on it. And, you bought it used 18 months ago. Who are you kidding? No one owes you anything.
I have a 2013 equinox with the 2.4. Bought it new. Have about 75,000 miles on it with no major problems thus far. Uses about half quart for 3,500 miles. Monitor oil weekly. Actually has been an excellent winter car with AWD and all weather tires up here in Canada. I don’t drive it hard and have tranny fluid, coolant and transfer case fluid changed. I think extreme maintenance, driving easy and vigilance are the keys to keeping this vehicle. I will keep it till it Kabooms (Just like russian tank).