I stopped by the a local Chevy dealer and had a look at their only Equinox so far, a FWD V6 LTZ. It's Mocha Steel over Brownstone and was loaded up with every option but had a blank sticker. The salesman, who was less than completely knowledgeable, said it was "about $40,000". I couldn't drive it, but I did start it up and gave it a good once around.
The seats are quite soft but feel supportive, the gaps on the inside are level and tight, all the switchgear feels nice, the windows are all automatic-down with auto-up only for the driver, the sunroof is now auto-open as well as auto-close, the rear child door locks are controlled by a center stack-mounted button, the switchblade key is very nice and the new displays, both the DIC and navigation, are fantastic. The problems are that the center stack-mounted central locking and integrated controls will confuse some people. I had to show the salesman where the central locking was located and after a few minutes I felt a little overwhelmed by the number of controls and functions on the center stack.
I liked basically everything about it except that for the price the LTZ can climb to I'd expect a power passenger's seat, rear climate control (vents, at the very least), cooled front seats, keyless ignition, nicer wheel options for the 4-cyl. and dual-zone climate control for the front. I'd also like to see active head restraints, blind spot and lane departure warning, rear torso airbags, HUD, 110v rear seat outlet and bi-halogen projectors like those on the Astra. It's a great little crossover though with lots of room and comfort as well as some nice touches to make it feel of high quality.
