2010 Equinox Owners: Post Feedback!!

[cdp326]

Originally Posted by 1999 White C5 Coupe

I spoke to my Chevrolet dealer about a 2010 Equinox. I really like the styling, interior, and size of the vehicle.

Heated seats are only available with leather seating (like my 2008 Impala LTZ). Heated seats with the cloth-like (UltraLux) seating area inserts (like the Malibu 2LT) are not available.

I do not like the all leather seats on my Impala and would never purchase a vehicle again with them. I was surprised that the Equinox requires leather seating to obtain heated seats.

Based upon this feature, it was a no-sale for me.

IIRC the GMC Terrain is to offer heated cloth seats as an option on the SLE-2 trim. May not like the styling or want a GMC, but at least the option is out there....

[1999 White C5 Coupe]

Originally Posted by cdp326

IIRC the GMC Terrain is to offer heated cloth seats as an option on the SLE-2 trim. May not like the styling or want a GMC, but at least the option is out there....

Thanks for the information - no offense, but I do not like the front-end styling of the Terrain. I do like the styling of the new Equinox.

I learned that the new Equinox does not have rear-seat HVAC ducts (like my 1990 Lumina Euro 4 door or my 1998 Dodge Intrepid did). I can't believe a new, small SUV/crossover with a large open area to the rear would not have rear/second seat HVAC ducts.

These two issues are preventing me from trading/selling my 2008 Impala LTZ for a new Equinox.

Thanks again.

[cdp326]

Originally Posted by 1999 White C5 Coupe

Thanks for the information - no offense, but I do not like the front-end styling of the Terrain. I do like the styling of the new Equinox.

I learned that the new Equinox does not have rear-seat HVAC ducts (like my 1990 Lumina Euro 4 door or my 1998 Dodge Intrepid did). I can't believe a new, small SUV/crossover with a large open area to the rear would not have rear/second seat HVAC ducts.

These two issues are preventing me from trading/selling my 2008 Impala LTZ for a new Equinox.

Thanks again.

You're welcome - like I guessed you may not care for the styling I'm not crazy over it myself.

A lot of crossovers/SUVs lack some form of upper console vents, I agree that the Equinox should have something of that variety, especially if part of the plan for the Equinox/Terrain is to appeal to former . I would think it has rear seat floor heater ducts, though - most new vehicles seem to have them. Maybe a dealer or new owner on the forum could check?...

[Tsaiko]

My impression after my first tank of gas, which lasted 23 days.

Keep in mind that I'm a low miler.

2010 Equinox 1LT 4 cyl, with VIP and rear camera.

The dealer filled up the tank, so I have no idea how much gas was used to fill up the car, but the gauge was straight on the full line, so probably close to a full 18 gals.

This vehicle fits me very well. It only took me a few seconds to adjust the seat and steering wheel to my sweet spot and the cloth seats are supportive and seem to be made of very good materials. I found no discomfort to my 6' frame and had more than enough leg/head room. The controls were easy to program and finding them while driving was fairly easy. Pairing my cell to the Bluetooth was easy and calls were very clear. I really like the looks of the Nox and apparently everybody else does too.
I stopped to pick up a window shade at a Kragens and a BMW X3 parked next to me and couldn't take his eyes off the Nox. As he approached me he said, "Is that the new one?", "yea just picked it up", I said. When he came around the front, his jaw dropped and he said, "that's a Chevy?" I have no idea what he thought it was at first, but I just told him, nice car, looking at his, and walked in the store.

Anyway, the looks are pleasing to me, inside and out, and that's all that matters.

The steering and handling are much more than I expected. The ride is smooth, yet plenty tight when quick maneuvering is needed. I over steered at first, but that was probably due to the looseness of my previous clunker. The Nox is pretty sure of itself when making the tight U-Turn, while accelerating, that's needed to enter the freeway from my house. It absorbs bumps and road cracks without sending vibrations to the driver and it eliminates wind and motor noise to the extent that all I could hear was the road noise, which is kind of obnoxious when blending with certain bass frequencies from the stock audio system.

Once I put a marker in my garage, I was able to understand where the rear camera was focusing in relation to reality, but it takes awhile to get the peripheral vision of it understood.

The transmission is really tight and it up shifts fine for me, but as I've read from other owners, the downshifts occur a little prematurely for my tastes.

All in all I'm really satisfied with the ride.

I wanted to see how much fuel I had left when the low fuel range warning came on, so I was looking at the "miles left" gauge after the gas gauge got past the last eighth marker. I was at 40 miles left when it came on. So I just drove it until I ran out of gas to see how far the gauge went past empty and how accurate the "miles left" information was. I also wanted to see how fast the Onstar road assistance was. It turns out that the miles left was spot on and I went another 40 miles before I ran out of gas and the guage goes one step beyond the empty marker - sitting right on top of it.

The bad news is that the gas warning light came on at 260 miles, when the "miles left" was at 40. So with 50/50 city/hwy and baby like break in driving, I was getting a whopping 16.6 mpg. The computer said I was averaging 19.4, so I think it's a little optimistic.

Actually I might be a little off on the city/hwy, because the Average Vehicle Speed said 15.5. I'm not sure if that means for the whole tank of gas or just for that day. I'll have to re set it when I fill up again. For the last 40 miles I drove it only on surface streets, knowing I would run out of gas and I didn't want to run out on the highway.
To be fair, my driving could have been 80/20 city/hwy.

This really sucks, because my mileage rate is the worst I've heard about.

I think some contributing factors for the poor mileage are the fact that the a/c has been on full blast for every mile and the outside temps were between 90 and 104 degrees the whole time.

For 12 of the 23 days I've been driving in air that was coming directly from the Station fire in La Cresenta CA. The largest fire in LA county history.

We got an Immediate Mandatory Evacuation order at 2:30 am, that was called off by the time we got packed. The next day when I turned on the a/c, I got blasted by stale fire smoke. The rear wiper was so clogged with burnt cinders that it looked like it snowed that night. The fire was up on the hill above us, about a half mile away.

Also the Eco button has never been on. I don't think it's good to break in a motor with a computer controlling the revs and I wanted to get a real feel for the vehicle and gradually rev it higher, before comparing to ECO or manual shifting. I'm fairly sure I can out perform the ECO mode using manual mode and neutral for coasting. It's just a question of am I willing to put that much focus on driving, after driving an auto only vehicle for so many years.

Another thing, and I don't know why this would have an effect on mpg, I also haven't had the Traction button on either. Could this have any effect on mpg?

I hope that as the engine breaks in, I will be able to achieve much better mpg.

I was fortunate to run out of gas while parking and I was able to call Onstar, who took ten minutes to give me an extra 30 minutes of talk time on my Noxs' phone number, for my inconvenience. After waiting for Onstar to forward my directions to the local tow company, I was told that I would receive assistance in 30 minutes. About 45 minutes later the tow company called and asked where I was. Even though I had given Onstar the exact address and where I was in the parking lot, they told the tow guy I was at an intersection a block away. So from the time I called Onstar to the time I received my complementary $5.00 of gas, it was an hour.

Well, that's about it for the first tank. I'm sure I forgot to mention a few things, but I will continue to test the Nox and will report anything I feel is note worthy.

With the next tank of gas I want to increase revs a little, for break in purposes, which won't be good for mpg, but I'll also try to drive with the Eco transmission engaged when higher revs aren't necessary or practical. Right now, I'm more concerned with break in than mpg, which hopefully will be better for mpg in the long run. My plan is too use manual or Eco for the next tank and stay away from auto completely, but we'll see how disciplined I am in doing this.

I hope this review helps someone. Please feel free to add your reviews and or observations of mine.

Nox On!

[CyberNox]

Originally Posted by cdp326

A lot of crossovers/SUVs lack some form of upper console vents, I agree that the Equinox should have something of that variety, especially if part of the plan for the Equinox/Terrain is to appeal to former . I would think it has rear seat floor heater ducts, though - most new vehicles seem to have them. Maybe a dealer or new owner on the forum could check?...

I just checked my 2010 Equinox LTZ, and I can tell you that there is no vent or air duct of any kind directing air to the rear seats. It's not an issue for me since I'm usually the only person in my Nox, but for someone who frequently has rear seat passengers, I suppose it could be an issue.

[KCXLT]

Not sure it was a good idea to run it out of gas, the fuel pumps don't like that.

Don't forget to zero the Avg miles/gallon or you will be averaging the 2 tanks of gas. I zero with every tank on my Silverado and my manual calc and the DIC reading are usually within 0.5mpg of each other.

Dealer called us today, our Nox should be here next week.

[cdp326]

Tsaiko, was the average economy/speed settings in your trip computer reset when it was filled up before you got the car? That can make a big difference in your mileage, probably even moreso than the outside temperature is so far. Though the avg. speed reading, I've never quite understood in our Aura - it always seems to be on the low side.

Originally Posted by CyberNox

I just checked my 2010 Equinox LTZ, and I can tell you that there is no vent or air duct of any kind directing air to the rear seats. It's not an issue for me since I'm usually the only person in my Nox, but for someone who frequently has rear seat passengers, I suppose it could be an issue.

Not even underneath the front seats, directing air at the rear passenger footwell (usually only puts out air in the bilevel/floor settings)? Kind of unfortunate with all that space to ventilate.

[Tsaiko]

Originally Posted by cdp326

Tsaiko, was the average economy/speed settings in your trip computer reset when it was filled up before you got the car?

They said everything was zeroed after prep.
It had 5 miles on it when I picked it up which, according to the dealer, is what their mandatory test drive consists of.

Looking closer at the manual I see that the fuel capacity is actually 18.8 gals.
So my average was less than 16 mpg - if I started with a full tank.

Oh well, today I'll fill up, zero everything and start over.

[cdp326]

Originally Posted by Tsaiko

They said everything was zeroed after prep.
It had 5 miles on it when I picked it up which, according to the dealer, is what their mandatory test drive consists of.

Looking closer at the manual I see that the fuel capacity is actually 18.8 gals.
So my average was less than 16 mpg - if I started with a full tank.

Oh well, today I'll fill up, zero everything and start over.

I wonder if they mean before or after they filled up. The short trips around the lot for prep aren't good for mileage, and the test drive likely isn't either. But filling up and resetting it will be more accurate, you'll know for sure how it was done.

[remmy4]

Picked up my new 'Nox on Saturday. LOVE IT! It is so much better then my 2005 Vibe. I am still marveling at how quite it is. We have a few big hills where we live and with the vibe it was so loud when it would rev up, the 'Nox was super quite and we even rolled down the windows to see what the difference was and didn't hear any.

I am also happy that the USB port was in the console. Plugged my Zune in and worked great. Just have to figure out all the menus and options now.

We have only gone through about a half tank of gas and are running about 28mpg. Had it up to 29mpg and then went driving in town.

Now I just have to find seat covers and wait for the floor mats to come in at Husky.

Great Car! Go 'Nox Go.

[Tsaiko]

Originally Posted by remmy4

Picked up my new 'Nox on Saturday. LOVE IT! It is so much better then my 2005 Vibe. I am still marveling at how quite it is. We have a few big hills where we live and with the vibe it was so loud when it would rev up, the 'Nox was super quite and we even rolled down the windows to see what the difference was and didn't hear any.

I am also happy that the USB port was in the console. Plugged my Zune in and worked great. Just have to figure out all the menus and options now.

We have only gone through about a half tank of gas and are running about 28mpg. Had it up to 29mpg and then went driving in town.

Now I just have to find seat covers and wait for the floor mats to come in at Husky.

Great Car! Go 'Nox Go.

Congratulations! Post a pic when you get a chance. I still haven't tried on any off the shelf seat covers, but I'll report back when/if I do.

[n2ic]

Originally Posted by Tsaiko

My impression after my first tank of gas, which lasted 23 days.

Keep in mind that I'm a low miler.

The bad news is that the gas warning light came on at 260 miles, when the "miles left" was at 40. So with 50/50 city/hwy and baby like break in driving, I was getting a whopping 16.6 mpg. The computer said I was averaging 19.4, so I think it's a little optimistic.

Actually I might be a little off on the city/hwy, because the Average Vehicle Speed said 15.5.

Nox On!

Wow - an average speed of 15.5 MPH - That's really city driving ! Actually, if you read the details of the EPA city driving test that they use for the ratings, that's much worse than what the EPA calls city driving !

Your gas mileage will improve. I was disappointed that on the 250 mile drive home from the dealer, all highway miles, it was only 28 MPG. Since then, I took another 300 mile highway drive, beginning with 600 miles on the odometer, and the mileage was 33.1 MPG. That was with the Eco and traction control turned on, and still taking it easy (less than 68 MPH the entire trip).

Enjoy your Nox !

[mkaresh]

Originally Posted by n2ic

Thanks, snawdjj, for the great writeup.

I have had my 2010 Equinox LS for a few days now. I bought it in Albuquerque, 240 miles from home. The local, small town, Chevy dealer isn't likely to see one in the near future. That's probably bad.

It's a wonderful car - drives and rides great. All of the dashboard controls work as advertised. However, I do have some observations...

The fuel economy on this first trip home was disappointing. I know, give it a chance to break-in, but, even so, it seems low. As I said earlier, the drive home was 240 miles. 200 of those miles were highway. I never exceeded 69 MPH, and for 75 of those miles I was on a little-used road, going a steady 55 MPH. I ran entirely on the ECO setting. The DIC said 28.4 MPG; when I refilled it at the gas station, the actual value was 28.1 MPG. I don't drive with a lead foot - every other car I have owned has exceeded it's EPA highway mileage. I will certainly keep y'all posted on what I see ongoing.

The TPMS seems suspect. When I took possession of the car, all 4 tires showed 31 PSI. I didn't think anything of it until I got home, and saw that the recommended pressure was 35 PSI. Dealer screwup ? I thought so until I put what I considered an accurate gauge on it, and it read 36 PSI. So, I'm guessing the dealer used their own gauge, inflated to 35 PSI, and never saw that the TPMS said 31 PSI. Anyone else compare their TPMS to another gauge ?

There were a few other dealer issues that I didn't notice until I got home. The dealer forgot to screw in the antenna. XM worked great without it. The dealer forgot to attach the front license plate holder (not required in NM). Also, I would have expected the dealer to set the clock.

Any idea what direction the wind was blowing, and how strongly? That can make a big difference. Regardless, 28 MPG for an SUV seems quite good to me.

TPMS--these are a huge source of problems in many cars in our Car Reliability Survey. Consider yourself lucky if it's not falsely reporting low pressure.

Maybe the dealer didn't install the front plate holder because this would generally upset a buyer if one's not necessary.

[mkaresh]

Originally Posted by CyberNox

I just checked my 2010 Equinox LTZ, and I can tell you that there is no vent or air duct of any kind directing air to the rear seats. It's not an issue for me since I'm usually the only person in my Nox, but for someone who frequently has rear seat passengers, I suppose it could be an issue.

This is very odd. Maybe any underseat ducts are just very well hidden? Rear console vents would be even nicer--always wish I had these for my kids in the cars that don't have them. But competitors don't have vents either (they do have underseat heat ducts).

[mkaresh]

Reading through this thread, I didn't notice any mention of a single manufacturing defect. (Dealer prep errors are a different matter, but just one case there.) Sounds like, whatever they did to cleanly launch the Malibu, they did the same here.

I'd like to have some initial reliability stats for the 2010 Equinox in February, well ahead of any other source, but this will depend on how quickly owners sign up and participate in our survey. Some have already signed up, but more are needed for a result.

Car reliability research