Topic: Day-by-Day Review: 2016 Chevrolet Equinox; Day 1

[neil]

My 'wards best engine' had catastrophic oil loss issues repaired under warranty but a known problem.   If it wasn't under warranty it would have been an $8000 repair.

[Ontariodriver]

Exterior Styling 4 out 5 or 90%  for a GM SUV. I thought Wing has more taste than that. it's dated and bland IMO.



Really. 

[Fobroader]

But what out there in its class can actually be called good looking....they are all soul less, shapeless jellybeans.

[tooscoops]

i put this right with the journey... in certain packages, it can seem like a pretty nice rig for the money... but in most packages, it is in the back of the segment.

these sell based on price/payment and size. that's it. luckily for the manufacturers, that is literally what a large portion of people are looking for. one that is "good enough" and cheap.

[Ontariodriver]

But what out there in its class can actually be called good looking....they are all soul less, shapeless jellybeans.

Mazda, Ford, Toyota. Hyundai.

[theonlydt]

But what out there in its class can actually be called good looking....they are all soul less, shapeless jellybeans.

Mazda, Ford, Toyota. Hyundai.

CX-5 is good. Not a fan of the Escape with the new nose. Really dislike Rav4, especially now it looks like it's turn its nose up at something. Tuscon/Santa Fe are good.

[NormT]

Dated styling when it was just updated with a mild refeesh.?

[neil]

Dated styling when it was just updated with a mild refeesh.?

Not much of a refresh, they changed the lights front and back, but they are still the same shape, Interior looks the same as my '12.

[RoadRageous]

My 'wards best engine' had catastrophic oil loss issues repaired under warranty but a known problem.   If it wasn't under warranty it would have been an $8000 repair.

Would coulda mighta ...

The Wards rating is a statement about performance quality.
So, you're saying Chev took care of you ( was that an extended warranty ) and that's somehow bad ?

But what was the root cause - improperly torqued oil plug, head bolts, bad gasket material, missing parts. I don't think it's responsible to draw general conclusions from a single data point, that's all.

If this is widespread, or indicative of broader  problems, then it's usefull. But no-one has 100% manufacturing quality. Know anyone with a 2003+ era honda 5 speed auto hooked up to the V6. Know of any manufacturer needing to make running changes to their poduction ? Doubtless the ecotec can be better, and in fact I think that engine is going out of production. But it's pretty competent, even if it's not as well executed as Honda's I4s (and I consider Honda to be the benchmark for performance combined with durability).

[neil]

Well apparently there is a tsb on it, so there's that.

[NormT]

We have 26,000 miles on our GMC Terrain 2.4l that the fiancé drives.  She zings the rpms harderbthan I do in normal driving but even going 500 miles past 0% oil life the level never dropped on the dipstick.  It has a ecu tune I made via HPTuners and adds quite bit a pep.  But it is no 6-cylinder.

She see 20 mpg in mixed driving and I have seen over 31 mpg on the highway...with AWD.

[Rob1990]

When these were launched in 2010, they were leaders. A significant improvement over the old Equinox/Torrent siblings. They were the quietest, yet most efficient (with the 2.4L). They also had more room and refinement. Their primary competition were the RAV4 (which, in four cylinder spec had a 4-speed auto), the CR-V (which had a five speed auto), and the Escape/Tribute (which were an ancient design), so the 2.4's acceleration was fairly competitive. But now the segment has moved forward with some great new vehicles (the third-gen RAV4, the CX-5, new Escape, Forester, I could go on), but these haven't had any meaningful updates (besides the 3.6L in 2013, this refresh hasn't done a whole lot) and have moved to also-ran status. Still more competitive than bottom feeder models like the Patriot/Compass and the Outlander, but not where it used to be. In fact, you can tell the dated design of the Terrain when cpmpared to the new 2017 Acadia. Makes you wonder what's the point.

Having said that, it'll be interesting to see what they do with the next-gen 'Nox/Terrain when the redesign is unveiled (probably late this year/early 2017). Using the Cruze platform and dropping the weight, as well as sizing it smaller should make it a more competitive choice.

[mixmanmash]

When these were launched in 2010, they were leaders. A significant improvement over the old Equinox/Torrent siblings. They were the quietest, yet most efficient (with the 2.4L). They also had more room and refinement. Their primary competition were the RAV4 (which, in four cylinder spec had a 4-speed auto), the CR-V (which had a five speed auto), and the Escape/Tribute (which were an ancient design), so the 2.4's acceleration was fairly competitive. But now the segment has moved forward with some great new vehicles (the third-gen RAV4, the CX-5, new Escape, Forester, I could go on), but these haven't had any meaningful updates (besides the 3.6L in 2013, this refresh hasn't done a whole lot) and have moved to also-ran status. Still more competitive than bottom feeder models like the Patriot/Compass and the Outlander, but not where it used to be. In fact, you can tell the dated design of the Terrain when cpmpared to the new 2017 Acadia. Makes you wonder what's the point.

Having said that, it'll be interesting to see what they do with the next-gen 'Nox/Terrain when the redesign is unveiled (probably late this year/early 2017). Using the Cruze platform and dropping the weight, as well as sizing it smaller should make it a more competitive choice.

You know exactly what will happen.  The same thing.  They'll come out with something more competitive/class leading, sit on it for close to a decade and let it languish.  Rinse, recycle, repeat.