By accessing this website, you acknowledge that Edmunds and its third party business partners may use cookies, pixels, and similar technologies to collect information about you and your interactions with the website as described in our
Privacy Statement, and you agree that your use of the website is subject to our
Visitor Agreement.
Comments
No disrespect intended here but this problem has existed since at least May and GM has known about it since mid September. How long should we give them to react? So far everything else about mine is fine but I can't drive it regularly enough to really make a fair judgment. I shouldn't know all my service advisors and the car rental people on a first name basis after only putting 1000 miles on a new car. I have only been at this a month, which is bad enough, but others have been dealing with it for anywhere from 1-6 months, maybe more. We have already waited too long to complain and if you think GM always fixes problems you should check this out.
http://www.pistonslap.com/index.html
I am not condemning mine I just want to be able to get in it and drive without worry. I can do that in my other cars. I bought a new car for peace of mind and right now this one doesn't give me that. I realize that any car can have problems but in this case it is not an ordinary problem, like a rattle in the dash, this can and has caused health issues which make it unusable. I can deal with a vehicle having a few issues but they need to be corrected in a more timely fashion. Sometimes these huge corporations need a kick start when it comes to reacting to issues. I chose to achieve this by writing to GM's corporate offices. They are now handling my case. Enough chance already, we need to see more action.
I couldn't have summarized this better than you did. The point here is not to say bad things about the Equinox, but try to make people aware of this severe problem (it is VERY severe in my opinion) and put pressure on GM to get this resolved. I can not believe I had a vehicle replaced in May because of this problem and apparently NOTHING was done until September to investigate and solve it. We are now in mid-November and there are service managers telling people that the bad odor and black gunk in the cooland are NORMAL for the Equinox.
Give me a break!
No disrespect felt.
Ed
Being pacient was one thing the dealer recognized about me. However, after handling the same problem for six months and two vehicles, even the dealer felt my pacience was not going to last much longer.
The Equinox is a great vehicle and I can't understand the lack of product stewardship demonstrated by GM in this case. What is the point of designing a brand new vehicle and leaving it in the open for months without proper action?
Let me say that I don't own a NOX but am considering one. I don't work for any lawyers or GM.
I my Montana there are two buttons for AC. Recirculate and outside air. Does the NOX have the same two buttons? And if the outside air is chosen does the smell enter the drivers cab?
You said "But I'm just urging that people put this in perspective and realize there are a lot of other issues that could develop that could be much worse."
For me, how much worse can it get? I can't drive the vehicle. It is a brand new car under warranty not a used BMW with 100K miles on it. I should not be experiencing any inconvenience at all. My other cars are fine. In fact I would have to use Mapquest to find the dealer. This is becoming like a part time job because if you don't keep on them they think you will just go away.
I am also hoping we just might end up with the great vehicle we thought we bought.
The Equinox has a button to select air recirculation and fresh air intake. With the recirculation ON (that is, no fresh air entering the vehicle) the odor is hard to notice.
However, with the recirculation OFF (fresh air coming into the cabin) the odor appears immediately.
I would also like to mention that the odor would only become noticeable when the vehicle stopped (for instance, at a traffic light). When the vehicle was moving the odor was not noticeable to me, even with the recirculation switch being OFF.
I spoke to a GM rep from corporate today regarding the odor problem. Our complaint has been escalated to the product allegation department (Customer Assistance is useless). GM initially contacted me last week and never called me back as promised so I called again (for the 3rd time).
They have no fix at this time and don't know what they (GM) are going to do about this problem. There it is.... take it from there. If you want to keep on waiting for a fix and smelling potentially toxic fumes from coolant then so be it. Some of you are complaining about headaches and dizziness when you ride in the car (Did you express this in your correspondence and phone calls?). I was told that there is nothing that the dealerships can do because the GM engineers have not come up with a solution to the problem to share with the dealerships.
I suggest you all write letters to Rich Wagoneer (CEO/GM), Gary Cowger (President GM North America) and file complaints on the nhtsa.com website so the government can get involved from a vehicle safety perspective. Then get yourself an attorney to get your vehicle replaced under your state's lemon laws.
GM is not taking ownership of a resolution. They do know about it.
Michigan99 - You said your just trying to inform others about your experience so that they can be informed but in fact your most recent posts take the tune of someone that is more of a crusader than that of a consumer advocate.
For instance: You have made mention of the Nox odor issue in 27 posts on this board. But it doesn't stop there....
In post #148 (Subject - Back Window Problems) you steered the discussion away from the original posters issue to the Nox odor issue.
In post #155 (Subject - Visibility Problem) once again you steered the topic away from visibility to the odor issue.
Whats more? You have moved on and purchased another vehicle yet you remain very engaged in this forum.
I scanned the Nissan Murano and Murano Problems and Fixes board back as far as April and I did not find a single post from Michigan99. I would have thought that you would have had at least wanted to make some comments about your new vehicle.
Just in case your not yet convinced that you might be giving the Nox too hard a time read post #362 and #386 of the Nissan Murano Problem and Fixes board.
I am flattered you have taken the time to scan my posts. I do not know whether you do not have anything better to do or you just like good literature.
Anyhow, I do not want ANYBODY to to through what I had to handle for SIX months. I had two undriveable vehicles and the lack of response GM showed for months is unacceptable.
I am trying to alert people and I still believe this is the right thing to do. If you do not like it, so be it.
I did not post anything on the Murano for two different reasons. First, I have not had any problems so far. Second, I do not think I have had the vehicle long enough to truly describe my experience. So far, it has been a good vehicle. Keep monitoring the Murano boards and you will see more materials from me. I am sure you can hardly wait.
Best regards.
Please don’t be flattered ... I was not trying to impress you with my ability to read. My reason for scanning your post was more of a fact finding mission. Something that I rather enjoy actually! Just in case your wondering (and I know you are) I’m at work and was in between projects when I responded to your post (oops, I meant) posts.
As I had mentioned in an earlier post, it takes months to find a cause of problems and the correct response to them. I mentioned that some owners of the Mazda 3 were having issues with A/C (weak) and many were very upset about it. One was on much of a crusade like you are now. He complained that Mazda was ignoring the customers, not supporting the vehicles and taking too long to fix the problem and he vigorously warned other readers to stay away from Big Bad Scary Mazda.
Although it took almost 5 months, Mazda did fix the problem but it required investigation because not all 3s shared the issue. And once the problem was discovered an appropriate fix had to be devised.
Believe me, I understand your frustration concerning this flaw in the Equinox (which you no longer have) but I find it rather strange that your still so passionate after beating GM at their game and getting another vehicle.
I have no problem at all with you alerting others to this issue but your actions tend to lean more towards that of a zealot.
Oh, please don’t bother making any posts on the Murano’s boards now. That would make me think you were trying to placate me and it would mean absolutely nothing ...... unless of course you happened to want to make mention of the Nox’s Skunk like tendencies 27 times. (that would peak my interest)
Your ability to read did not impress me as much as your ability to write.
You're one of those people that just can't stand to let someone else have the last word huh.
Well its been great but I have a few things to finish up before my day is done. But don't think im going away for good. I Love A Lively Debate .... and nothing gets me more fired up than opposing arguments.
As a future Nox owner, I hope for current owners that GM addresses this and other issues much faster. Just bless your lucky stars that the Nox isn't unlocking itself or rolling its windows down when your not looking. :-)
No other issues for me. Other than the coolant, the vehicle has been perfect.
Ed
I also enjoy lively debates, especially when there are important ideas being discussed.
I do not care about who gets the last word, though. If I did I would not have been married for almost 20 years.
I am glad you are not an Equinox owner at this point. As I mentioned before, I would hate to see anybody else having to face a similar situation.
Cheers!
Could you get me the name and location of your dealership? I would like my dealer and GM corporate to call them. Although the fix is known apparently it's not well known enough for GM or my dealer so they are not doing this yet. I knew about this fix a few months ago as well but my dealer insists on waiting for official word from GM.
Thanks
I know some auto manufacturers do not recommend that owners use those to power accessories. If the manual does not say anything take it into the dealer while it's still under warranty.
Make : CHEVROLET Model : EQUINOX Year : 2005
Manufacturer : GENERAL MOTORS CORP.
Service Bulletin Num : 3169 Date of Bulletin: JAN 01, 2004
NHTSA Item Number: 10010166
Component: ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING
Summary:
FOUL ODOR FROM HVAC AND/ OR ENGINE COOLANT. *TC
I can not explain why the "Date of bulletin" is indicated as "JAN 01, 2004". But perhaps this date is just a placeholder, or it was not available and it is a system default for a 2005 model.
Anyhow, for those having the problem the solution seems to be in sight.
Any solutions? Has anyone figured out a window configuration to solve this?
light
FYI, have the foul odor problem too, First dealership said this was "normal" and wouldn't do anything about
I drove the vehicle today and at first I taught it was the electric power steering, then the brakes until driving slowly over some speed bumps the creaking noise also became evident and that's were I became suspicious of the front struts. The car has only 600 miles on it.
My Sister and brother in law traded a very problematic 2001 Chevy Impala base sedan on the '05 Equinox to get rid of WEEKLY dealer repair visits. Its been 2 weeks with the 'Nox AND HERE WE GO AGAIN!!!!!!
Called Chevy customer service and opened a complaint file on the vehicle. We will bring it in for service tomorrow morning. Needless to say we are all extremely dissapointed at the LACK of quality control exhibited on GM products of late.
No foul smells yet, but since thier Equinox is an early build date, there is the likehood for this serious problem to develop.
Awesome vehicle but so-so quality control. We will ask for a repurchase/replacement.
We have ZERO tolerance for lousy quality.
Other owners in this forum have expressed the same problem and if I remember correctly, none have come back stating that the replacement strut didn't cure the problem.
So far, I have been able to come up with two TSB numbers that address this particular issue:
04-03-08-008
And a later revision under TSB #04-03-08-012
I have seen the text on bulletin 008 but I have not been able to see a printout of follow up TSB 012.
The car was dropped off at the dealer this morning. The service manager (Which is a personal friend of ours and we have known him for many years now) took the vehicle for a test drive and was able to confirm and reproduce the loud creaking coming from the front end. He is looking into the TSBs and I assume have already contacted GM's technical support center.
We were given a '05 Pontiac Grand Prix GT as a loaner vehicle.
I have not been able to find any TSBs that confirm a permamnent fix for this problem. Some 'Nox owners are already in their second and third set of struts, because the noise keeps crepping back. I have the impression that GM does not yet have a definite fix at this time.
I am waiting to hear from the service manager at some point tomorrow. If GM does not have a fix for this issue, we will request a repurchase of the vehicle. The car is no more than 2 weeks old and they haven't even made the first payment yet on it.
In my opinion, GM has improved quality of its products but they still have a long way to go. Having suspension work done on a brand new car with only 600 miles is totally unacceptable and embarrasing. This puts a black mark on the new car enjoyment which after all is the main idea behind plunking hard earned cash for new metal: Peace of mind and reliability.
This is not our first quality incident with a new GM vehicle. This would be the third new Chevy purchased in the last 4 years with problems within the first 1K miles. The first one was repurchased and the second one was traded into the 'Nox just 2 weeks ago.
Why is this happening????
I can't answer your question with 100% confidence level. But I have some ideas on possible causes.
The Equinox is a pretty global vehicle. The engine is made in China, the transmission is made in Japan, the project is American and the car is assembled in Canada, not to mention other parts coming from various countries.
I do not have anything against the global approach to car manufacturing, but people need to understand that global sourcing of components is a very complex and difficult business. There are different cultures involved and various degrees of quality programs in place.
A company needs to be very nimble to react to identified problems right away, as the supply chain is very elaborate.
And I think this is the main problem with GM. Granted, the company made major strides in terms of quality and service to customers over the recent years. However, GM still lacks quicker responses to identified problems, especially considering that "global" vehicles are being manufactured.
The bad odor problem I had with two Equinoxes seems to be an indication of this type of situation. At this point it seems clear to me that there was a severe quality variation of the hoses used on the car (apparently some hoses are incompatible with the standard coolant GM uses), perhaps improper or incomplete validation of suppliers, and insufficient validation work on the globally supplied parts. To compound the whole situation, my impression was that GM did not react to the quality problem when there was very clear indication something was definitely wrong.
I can't say much about the strut problem, as neither of my Equinoxes presented the problem. As a matter of fact, I really liked the suspension and smooth ride of my Equinox.
My employer supplies products to different car manufacturers and years ago I was part of one of GM's programs to improve quality. The major concern at that time (by the way, that program took place overseas and not in the US) was to reduce "early failure" of components. The thought process was that customers will be very unhappy when a brand new car breaks down or needs service very early, which destroys the enjoyment of buying a new vehicle, as you mentioned.
I am pretty sure GM managers have been considering all these aspects as they develop their global supply base, and there is a long way to go for sure.
Does this make sense to you?
can u tell me the exact procedure u go to have your vehicle repurchased?
today i contacted the BBB and opened a claim on my 2004 malivu maxx lt, Chevy cust assistance center states that i should also contact the BBB. i also called a lemon law attorney who states that i should have the dealer try to fix it once more because here in WI you have to have the dealer try to fix it 4 times before the lemon law kicks in. I then called my sales manager at chevrolet where we bought like 6 cars and let him know of all the problems that i have veen having. i told him that if they want me to continue as their customer i need to have them help me with an exchange from GM/Chevy in general. if not bye bye. i cannot afford to drive an unsafe car period with my 2 year old and wife. if they can't understand that it's not worth doing business with theese kind of people.
This case is related to the liftgate strut attachment bracket, which may deform and allow the strut to contact the metal body surface.
The letter does not say this is a recall. It is labeled as a "voluntary customer satisfaction program".
What is going on with your vehicle? Give us an update.
The GM executive rep called me this week. The parts are supposed to be available at the end of the week or early next week. Engineering is supposed to contact our regional manager who in turn will contact my service manager. An appointment should then be made for the repair. I would expect this to happen no later than the middle of next week and I would expect the official TSB from GM to be out around the same time or something even sooner. Either way the GM exec rep is calling me again on Monday. Hopefully, after almost 2 months of not being able to use the vehicle, I will be able to get back to driving it and enjoying all the good things that prompted the purchase to begin with.
Later,
Scrappy
Today the Service Manager at my dealership told me that GM Engineering has determined that the cause of the nasty odor is due to the curing process used in the rubber hoses in the entire cooling system, apparently is not compatible with Dexcool and that new hoses that use a different curing process for the rubber are slowly becoming available from GM. They think that the original hoses may fail in a short time due to the reaction with the Dexcool in the system.
According the the GM zone rep. the hoses are produced in China using their process for curing the rubber. The engines are shipped to Canada with all of the hoses mounted on them. A new technical bulletin is supposed to be issued any day disclosing their findings I am told.... Good luck to us all!
The dealership checked mine thoroughly and did not find any exhaust gas leaks anywhere. GM Engineering rep. said it is an operating characteristic of the Equinox exhaust system, and poses no problem.
On the other hand I've had it for 6 months and never taken it back to the dealer yet.
No, my vehicle does not exhibit any exhaust noises after warm up. You can actually hear the noise level fall as the pipe warms up. After that - nothing at all. Perhaps a different dealer may find a leak??? Good luck!
Happy to report no more brown stinky coolant or odors in the car. It actually smells like a new car inside again.
Apparently the hose change out is the solution. Coolant is still a pinkish color and virtually no odor at all from the engine compartment at any time. The coolant now smells the same as the Dexcool in my 01 Silverado!
My Service Manager told me that the area zone rep. had checked some brand new Equinox's on the showroom floor of another dealership, even several new cars with less that 25 miles had exhibited the coolant color and odor problems there!
Thank you,
Gary Polito
New Jersey