2020 Chevrolet Equinox Problems

Half of the owners who gave a mileage had the problem by about 42,000 miles.

What to check before you buy

• The pedal should feel firm and the car should stop straight without pulling, grinding or a pulsing pedal.
• The ABS and stability control lights should go out after startup and stay out.
• Look through the wheels at the rotors. A deep lip on the edge means brakes are due soon, which is a fair thing to negotiate on.

Tools that help

What owners said

There were no warning lights prior. We were driving on the highway and the brake pedal all of a sudden became hard as a rock, and we could barely stop the car. Stoping distance was extremely long and dangerous, we were very lucky there was no one in front of us and that we were almost the the exit we needed to be at. Managed to slowly…Owner complaint, filed 2026

Vacuum pump, I was driving 75mph and needed to slow down due to traffic and my break pedal was hard and wouldn’t stop me, I almost hit a car in front of me. I also had my children with me. No the problem hasn’t been inspected, I bought the part to repair it myself. There was no fair warning. I ALMOST wrecked with my children in the car!…Owner complaint, filed 2026

Half of the owners who gave a mileage had the problem by about 51,000 miles.

What to check before you buy

• Ask the seller not to warm the car up, and start it cold. Listen for ticking, knocking or a rough idle in the first minute.
• Pull the oil dipstick and the oil cap. Low oil, a gasoline smell or a milky film on the cap are reasons to walk away or get an inspection.
• Plug in an OBD2 scanner. Stored or pending codes matter, and so do readiness monitors that show "not ready", which usually means the codes were cleared right before the sale.
• Ask for oil change records. A gap in the records on a model known for engine complaints is a negotiating point at minimum.

Tools that help

What owners said

I've spent $1000 on repairs to my turbo and now have to replace the whole thing. While looking online I've seen many people are having the same issue with the 2020 model. Almost every car has to replace the turbo between 60,000-80,000 miles which seems ridiculous.Owner complaint, filed 2026

Vehicle began sputtering suddenly while driving 40mph. "Reduced Engine Power" warning appeared on dash. While trying to limp it home, the vehicle died in the middle of a turning lane. Pushed vehicle to the side of the road and had it towed to a shop. Their notes attached below. Technician Notes: Customer concern verified with DTCs P0014…Owner complaint, filed 2026

Half of the owners who gave a mileage had the problem by about 34,000 miles.

What to check before you buy

• Smell around the engine bay and under the rear of the car for raw fuel.
• On the test drive, accelerate firmly from a stop and up a grade. Stumbling, surging or a flashing check engine light are red flags.
• Fuel pump recalls are common. Check this exact VIN for open recalls before you buy.

Tools that help

What owners said

Fuel Stall with no acceleration while driving on the highway. Barely made it to the side of the road. Vehicle is at a mechanic shop. Both the Direct injection high pressure fuel pump and the electric fuel pump as well as the fuel pump module has to be replaced.Owner complaint, filed 2026

The contact owns a 2020 Chevrolet Equinox. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the vehicle lost automotive power and failed to properly accelerate. Additionally, the check engine warning light illuminated before the vehicle stalled. The vehicle was towed to the local dealer. The dealer diagnosed the vehicle and…Owner complaint, filed 2026, at 85,000 miles

Half of the owners who gave a mileage had the problem by about 5,000 miles.

What to check before you buy

• Test every switch: windows, locks, mirrors, seat heaters, the screen, the backup camera, Bluetooth and every USB port.
• Watch the dash at startup. Every warning light should come on briefly and then go out.
• Have the battery and charging system tested. A weak alternator or battery drain shows up here.

Tools that help

What owners said

The electrical system just stopped working it is throwing up false alerts of driving systems and brake assist, and then the air conditioning on/off button doesn’t respond defrost nothing lights up or comes on.Owner complaint, filed 2026

My cooling and heating sensor is reading negative 40 degrees outside but it has been 80 degrees and higher the past several weeks. This is not safe when you have children especially if they are under [XXX] old. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)Owner complaint, filed 2026

Half of the owners who gave a mileage had the problem by about 8,000 miles.

What to check before you buy

• Drive it from cold if you can. Shifts should be smooth in every gear, including reverse.
• Feel for slipping (revs rise without the car speeding up), shudder at low speed and a delay when you put it in gear.
• Listen for whining, which is a common CVT complaint, and clunks when you go from drive to reverse.
• If it has 4WD or AWD, engage it on the test drive and ask when the transmission and differential fluids were last changed.

Tools that help

What owners said

Multiple times (Friday, March 27, Monday March 30, 2026) we have had the 2020 Equinox fail to accelerate at green lights. The gas pedal is pressed to the floor and car is VERY slow to accelerate. It takes multiple depressions of the gas pedal to accelerate more than 10 mph. There are open recalls on certain vin numbers from the NHTSA but…Owner complaint, filed 2026

The contact owns a 2020 Chevrolet Equinox. The contact stated that after coming to a complete stop, the vehicle hesitated while accelerating. No warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, who replaced the front wheel drive transmission assembly, flushed the transmission fluid, and updated the…Owner complaint, filed 2026, at 72,000 miles

Parts named most: Automatic emergency braking (9).

What to check before you buy

• Where it is safe, try the adaptive cruise and lane keeping on the test drive and watch for sudden braking or warnings with nothing there.
• Check the windshield in front of the camera and the bumper sensors for cracks, chips or poor repairs.
• Ask whether the windshield has been replaced. The camera has to be recalibrated afterward, and many shops skip it.

Tools that help

What owners said

Adaptive cruise turn off and vehicle immediately decelerates. When traveling at highway speed with someone following closely behind you there is no warning that you’re decelerating. Also when this happens all cameras are off.Owner complaint, filed 2024

Complaint: owner states adaptive cruise control malfunctions without notice. Owner brought vehicle to local gm service department and vehicle was returned to customer as an unfounded complaint. Reporter found the following; all ipc indicators are functioning during self test, no ipc warning lights/messages present, distance following…Owner complaint, filed 2021, at 8,500 miles

Half of the owners who gave a mileage had the problem by about 3,000 miles.

What to check before you buy

• On the test drive, press the gas gently and firmly. The response should be smooth with no lag or surge.
• Set the cruise control, then use resume and cancel to make sure each one works.

Tools that help

What owners said

The contact owns a 2020 Chevrolet Equinox. The contact stated that occasionally while at a red light or while stopped, the vehicle hesitated for approximately 10 to 15 seconds to move while the accelerator pedal was depressed. The vehicle then accelerated. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer, who was unable to retrieve a fault…Owner complaint, filed 2026, at 109,000 miles

Car failing to accelerate properly when pushing gas peddle to floor, delay for couple seconds/ longest was 30 seconds before car registered need to move. No defined time its happening intermittently, no warning or codes populating for issue. Recent issue Car was only registered 5 mph after pulling into street from a parking lot with…Owner complaint, filed 2026

What to check before you buy

• Turn the wheel lock to lock while parked and listen for groaning, clicking or binding.
• On a straight road the car should track straight with the wheel centered and no loose feeling.
• A power steering warning on the dash, even briefly, deserves a mechanic’s look before you buy.

Tools that help

What owners said

While driving 25 mph in town on a straight road my 2020 Equinox 4D 1LT steering pulled to the right with out any reason and I hit a parked vehicle. I was not distracted, did not hit a pot hole, tire pressure and tread were all good. This road is near my house and have traveled on it many times. The car just turned to the right and hit…Owner complaint, filed 2023

I was driving out in the country on 1-41 towards West Union. The steering tightened up and came up with a sensor that said Power steering ESC. The car went offroad due to the steering tightening from the power steering going out in the vehicle. I contacted the dealer, Mike Castrucci Chevrolet, and they told me that I would have to pay…Owner complaint, filed 2022

Half of the owners who gave a mileage had the problem by about 5,000 miles.

What to check before you buy

• Drive over a few bumps and potholes slowly with the radio off and listen for clunks or rattles.
• Check the tires for uneven wear on the inside or outside edges, a sign of alignment or suspension trouble.
• Look behind the wheels for oily, wet shocks or struts.

Tools that help

What owners said

The contact owns a 2020 Chevrolet Equinox. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the vehicle had intermittent shaking. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, and the dealer replaced the front driver's and passenger's side axle shafts under TSB 20-NA-227. The failure recurred. The vehicle was not repaired. The…Owner complaint, filed 2021, at 12,800 miles

A go's threw gas really fast the brakes drag and when it starts/stop it acts funny like it has a hard time starting/stopping and my suspension every time I go over something there's clunking started at 34000 miles when I got it from the dealership and I only have 52,000 miles on it it shouldn't be doing that yetOwner complaint, filed 2025

Half of the owners who gave a mileage had the problem by about 31,000 miles.

What to check before you buy

• Check every light: headlights on low and high, fog lights, brake lights, turn signals and reverse lights.
• Run the wipers on every speed with washer fluid, and run the defroster front and back.

Tools that help

What owners said

The contact owns a 2020 Chevrolet Equinox. The contact stated that while the vehicle was at the dealer for the front grille replacement after the vehicle had struck a turkey, the contact was informed that the moon roof was inoperable and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact stated that water later entered the…Owner complaint, filed 2024, at 31,000 miles

We purchased the car with an option package the specifically included fog lights. Because of local weather conditions and reduced driving related to the pandemic, we never had the need to use the fog lights. Recently, we were driving in the Finger Lake region of New York at night when fog started to form. That's when we realized the car…Owner complaint, filed 2021

What to check before you buy

• The air bag (SRS) light should come on at startup and go out within a few seconds. If it stays on, the system may not work in a crash.
• Air bag recalls are some of the most serious. Check this exact VIN for open recalls and get proof any recall work was done.

Tools that help

What owners said

None of the airbags deployed in an accident. The right front end of the car hit a utility trailer and nothing went off. The car has been deemed a total loss after being trailered to the lot and assessed by the insurance inspector.Owner complaint, filed 2026

While having the right of way driving thru an intersection, going approximately 40 mph, another vehicle disregarded a stop sign and t-boned my vehicle on the drivers side. My vehicle was pushed off the road and came to rest in a ditch. Impact was directly on the drivers side door which sustained severe damage. My vehicle also sustained…Owner complaint, filed 2021

Half of the owners who gave a mileage had the problem by about 5,000 miles. Parts named most: Body (6).

What to check before you buy

• Look underneath with a flashlight. Utah road salt is hard on frames, brake lines and the bottoms of doors.
• Open and close every door, the hood and the liftgate, and lock and unlock each one.
• Use a paint thickness gauge and compare panels. A panel that reads very differently from the rest has likely been repaired.

Tools that help

What owners said

In early XXX, I noticed that water was pooling in the spare tire well. I took it to a Chevrolet dealership and they concluded that the rear sunroof drains were clogged. After unclogging the drains and confirming adequate sealing of the tubes, rain water was still leaking into the spare tire well. This is causing mold on the carpet and…Owner complaint, filed 2026

The sunroof drains on my vehicle keep getting clogged with debris even though I don't open the sunroof. I have had to get the drains blown out every 1 to 2 months when I find water in the rear cargo area. Attached are invoices from the dealership showing the work done and how often. An Engineer from GM has determined on April 10th that…Owner complaint, filed 2024

What to check before you buy

• Read the four-digit DOT date on each tire. Tires older than about six years should be replaced, whatever the tread looks like.
• Check tread depth on all four. On AWD vehicles all four tires should match.
• The tire pressure light should go out after startup.

Tools that help

What owners said

Vehicle was sold with defective tires that wear out [VIN],NHTSA issued a warning to chevy see chevy bulletin numbered 19-na-078,chevy never notified owners of these cars of the defect,this same tire the michelin ltx had been recalled many times since 2012,yet chevy continued to use these tires on there leased vehicles, knowing by the…Owner complaint, filed 2023

My car notified me that i had a low tire. I put air in it. A few days later i would get another notification my tire was low I had a slow leak in my tire. Took tire into tire shop and was told my rim was cracked on the inside. I am still under factory warranty. I called the dealership and was told to bring the rim/tire and the vehicle in…Owner complaint, filed 2022

What to check before you buy

• Pull out and latch every seat belt, and let each one retract on its own.
• Try every seat adjuster, and watch for a passenger air bag "off" light when an adult is in the seat.

Tools that help

What owners said

My son was just in his car seat with the seat belt as an extra layer of protection and the seat belt wouldn’t retract. My son was stuck. Thank god it wasn’t an accident. Passenger side back seat belt. This needs to be dealt with. It took me 30 mins because I was trying to get it to retract and it started to squeeze my baby legs. I did…Owner complaint, filed 2024

System states rear seat reminder. Look in rear seat. Look in rear seats. This is a hazard to my infant as his car seat is located in the back seats behind the passenger.Owner complaint, filed 2023