Excessive oil consumption on the 2010 Chevrolet Equinox
When excessive oil consumption gets reported
Owners of the 2010 Chevrolet Equinox report excessive oil consumption at a median of 97,500 miles. A quarter of the reports come in before 57,500 miles and a quarter after 115,000 miles, from 70 reports that carried an odometer reading.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 85,000 miles. It is the 2nd most-reported problem on this model year.
The mileage distribution
The reported range runs from 25,000 miles at the tenth percentile to 140,000 miles at the ninetieth, a spread of 116,000 miles across the middle 80% of reports.
A spread this wide points at use rather than design. Towing, climate, service history and city mileage all move a failure like this, so the median is a weak guide to any individual car.
16% of the dated reports were filed under 36,000 miles.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 25,000 miles | 56,599 miles | 97,119 miles | 115,000 miles | 141,000 miles |
Read the 10th percentile as “one report in ten arrived this early”. Exact figures are shown in this table because it is the table of record; everywhere else on the site they are rounded to the precision the sample can carry.
What a percentile can and cannot tell you here
These five numbers describe the readings owners gave, in order. The median is the middle one: half the reports arrived below it. The 10th and 90th are the edges of the bulk of the distribution, and the distance between them is the part worth reading. A tight spread — say 70,000 to 95,000 miles — points at something that wears out on a schedule, and the schedule is knowable. A wide one, 20,000 to 190,000, points at a fault that hits some cars and never troubles others, which means the mileage on the listing in front of you tells you very little about your odds.
What these figures are not is a survival curve. Every reading here comes from a car whose owner filed a complaint, so the sample contains only failures: it cannot say what share of the fleet made it past 150,000 miles untouched, because those owners had nothing to report. Nor is the mileage the moment of failure — it is the odometer reading as recalled at the time of filing, which may be weeks later and is sometimes rounded to the nearest ten thousand by the person typing it.
Percentiles are shown at all only once 8 readings exist for the vehicle and mode. Below that the middle of a handful of numbers is noise wearing a decimal point, so the figures are withheld rather than dressed up.
What happens, and what it costs
Putting it right typically runs $900–$6,500 at an independent US shop. That range is an editorial estimate held in this site's failure-mode catalogue, not a figure from NHTSA, and it is a repair cost rather than a diagnosis cost.
The same failure on other years
The same failure is reported on 9 model years of this car. It shows up earliest on the 2017, at a median of 75,000 miles, and latest on the 2019 at 200,000 miles.
By volume the 2013 carries the most reports, with 177; the 2010 has 103. A mode that appears across most years of a model is usually a design choice rather than a bad batch.
If one year stands out to the left, that is the year to avoid; if the whole line sits at a similar mileage, this is wear rather than a defect in one production run.
Tick median reported mileage Solid middle half of reports Faint 10th to 90th percentile Colour how bad the failure is when it happens
What owners wrote
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint narratives, trimmed for length. The mileage is the one the owner gave.
During idle from stop light to stop light in city traffic, vehicle began to idle very rough during stops and had reduced power while moving. Eventually it died out at a stop light. General motors reference pip5025 for excessive oil consumption and cylinder damage per dealer repair report. Car has been "repaired" but is still running somewhat rough and is giving off a strong gasoline odor and engine oil smells like gasoline - have another appointment with dealer to have checked out - has not stalled out again since repair though. *tr
Tl* the contact owns a 2010 chevrolet equinox. The contact stated that the vehicle was abnormally consuming two quarts of oil per month. The contact took the vehicle to the dealer where the oil rings were replaced. The dealer asked the contact to wait until their next oil change to see if the vehicle was still consuming oil. The contact stated that the vehicle was out of oil less then 500 miles after the oil rings were replaced. The contact also stated that the oil warning light did not illuminate to indicate that that the oil level was low. The failure mileage was 30,000 and the current mileage was 60,000.
Purchased 4/2010 1 at a red light, car idled really rough, then all of the dash lights came on. I drove straight to the dealership. They checked it out and said I needed a new fuel pump. I had about 47,000 miles. 2. Oil consumption - the first time this happened I was hearing a funny noise when I turned left coming from the engine. My boyfriend checked the oil the next morning to find no oil on the dipstick. We put in 2 qts then when the dealer ship opened I took it in. They told me they could not find any internal or external leaks so bring in weekly for oil consumption test (I was about 1500 miles since my oil change that was done at the same time the fuel pump was replaced) drove out of town to visit family (about 2000 miles after oil change) after driving 200 miles heard the noise again checked the oil.......2 qts low. Added oil and took to local dealership. No problems found related to oil, but did find another alert that needed to be completed when I got home related to the water pump tensioner. Gm customer service again , but only was told to wait until my next scheduled oil change and start consumption tests again. 3. I…
Also reported on the 2010 Chevrolet Equinox
Other engine problem
Other visibility problem
Timing chain, belt or tensioner failure
Other powertrain problem
Other electrical problem
Wiper or washer failure
How far this goes
Complaints are voluntary, so 103 is a floor and not a count of affected cars. Mileages are typed in by owners and cluster on round numbers. And the mode itself is assigned by software reading the complaint text, which is reliable in bulk and fallible one report at a time.
Questions this page answers
At what mileage does excessive oil consumption happen on the 2010 Chevrolet Equinox?
Across 70 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 97,500 miles. A quarter were filed before 57,500 miles and a quarter after 115,000 miles. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.
How common is excessive oil consumption on the 2010 Chevrolet Equinox?
103 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 5.0 per 1,000 vehicles. Complaints are voluntary, so this is a floor rather than a count of affected cars.
What this is and is not. These are the mileages at which owners chose to complain to a federal agency, which is not the same as the mileage at which the part fails on every car. It skews toward failures that happened outside warranty, cost real money, or frightened someone. It is still the only public dataset that carries failure mileage at all, and the shape of a few hundred readings is informative even when a single one is not. Methodology · JSON · this failure on other cars
Source Owner complaints and recall records published by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, model years 1996–2027 Figures rebuilt Published by AtWhatMileage How every figure is computed