No-start or intermittent start failure on the 2011 Chevrolet Equinox
When no-start or intermittent start failure gets reported
Owners of the 2011 Chevrolet Equinox report no-start or intermittent start failure at a median of 85,000 miles. A quarter of the reports come in before 80,000 miles and a quarter after 95,000 miles, from 10 reports that carried an odometer reading.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 88,000 miles. It is the 18th most-reported problem on this model year.
The mileage distribution
The reported range runs from 55,000 miles at the tenth percentile to 105,000 miles at the ninetieth, a spread of 49,460 miles across the middle 80% of reports.
Reports bunched into a band this tight usually mean the component has a life of its own: it goes at roughly the same mileage regardless of who owns it.
10% of the dated reports were filed under 36,000 miles.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 55,840 miles | 78,000 miles | 83,655 miles | 97,000 miles | 105,300 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 $200–$1,800 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 16 model years of this car. It shows up earliest on the 2013, at a median of 10,000 miles, and latest on the 2012 at 145,000 miles.
By volume the 2005 carries the most reports, with 37; the 2011 has 15. 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.
Drove it. Turned it off for 15 minutes. Went to start it back up and would not start. Wouldn't even turn over. Called onstar and they sent someone to jump it. Would not start 2 more times before I could get it in to get looked at. The neighbor and my fiancee had to jump it both times. That was within 3 days. Dealership could not duplicate. Said it was a program telling my car not to start. They re-programmed my car. Worked for a week. Then went to get in it to go to work again and would not start. That was a saturday. Have an appointment on tuesday because they need to fix a recall on my vehicle not associated with this problem. Let them know it would not start again. Also, when I went to back out of my parking space the first time onstar came the steering wheel was turning but my wheels weren't. Had my boss with me to witness this. After 6 tries the wheels finally turned to allow me to back out of my space. The dealership thought that the cars computer system may have just been taking a while to kick in. *tr
Tl* the contact owns a 2011 chevrolet equinox. After the ignition key was turned to the on position, the vehicle failed to start. The vehicle was restarted after several attempts and having the battery recharged. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 60,500.
Vehicle has been meticulously maintained. Engine started to stall while driving, then would not start. Warning lights did not appear until after the vehicle would not start. Said engine underpowered. Had it towed to mechanic, who found there was no oil in the engine, even though no lights came on and we checked the oil 3 days earlier. Had the car towed to the dealer. The dealer said the engine needed to be replaced, but repairs should be covered under a special coverage warranty issued by gm. Gm denied coverage with no explanation sent to me. I called customer service to file an appeal, and was given a file number and told someone would contact me within 2 business days. Despite almost daily follow up calls by me for a month no one has called me back. Each time I am told it the case is being handled by a senior advisor and that the operator was not able to contact them and they would call me back. I asked for the case to be escalated to a supervisor, and after 4 times was told it had been, but when I called back to see why no one had called me back was told that the senior advisor was still assigned to the case. This is a very…
Also reported on the 2011 Chevrolet Equinox
Other engine problem
Excessive oil consumption
Timing chain, belt or tensioner failure
Other powertrain problem
Other electrical problem
Other visibility problem
How far this goes
Complaints are voluntary, so 15 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 no-start or intermittent start failure happen on the 2011 Chevrolet Equinox?
Across 10 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 85,000 miles. A quarter were filed before 80,000 miles and a quarter after 95,000 miles. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.
How common is no-start or intermittent start failure on the 2011 Chevrolet Equinox?
15 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 0.6 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