Oil leak on the 2012 Chevrolet Equinox
When oil leak gets reported
Owners of the 2012 Chevrolet Equinox report oil leak at a median of 90,000 miles. A quarter of the reports come in before 75,000 miles and a quarter after 115,000 miles, from 20 reports that carried an odometer reading.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 95,000 miles. It is the 10th most-reported problem on this model year.
The mileage distribution
The reported range runs from 70,000 miles at the tenth percentile to 125,000 miles at the ninetieth, a spread of 53,400 miles across the middle 80% of reports.
A window that narrow is the signature of a part that fails on its own schedule rather than on how the car is driven — which is usually a design or supplier problem rather than wear and tear.
5% of the dated reports were filed under 36,000 miles.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 71,800 miles | 74,125 miles | 92,000 miles | 114,750 miles | 125,200 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 $250–$2,200 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 10 model years of this car. It shows up earliest on the 2011, at a median of 55,000 miles, and latest on the 2020 at 120,000 miles.
By volume the 2017 carries the most reports, with 75; the 2012 has 24. 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.
Purchased vehicle used with 64000 miles aug 24th, 2015. After about 2 weeks the car stalled while backing out of a parking spot. Re-started it and it stalled again. Happened again in late sept, once in oct and again in nov. Dealer replaced faulty intake solenoid 11-13-15. Leaving for work on jan 19th and noticed oil leak (no low oil light). Drove straight to dealership. 1/4 mile out my engine light comes on saying reduced engine power, drops me to 30 MPH. Get to dealership and it's a blown rear seal. Replaced loose timing and balance shaft chain, water pump, coolant flush ( I paid for) ABS light came on, so sensor was found to be "open" also found chunk of magnet missing from wheel bearing. Car in shop for 9 days. Picked up on 1-28-16. Stalled again 4 x on 2-4-16. Returned to dealership to have camshaft actuator replaced. Stalled again 2-7-16 and 2-8-16. Returned to dealership on 2-8-16. No word from them yet. The car has left me in the middle of an intersection turning left twice!! I could be killed by driving this vehicle. I have researched online and have found 1000's of people dealing with this same issue. Several have had the…
Purchased vehicle used with 64000 miles aug 24th, 2015. After about 2 weeks the car stalled while backing out of a parking spot. Re-started it and it stalled again. Happened again in late sept, once in oct and again in nov. Dealer replaced faulty intake solenoid 11-13-15. Leaving for work on jan 19th and noticed oil leak (no low oil light). Drove straight to dealership. 1/4 mile out my engine light comes on saying reduced engine power, drops me to 30 MPH. Get to dealership and it's a blown rear seal. Replaced loose timing and balance shaft chain, water pump, coolant flush ( I paid for) ABS light came on, so sensor was found to be "open" also found chunk of magnet missing from wheel bearing. Car in shop for 9 days. Picked up on 1-28-16. Stalled again 4 x on 2-4-16. Returned to dealership to have camshaft actuator replaced. Stalled again 2-7-16 and 2-8-16. Returned to dealership on 2-8-16. No word from them yet. The car has left me in the middle of an intersection turning left twice!! I could be killed by driving this vehicle. I have researched online and have found 1000's of people dealing with this same issue. Several have had the…
In january 2017, experienced stalling and smell of fuel/oil throughout vehicle. Towed to dealer and was told rear oil seal was leaking oil and needed replacement. Charged 1500 dollars. On april 12th, 2017 during routine repairs for brakes, was told oil leaking again. Took back to dealership and was told that it is leaking from a different area but it is related to the rear oil seal leak. Further investigation shows that these vehicles have known gasket and seal issues leading to engine failure but gm/chevy has not recalled. They issued a service bulletin in march 2015 #14882 but my VIN number is not included in this bulletin even though vehicle is exactly the same as the other people who are included. Gm and chevy not willing to help me and I am terrified to drive my vehicle.
Also reported on the 2012 Chevrolet Equinox
Excessive oil consumption
Other engine problem
Timing chain, belt or tensioner failure
Wiper or washer failure
Other visibility problem
Other powertrain problem
How far this goes
Complaints are voluntary, so 24 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 oil leak happen on the 2012 Chevrolet Equinox?
Across 20 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 90,000 miles. A quarter were filed before 75,000 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 oil leak on the 2012 Chevrolet Equinox?
24 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 1.2 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