Unclassified problem on the 2016 Chevrolet Equinox
5 crashes 4 injuries 9 of the 27 reports for this failure mention a crash, a fire, an injury or a death. Those are the owner's words on the complaint form, not a verified finding, and one report can mention more than one.
Only 16 reports for this mode came with an odometer reading, which is too few for percentiles to mean anything. The page is here because someone linked to it; treat the figures as anecdotes, and see the full report for this year instead.
When unclassified problem gets reported
Owners of the 2016 Chevrolet Equinox report unclassified problem at a median of 40,000 miles. A quarter of the reports come in before 25,000 miles and a quarter after 60,000 miles, from 16 reports that carried an odometer reading.
It is the 59th most-reported problem on this model year.
The mileage distribution
The reported range runs from 5,000 miles at the tenth percentile to 65,000 miles at the ninetieth, a spread of 58,845 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.
50% of the dated reports were filed under 36,000 miles.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6,750 miles | 23,157 miles | 38,450 miles | 59,208 miles | 65,595 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
Of these reports, 5 a crash and 4 an injury are mentioned. Owners write their own complaints and the agency does not verify them, so read this as what the reports say happened rather than as a confirmed count.
The same failure on other years
The same failure is reported on 19 model years of this car. It shows up earliest on the 2019, at a median of 5,000 miles, and latest on the 2007 at 97,500 miles.
By volume the 2007 carries the most reports, with 100; the 2016 has 27. 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.
Front passenger seat airbag sensor will not activate safety system when I, as a 120 lb adult,place a medically necessary cushion (to alleviate back and hip pain) between myself and the seat, thus cancelling out the benefits of this safety system when the vehicle is in motion. I am at risk when riding in this general motors vehicle. Please require gm to recall and correct this defect soonest and associate my complaint with all other similar complaints on file with your agency.
Please reference nhsta complaint number 10862571,10865740 see attached document that was sent to g.m. This vehicle made my family sick. I had to picket dealership where I bought car, because g.m head quarters closed the case and left me with this toxic vehicle. A lot has happened in my quest to have the car replaced. A gm dealership where I did not buy car from, bought me out of my lease and got me into a new vehicle. I physically picketed dealership I bought car from and others to get my point across. I still have contaminated clothing and the dealership is stuck with this vehicle now, and I still have health concerns about my family. I have called the epa, and other agencies and none of them can help. This vehicle should never get into another individuals possession. I have attached some pictures and files.
Tl* the contact owns a 2016 chevrolet equinox. When the vehicle was started, the passenger side air bag warning indicator illuminated, which was a safety concern. The vehicle was taken to the dealer (weseloh chevrolet, 5335 paseo del norte, carlsbad, ca 92008) where it was diagnosed that the air bag sensor failed and needed replacement. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified and offered no assistance. The failure mileage was 65,000. The VIN was not available.
Also reported on the 2016 Chevrolet Equinox
Other engine problem
Other visibility problem
Excessive oil consumption
Oil leak
Wiper or washer failure
Timing chain, belt or tensioner failure
How far this goes
This page is kept out of search results because 27 reports is not enough to publish percentiles from. It stays reachable because somebody looking at this exact car would rather see the reports than be told there are none.
Complaints are voluntary, so 27 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 unclassified problem happen on the 2016 Chevrolet Equinox?
Across 16 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 40,000 miles. A quarter were filed before 25,000 miles and a quarter after 60,000 miles. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.
How common is unclassified problem on the 2016 Chevrolet Equinox?
27 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 5,400 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