Fuel gauge or level sensor failure on the 2018 Chevrolet Equinox
Only 2 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 fuel gauge or level sensor failure gets reported
There are 3 reports of fuel gauge or level sensor failure on the 2018 Chevrolet Equinox, 2 with a mileage attached. That is too few to place the failure on the odometer with any confidence.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 92,000 miles. It is the 43rd most-reported problem on this model year.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | — | 1,600 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 $300–$1,200 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, every year of the Chevrolet Equinox
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.
Gmcacupdate@gm.com may 25, 2018, 8:42 am to me email id# t1em01cac (do not delete/alter this line) ================================================== dear joey, thank you for calling chevrolet with regard to your 2018 chevrolet equinox. For your reference, your case number from our conversation today is 8-4188760340. I appreciate the opportunity to assist you. Chevrolet customer assistance chevrolet has done nothing to fix this issue. I have run out of gas because you cannot trust the fuel gauge. It will normally take 10 gallons to fill a tank that holds 15 gallons and it shows empty.
Vehicle fuel gauge does not accurately register the amount of fuel in fuel tank. Will not register "full" even when fuel is flowing out of filler tube. When gauge begins to register "empty" and distance remaining approaches "0", it take less than 10 gallons to fill the 15 gallon tank. This creates the situation where the driver potentially drives the vehicle on remaining fuel and then runs out because driver is unable to determine actual quantity of fuel remaining. This has potential to create a hazardous situation if it occurs on a congested freeway/interstate, or a dire situation if it occurs in an unpopulated area removed from available gas stations. It creates an uncertain situation here in west texas where there are large stretches of highway between communities. Chevrolet/gm has been aware of the problem since july 2017 and has stated that the fuel tank must be dropped and fuel sensor reseated or replaced, yet they are doing nothing to act upon that corrective action. I have opened two customer cases with chevrolet in an attempt to resolve, and each time the cases are closed with comment that "...engineers are working...."
Also reported on the 2018 Chevrolet Equinox
Other brake problem
Other engine problem
Other powertrain problem
Other electrical problem
Loss of braking
Sunroof failure or glass breakage
How far this goes
This page is kept out of search results because 3 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 3 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 fuel gauge or level sensor failure happen on the 2018 Chevrolet Equinox?
Across 2 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 1,600 miles. A quarter were filed before — and a quarter after —. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.
How common is fuel gauge or level sensor failure on the 2018 Chevrolet Equinox?
3 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 0.4 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