The 2008 model was the first generation to receive several important upgrades, making this a year to keep an eye on.

The most common issue the last two from the first generation had was engine overheating, which cost consumers around $700 to fix. These still had some issues but were more reliable on average than the previous three years of the first generation. If you are set on going the first generation to save money or just based on the model preference, you should definitely focus on the 20 model years. Vehicles will naturally have some issues and recalls occasionally, but as a whole, the first few years of the first generation should be avoided for safety and overall consumer satisfaction issues. This appears to be a one-off issue, as it only impacted the 2007 model year. The 2007 model had a brief recall for faulty passenger airbag sensors, which is one of the few models in its family history to have this problem. Not only will the occupants be chilly, but the windshield could have issues defrosting, posing a safety risk. The 2005-2007 Equinox models had several complaints regarding a malfunctioning heater. On top of the safety concerns, these also didn’t fare great for passenger friendliness. Take a look - some of the best used SUVs have gone mostly overlooked or forgotten. We looked into price, reliability, features, and more to create this list of the best used SUVs under $10k on the market today. With safety being one of the most significant factors in a new car purchase, if you’re searching for a family car, the 2005-2007 Equinox model years are ones to avoid. Although the back passenger seats performed well, the front passenger seats did not. Right from the jump, these model years performed poorly in the IIHS crash test in both the side and head restraints & seat categories, and it earned a mediocre to a below-average rating. Equinox Models to Avoid: First-Generation 2005-2007 Problems:Īs a first-generation vehicle, the 2005-2007 models had their fair share of issues. It should be noted that none of these should be considered terrible vehicles, as every make and model has its pros and cons. It was, however, entering one of the most competitive segments of the market, the crowded small crossover SUV segment.

It was developed to replace a few aging SUVs in the Chevy family and set itself apart from the Blazer by offering all-wheel drive, as opposed to the Blazer’s rear-wheel drive.įor the 2005 model year, the Chevy Equinox was introduced as a successor for the famous Blazer and Tracker SUVs. Does this new styling mean there are specific Equinox model years to avoid?īefore the inception of the Equinox, plenty of other cars and SUVs used the unibody construction, but this was the first Chevy SUV to do so. This basically means the frame and body were built as one. It was a first, as all Chevy SUVs models were designed with a body-on-frame construction, and the Equinox was the first to have the body and the frame be built as two independent entities in body-on-frame construction. The Equinox first debuted in showrooms back in 2005 and has seen pretty consistent success over the years as a popular crossover SUV.

Chevy equinox