Equinox owner satisfaction

[justinp01]

I am thinking about buying a new '06 Equinox Awd. What do you guys think? Are they a good deal for 20k?

Some people say the milage is horrible, some say it is alright. Maybe it depends on if you have Awd.

Any comments that anyone has would be grealty appreciated....

[BlenderWizard]

I am in the same situation, and I ould also like to know.

[porrsher]

We have two in my household, my wife bought an 05 LT with all the toys except AWD and soon after she purchased hers my employer furnished me with an 06 LT also w/o the AWD. I drive about 1k miles a week and can say that as far as mileage I can easily average about 25-27 mpg when doing 70-72 on the hwy. anything more than that and I get about 20 mpg at 80 mph. I have towed with my wife's equinox a small utility trailer +/- 2000 pounds and where it didn't totally weight the vehicle down I did feel the extra load. Then again I am used to towing the same load with my Jeep Grand Cherokee with the 5.2 L V8 where I really can't feel that load. Her equinox she averages about 300 miles per tank on a hwy and city combination. Both of us along with every equinox driver I have met hates the emergency brake location. It is a terrible design on account that it is located between the front seats closer to the driver's seat underneath the pull out cupholder, which means that to engange the parking brake the driver's cup in the cupholder will come out of the cupholder. (hope I explained that right) .
The ride is a comfortable one in my 1k + weekly miles, quite for a crossover, smooth and good visibility of the road. Hope this helps.

[BlenderWizard]

Meh... we just bought an 07

[B.A.F.]

We have our Equinox since 7/05. It is an AWD lt model with no additional equipment. Bought it that way because it has everything you need. Only three complaints.1)Gas tank is too small, only 16 gallons. Seems like it is sucking up gas but half tank is only 7 or 8 gallons. 2)Visibility backing up sucks. Between the rear head rests and the shape of the vehicle, it is almost impossible to judge the rear of the car. 3)Minor complaint:Electric Power steering has very little road feel.
Other than the 3 complaints, we are very satisfied. Very comfortable ride and seating. Sliding rear seat is fantastic. With seat in rearmost position, legroom is like the back seat of an old Checker cab. Fuel mileage is good on open road. Locally, our traffic is so bad that any car drinks gas. Neveer bothered to check local mileage. Quality, fit and finish of car is excellent, havn't been back to dealeer for anything. I would buy another one.

[ChevyRidinLow]

The Equinox is GREAT!!!! my parents have two...an 05 ls awd and an 06 ls awd.

[klinn]

After leasing an 02 Trailblazer, we traded and got an 06 LT front drive only. Compared to the trailblazer, the Equinox has more interior leg room in the rear seat, I think it is faster accelerating, and the trailblazer has poor gas mileage. We bought it 2/06 and it now has 15k miles and besides regular maint. only been to dealer one time for brake pulsation (14k miles ago). My wife loves it better that the trailblazer. We would definately purchase another!

Took it on a trip last summer and was very impressed. Don't remember the exact fuel mileage, but far better than I could have hoped. I added the trailering package after I bought it and it has plenty of power for what the hitch can handle. No regrets. Talk to your dealer and see if they will let you have it for the whole weekend. If you like it after a day of two, you will like it in your driveway permanently.

[porrsher]

Klinn,
Where I agree with most of what you stated, as far as the hitch power, that is a complete fabrication and you know it. Lets face it, the equinox is a crossover with plenty of leg room, but far from an SUV. Anyone looking to tow anything with an Equinox should first tow before buying as it lacks the power. I pulled a boat scaled at 2200 LBs and it did not impress me one bit often strugling and lets not discuss the comming up from the wet ramp with front wheel drive. I would hate to go for the rated 3500 lbs that it is supposed to pull.

[klinn]

Originally Posted by porrsher

Klinn,
Where I agree with most of what you stated, as far as the hitch power, that is a complete fabrication and you know it. Lets face it, the equinox is a crossover with plenty of leg room, but far from an SUV. Anyone looking to tow anything with an Equinox should first tow before buying as it lacks the power. I pulled a boat scaled at 2200 LBs and it did not impress me one bit often strugling and lets not discuss the comming up from the wet ramp with front wheel drive. I would hate to go for the rated 3500 lbs that it is supposed to pull.

Geez, didn't know a personal opinion would be considered a complete fabrication. I personally think ALL hitch ratings are over rated. As far as the rating on an Equinox, I have'e looked it up, but if it is 3500#, then I wouldn't tow over 2000#, 2500# max. Again, this is a personal preference and opinion. If you are concerned about pulling up a wet ramp, purchase the AWD version. I don't care what vehicle you purchase, or how much it is rated to tow, when you put a load over 50% of the rating it WILL have an affect on how the vehicle drives. Using the same ratio of your 2200# boat, put a 7500# on a truck made to pull 12000#, and I wouldn't be impressed either. Now to mention you can't expect it to drive the same. Anyway, this thread and many others like it are opinions and personal preferenses. If you want to compare real life facts, investigate and make your own opinions, but as previous stated, I feel like the Equinox I purchased tows what I want safely, and has plenty of power for what I want it to do. If you feel that strongly, then I would not purchase one if I were you.

[porrsher]

Fabrication, perhaps too strong a word...! Don't take it too personally. As you stated this as named is a forum to exchange ideas, opinions and experiences to name a few. Putting that aside, now if we can figure out what's up with that emergency brake location. Deciding wether to have a cup or apply the hand brake....

[termitetrooper]

Originally Posted by justinp01

I am thinking about buying a new '06 Equinox Awd. What do you guys think? Are they a good deal for 20k?

Some people say the milage is horrible, some say it is alright. Maybe it depends on if you have Awd.

Any comments that anyone has would be grealty appreciated....

I do not have the all wheel drive model but the equinox is one heck of a vehicle I love mine and havent had a lick of problems out of it. and the gas mileage is very good it seem to get better as you break it in.