Product Review: 2015 Chevrolet Equinox

Is your Equinox evil?  I think mine might be.

I drove over to a big Jim Ellis dealership in Atlanta a few weeks ago and purchased a used 2015 Chevy Equinox.

 

Unfortunately, I hate it. This car rates a "D," at best.

The things that are important to me in a car are stability, usability, enjoyment, and safety.  Here's how the 2015 Chevrolet Equinox rates in my book.

Stability

This car drives like a rollerskate.  To be fair, not everyone agrees with me and my trade-in was a 6 cylinder Jeep Liberty with great pick-up and excellent power steering and stability, so to compare may not be entirely fair.  However, with the Equinox's stability and traction control features, I expected a lot more control.  It drifts to the right, bumps in the road send me bouncing all over my lane, and I constantly feel like I have to have a death grip on the steering wheel because the wheel doesn't seem to straighten back out very quickly after a turn.  When I returned to ask about maybe getting a different car, the dealership suggested their service department fix the air pressure in the tires (since they hadn't done that very basic thing before I bought the car).  It still drives like a rollerskate.

Luckily, a very nice salesman over at Heyward Allen Auto in Athens suggested an alignment.  I appreciate his advice and will try that, next.

Usability

I asked for a trailer hitch and a rubber mat for the storage area, but I guess that was too much to ask because those things don't seem to exist in Atlanta unless the buyer coughs up another several hundred dollars. AWD, apparently, is also not available.  In other words, the three features that would make this car the most usable for me were unavailable.  I like to work in my yard, and my yard needs a lot of work, so having a way to haul supplies and equipment when necessary is important to me.  I also intend on driving north, which means snow.  I guess I will just keep my fingers crossed.

By the by, if anyone can sell me a Canyon with 24,000 or so miles on it, I'd be interested.

Enjoyment

All in all, the sound of the tarp shifting and shaking in the back in lieu of the rubber mat won't be as bad as the sound of the dashboard rattling when the car is in Economy mode.  Not that the rattling bothers the voice controls that are supposed to be so "enjoyable."  The car can't understand what I'm saying, regardless.  The only response I can get when I speak is that there is too much background noise.  The most annoying thing about this car is that I cannot wear my hair up, which I do every day, because the headrest juts so far forward it pushes my head and bumps my ponytail or bun as I drive. Much like a child on an airplane, it's trying to see how far it can go before I toss it out the window.

On the other hand, I did get a few free months of XM, so I can listen to Bluegrass Junction to my heart's content.  Furthermore, once in a while Siri can understand me, so I can make calls when she is in the mood.  Lastly, I get great enjoyment out of being able to see my average and best gas mileage on my dashboard and the variations in my tire pressure.  My current average is 28 MPG.  My current tire pressure is 34, 37, 36, and 38.

Safety

Most importantly, this car's score is saved by its safety features.  It has lots of airbags to offset the multitude of blind spots, OnStar services, and seatbelts that cut into my neck and armpit areas.

Other than that, I have smacked my head twice while putting things in the backseat, and I have smacked my knees and shins each time I have gotten in or out of the passenger seat.  Lastly, the MyLink screen shines in my face at all times, and from what I can tell, there is no way to turn it off. Please, if you know how to turn it off, please tell me.  This car didn't come with a manual, and this screen is extremely distracting when it's dark outside, which is 50% of the time  I am driving.

Final Score

Don't get me wrong, it's my own fault I bought this car (in too much of a hurry, apparently) and not the car I tested while I was in Michigan. I also think it worth noting that the salesman at Jim Ellis who sold me the car was very nice and very personable.  In the end, I just really hate this car and needed to take a moment to vent my spleen.  As it stands, I am stuck with this car until a tree crushes it (while no one is in the car), or until I can find something reasonably priced to trade.



Copyright 2016 by Amy Lynn Hess, resentful owner of a P.O.S. Equinox.