Looking to add a new Equinox to the family V6 vs 4 cyl

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Mountaineer304

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Hey what's up everyone first time posting, New member lol..The fiancée and I are going to be adding a used Equinox to our family lineup.. But we're having some issues deciding on engines and trims.. AWD is an absolute must.. I've narrowed our choices down to two options a 2017 LT with 42k with a 2.4 awd or a 2014 ltz with the 3.6 v6 and 67k.. I have a family of four and travel freeway in Pittsburgh and Columbus a lot.. I don't wanna fall flat on my face when trying to pass vehicles on the freeways.. Any insight would be appreciated
 

rockchalk6

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V6 only and beware of all the inherent engine problems with certain years. It can be a nightmare.
 

TARDIS B

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Hey what's up everyone first time posting, New member lol..The fiancée and I are going to be adding a used Equinox to our family lineup.. But we're having some issues deciding on engines and trims.. AWD is an absolute must.. I've narrowed our choices down to two options a 2017 LT with 42k with a 2.4 awd or a 2014 ltz with the 3.6 v6 and 67k.. I have a family of four and travel freeway in Pittsburgh and Columbus a lot.. I don't wanna fall flat on my face when trying to pass vehicles on the freeways.. Any insight would be appreciated
Don't, especially don't get a 2.4L 4cyl. My wife's 2015 started burning oil. This year it was burning over a quart every 600 miles. It had only 115K miles. We traded it for a Toyota RAV4. Been chevy people our whole lives but never again.
 

Hercule08

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Hey what's up everyone first time posting, New member lol..The fiancée and I are going to be adding a used Equinox to our family lineup.. But we're having some issues deciding on engines and trims.. AWD is an absolute must.. I've narrowed our choices down to two options a 2017 LT with 42k with a 2.4 awd or a 2014 ltz with the 3.6 v6 and 67k.. I have a family of four and travel freeway in Pittsburgh and Columbus a lot.. I don't wanna fall flat on my face when trying to pass vehicles on the freeways.. Any insight would be appreciated
My first Chevrolet EVER was a 2010 Equinox LT 3.6. I loved the car for the first two years and then it all went south. Rusting front quarter panels at 78k miles. Replaced two timing chains. Catalytic converter went out at 82k miles. A/c condenser went kaput. Rusting rocker panels at 90k miles. My brother owns a 2011 he purchased new with the same rust issues. When I finally got rid of that POS at 100k miles my transmission was slipping. Bought a 2015 Lexus RX350 with 35k miles. Best vehicle I’ve ever owned. I’ve owned it for four years and not one problem. NEVER EVER another Chevy. Absolute junk.
 

Autoworker 74

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Hey what's up everyone first time posting, New member lol..The fiancée and I are going to be adding a used Equinox to our family lineup.. But we're having some issues deciding on engines and trims.. AWD is an absolute must.. I've narrowed our choices down to two options a 2017 LT with 42k with a 2.4 awd or a 2014 ltz with the 3.6 v6 and 67k.. I have a family of four and travel freeway in Pittsburgh and Columbus a lot.. I don't wanna fall flat on my face when trying to pass vehicles on the freeways.. Any insight would be appreciated
 
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i'm on me 2nd Equinox LT 4cyl Turbo 2019, first was a 2011 4cyl that had a noisy Cam an used oil. The Turbo is a real hotrod, but if you be hauiling 4 WD an lotsa super slab time by all means follow other folks recs an go V6.
 

mpsawchuk

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Hey what's up everyone first time posting, New member lol..The fiancée and I are going to be adding a used Equinox to our family lineup.. But we're having some issues deciding on engines and trims.. AWD is an absolute must.. I've narrowed our choices down to two options a 2017 LT with 42k with a 2.4 awd or a 2014 ltz with the 3.6 v6 and 67k.. I have a family of four and travel freeway in Pittsburgh and Columbus a lot.. I don't wanna fall flat on my face when trying to pass vehicles on the freeways.. Any insight would be appreciated
I've had two in the 2006-2008 range and both had the 3.4L v6 (this is the same 3.4L v6 Acura and Honda produced for the Saturn VUE) the 2006 consumed a little oil (about a quart between oil changes and it lasted 200,000+ miles before I sold it) that was so I could get the 2008 Pontiac Torrent (same Chiltons manual for both 😁).
I love the V6- a 4 cylinder (don't care how big of a turbo you put on it) doesn't feel like enough power on the highway and my mom confirmed that when she purchased a 4 cylinder Terrain (and it was a dog, IMHO).
 

Saltycracker

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Hey what's up everyone first time posting, New member lol..The fiancée and I are going to be adding a used Equinox to our family lineup.. But we're having some issues deciding on engines and trims.. AWD is an absolute must.. I've narrowed our choices down to two options a 2017 LT with 42k with a 2.4 awd or a 2014 ltz with the 3.6 v6 and 67k.. I have a family of four and travel freeway in Pittsburgh and Columbus a lot.. I don't wanna fall flat on my face when trying to pass vehicles on the freeways.. Any insight would be appreciated
My first Equinox is a 2018 Premier 2.0T so I cannot comment reliably on later models. What I can say is the benefit of the 4 cyl over the 6 cyl is obviously fuel economy and I4 engines will just by design outlast a v6 by many miles.
 

mpsawchuk

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My first Equinox is a 2018 Premier 2.0T so I cannot comment reliably on later models. What I can say is the benefit of the 4 cyl over the 6 cyl is obviously fuel economy and I4 engines will just by design outlast a v6 by many miles.
Another option available in 2018 was the 4 cylinder duramax diesel. There's a handful on cars.com - diesel may be the best of both worlds for reliability and fuel economy. (I'm still in the V6 camp though ;-)
 

Mountaineer304

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I went and looked at the 2014 ltz today lots of power little to no rust and low miles I absolutely love the v6 but I had a couple hard down shifts when coming to a stop and didn't buy it.. I'm trying to buy something with cash in thr 10-15k range
 

Mountaineer304

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I've had two in the 2006-2008 range and both had the 3.4L v6 (this is the same 3.4L v6 Acura and Honda produced for the Saturn VUE) the 2006 consumed a little oil (about a quart between oil changes and it lasted 200,000+ miles before I sold it) that was so I could get the 2008 Pontiac Torrent (same Chiltons manual for both 😁).
I love the V6- a 4 cylinder (don't care how big of a turbo you put on it) doesn't feel like enough power on the highway and my mom confirmed that when she purchased a 4 cylinder Terrain (and it was a dog, IMHO).
Yeah the fiancées sister just got a 13 terrain with the 2.4 it's a turd
 

gpart

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Hey what's up everyone first time posting, New member lol..The fiancée and I are going to be adding a used Equinox to our family lineup.. But we're having some issues deciding on engines and trims.. AWD is an absolute must.. I've narrowed our choices down to two options a 2017 LT with 42k with a 2.4 awd or a 2014 ltz with the 3.6 v6 and 67k.. I have a family of four and travel freeway in Pittsburgh and Columbus a lot.. I don't wanna fall flat on my face when trying to pass vehicles on the freeways.. Any insight would be appreciated
What is your budget?
 

Starfire

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My first Chevrolet EVER was a 2010 Equinox LT 3.6. I loved the car for the first two years and then it all went south. Rusting front quarter panels at 78k miles. Replaced two timing chains. Catalytic converter went out at 82k miles. A/c condenser went kaput. Rusting rocker panels at 90k miles. My brother owns a 2011 he purchased new with the same rust issues. When I finally got rid of that POS at 100k miles my transmission was slipping. Bought a 2015 Lexus RX350 with 35k miles. Best vehicle I’ve ever owned. I’ve owned it for four years and not one problem. NEVER EVER another Chevy. Absolute junk.
Interesting. I bought a 2010 Equinox new, LT 3.6. Owned it until I sold it in 2018, no rust, no issues. Never did anything to it but oil changes and tire rotations. I bought my sister's 2010 Terrain V-6 SLT AWD from her in 2014, still have it, no rust, the only thing that has gone wrong with it is I had to replace the liftgate switch for the power liftgate, the air conditioning went out a year ago, not sure why, and the passenger seat heater doesn't work anymore. I'd say that's pretty good for an 11 year old car. It's got 140,000 miles on it and both my sister and I live in Michigan.
 

D MOYES

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Hey what's up everyone first time posting, New member lol..The fiancée and I are going to be adding a used Equinox to our family lineup.. But we're having some issues deciding on engines and trims.. AWD is an absolute must.. I've narrowed our choices down to two options a 2017 LT with 42k with a 2.4 awd or a 2014 ltz with the 3.6 v6 and 67k.. I have a family of four and travel freeway in Pittsburgh and Columbus a lot.. I don't wanna fall flat on my face when trying to pass vehicles on the freeways.. Any insight would be appreciated
Do not get the 4 cylinder. These engines use excessive amounts of oil and lose significant power over time. My daughter bought a 2011 GMC Terrain new. It always used a quart of oil in less than 2000 miles and by 36000 miles it had become so sluggish that getting on the freeway was dangerous. She traded it in. Then she started receiving multiple letters from lemon law attorneys here in California wanting sue GM to buy back the Terrain for the common 4 cylinder engine problems of loss of power and oil consumption.
 

herbf56

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My first Chevrolet EVER was a 2010 Equinox LT 3.6. I loved the car for the first two years and then it all went south. Rusting front quarter panels at 78k miles. Replaced two timing chains. Catalytic converter went out at 82k miles. A/c condenser went kaput. Rusting rocker panels at 90k miles. My brother owns a 2011 he purchased new with the same rust issues. When I finally got rid of that POS at 100k miles my transmission was slipping. Bought a 2015 Lexus RX350 with 35k miles. Best vehicle I’ve ever owned. I’ve owned it for four years and not one problem. NEVER EVER another Chevy. Absolute junk.
Hi there. I bought my Equinox brand new in 2014. At that time I opted for the 4 cylinder, due to gas mileage and all that. Since then, I wished I would have settled for the 6 cylinder. The 4 cylinder has some issues, let me explain. It is okay for everyday use, however it lacks power, very noticeable when trying to merge on to a highway or pass another vehicle. The biggest issue, is the problems with maintenance. They have this issue with the exhaust manifold, whereby it decides to crack, straight down the center. Very expensive fix ( had mine done about 8 month ago), almost $900, that includes replacing of the O2 sensor, by default they happen to seize in the exhaust manifold. Secondly and I shudder to think about it, is the problem with the water pump. You might as well be driving a BMW. The engineers at GM decided to place it at the back of the engine, by the fire wall and running off the timing chain! It can not be replaced by an owner that is mechanically inclined, due to the fact, that you need a special tool, to keep the timing chain in place while removing the water pump. Total cost for water pump replacement, from $1800 to $2200.
So, keep that in mind. I am a maintenance nut, change my oil and filters and all that and hope that my efforts will prolong the engine, but as stated, I would opt for the V6 engine. Lower maintenance cost and more Oomp when you need it on the highway. Also, it puzzles me, that GM is aware of the issues with the exhaust manifold and the water pump. The exhaust manifold is a very common problem. Yet, they have refused to issue a recall. Take that, for what it's worth. Reminds me of the Ford Pinto debacle in the 1970s, where a $3.50 gas tank hanger would have prevented the Pinto from turning in to an incinerator when getting rear ended (Google that}, mind boggling indeed. So, this is my 2 cents worth.
Know, that I do love my Equinox, has all wheel drive option, that has helped me in some very bad weather situations. It will track like a tank even in deep and wet snow. It is roomy and very comfortable. The large rear hatch allows the hauling of some ungainly items.
 

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