Gas Recirculation Valve (egr Valve) problems of the 2018 Chevrolet Equinox

While driving on a county highway, the service brake assist light appeared. Upon braking, brakes were extremely hard (like pushing on a brick) to stop. After attempting to brake several times and finally getting stopped, I turned off the vehicle. Upon attempting to restart, car failed to start. Towed from holstein iowa to milford, iowa late on a Friday. Next morning, dealer in spirit lake iowa was contacted. A 2nd tow to the dealer happened on Saturday. Dealer briefly looked at it and stated it was a camshaft actuator or sensor and they would get to it after the holiday weekend. The gave me a rental to get home (5 hrs south) however, I am still paying on a uhaul trailer rental as the rental van did not have towing capabilities. Tow 1 was $250 and tow 2 was $125. Rental is $50 per day. Parts/labor is expected to be a little over $2200 plus the van rental, plus the uhaul trailer extra days rental, plus the gas to go back and get the vehicle and bring it home with the uhaul trailer. Dealer was advised by me to look at the vacuum pump on tue a. M. Tue p. M. Dealer called back. Verified vacuum pump issue and stated it was defective and that it disintegrated. It was also sitting on the front dual overhead exhaust and that was attached to the camshaft exhaust. Both of those broke away as well. Need to replace those and the timing chain with an oil change to ensure no metal remains in the engine. Gm/chevy should be fixing this at no cost plus paying for the towing charges, extra rentals, and gas. Not having brakes is a major safety issue and putting my life, my family's life and the life of people on the road around us is not what I consider a good product. Photos from the dealer will be asked for, especially the vacuum pump. I will promptly forward bills as soon as they arrive.

My 2018 chevy Equinox with the 1. 5l turbo engine fails to shift into 6th gear when the ambient temperature is below 14 degrees fahrenheit. I have brought the car back to the dealer several times for this problem. The first response I got was "this is normal for this vehicle, just drive it as normal". Where I live the temperature is very often below 14 degrees in January and February. Driving at hwy speeds, the engine is often running 3400 rpm or higher locked in 5th gear. I have driven thousands of miles this winter in this condition. This is not normal to me, and the increased fuel consumption, engine noise and wear on the vehicle are not acceptable to me. In addition I was told by dealer service, that 6th gear would return as soon as the temperature rose above 14 degrees. It did not return until the temperature was above 32 degrees. Another trip back to the dealer, and they replaced the "charged air cooler". This worked only until the temperature dropped below 14 degrees again. Obviously this is not a fix. I had filed an online complaint with gm, and was shortly upgraded to a "senior customer service consultant". This consultant aided in the replacement of the cooler, but never followed up with me. When I called back to tell them the problem was not fixed, I was told my case was closed. Great service there gm. Close the complaint without even talking to the consumer. My take on this after the last 2 months of issues, is that gm knew about this problem before the vehicle was released. The transmission is programmed not to shift into top gear below 14 degrees as an inept attempt to prevent condensation from freezing in the "charged air cooler". Even though gm knew this before they sold the vehicle in northern climates, they did not inform the buyers of this problem. This will potentially affect all gm vehicles with either the 1. 4 or 1. 5l gas engine and 6 spd. Trannny.