Seat Belt Problems of Chevrolet Equinox - part 1

We were in a 9car pile up. Front and back and drivers side were hit and severely damaged. Airbags did not deploy. After the accident smoke was seen coming from the sides of the car where the seat belts come out of. Both front and back were white puffs of smoke from all four seatbelts. The front passenger seatbelt failed to tighten on impact as all the other seatbelts did. Passenger was thrown about the front area, hitting multiple parts of the body. Car is currently in a tow lot. Insurance is going to inspect it.

See all problems of the 2020 Chevrolet Equinox 🔎.

Since may 2025, my 2025 Chevrolet Equinox ev has experienced repeated electronic malfunctions with the central display and instrument cluster. The screens have frozen, flickered, and rebooted multiple times while driving. On one occasion at approximately 75 mph, the entire display and instrument panel shut down and did not return for about two minutes. The vehicle continued to respond to steering, brakes, and propulsion, but I was driving completely blind with no speedometer, warnings, or navigation. I slowed down and exited the highway to give myself space and carefully made it home. This was extremely stressful and left me concerned for my safety and my family’s safety. In another incident while stopped at a traffic light, the system froze while music was playing and the vehicle became unresponsive. It only restarted after I shifted into park and restarted the car. The “buckle to drive” safety feature has also failed twice. This feature was enabled, but the vehicle allowed me to shift into drive without the seatbelt engaged. In the most recent case, I drove for about five minutes before the reminder appeared. I have video evidence of this failure. In July 2025, the vehicle lost all connectivity (onstar, gps, and remote functions). This issue was eventually fixed, but I had to drive for several weeks without these features while waiting for a backordered part. The vehicle has been at the dealer since July 14, 2025. Many internal components have already been replaced, and one part is still on backorder. There were no warning lamps or error messages before the failures occurred. I am not confident that these problems have truly been resolved, because if such issues can happen with an extremely new vehicle, it raises serious concerns about what to expect from the long-term reliability and safety under warranty.

The cable that holds the seat belt to the frame of the car severed in half. We are ordering a new cable and fixing it, but I have never heard of this before. I will attach a photo below. We have had the car for a really long time.

See all problems of the 2017 Chevrolet Equinox 🔎.

The driver's side seat belt would only extend a few inches so I was not able to pull it across my body and latch it. Until this happened, there was no prior indication that the seat belt was about to fail. Fortunately, this happened at home so I was not stranded. Although the vehicle is a 2019 model year, it has barely been used and is in excellent, clean condition. I tried to free the mechanism myself, but was unable to do so. I ended up calling a mobile mechanic who also tried freeing up the mechanism and was unable to do so. The entire seat belt mechanism had to be replaced. I was very surprised that gm did not cover the cost of replacing this essential (and legally required) safety device, which I believe failed due to a manufacturing defect. (I have over 35 years experience as an automotive reliability/test engineer. ) I have the original malfunctioning part in my possession if it is useful to your investigation. Thank you.

See all problems of the 2019 Chevrolet Equinox 🔎.

My son was just in his car seat with the seat belt as an extra layer of protection and the seat belt wouldn’t retract. My son was stuck. Thank god it wasn’t an accident. Passenger side back seat belt. This needs to be dealt with. It took me 30 mins because I was trying to get it to retract and it started to squeeze my baby legs. I did take a video. It only lets me upload photos. Please contact me.

My wife drove her car to arizona from idaho in January 2024. I flew down from idaho with my 6 year old grandson last week and when she picked us up from the airport, I attempted to buckle my grandson into the rear seats and found both seat belts, left and right rear to be broken and unusable. The seat belts would not retract at all when pulled out of the normal position. We had to buckle my grandson in the middle position since it was the only working rear belt. Prior to January 2024 we routinely used these seat belts to fasten two car seats in the back seat so I know that they were in good working condition prior to that time. It appears to me that there must be a defect in these belts since they both stopped working at the same time. We had it checked out at friendly auto center in mesa, arizona and they said that the seat belt mechanisms both needed to be replaced.

Front impact crash with two deer, rear seatbelt came unlatched causing car seat to fly into the front seat and the front seat belt did not lock nor did the airbags go off. No sensors alerted.

See all problems of the 2023 Chevrolet Equinox 🔎.

The contact leased a 2021 Chevrolet Equinox. The contact stated that while driving approximately 30-35 mph, making a right turn going across an intersection and collided with a 2012 Ford focus. The brakes were applied, but the response was too slow. There were no warning lights illuminated. The air bags deployed. The vehicle was filled with smoke. The driver's side front door failed to open. The fire department was on the scene, but there were no reported fire. A police report was filed. The vehicle was towed to a towing lot. The air bag struck the driver in the chest. The contact sustained internal bruising, including bruising on her abdomen and on her arms. The driver was taken to the hospital, where medical attention was provided. The vehicle was towed to the local dealer body shop, where it was discovered that the failure was due to the seat belts not engaging. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure mileage was approximately 11,000.

See all problems of the 2021 Chevrolet Equinox 🔎.

Was in a small accident the air bags never deployed but the seat belts locked saying that I needed to service my air bag system. As I did. The seat belts are no longer locked but the light is still on and the car is telling me to servic we the airbag system.

See all problems of the 2016 Chevrolet Equinox 🔎.

The contact owns a 2021 Chevrolet Equinox. The contact stated while approaching a stop light, the vehicle behind the contact was rear ended by another vehicle causing the vehicle behind the contact to rear end the contact’s vehicle, causing minor damages to the rear end of the contact's vehicle. The contact stated that the vehicle behind the contact had major damages. When the contact was rear ended the seat belt on the driver side did not retract at the point of impact, causing the contact to launch forward and struck sun visor with his head that the contact had seek medical attention for neck pain and for headaches. The contact was unsure if anyone else was injured or if a police report was filed. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure mileage was 88,365.

I slammed on the brakes to avoid an accident and the seatbelt did not catch me. The accident did occur and made my jaw and chin area hit the steering wheel and airbag.

See all problems of the 2022 Chevrolet Equinox 🔎.

The contact owns a 2015 Chevrolet Equinox. The contact stated while attempting to pull the front driver’s side seat belt to fasten the seat belt, the seat belt seized not allowing the seat belt to retract. The vehicle was taken to the dealer and the dealer stated that the seat belt needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was contacted and notified of the failure but provided no assistance. The failure mileage was 55,000.

See all problems of the 2015 Chevrolet Equinox 🔎.

When buckled, the part of the seat belt buckle where the lap belt slides through the actual buckle part becomes binding and has to be manual pushed through the buckle in order to move your hips when seated. This issue has absolutely nothing to do with the shoulder part of the belt or the belt not retracting. It is solely an issue with the plastic buckle and the belt not sliding through it when seated. This is a safety issue because the lap belt becomes binding while seated. If the driver needs to shift in the seat, he must pull the shoulder belt out to create give in the belt and then use both hands to manually feed the belt through the buckle. This is unsafe when driving for obvious reasons if the driver is unable to use any hands on the steering wheel. If the driver doesn't continuously adjust the belt in this way, it becomes so tight across the hips that it causes discomfort and redness on the skin and abrasions if the vehicle turns wide or breaks quickly. This intense discomfort makes me avoid wearing my seatbelt which causes obvious risk or poses a risk to myself and other drivers if I need to take both hands off the wheel to adjust it while driving. The front passenger seat belt has the same issue. I began to notice this issue about 6 months ago and have taken the vehicle to a dealer/service center 3 times without any recourse other than being offered the opportunity to replace the entire seat belt system for $700 each.

See all problems of the 2018 Chevrolet Equinox 🔎.

When retracting the driver front seat belt a “binding or grinding” noise is present when the belt unspools to be attached around the driver. After buckling and movement in the driver’s seat the noise is still present. The belt appears to retract but the noise is still present.

The seatbelt tensioner I believe is what is called is broke. I am not sure how it happened but when it was noticed I took it to dealership in the town we were in and he looked up the part for me and explained there was 10 yr kansas seat belt warranty on it. Well come to find out my warranty expired Feb. And no dealership or even gm will help replace it. So if I'm in an accident it will most likely fail. I am a single mom with a special needs child that has to be taken to a specialist 3 hrs away. It is currently being held together by electrical tape but it looks like the wires in the thing failed.

See all problems of the 2012 Chevrolet Equinox 🔎.

The driver's side seat belt was released, evidently striking a hard object, and damaged so that it is not operable. The plastic on the closure was shattered and the spring is gone. I have been to the dealer, chevy exchange in lake bluff, IL. , and was told by the service advisor, rick eggan, that it will cost over $400. To repair and replace the entire mechanism. Meanwhile, I cannot use the seat belt since I cannot release it once it is locked in place.

See all problems of the 2011 Chevrolet Equinox 🔎.

In February 26, 2022, my wife was driving and I was in passenger seat. At approximately 2123 hours, we came over a slight hill and hit a cow at 70 miles an hour on state highway 95 between academy, texas and temple, texas. Our airbags did not deploy and my seatbelt malfunctioned as I hit my head on dash.

Accident April 26, 2021 where our vehicle was hit "straight on front left" and seat belt tensioner did not restrain the passenger & "air bag did not deploy". Request edr (event data recorder) be scanned to determine what happened and how the car systems functioned or did not function properly. Driver suffered head trauma as a result of the accident. Please advise on action needed to follow up on this malfunction.

See all problems of the 2010 Chevrolet Equinox 🔎.

Air bag service light goes on when front passenger buckles up, if passenger unbuckles light disappears, it happens while driving, parked, backing up, all speed, all weather conditions, any roads. It looks the seatbelt activate that service light . I bought the car used 11/28/20 and still have dmv warranty 60 days, however stephen automall centre, bristol CT doesn't honor the warranty!.

On Dec 31, 2020 I struck a deer on a county rd going approx 45mph. The impact was so hard the drive train was shoved into the car and the radiator exploded and the entire front passenger side was destroyed. Neither pass. Nor drivers side doors would open. The car is a total loss yet the airbags never deployed throughout the entire vehicle but you could see a white powdery smoke and it smell as if they did and the car now says service airbags. Also the driver and passenger side seat belt never retracted back and my daughter and I were both injured as I was slammed into the steering wheel suffering damage to my chest and face and her head/ face bounced off the dash due to the air bags not deploying and the seatbelts not working. We are lucky we weren't killed as the entire front end of the vehicle, engine included was pushed to the inside of the car. We were going to look into getting us another Equinox as I had just had this one for about seven months but I absolutely loved it but after reading all these reports that are identical to ours as far as seatbelts and airbags go and realizing this is a very common thing with 2015 Equinox and after this happening to us it's obvious this vehicle is not safe to drive or at least not safe to get into an accident with and it sounds like there needs to be a recall but yet that hasn't happened. I have read hundreds of reports exactly like this one. I'm very disappointed in chevy for letting this continually happen with no recall or warning to your customers. . A police report was filed on this and injuries did occur. The police officer and the wrecker driver said they've never seen a deer do so much damage to a vehicle before and the officer could not believe that the airbags did not deploy on us and said that we most definitely need to check into it because he would assume that they were recalled but here we are and they're not.

Vehicle is able to drive while key is out of ignition when engine is already running. Seat belt disconnects randomly. Vehicle can be open with a nickel coin. Ecu triggers warning lights randomly.

See all problems of the 2005 Chevrolet Equinox 🔎.

Just bought a 2010 chevy equonox ltz and I couldn't get the seat belt latched. This model of the Equinox isnt any better than my 07 Equinox as far as big large or obese persons as I am, getting the seat belt to latch behind me. It tore the skin off my knuckle and o still couldnt get it latched. I just test drove it without it buckled . I even pulled over and got out and tried to pull up on the stationary connection piece but it dont budge . Whoever designed these 2010 chevy Equinox fud a very poor job on not thinking of large folks who drive these suvs. I still can't get it latched. I have to buy an extension part that will click in the female part and then extend out a good 5in so I can get it to latch or buckle and operate vehicle safely. I noticed this as I got in to go test drive this 2010 Equinox ltz. And I could not get it to latch I tried for 5 mins at the dealer location but drove off. Pulled over tried again, mo luck either time. Now an extension will cost me $15-20 at least. So double that because if I buy one I'll need another for the passenger side when my wife drives and I'm the passenger so this will cost me $40 for something that should of been addressed during manufacturing. It is located clear down inside between the seat and the back rest of the seat. Very poor location. People arent going to fight the belt and won't wear it now. Think of large people why dont you. It needs recalled and that latch needs moved up and to the side of driver not around the back of the driver.

I am a crash investigator/reconstructionist looking into a fatal crash involving a 2020 Equinox with approximately 2000 miles on it that hit a tree in the front (head-on) at approximately 40 miles per hour. There were 2 occupants, driver and front seat passenger. Passenger said he was not wearing his seat belt. Passenger seat belt was found to be retracted and locked tight. Driver seat belt was found to be retracted and loose (normal positioning). Initial observation of the cdr data, and not that of a thorough and complete analysis, indicates that the driver was buckled and the passenger was unbuckled. The steering wheel appears to be collapsed as though the driver moved forward in the force of the impact. There are many factors that involve the normal and safe seat belt operation, and therefore it is not known if this is a defect, normal operation as a result of the crash, operator misuse, etc. Further inspection of the driver seat belt has not been done at this time.

Drive side seat belt is not latching in place, I am not secure or safe. Seat belt will not safely lock in place. This happens stationary or in motion. Paperwork has been sent twice on the the replacement of my engine. Second time was paperwork was sent registered mail which did so rec'd in early Aug but I have still not rec'd a signature of recipient. Which was required.

1) seatbelt light comes on despite having seatbelts secured. It happens when you start the car and stays on throughout all aspects of driving until the car is turned off. 2) service stabilitrac light intermittently flickers on and off while the radio flickers off and on, as though the vehicle were possessed. 3) the previous engine consumed excessive amounts of oil. It resulted in the previous engine being replaced a few months ago. New engine is burning oil just as fast as the old one. Withing one month the dipstick was registering as below the bottom line with 2 months and approximately 3k miles left before next scheduled oil change, per jiffy lube's sticker.

The contact owns a 2019 Chevrolet Equinox. The contact stated that the front driver's side seat belt failed to latch securely in the buckle without warning. The vehicle was taken to bradley Chevrolet (711 n lake havasu Ave, lake havasu city, az 86403, (928) 855-0577), to be diagnosed. The contact was informed that the door lock mechanism needed to be replaced however, the parts needed to repair the vehicle was on back order. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was contacted but no further assistance was provided. The failure mileage was 23,000.

I drove home and parked my car. When to started my car the following morning and put it in drive. My car would not move forward only backwards. I had know idea that my transmission was going. I went to the chevy dealer many times earlier for oil consumption and my the sound of my transmission and they said that the just sound of the car. If they had been honest and told me the truth I could have gotten my transmission fixed many years earlier. Thankfully my oil consumption was fixed only because I called corporate and pushed the issue. I believed the dealer when he told me all the Equinox sound like that. Now I have to pay over $3000. 00 for that lie. My car is being fixed by hobby's transmission in hicksville, NY as we speak. My car is a lemon. Corporate told me that my care was in the batch of cars that have oil consumption. I will be calling them about my transmission on Monday, 6/22/20.

The rear seat belt on the driver's side has stopped latching. After not using it for a long time it was necessary to buckle in a car seat and I was unable to latch it in. I have looked inside as best as possible and there isn't anything rattling around or inside but it will not receive the shoulder strap clip and buckle. I have tried while parked and when driving.

See all problems of the 2013 Chevrolet Equinox 🔎.

Tl the contact owns a 2017 Chevrolet Equinox. During a crash, the front driver side seat belt detached from the floor and failed to restrain the driver during the crash. The cause was not determined. No injuries were sustained but the driver was concerned that there could have been serious injuries. The contact stated that while driving approximately 25 mph a second vehicle crashed into the passenger side causing the vehicle to spin around before coming to a stop. After the crash the driver discovered that the driver's side seat belt had detached from the floor. No injuries were reported. A police report was taken at the scene. The vehicle was towed to the reinke Ford (1360 greely chapel rd, lyma OH). The cause of the failure was not determined. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 36,000.

Was heading to run some errands and when I parked my car I try to release my seat belt buckle and it was not releasing. So I had a knife and I tried wiggling it so the buckle would release and it did not so I was frustrated and broke the seatbelt for driver as well as my rear seat belt. My transmission has been acting weird since 2019 and it happen every morning when it starts running my car shakes for a little then it would run fine. And for brakes my brakes would hesitate and shake as is braking.

This was previously reported on March 10 2021 and I was given case #9-6591373301. It was a lease car that was returned to the dealership on March 31, 2021. After hitting a pothole in March 2020, the airbag light stayed on. The dealership did not take care of the problem and I was told at that time there were no recalls for that problem. I was told I could get it fixed and save the bill. Once an investigation was started and it was determined that indeed there was a problem, I should be entitled to be reimbursed. To date there have been no recalls although my mechanic had to replace both seat belts because replacing the driver's seat belt did not correct the problem. The diagnostic showed there was a seat belt problem and when they were removed you could see they were defective. When I returned the car I gave the service department the seat belts and to date, I have heard nothing. They did say because the defective seat belts had been replaced they would not be able to determine if the seat belts I turned in had a problem, which made no sense. Is that why no one bothered to contact me?.

Estava saliendo del freeway 99 y vaje ala calle north in fresno CA y yo pare porq la calle norte los carros seguian en movimiento y esperava a q pasaran para yo incorporarme al trafico yo estava en alto cuando un trailer DE fedex me inpacto por detras llevava mi bebe y mi esposa y las bolsas DE aire no explotaron solo aparesio el sensor DE bolsas DE aire en el tablero.

The brakes pad became hard and failed to stop the car almost hit 5 cars coming down a street that was a hill in lewiston NY rpust 104 east.

The lights keep coming on even though stuff was replaced.

Even when my seatbelts are connected the warning chimes continue to go off. During motion, on a city street and even on the highway it periodically makes the sound as if the seatbelt is not connected.