2024 Chevrolet Equinox

Earlier that morning the cluster displayed "Service Power Steering - Drive With Care" at 12,925 miles. I photographed it at a traffic light. The vehicle drove normally on that leg, steering assist was not lost, and I dismissed the notification, which cleared. I parked. On restarting a short time later, the vehicle went into failure mode. While driving on surface streets it lost power steering assistance three separate times in about eight minutes. The first was mid-turn: the wheel became substantially harder to turn and required significantly increased force to complete the corner. The second was on a main road. The third was as I turned into a dealership lot. Between those events, on two separate occasions, the vehicle continued propelling itself forward with my foot off the accelerator. It did not coast or decelerate as normal when I lifted off. Multiple warnings illuminated across the cluster and stayed lit. I photographed and recorded video showing "Service High Voltage System" and "Service ESC" at 12,942 miles. I judged the vehicle unsafe and drove directly to the nearest dealership, about eight minutes away, and surrendered it. I was on surface streets with traffic, cyclists and pedestrians. Loss of steering mid-turn plus a vehicle that would not stop propelling itself put me and others at risk. At highway speed, or with passengers, I do not believe I could have maintained control. The dealership confirmed the failure and reported an initial diagnosis of a burned out drive motor power distribution control module. Teardown is pending. The vehicle remains out of service and is available for inspection. The three losses of steering assistance remain unexplained. My understanding is that electric power steering is separate from the failed propulsion module, and the steering warning appeared before the module failure. UNKNOWN whether these were related or separate concurrent failures. Manufacturer has not inspected. No crash, no injuries, no police report.

The vehicle’s software, steering, and Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) create severe, active driving hazards. First, the steering and traction programming cause violent, unprompted lane deviations. While driving 20 mph on a snowy dirt road, the system automatically engaged and violently pulled the vehicle directly into the lane of an oncoming snowplow. A similar erratic swerving event occurred at 25 mph on [XXX] during icy conditions. Most recently, the steering violently pulled the vehicle 6 feet to the left at 50 mph, despite the suspension and wheels being in perfect factory specification with summer tires mounted. As a professional heavy-vehicle driver, I had to manually fight the wheel to maintain the lane. Second, the Adaptive Cruise Control unpredictably fails to recognize stopped traffic on both interstates and town roads. It repeatedly fails to apply the brakes when a lead vehicle stops, requiring emergency manual braking to avoid rear-end collisions. The system also triggers severe phantom braking without warning. We are forced to manually disable traction control and parking assist upon every vehicle start just to avoid losing control of the vehicle. The dealership has evaluated the vehicle multiple times but has failed to resolve these core software and ADAS defects, despite months of ongoing negotiations with GM Corporate. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

Report of Dangerous Rental Vehicle and Serious Safety Incident – Rental Agreement #289216922 I am submitting this report to formally document a serious safety issue involving a rental vehicle I received from Avis in May 2024. Several safety components malfunctioned and put the safety of my and my passenger in a life threatening situation. At the time of pickup, the vehicle had a visible dent near the front right tire, which was acknowledged by the rental agent and dismissed as cosmetic. I also noted a faulty rear hatch, which opened unpredictably and struck occupants in the head on multiple occasions as it behaved erratically. Over the course of the rental, the vehicle displayed additional signs of mechanical failure — including instability at highway speeds, loud squealing, and parts of the bumper physically falling off during the trip. On May 30th, while driving at highway speed, the vehicle suffered a sudden tire blowout. Critically, the onboard system misidentified the location of the blown tire, indicating the front right tire had failed when it was actually the rear right. This misinformation delayed proper response and nearly resulted in a rollover. We were stranded on the roadside for over an hour, narrowly avoiding several collisions. A critical system failure. A responding tow truck driver observed signs that the vehicle may have previously been involved in a collision — which aligns with the visible damage present when the vehicle was picked up. Avis has, despite multiple attempts, refused to confirm whether the vehicle was removed from service after the incident or whether any safety inspection was conducted -- we remain severely concerned for the safety of anyone else using this vehicle. This vehicle should not have been rented in its condition. The failure of safety systems, mechanical instability, prior collision damage, and the loss of exterior components created a serious and unacceptable risk to the driver, passenger, and others on the road.