The Lemon Index$2,500 middle bill · most between $2,000 and $4,000
About the same as the $2,500 middle bill owners of all 63 models reported.
Owners who gave their mileage: a middle of 84,000 miles (17 reports).
Chevrolet Equinox owners reported paying a median of $2,500 for a timing chain replacement, with the middle half of bills between $2,000 and $4,000. That's from 27 owner reports (27 complaints to NHTSA). Costs vary by shop and region.
What owners paid
- Under $5000%
- $500–$1,0000%
- $1,000–$2,50041%
- $2,500–$5,00037%
- $5,000 and up22%
Share of the 27 owner reports in each price band.
By model year
- 2008 Chevrolet Equinox2too few for a middle
- 2010 Chevrolet Equinox5$3,000 middle bill
- 2011 Chevrolet Equinox5$1,700 middle bill
- 2012 Chevrolet Equinox5$2,000 middle bill
- 2013 Chevrolet Equinox3$2,000 middle bill
- 2014 Chevrolet Equinox1too few for a middle
- 2015 Chevrolet Equinox1too few for a middle
- 2017 Chevrolet Equinox4$3,100 middle bill
- 2020 Chevrolet Equinox1too few for a middle
Reports per model year, with the middle bill where there are 3 or more. YouTube amounts count for the generation the video covers.
How often owners report the failure
- 2011 Chevrolet Equinox78 complaints name it10% of that year's complaints
- 2010 Chevrolet Equinox54 complaints name it7% of that year's complaints
- 2012 Chevrolet Equinox49 complaints name it7% of that year's complaints
- 2013 Chevrolet Equinox45 complaints name it6% of that year's complaints
- 2015 Chevrolet Equinox42 complaints name it6% of that year's complaints
- 2014 Chevrolet Equinox35 complaints name it6% of that year's complaints
Owner complaints to NHTSA whose own words name a timing chain. Raw counts: popular years get more complaints. A complaint is a report, not proof of a defect.
Engines in these years
1.5 Turbo (LFV / LYX) · 2.4 Ecotec (LAF / LEA)
Engines with a page of their own that this model was sold with in the years above. Owners don't always say which engine they had.
Engine codes that can lead here: P0016 P0017 P0008 P0018 P0019. A code is where a shop starts, not proof the part failed.
Keep going
- Chevrolet Equinox reliability by year
- Timing chain replacement cost on every car
- Car symptoms and what they can mean
Other repairs Chevrolet Equinox owners reported
Engine replacement (44) · Blend door actuator replacement (33) · Fuel pump replacement (27) · Head gasket replacement (13) · Transmission replacement (10) · Rear main seal replacement (9) · Brake booster replacement (8) · Brake repair (8) · Throttle body replacement (6)
The details
How we count
Every number here is a repair bill an owner reported, never a shop's price list. Two sources: the bills owners wrote in their own complaints to the U.S. government (NHTSA), and the dollar amounts owners said out loud in YouTube repair and ownership videos. A figure counts for a repair when that repair is the part named nearest to it. Left out: purchase prices, payments, rentals, towing, warranties and deductibles, amounts under $50 or over $15,000, parts-only prices ("the part was $80 on Amazon"), bills for two different repairs named together, and money someone else paid. One number per complaint (or video) and repair: the biggest, so it's the bill, not the diagnosis fee.
The range is the middle half of the bills (the 25th to the 75th percentile), so one wild number can't swing it. Owners who complain to the government often had expensive repairs, so a typical bill can be lower. Costs vary by shop and region, by dealer vs independent shop, by parts and by miles. This is what owners reported, not a quote for your car.
Check the bills yourself
NHTSA complaint numbers (search them at nhtsa.gov): 11710650, 11650128, 11612184, 11571122, 11514098, 11495947, 11470579, 11449828, 11435149, 11377798, 11254739, 11254367 and more.
Quick answers
How much does timing chain replacement cost on a Chevrolet Equinox?
Chevrolet Equinox owners reported a median of $2,500, and the middle half paid $2,000 to $4,000, from 27 owner reports. Costs vary by shop and region.
Is a Chevrolet Equinox timing chain replacement more expensive than on other cars?
The Chevrolet Equinox middle bill of $2,500 is about the same as the $2,500 owners of all 63 models we have reports for paid.
Where do these Chevrolet Equinox repair costs come from?
From 27 complaints to NHTSA: what owners themselves said they paid. They aren't verified bills or a shop's quote.
Which Chevrolet Equinox years report this failure most?
In complaints to NHTSA, owners of the 2011 (78), 2010 (54), 2012 (49) Chevrolet Equinox named it most. Raw counts, not a failure rate.
Sources: NHTSA owner complaints and YouTube videos (amounts said out loud), sorted by The Lemon Index. Owner reports, not a price quote. Costs vary by shop and region.