2010 CHEVROLET EQUINOX Owners Manual

Customer Information 12-11
Many insurance policies provide
reduced protection to your GM
vehicle by limiting compensation for
damage repairs by using
aftermarket collision parts. Some
insurance companies will not
specify aftermarket collision parts.
When purchasing insurance, we
recommend that you assure your
vehicle will be repaired with GM
original equipment collision parts.
If such insurance coverage is not
available from your current
insurance carrier, consider switching
to another insurance carrier.
If your vehicle is leased, the leasing
company may require you to have
insurance that assures repairs with
Genuine GM Original Equipment
Manufacturer (OEM) parts or
Genuine Manufacturer replacement
parts. Read your lease carefully, as
you may be charged at the end of
your lease for poor quality repairs.If a Crash Occurs
If there has been an injury, call
emergency services for help. Do not
leave the scene of a crash until all
matters have been taken care of.
Move the vehicle only if its position
puts you in danger, or you are
instructed to move it by a police
officer.
Give only the necessary information
to police and other parties involved
in the crash.
For emergency towing see
Roadside Assistance Program
on
page 12‑6.
Gather the following information:
.Driver's name, address, phone
number
.Driver's license number
.Owner's name, address, phone
number
.Vehicle license plate
.Vehicle make, model and
model year
.Vehicle Identification
Number (VIN)
.Insurance company and policy
number
.General description of the
damage to the other vehicle
Choose a reputable repair facility
that uses quality replacement parts.
See “Collision Parts” earlier in this
section.
If the airbag has inflated, see What
Will You See After an Airbag
Inflates? on page 2‑28.
Managing the Vehicle Damage
Repair Process
In the event that your vehicle
requires damage repairs, GM
recommends that you take an active
role in its repair. If you have a
pre-determined repair facility of
choice, take your vehicle there,
or have it towed there. Specify to
the facility that any required
replacement collision parts be
original equipment parts, either new

12-12 Customer Information
Genuine GM parts or recycled
original GM parts. Remember,
recycled parts will not be covered by
your GM vehicle warranty.
Insurance pays the bill for the repair,
but you must live with the repair.
Depending on your policy limits,
your insurance company may
initially value the repair using
aftermarket parts. Discuss this with
your repair professional, and insist
on Genuine GM parts. Remember if
your vehicle is leased you may be
obligated to have the vehicle
repaired with Genuine GM parts,
even if your insurance coverage
does not pay the full cost.
If another party's insurance
company is paying for the repairs,
you are not obligated to accept a
repair valuation based on that
insurance company's collision policy
repair limits, as you have no
contractual limits with that company.
In such cases, you can have control
of the repair and parts choices as
long as cost stays within reasonable
limits.Service Publications
Ordering Information
Service Manuals
Service Manuals have the diagnosis
and repair information on engines,
transmission, axle, suspension,
brakes, electrical, steering,
body, etc.
Service Bulletins
Service Bulletins give additional
technical service information
needed to knowledgeably service
General Motors cars and trucks.
Each bulletin contains instructions
to assist in the diagnosis and
service of your vehicle.
Owner Information
Owner publications are written
specifically for owners and intended
to provide basic operational
information about the vehicle.
The owner manual includes the
Maintenance Schedule for all
models.In-Portfolio: Includes a Portfolio,
Owner Manual, and Warranty
Booklet.
RETAIL SELL PRICE:
$35.00 (U.S.) plus processing fee
Without Portfolio: Owner
Manual only.
RETAIL SELL PRICE:
$25.00 (U.S.) plus processing fee
Current and Past Model Order
Forms
Technical Service Bulletins and
Manuals are available for current
and past model GM vehicles. To
request an order form, specify year
and model name of the vehicle.
ORDER TOLL FREE:
1-800-551-4123 Monday-Friday
8:00 AM - 6:00 PM Eastern Time
For Credit Card Orders Only
(VISA-MasterCard-Discover), visit
Helm, Inc. on the World Wide Web
at: helminc.com

Customer Information 12-13
Or you can write to:
Helm, Incorporated
P.O. Box 07130
Detroit, MI 48207
Prices are subject to change without
notice and without incurring
obligation. Allow ample time for
delivery.
Note to Canadian Customers: All
listed prices are quoted in U.S.
funds. Canadian residents are to
make checks payable in U.S. funds.Reporting Safety
Defects
Reporting Safety Defects
to the United States
Government
If you believe that your vehicle
has a defect which could cause
a crash or could cause injury or
death, you should immediately
inform the National Highway
Traffic Safety Administration
(NHTSA) in addition to notifying
General Motors.
If NHTSA receives similar
complaints, it may open an
investigation, and if it finds that
a safety defect exists in a group
of vehicles, it may order a recall
and remedy campaign.However, NHTSA cannot
become involved in individual
problems between you, your
dealer, or General Motors.
To contact NHTSA, you may call
the Vehicle Safety Hotline
toll-free at 1-888-327-4236 (TTY:
1-800-424-9153); go to
http://
www.safercar.gov;or write to:
Administrator, NHTSA
1200 New Jersey Avenue, S.E.
Washington D.C. 20590
You can also obtain other
information about motor vehicle
safety from http://
www.safercar.gov
.

12-14 Customer Information
Reporting Safety Defects
to the Canadian
Government
If you live in Canada, and you
believe that your vehicle has a
safety defect, notify Transport
Canada immediately, in addition to
notifying General Motors of Canada
Limited. Call them at
1-800-333-0510 or write to:
Transport Canada
Road Safety Branch
2780 Sheffield Road
Ottawa, Ontario K1B 3V9
Reporting Safety Defects
to General Motors
In addition to notifying NHTSA (or
Transport Canada) in a situation like
this, please notify General Motors.
Call 1-800-222-1020, or write:
Chevrolet Motor Division
Chevrolet Customer Assistance
Center
P.O. Box 33170
Detroit, MI 48232-5170
In Canada, call 1-800-263-3777
(English) or 1-800-263-7854
(French), or write:
General Motors of Canada Limited
Customer Communication Centre,
CA1-163-005
1908 Colonel Sam Drive
Oshawa, Ontario L1H 8P7
Vehicle Data
Recording and
Privacy
Your GM vehicle has a number of
sophisticated computers that record
information about the vehicle’s
performance and how it is driven.
For example, your vehicle uses
computer modules to monitor and
control engine and transmission
performance, to monitor the
conditions for airbag deployment
and deploy airbags in a crash and,
if so equipped, to provide antilock
braking to help the driver control the
vehicle. These modules may store
data to help your dealer technician
service your vehicle. Some modules
may also store data about how you
operate the vehicle, such as rate of
fuel consumption or average speed.
These modules may also retain the
owner’s personal preferences, such
as radio pre-sets, seat positions,
and temperature settings.

Customer Information 12-15
Event Data Recorders
This vehicle has an Event Data
Recorder (EDR). The main purpose
of an EDR is to record, in certain
crash or near crash-like situations,
such as an airbag deployment or
hitting a road obstacle, data that will
assist in understanding how a
vehicle's systems performed. The
EDR is designed to record data
related to vehicle dynamics and
safety systems for a short period of
time, typically 30 seconds or less.
The EDR in this vehicle is designed
to record such data as:
.How various systems in your
vehicle were operating
.Whether or not the driver and
passenger safety belts were
buckled/fastened
.How far, if at all, the driver was
pressing the accelerator and/or
brake pedal
.How fast the vehicle was
travelingThis data can help provide a better
understanding of the circumstances
in which crashes and injuries occur.
Important:
EDR data is recorded
by your vehicle only if a non-trivial
crash situation occurs; no data is
recorded by the EDR under normal
driving conditions and no personal
data (e.g., name, gender, age, and
crash location) is recorded.
However, other parties, such as law
enforcement, could combine the
EDR data with the type of
personally identifying data routinely
acquired during a crash
investigation.
To read data recorded by an EDR,
special equipment is required, and
access to the vehicle or the EDR is
needed. In addition to the vehicle
manufacturer, other parties, such as
law enforcement, that have the
special equipment, can read the
information if they have access to
the vehicle or the EDR. GM will not access this data or
share it with others except: with the
consent of the vehicle owner or,
if the vehicle is leased, with the
consent of the lessee; in response
to an official request of police or
similar government office; as part of
GM's defense of litigation through
the discovery process; or, as
required by law. Data that GM
collects or receives may also be
used for GM research needs or may
be made available to others for
research purposes, where a need is
shown and the data is not tied to a
specific vehicle or vehicle owner.

12-16 Customer Information
OnStar®
If your vehicle has OnStar and you
subscribe to the OnStar services,
please refer to the OnStar Terms
and Conditions for information on
data collection and use. See also
OnStar
®Systemon page 4‑39in
this manual for more information.
Navigation System
If your vehicle has a navigation
system, use of the system may
result in the storage of destinations,
addresses, telephone numbers, and
other trip information. Refer to the
navigation system operating manual
for information on stored data and
for deletion instructions.
Radio Frequency
Identification (RFID)
RFID technology is used in some
vehicles for functions such as tire
pressure monitoring and ignition
system security, as well as in
connection with conveniences such
as key fobs for remote door locking/
unlocking and starting, and
in-vehicle transmitters for garage
door openers. RFID technology in
GM vehicles does not use or record
personal information or link with any
other GM system containing
personal information.
Radio Frequency
Statement
This vehicle has systems that
operate on a radio frequency that
comply with Part 15 of the Federal
Communications Commission (FCC)
Rules and with RSS-210/211 of
Industry Canada.
Operation is subject to the following
two conditions:
1. The device may not cause interference.
2. The device must accept any interference received, including
interference that may cause
undesired operation of the
device.
Changes or modifications to any of
these systems by other than an
authorized service facility could void
authorization to use this equipment.

INDEX i-1
A
Accessories andModifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-4
Accessory Power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-29
Add-On Electrical Equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-64
Adding Equipment to the
Airbag-Equipped Vehicle . . . . . 2-35
Adjustments Lumbar, Front Seats . . . . . . . . . . . 2-5
Air Cleaner/Filter, Engine . . . . . . 9-13
Air Filter, Passenger
Compartment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-6
Air Vents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-6
Airbag System Check . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-36
How Does an Airbag
Restrain? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-28
Passenger Sensing System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-30
What Makes an Airbag Inflate? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-28 Airbag System (cont.)
What Will You See After
an Airbag Inflates? . . . . . . . . . . 2-28
When Should an Airbag
Inflate? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-26
Where Are the Airbags? . . . . . . 2-25
Airbags Adding Equipment to theVehicle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-35
Passenger Status Indicator . . . 4-15
Readiness Light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-15
Servicing Airbag-Equipped Vehicles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-34
System Check . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-22
Alarm System Anti-Theft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-12
All-Wheel Drive . . . . . . . . . . 8-38, 9-24
AM-FM Radio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-11
Antenna Multi-Band . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-18
Anti-Theft Alarm System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-12
Alarm System Messages . . . . . 4-32 Antilock Brake
System (ABS) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-38
Warning Light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-20
Appearance Care Exterior . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-75
Interior . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-79
Assistance Program,
Roadside . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12-6
Audio Players . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-19 CD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-19
Audio System
Radio Reception . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-18
Theft-Deterrent Feature . . . . . . . . 6-2
Automatic Climate Control System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-3
Automatic Transmission . . . . . . . 8-35
Fluid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-12
Manual Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-37
Shiftlock Control SystemCheck . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-25
Auxiliary Devices . . . . . . . . 6-28, 6-31

i-2 INDEX
B
Battery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-24Jump Starting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-69
Voltage and ChargingMessages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-28
Blade Replacement, Wiper . . . . 9-26
Bluetooth . . . . 6-42, 6-43, 6-46, 6-58
Brakes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-21 Antilock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-38
Assist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-40
Fluid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-22
Parking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-40
System Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-28
Braking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-4
Break-In, New Vehicle . . . . . . . . . 8-28
Bulb Replacement . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-34 Fog Lamps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-3, 9-31
Headlamp Aiming . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-27
Headlamps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-30
Headlamps, Front TurnSignal, Sidemarker, and
Parking Lamps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-30 Bulb Replacement (cont.)
License Plate Lamps . . . . . . . . . 9-33
Taillamps, Turn Signal,
Sidemarker, Stoplamps,
and Backup Lamps . . . . . . . . . . 9-32
Buying New Tires . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-54
C
Calibration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-8
California Fuel Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . 8-54
Perchlorate Materials
Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-3
Warning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-3
Camera, Rear Vision . . . . . . . . . . 8-49
Canadian Vehicle Owners . . . . . . . . iv
Capacities and Specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11-2
Carbon Monoxide Engine Exhaust . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-34
Liftgate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-8
Winter Driving . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-21 Cargo
Cover . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-1
Cautions, Danger, and Warnings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iv
CD DVD Player . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-21
CD Player . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-19
Center Console Storage . . . . . . . . 3-1
Chains, Tire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-58
Charging System Light . . . . . . . . 4-16
Check
Engine Light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-16
Ignition Transmission Lock . . . 9-25
Child Restraints Infants and YoungChildren . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-39
Lower Anchors and Tethers for Children . . . . . . . . . 2-45
Older Children . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-37
Securing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-51, 2-54
Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-41
Where to Put the Restraint . . . 2-43