The last second-gen year — cleanest recall record, but the same 2.4L oil habit runs underneath.

The same engine's timing chain, cam phasers, guides, and oil-control solenoids wear out — mechanics say plan on it around 100,000 miles, and one shop that specializes in them replaces 'one every two weeks.' A teardown video shows a broken plastic guide that nearly let the chain jump and destroy the engine. The tell is a start-up rattle plus cam/crank correlation codes. Keep the oil topped and it's scheduled maintenance; ignore the consumption and it becomes a new engine. A documented chain replacement on a high-mileage 2017 is reassurance, not a warning.

GM's Special Coverage (a defect-specific extended-warranty program), internal number 10232660, covers 2016–2017 Equinox and GMC Terrain front wiper modules whose ball joints corrode and separate — the wipers stop working, stuck mid-sweep, in the rain. This is the one item on a 2017 with actual GM coverage behind it. Dealers replace the front wiper transmission; verify the mileage and time limits in the bulletin and ask whether it was ever used.

The 2017 has zero safety recalls — we verified this is real, not a database naming problem: the Equinox appears in NHTSA's 2017 recall index, but every gen-2 campaign was scoped to earlier build dates and every gen-3 campaign begins at 2018. A carryover final year simply drew no fresh recall. That is a neutral fact, not a reliability endorsement — the engine pattern above is where the money is, and it never became a recall either.