Chevy Traverse

[Tuffcookie]

Does anyone own one? What is your opinion?

I am about 5 years from retirement and am looking for a vehicle with the capacity to tow a small trailer.

TC

 

[bgirl29]

Yes we own one and have used it to tow a small trailer. We love it. We had a Trailblazer for towing before and we prefer the Traverse.

 

[SaraJayne]

I mine. We use it to tow our boat and other small stuff.

I'd buy another one tomorrow if DH would let me.

 

[Tiger926]

Just got one last week and love it so far!

Traded in our Dodge Grand Caravan, and I have a Pontiac Montana. We need bigger vehicles for all of our long drives to Disney.

It is amazing the amount of space in this crossover vehicle, and the base model comes with a heck of a lot of options. It also has a Cadillac engine too.

Awesome vehicle thus far, Tiger

 

[pyrxtc]

I miss the extra interior space of my Venture but it tows very nicely.

 

[tvguy]

It also has a Cadillac engine too.

Actually, the engine is made by Holden, GM's subsidiary in Australia, in Australia, and shared among GM U.S. divisions. Holden made the GTO for Pontiac (sold as the Holden Monaro in Australia), and makes the new Chevy Caprice,(sold as the Holden Commadore in Australia) which is basically only sold to Police Departments as a patrol car, and is a 4 door GTO.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

"small trailer". How small? I'm not a fan of towing with unibody vehicles as the # of cases of Grand Cherokees that have arrived at their destination only to find they could no longer open the doors is countless. IIRC, the Traverse is rated at 5,000lbs (that # was 3,500 when the Acadia & Saturn Outlook debuted - both mechanically identical to the Traverse). IMO, that is WAY too much for that type of car. I'd be comfortable towing ~2,500 behind our Acadia (in 4th or 5th gear, NEVER in 6th), but much more than that & I'm going to use a want a truck or at least a truck-based SUV with a full frame.

 

[Peanut Giggleface]

Don't own one but we rented one this summer during our vacation. I loved the interior, dash, comfort, etc. What I didn't like was its transmission. You really had to step on it to get it to go and then it was loud and jerky switching gears. A couple of times I looked in the rear view mirror to see if I'd left the transmission behind. I am by no means a speed demon either, but when you're getting on a freeway, you need the acceleration (I realize this is more of an engine issue).

 

[S. C.]

Don't own one but we rented one this summer during our vacation. I loved the interior, dash, comfort, etc. What I didn't like was its transmission. You really had to step on it to get it to go and then it was loud and jerky switching gears. A couple of times I looked in the rear view mirror to see if I'd left the transmission behind. I am by no means a speed demon either, but when you're getting on a freeway, you need the acceleration (I realize this is more of an engine issue).

Bought our 2011 Chevy Traverse in Sept 2010. Never had the issues that you speak of with the transmission. Love ours and would buy it again in a heart beat.

 

[WDWAurora]

We opted for a Kia sorento, though we seriously considered the traverse. We found the Kia gave us more bang for out buck.

 

[emer95]

My husband has a new Traverse. While there are several things I like about it, I would never buy one for myself. The visibility is horrible. I am a short woman (5'2") but I have never had this issue in any other vehicle. I have a terrible time seeing out the rear mirror, and there seems to be a smaller front windshield than in most cars. There are HUGE blind spots, and I don't feel safe driving it. Backing up terrifies me. It does have a sensor that beeps when you're close to something, but I'd still like to be able to see when I back up (as much as is possible, anyway).

 

[Princess on the Run]

A great vehicle! I have recommended it to a lot of people and hear no complaints.

 

[SaraJayne]

Don't own one but we rented one this summer during our vacation. I loved the interior, dash, comfort, etc. What I didn't like was its transmission. You really had to step on it to get it to go and then it was loud and jerky switching gears. A couple of times I looked in the rear view mirror to see if I'd left the transmission behind. I am by no means a speed demon either, but when you're getting on a freeway, you need the acceleration (I realize this is more of an engine issue).

Ours is a 2009. We've never had that problem.

 

[Tiger926]

Actually, the engine is made by Holden, GM's subsidiary in Australia, in Australia, and shared among GM U.S. divisions. Holden made the GTO for Pontiac (sold as the Holden Monaro in Australia), and makes the new Chevy Caprice,(sold as the Holden Commadore in Australia) which is basically only sold to Police Departments as a patrol car, and is a 4 door GTO.

I'm from Canada (vehicle made in Michigan), and our salesperson showed us the same engine as the Cadillac sitting next to our 2012 Traverse. I don't know anything about the Holden, but I just did a quick Internet search, and it definitely says that Holden is a Cadillac engine. They are produced in Australia, Ontario and Michigan. Interesting info.

It feels very solid and is quite powerful, and pretty good on gas too.

My husband has a new Traverse. While there are several things I like about it, I would never buy one for myself. The visibility is horrible. I am a short woman (5'2") but I have never had this issue in any other vehicle. I have a terrible time seeing out the rear mirror, and there seems to be a smaller front windshield than in most cars. There are HUGE blind spots, and I don't feel safe driving it. Backing up terrifies me. It does have a sensor that beeps when you're close to something, but I'd still like to be able to see when I back up (as much as is possible, anyway).

I agree this could be an issue. We didn't purchase the sensor or back up camera as that next model was over $5,000 more.

I have only driven the car 1x, and this is an issue for me as well, and I'm 5' 4". We are probably going to purchase a back up camera, as even hubby is seeing a few issues with this.

Still love the car, and will work out this issue.

Don't own one but we rented one this summer during our vacation. I loved the interior, dash, comfort, etc. What I didn't like was its transmission. You really had to step on it to get it to go and then it was loud and jerky switching gears. A couple of times I looked in the rear view mirror to see if I'd left the transmission behind. I am by no means a speed demon either, but when you're getting on a freeway, you need the acceleration (I realize this is more of an engine issue).

Definitely must have had a lemon, as the engine is very powerful - no transmission issues with power whatsoever.

Tiger

 

[S. C.]

My husband has a new Traverse. While there are several things I like about it, I would never buy one for myself. The visibility is horrible. I am a short woman (5'2") but I have never had this issue in any other vehicle. I have a terrible time seeing out the rear mirror, and there seems to be a smaller front windshield than in most cars. There are HUGE blind spots, and I don't feel safe driving it. Backing up terrifies me. It does have a sensor that beeps when you're close to something, but I'd still like to be able to see when I back up (as much as is possible, anyway).

I'm 5'3" and back up all the time with ours, no problems. We have the sensor, backup camera in the rear mirror, and the little mirrors for blind spots in the corner of the side door mirrors.

 

[MichelleVW]

I've got a Buick Enclave (basically the same thing) and we LOVE it!!

 

[quentina]

I have one that I purchased new in May. I traded in my Town and Country for it.

Now- I love the appearance but, there are a few things I do not like much.

The middle seat does not have as much room as what I am used to. We are a family of long legs and I did not find it comfortable. I will also agree with the poster about the tranny. The first day I had it, I almost had an accident....as it has no where near the get up and go as the T&C that I was used to. I also find it difficult to enter the 3rd seat....but, hoping it will loosen up over time.

We have the video system that the kids love....

Would I buy another, Yes, I would.

 

[tvguy]

I'm from Canada (vehicle made in Michigan), and our salesperson showed us the same engine as the Cadillac sitting next to our 2012 Traverse. I don't know anything about the Holden, but I just did a quick Internet search, and it definitely says that Holden is a Cadillac engine. They are produced in Australia, Ontario and Michigan. Interesting info.

It is used in the Cadillac as well but is manufactured by GM, not Cadillac and was engineered by Holden.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

Don't own one but we rented one this summer during our vacation. I loved the interior, dash, comfort, etc. What I didn't like was its transmission. You really had to step on it to get it to go and then it was loud and jerky switching gears. A couple of times I looked in the rear view mirror to see if I'd left the transmission behind. I am by no means a speed demon either, but when you're getting on a freeway, you need the acceleration (I realize this is more of an engine issue).

I've never experienced the jerking or the noise, but the transmission is definitely programmed to upshift much too quickly for the powerband of the engine. The engine doesn't really make any power below 2,200 RPM & the transmission under leisurely acceleration will upshift to the point the engine is running at roughly half that speed. It's not an engine issue. Mash the gas & the car WILL go, and go quickly. And yes, you do have to feed it a lot of throttle to accelerate rapidly. The transmission also tends to hunt around on hills. If you leave it in 6th or in D, in cruise control it will downshift to 4th on a long hill, upshift back through 5th & 6th, and then downshift again before you top the hill. To defeat this, I drive with the tranny in the manual position. Once it downshifts, I'll click the tranny down to 5th to keep it from upshifting into 6th until AFTER the hill is topped. Unfortunately, the Acadia/Traverse/Enclave appear to be geared the same as the 1,200lb lighter Chevy Malibu which utilizes the same engine. This is done in an effort to boost fuel economy, but can be a headache for someone not used to such frequent downshifts at highway speed, nor such rapid upshifts in "normal" driving.

 

[FlightlessDuck]

We looked at the Traverse when we went car shopping in August. We decided it was too big for us, and the mileage was too poor.

Are previous cars were all sedans (last two were Saturns), and wanted to move up to a crossover. We didn't need to tow anything. We only really need room for 4, but we thought about the Traverse because there were times we might have needed room for seven.

In the end, we got the Equinox.