Used 2018 Chevrolet Traverse Consumer Reviews
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Had high hopes for this model, but disappointment
Steve Brown, 09/14/2017
updated 09/22/2022
2018 Chevrolet Traverse Premier 4dr SUV AWD (3.6L 6cyl 9A)
55 of 58 people found this review helpful
Overall, a good vehicle with comfortable interior and sound system, great driving manners...but with some glaring issues. One, the transmission is a clunky mess. At highway speed, it's ok, but around town it constantly downshifts, hunts for a gear when it should just hold the one it's in. Throttle tip-in from dead stop is initially ok, but then jumps ahead as tranny tries to decide what gear to use. GM needs a complete software reset on this new unit. Two, quality of some interior parts is substandard. For example, the latch on the front sunshade in the sunroof broke right away. The material is a cheap plastic that you would expect on a crap-box car from eastern Europe, but not on Traverse costing north of $51K! Three, the foot-activated rear lift hatch feature doesn't work most of the time, even when the little bowtie logo is displaying. Got the key fob in my pocket and it just doesn't respond most of the time. I fear that the amount of electronic gadgetry and features on this Premier model will be its undoing. Get the extended warranty for sure. UPDATE 3-15-18: The transmission clunkiness has been mostly resolved by an automatic update to the car's system back in December. Shifts more smoothly now and the AutoStop function is better. I'm getting a little tired of the all-black interior, but that's not a big deal. I've not had any further issues with the sunshade and handle it very carefully to make sure the latch doesn't fall apart. I do find the car is slow to warm up (heavy-duty cooling system?) and leaving the climate system on Auto doesn't really get the job done - have to manually set the air flow and fan speed to get comfortable. The seats are also very slow to heat up and the bolsters remain cold as ice. The heated steering wheel works well. I find the left foot rest way too far forward to be comfortable on longer rides. Needs to be about 2-3 inches further away. AND... amazingly, the so-called phone charging pad in the console doesn't work with Apple iPhone 10s, in my case). How lame is GM engineering staff to have flummoxed that one? Downgrading my Technology star rating because of this, plus overall Value rating. UPDATE 3-15-19: I've never been impressed with the 9-spd tranny. Shifting is lumpy or jerky most of the time. So... Thanksgiving 2018 weekend driving back to chicago from St. Louis in rain/snow storm (high winds to boot). Had speed control on 70 mph. About Bloomington IL on I-55, the car abruptly slows. The engine is racing upward toward redline. I disable spd control and continue to slow down. I try to give it gas, but nothing is happening. I pull over, turn off and on, put in gear and it goes forward. But about 50 mph, it falls out of gear again. I feather the loud pedal and it will maintain gear engagement but not exceeding 1500 rpm. This is getting serious as I'm in the middle of nowhere, bad storm happening and it's a Sunday on a holiday weekend. Bottom line is finally made it to a turnoff with a truck stop and dive motel. Got hold of OnStar and they were basically not real helpful. Then called AAA and they were more, and would tow car 100 mile. OnStar will tow only 15 miles. Doesn't matter as its a Sunday. I check into motel, have OnStar tow vehicle next morning to Barker Chevy near Bloomington. They put their tranny guy on it right way, and after about an hour, I get the news. Tranny is toast. Gears 6-7-8-9 are all ripped up, 3-4 also failing. My Traverse had exactly 9300 miles on it, and it failed during a dangerous storm. The dealer took me to rental car place, got one and then went back to chicago. Nearly 2 weeks later, dealer says car is fixed. So I have to make another 150 mile trip downstate, return rental, get the Traverse and do another 150 mile trip home. GM reimbursed me for rental and part of hotel bill, but still shorted me. This is the last GM product I will ever own. I broke my own rule and bought this new Traverse model in its 1st year of manufacture, and paid dearly for it. Never again, GM. UPDATE 9-18-2019: Put 4000 miles on the Traverse since November 2018 transmission disaster. Tranny continues to function, but is still clunky as the day I bought it. Would I buy this vehicle again? No, not even for $10K less than originally paid. UPDATE 3-19-2020: Car just turned 17K and has been without any issues until yesterday. Car had not been run for about 4 days in the garage. Hit the start button the engine immediately ran rough, vibrated the car some. Then all the warning lights came on. The screens started appearing about traction control system off, plus similar warning messages for other systems like the antilock braking. So... turned the engine off, sat for about 2 minutes and restarted. This time engine ran smoothly, but engine light was still on. And then it disappeared. It's not easy owning such a vehicle like this Traverse. Or any GM vehicle for that matter. My warranty runs out based on time in August, so considering options. Update 3-20-2022: Car now has 28K miles. Pretty low mileage for 4.5 year old vehicle but I just don't drive much. Transmission is still in one piece, tho' sometimes wants to stick in a low gear requiring me to pull over, turn it off and wait for a minute, then restart. Can't believe a multi-billion dollar corp can't engineer and make a reliable trans. Most everything else on the car is still functional with no further issues. Sunshade mechanism works ok, but the cheap plastic still frosts me. Will run out of my powertrain warranty in a few months and then I'm on my own. Don't want to get another vehicle (especially now with sky-high prices), but prudence might force me to do so. Given my age and such, next vehicle will be an electric if I can find one that gets at least 400 miles to a charge. And it won't be a GM vehicle. Update 9-22-2022: Just turned 31000 miles and now beyond the time warranty period so proceeding with fingers crossed. No other issues have occured other than transmission gets locked into a low gear (like 2nd or 3rd) and won't shift up. Going down road at 40 mph at just over 4000 rpm is a bit concerning. Abruptly letting up on the gas finally causing tranny to get "normal". This transmission is a piece of GM engineering using public school graduates who go on to college to attain participation trophies in whatever engineering degree program available. Probably time to let this Traverse go.
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Can't believe I chose a Chevy!
William, 11/06/2017
2018 Chevrolet Traverse LT Cloth 4dr SUV (3.6L 6cyl 9A)
60 of 64 people found this review helpful
Wife and I went to the dealership as part of due diligence to "rule out" the Traverse because it was in our price range as an available 3-Row vehicle for the family. Immediately upon beginning the test-drive, it was clear this was a game changing vehicle. Astonished, my wife and I left the dealership to go re-drive a couple SUVs we had previously considered. There was no doubt the redesigned 2018 Traverse was going to be our next vehicle. Smooth ride, unbelievably smooth transmission (smoother than a fresh jar of Skippy?) told a story of being a luxury vehicle - Even the interior materials seemed beyond the price tag of this vehicle. Fit and finish of all internal mechanisms just seemed premium. We were blown away. At the end of the day, we figured the LT Cloth version with the Driver Comfort and Convenience Package offered the best value among the various trims and we took him home. I might have opted for a vehicle with leather but as this is to be my wife's daily driver, she did not care either way. We are an average family without any buyer's remorse or regrets on this vehicle purchase. Hope this review helps others out there considering the many offerings in this price range and class.
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2018 Chevrolet Traverse for sale near you
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Real SUV
Paul, 09/14/2017
updated 03/19/2018
2018 Chevrolet Traverse LT Cloth 4dr SUV AWD (3.6L 6cyl 9A)
22 of 23 people found this review helpful
First 2018 Traverse the dealer sold. I wanted AWD and trailer pkg and they had one, most dealers didn't. I had good highway mileage, 27 mpg, and used it off road on gravel and stone roads in the hills of WV with no issues. I've just had it a month but am very pleased with the new Traverse so far. Even had 6 adults in it and no one complained. I've had it now 7 months and am still totally happy with the 2018 Traverse. The only issue I have had is the door lock buttons not working several times when rain turned to freezing rain and I had to dig the fob it of my pocket. Highly recommend the 2018 Traverse.
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2018 Traverse is perfect size
Spruce, 11/07/2017
2018 Chevrolet Traverse LT Leather 4dr SUV AWD (3.6L 6cyl 9A)
13 of 13 people found this review helpful
First of all I needed to special order the 2018 to get the LT Leather trim level. This has the navigation and a 2nd row bench seat that I wanted and does not have the 2nd row captains chairs and sunroof, neither of which I wanted. Dealers are only buying the base level trim packages or the very highest price Premier ones and often ordering the SUV with a premium paint color which can add another $1000 to the cost of the vehicle. Handling is excellent and it rides like a car and not a truck - smoother than the Chevy Tahoe it replaced. The 2018 Traverse has more rear cargo space than the 2018 Tahoe or 2018 Suburban with their 3rd row seat and odd interior design. SUV's have become vans more than utility vehicles and so the Subaru with two rows has more cargo space than a full size SUV like the Suburban. Excellent visibility all the way around and the driver is not dependent on the side mirrors or video as with other SUV's. Rear camera display is exceptional and not only shows lines to indicate the path of the vehicle, it curves the lines when backing up and turning as when backing out of a parking space. Gas mileage on regular gas (not ethanol which kills fuel economy) is averaging 21 MPG with mixed driving. Acceleration is great when getting onto a freeway or when passing and the shifting is so smooth as to not be detectable. Feedback from the steering wheel is not as good as that of standard power steering with instead the electronic assist but it is much better than that of other SUV's I test drove, including the Honda Pilot and Toyota Highlander. It took 7 weeks to order and receive the LT Leather but it was well worth the wait.
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2018 New Traverse, Wont Start!!!!!!!! towed 5x's
Suzie, 03/27/2018
2018 Chevrolet Traverse Premier 4dr SUV AWD (3.6L 6cyl 9A)
43 of 47 people found this review helpful
I purchased a new 2018 Chevy Traverse on Oct. 12th, drove it fine until January 7th when car would not start the first time. Since then I have had 4 loaner cars and the car has had the same issue 4 more times. The vehicle has been towed into the dealership 3 times and driven in twice. GM has revceived a lemon law letter and has completed their last repair attempt. two days after I was assured the problem was fixed the car would not start and was towed back to the dealer. If I do not get a buy back I will sue this company. I asked for a copy of all receipts and one was from when the car was inventory and stated " car wouldn't start" meaning the dealership knew about this problem and sold it to me anyway. I am beyond disheartened.
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