Owners have filed 4,993 complaints on the Chevrolet Traverse, covering 2009–2026. The system named most often is Air Bags (902 reports). Worst years by volume: 2010, 2011, 2014; cleanest: 2026, 2023, 2021. 146 reports describe a crash, 27 a fire, 5 a death. On average the car was 4.8 years old when the problem happened.
What breaks on Chevrolet Traverse
Grouped by the system owners named — percentages are shares of all 4,993 Traverse complaints. Open any row for the full reports in owners' own words.
Air Bags 902 Read
2018 chevrolet traverse. Consumer writes in regard to after getting into a minor accident the vehicle was engulfed in flames. *as
I was in t-boned on the passenger side of my vehicle. All side air bags went off but did not deflate. I had to crawl onto my floor to get out of the vehicle. Also when the emergency collision park kicked in it locked my doors so had I been unconscious I would have been locked in the car
The contact owned a 2023 Chevrolet Traverse. The contact stated that while driving at 40 MPH going north on [XXX] towards [XXX] , another vehicle made a sudeen left turn. As a result, the vehicle T-boned the vehicle that was making a left turn, then the contact's vehicle came to a stop, and the other vehicle was…
Power Train 700 Read
I was trying to park on a little steep driveway. Somehow I got out of the car when it is D gear. In seconds I realized the car is moving forward and jumped right back in the car, hit the brakes and switch D to P. The car didn't stopped. I remember buckled up sign on display and I did. Then I pushed the start button…
The contact's husband leases a 2023 Chevrolet Traverse. The contact stated that after the vehicle had been parked for approximately 10 minutes, the contact who was occupying the front passenger's side seat turned off the vehicle while the driver's seat was unoccupied. The contact stated that the vehicle started…
On January 20th 2023 I was involved in a 4 car wreck, I was hit twice very hard and non of my air bags deployed sending me into the steering wheel causing extreme injuries
Electrical System 517 Read
The driver door main window control panel and steering wheel, where the airbags seem to deploy from, have both had to be repaired/recalled parts installed on multiple occasions however the main window control panel still does not work and it started shorting out my battery ultimately locking my keys in the ignition,…
The contact owns a 2025 Chevrolet Traverse. The contact stated that while driving at approximately 45 MPH through a green light, another vehicle failed to yield at 50 MPH for a red light due to being impaired, causing a collision in which the contact’s vehicle was T-boned. No warning lights were illuminated before the…
Our Traverse spontaneously caught fire
Steering 334 Read
The contact owns a 2020 chevrolet traverse. The contact stated her husband was driving at 50 mph and when vehicles a head of him started to slam on their brakes, the contacts husband then depressed on the brake pedal but the steering wheel and the brakes on the vehicle locked which caused the vehicle to slid crashing…
On 10-31-2022 my Chevy app sent email that my vehicle was experiencing starter engine issues and that my vehicle could not start. Except my vehicle was starting and being driven at the time. Shortly after that my vehicle gave notification by dashboard that my steering assist was reduced and to drive carefully but I am…
Driver side rear brake pad retainer defective. Part is made so that the brake pads do not move so that you get severe pad wear, same as if you had a frozen caliper. Dealer did nothing to fix it. My brother had a 2016 and the other side did the same thing. I also noticed my friends 2019 blazer with the same problem.…
Engine 327 Read
The contact owned a 2017 chevrolet traverse. While driving 25 mph in the snow, the contact noticed smoke coming from the vents inside the vehicle. The contact pulled the vehicle onto the road shoulder, opened the driver's door, and found smoke rising from under the dashboard. The contact moved away from the vehicle…
I was parking in front of a restaurant- my foot was on the brake and as I came to a stop the engine revved up and the car surged forwarded about 5 feet - The car pushed a pole and blew out the front door and the door frame- all this time my foot was on the brake. If someone was walking in to the restaurant they surly…
The contact owned a 2012 chevrolet traverse. While the vehicle was parked at a grocery store, the engine caught on fire. The contact stated that the entire front end of the vehicle and the engine were badly burned. The fire department extinguished the fire. A fire report was not filed. The contact stated that he was…
Service Brakes 189 Read
On Monday, December 15, 2025, I was "creeping" into my garage when the brakes failed and I ran into my garage wall damaging my wall and the front of the vehicle. On Tuesday, December 16 ,2025, while slowly pulling into a parking spot at Sam's Club in OKC, the brakes again failed, and the forward crash system prevented…
I rear ended a car on 3/12/25, and my automatic emergency braking system light was on at the time. When my car was returned to me, I set the braking system off, so the light was still on, but when I tried to turn the system back on in June, the light came on and told me I needed to get it serviced. As it wasn't a…
The contact owns a 2025 Chevrolet Traverse. The contact stated that while her husband was driving at 30 MPH on an expressway, occupied with his wife in the vehicle, seated on the front passenger side, attempting to depress the brake pedal, the vehicle failed to respond as intended, causing the front end of the vehicle…
Vehicle Speed Control 122 Read
I had 2 mile hr front side inpack in a parking lot whitch pushed me into anther parked car .then at that point my car went into at a high rate of speed .I had both feet on the break no help .I proceeded to hit other cars after the 3rd and 4rd car it finally quit .this was at a small airport thank got no one was coming…
I was unable to stop my vehicle from accelerating. The brakes were engaging but my vehicle continued to build speed. Myself and my family, as well as others on the road, were all put at risk due to my vehicle not responding or failing to control speed; cruise control was not engaged. My insurance company, USAA, is…
My vehicle has the fuel economy shutdown system and it's not working. It used to shot down while on a stop and then restart whenever the breaks were not engaged now it's not doing anything. The auto stop doesn't work it's stays on a high idle at all times
Electronic Stability Control (esc) 104 Read
I was driving my 2016 traverse after a cancer treatment home when all of a sudden msgs on my dash started appearibg. Service stabilitrak, traction control off. The car started shuttering and the guy behind me rear ended me with my children in the car. Since then I have put 2 power steering pumps in, and had it st the…
The contact owns a 2023 Chevrolet Traverse. The contact stated while driving at approximately 70 MPH, the "ESC" message displayed, and the vehicle lost motive power and stalled. The contact stated that the vehicle failed to immediately restart. The contact stated that approximately one hour later the vehicle was…
I was driving on a 45 mph road, slowly coming to a stop when the engine started to sputter, almost like a putt-putt feeling. When I came to a complete stop, & the auto stop feature clicked on, the check engine light came on. When I resumed driving & tried to get up to the posted speed limit, it was hard to accelerate.…
Traverse years to avoid — and the clean ones
Complaints per model year. More reports usually means more cars on the road as well as more trouble, so read the crash and fire columns alongside the count.
| Model year | Complaints | Top system | Crashes | Fires |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Air Bags | 2 | — | |
| 2025 | Air Bags,back Over Prevention | 4 | — | |
| 2024 | Back Over Prevention,forward Collision Avoidance | — | 1 | |
| 2023 | Air Bags | 5 | — | |
| 2022 | Air Bags,seat Belts,seats | 3 | — | |
| 2021 | Air Bags | 4 | — | |
| 2020 | Air Bags | 11 | 1 | |
| 2019 | Air Bags | 13 | 2 | |
| 2018 | Air Bags | 9 | 2 | |
| 2017 | Air Bags | 12 | 2 | |
| 2016 | Air Bags | 8 | 1 | |
| 2015 | Air Bags | 9 | 3 | |
| 2014 | Air Bags | 7 | 1 | |
| 2013 | Air Bags | 7 | 2 | |
| 2012 | Air Bags | 9 | 2 | |
| 2011 | Air Bags | 16 | 3 | |
| 2010 | Air Bags | 14 | 6 | |
| 2009 | Air Bags | 13 | 1 |
The same model year, different builds
Every complaint carries the first 11 characters of the VIN — plant, year, body and engine. That is a production series, and complaints are spread across them very unevenly.
| Measure | Value |
|---|---|
| Distinct production series | 1,489 |
| Average complaints per series | 3.4 |
| Worst single series | 21 complaints |
| Average age at failure | 4.8 years |
A model average of 3.4 hides a worst series at 21. Enter a VIN above to see the numbers for that exact build instead of the model as a whole.
Owners reported these. Find out if yours is one of them.
- Complaints matched to the exact production run, not just the model
- What the car is worth given what tends to fail on it
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How we count
Every figure here comes from complaints owners filed with NHTSA — 1,100,006 of them, covering 1,982 models built between 1981 and 2026.
A complaint is an unverified report: someone wrote down what happened to their car. It is not a confirmed defect and not a recall. What makes the volume useful is the pattern — when thousands of owners of the same build describe the same failure, that is a signal no marketing brochure will give you.
Two things we do that the source does not. First, we compute the age of the car at the moment of failure from the incident date and the model year. Second, we group complaints by the first 11 characters of the VIN — the production series — so a bad plant run does not disappear into a model-wide average.
Frequently asked questions
What are the worst years for the Traverse?
By complaint volume, 2010, 2011, 2014 drew the most owner reports. Bear in mind that popular years put more cars on the road, so check the crash and fire columns too.
Which Traverse years are the cleanest?
2026, 2023, 2021 have the fewest complaints on file. For recent years that can simply mean the cars are young.
How many complaints does the Chevrolet Traverse have?
4,993 owner complaints filed with NHTSA, covering 2009–2026. Of those, 146 describe a crash and 27 a fire.
Are these complaints verified?
No. They are unverified reports from owners. NHTSA publishes them as filed and investigates only a fraction. The value is in the pattern, not in any single report.
Can I check complaints for one specific car?
Yes — enter its VIN above. We match the first 11 characters, which identify the plant, year, body and engine, so you get complaints on that exact production series rather than the whole model.