Owners have filed 879 complaints on the Chevrolet Trax, covering 2015–2026. The system named most often is Electrical System (182 reports). Worst years by volume: 2024, 2019, 2017; cleanest: 2026, 2022, 2021. 65 reports describe a crash, 22 a fire, 1 a death. On average the car was 3.0 years old when the problem happened.
What breaks on Chevrolet Trax
Grouped by the system owners named — percentages are shares of all 879 Trax complaints. Open any row for the full reports in owners' own words.
Electrical System 182 Read
On October 22, 2025 I drove 10 miles from my home. I turned off and parked the vehicle at approx. 8:58 AM. Within 2 minutes I notices quite a bit of smoke coming from under the hood. I called the fire department and within 10 minutes the entire front of the car was on fire. The vehicle from front bumper through the…
On Tues 11/19/24, my son left home about 10 mins prior headed back to school in our 2024 Chevy Trax purchased in 5/2023. On his way to school, he and his friend heard a loud pop sound, followed by all the lights on the instrument panel flickering like crazy, smoke coming from under the hood, and then the car slowing…
Compré este carro en medio de una necesidad al dealer REAL TRUCKS AND CARS en buenas condiciones con 2000$ de downpayment y nunca me respondieron por la garantía del carro y encima tuve más de 2000$ en gastos y el día que decido cambiar el carro me llega la información de que ese carro tenía un título rebuild y dos…
Engine 117 Read
The contact owned a 2024 Chevrolet Trax. The contact stated that while her son was driving at approximately 45 MPH, he observed smoke emanating from the engine compartment. The contact stated that as her son attempted to steer the vehicle off of the highway, the vehicle caught fire. The fire department extinguished…
The contact's father owns a 2024 Chevrolet Trax. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed and making a left, she observed a noise emanating from under the vehicle that sounded like loose gravel, and she observed smoke outside of the "turn off ignition" message displayed. The contact stated that…
Traveling up I-XXX in [XXX] with my [XXX] daughter, heard a loud bang, pulled over to the side of the road and vehicle caught on fire. Connecting rod broke and blew out the side of the engine block. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
Power Train 86 Read
I was driving down the highway going with the flow of traffic and my car caught fire. I was told by the mechanic that “the turbo line combusted and put a hole in the engine” I’ve also been told “oil got on the turbo belt and caught fire” I’ve also been told “the software recall actually had nothing to do with the…
The vehicle has 2 permanent codes. One is a communication blackout, the other code means the hardware is melting. GM is doing a formal inspection in April. The Ucode meant that the engine stopped talking to the transmission or visa versa. The vehicle “ran my daughter and I” off the highway into the dirt, on 2…
I was driving on 95 N and out of the clear blue, my car began to smoke. There was no warning lights on the dashboard that indicated that I needed to check the oil or engine, etc. I pulled over, taking the nearest exit to a gas station.As I turned into the gas station, I heard a loud popping sound. My husband and I…
Steering 77 Read
Was making right hand turn which causes vehicle to straddle shoulder for a brief period of time because of how lines are painted. Auto steering resisted the manual steering to get into the lane properly and pulled vehicle onto shoulder further which lead vehicle to be pulled into the ditch
Something broke onthe suspension and I lost control of the car
The contact owns a 2020 Chevrolet TRAX. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the steering wheel independently turned to the right and seized. The contact's vehicle crashed into a parked vehicle. The contact stated that the vehicle was uncontrollable. The contact stated that the failure occurred in…
Suspension 71 Read
It appears the rear axle separated from the vehicle. This appears to prevented braking ability. My conclusion is from skid marks at the crash scene. Also Front wheels disengaged. I have photos
I leased a 2019 chevy trax in jan on this year, had about 8,000 miles on it last month when the lower control arm failed while my wife was driving it. There is recall for previous years but not my vehicle for the lower control arm. Long story short, I filed an inquiry case with gm to which they said the accident…
I was traveling in my car on the freeway. Traffic came to a deceleration very quickly and suddenly. I was able to slow down in time to avoid the car in front of me, however I was struck from behind. The driver behind me must have swerved also to try to avoid hitting me directly from behind. She hit my rear driver…
Air Bags 52 Read
I purchased my vehicle on november 22, 2017. I was in an accident on december 14, 2017 where I hit a dog and my car caught fire. The fire department and police didn't believe that I hit a dog and it caused this damage. I contacted gm to see if they would investigate but they told me they would not investigate unless…
I was driving at about 10 mph in a suburban Buffalo retail parking lot when I was T-boned by a driver coming at me perpendicular at a much higher rate of speed who hit me squarely on the driver's side front and rear door. Airbags did not deploy. Yes, my safety was put at risk. I was injured. The problem has not been…
Ran into a cemex block with no light pole. The parking lot was dark and cemex block was not marked. Forward collision detection system did not work and airbag ejected some shrapnel cutting my arm and shatter ing my bone in forearm and wrist. I’m lucky it did not hit me in the head or I would be dead today. By the…
Service Brakes 40 Read
The contact rented a 2025 Chevrolet Trax. The contact stated that, while her husband was driving at 25 MPH on a decline and attempting to slow the vehicle upon approaching a curve in the road, the brake pedal depressed all the way to the floorboard but failed to bring the vehicle to a complete stop. As a result, the…
I was driving on the highway going around a ramp when I went to press on the brakes to slow down the pedal just went to the floor and the car would not slow down, causing me to go off the road. My insurance company did an inspection and said the accident was caused by engine failure and won’t cover damage. GM did…
Car was bought brand new and had a manufacturing defect of the automatic transmission fluid coolant lines leaking, to the point that the car would not go forward or backwards, this problem was fixed under warranty, and also the car will surge forward at operating temperature, making it hard to stop at red lights, and…
Vehicle Speed Control 22 Read
The contact owned a 2025 Chevrolet Trax. The contact stated while driving 35 MPH with cruise control mode disengaged, and approaching the red traffic light, the brake pedal was depressed. The contact stated that the vehicle responded temporarily, and then the vehicle accelerated unintendedly. There was no warning…
Experienced severe mechanical issues, such as the engine overheating, temperature gauge breaking, coolant system malfunctioning, battery having to be replace twice, brakes overheating, brakes unable to come to a full stop, brakes squeaking, vehicle squeaking when backing up, throttle jumping, and the stability track…
Using adaptive cruise control if a car comes in front of you from the side street etc the car can go from 55 to 30 in seconds and if someone is following too close or not paying attention that car can hit you in the rear . On curvy roads a car coming the other way will almost stop the car quickly annoying the driver…
Trax 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 | 1 | — | |
| 2025 | Air Bags | 9 | 3 | |
| 2024 | Air Bags | 8 | 7 | |
| 2022 | Air Bags | 1 | — | |
| 2021 | Air Bags | 4 | 1 | |
| 2020 | Air Bags | 5 | 1 | |
| 2019 | Air Bags | 8 | 1 | |
| 2018 | Air Bags | 2 | 2 | |
| 2017 | Air Bags | 10 | 3 | |
| 2016 | Air Bags | 6 | 2 | |
| 2015 | Air Bags | 11 | 2 |
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 | 461 |
| Average complaints per series | 1.9 |
| Worst single series | 9 complaints |
| Average age at failure | 3.0 years |
A model average of 1.9 hides a worst series at 9. 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
- The original window sticker and factory options
- Full research report as a PDF for the pre-purchase inspection
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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 Trax?
By complaint volume, 2024, 2019, 2017 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 Trax years are the cleanest?
2026, 2022, 2021 have the fewest complaints on file. For recent years that can simply mean the cars are young.
How many complaints does the Chevrolet Trax have?
879 owner complaints filed with NHTSA, covering 2015–2026. Of those, 65 describe a crash and 22 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.